Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Is this really real?” Nine-year-old Ahsoka looks up from the history lesson on her datapad screen, to where Plo is going through some paperwork on the opposite side of the room of the small apartment they share together.

“What are you learning about?” Plo inquires, standing and approaching her table next to the window. Coruscant’s sky is cloudy, endless lines of traffic passing the window outside.

“The Jedi and Sith,” she explains, pushing the datapad toward him, to show him the drawings of them, something of long ago.

People with unexplained, mysterious powers like telekinesis. It sounds kind of cool but she’s nine now and she knows when things do and don’t make sense. “It says they mostly wiped each other out in some war to the death thousands of years ago, something called the Great Hyperspace War. But there were still a few of them up until a thousand years ago. That’s when they last were seen.”

“There is always some truth in legends, little Soka,” Plo replies, “But perhaps what makes legends fascinating at times is never knowing how much of it is real.”

She makes a face. “Maybe.”

She thinks it would be cooler to know but whatever. Not that it matters because in the end, it’s history of something gone looooong ago.

“I need to leave on my next bounty,” Plo tells her, turning and crossing the room to the closet where he keeps his equipment. “Be sure to study while I am away.”

“Can I go with you?” Ahsoka asks, jumping to her feet.

“We’ve discussed this before, haven’t we?” he asks, tone faintly amused.

“Yesss but it’s so boring here when you’re gone,” she whines, trying to give him her best puppy eyes face, “And I never get to anything fun or go anywhere. Even Jango takes Boba on easy missions and he’s younger than me.”

“And that is one example I never intend to follow,” Plo replies firmly. “If that is really true.”

“Well… Boba told me he went on one.” He’s about six, she doesn’t know exactly. And the mission had barely sounded like a mission at all but it still counts.

“You will have your chance, little Soka,” he promises, “But not yet. At least not a mission like this one.”

She huffs out a disappointed breath even if she expected as much. She argues with him about this nearly every time now but he still maintains that she’s too little.

“What is the mission this time?” Ahsoka inquires, though she’s sure the details won’t make much sense.

“Criminals attacking another Republic world. The planet has been considering seceding along with the rest of the growing Separatist movement. The Senate is hoping to prove, if I’m able to deal with these criminals, that the Republic is still strong enough to protect its own.”

“I don’t even understand this Separatist stuff anyway,” she grumbles.

“The Republic is… not in a good place, Ahsoka. It is full of corruption, even if the Separatists may not be handling it right.”

Plo’s comm beeps suddenly. He pauses, looking down at the message on it and stiffens.

Ahsoka frowns. “What’s happening?”

“The Chancellor was nearly assassinated?” he repeats, “The Council’s calling an immediate meeting. And I’ll… have to leave on the bounty as soon as I’m done.”

She watches him head out of their apartment and no sooner has the door clicked closed behind her that something else occurs to her.

Plo, Jango, and thousands of others are part of the Galactic Bounty Hunting Guild. Technically, it’s an official organization to defend the Republic, even if they’re allowed to take bounties from other people. They just aren’t allowed to do anything against the Republic. There’s a bunch of rules about that. Most of it goes over Ahsoka’s head entirely. But she knows Plo only does missions that help people and the Republic and she wants to get to do that too.

But being part of the Bounty Hunters Guilt means they have a common hanger and some ships from the Republic when going on Republic missions. Many bounty hunters have their own ships but Plo usually uses ones from the Republic. And that means Ahsoka could figure out what ship he’s going to be going on and sneak onboard when he’s not looking.

It’s – genius. Truly genius.

She just needs to get there first.

Pausing only long enough to stuff another pair of clothes in a bag, she swings it over her shoulder and sprints out into the hall.

The Council meeting will take a bit so she should have a head start.

She’s lived in this building ever since she was three. She knows the halls like nothing else and she takes off running, dodging anyone who passes her on the way.

Saesee Tiin, another bounty hunter, is in charge of ships and she runs up him when she reaches the hanger. “Um excuse me,” she blurting out, hoping that he won’t mention her presence, “Do you know which ship Plo is going to be taking?”

Tiin barely glances down at her. “Why?” he asks shortly. But he’s always short with everyone, she’s heard.

“He – uh – told me to get it ready.”  What else is she supposed to say?

“That one is ready to go,” he says, gesturing to where several ships are off to the side. She’s prettyyy sure he’s motioning to the one on the far left.

Hmm.

She reallyyy has no idea what she’s doing but she trots over to the ship. The ramp is down and she gets on board, making her way to the back of the shuttle. She’s taken ship flying lessons already, obviously. Now she just needs to find somewhere to hide where Plo won’t notice her until he’s already in hyperspace.

***

The walls of the closet feel like they’re closing in around him. How long has he been in here? It’s been a long time. Probably hours but he doesn’t know. It feels entirely timeless in here.

Anakin never used to hate the dark. He used to find it peaceful. Now he does. At least, he hates dark when he’s in closed spaces. It’s so dark in here he can hardly see a thing, even if his eyes should’ve adjusted to the darkness long ago.

Not that there’s anything to see in here but clothes anyway. Probably.

For all he knows, this could be the very place that his slave transmitter is kept. Not that he’d dare try to look for it. He doesn’t want to know what his master would do to him if he did. He could use that to escape, but here, locked in the never-ending darkness of the closet where he can’t leave until his master comes back, it feels more like a lost dream he had once as a child than an eventual reality.

He's fifteen now, and no closer to finding a way to freedom than when he was nine years old, back on Tatooine with his mother. The hopeless, helplessness is gnawing at him and it never stops, never gets better. He hates this but there’s nothing he can do.

The silence is deafening.

Which sounds insane but there’s no noise anywhere, and any noise there is in the rest of his master’s apartment is muffled by the closet walls too much for him to hear. Which also means he has no way of even trying to guess if his master is back from the Senate yet or what.

Anakin breathes in shakily, wishing it was easier to breathe period in here. The air is unbelievably stuffy. And he never wants to deal with silence or darkness ever again. Or the ceaseless having nothing to do. Except stare at the walls and think, and the one place he never wants to be trapped in is the endless swirls of darkness that his mind is.

Sometimes, he thinks Watto’s punishments were easier to deal with.

Watto would just hit him and then make him work harder for extra hours, and at least that was productive. Not this unending nothingness.

Being in here is better than getting beaten, at least, which Watto would do sometimes and Palpatine never has, but…

But at least back then, he had his Mom. He tries to force back the rush of grief that floods him any time he thinks of her.

And most of all, he had… hope.

Hope that he would one day be free, maybe. But now… it’s hard to keep hoping for anything, when he’s still a slave, right in the very heart of the Republic. The Chancellor’s and no one even cares – or they’re allegedly oblivious but he doesn’t know how no one could know anything about where the Palpatine family has gotten much of their wealth from.

Anakin doesn’t know all the details himself, just that he was being sold off at an auction along with dozens of others when he’d first met Palpatine.

Who… for some reason hadn’t dumped him off in the mines or whatever the details of their business include, but that personal interest doesn’t make him any less a slave.

Even if he can remember his mother’s voice in his mind even now, and her soft “we have it better than many, Ani.” Which he knows is still true.

But at least then, back on Tatooine before everything changed, he wasn’t alone. He never had to spend hours and hours in isolation either, knowing that even when it finally ends and he gets out, there’s no one around for him to talk to anyway. No one who’s at the same status as him.

Time is basically without meaning in here but then Anakin suddenly, finally, hears a noise.

Fear jolts through him sharply, turning his blood to ice. He wants to just get out of here, but the only one who would come for him is his master and he’s not ready to face him again. Not that he ever is but –

There’s no way out any more than there ever is.

He hears a click and then the door snaps open. The rush of light is enough for him to have to close his eyes against it for a moment, as he tries to adjust. He stumbles to his feet shakily.

Palpatine’s standing in the doorway. “Come here.”

The note is too neutral for him to read and at least he still doesn’t sound angry but he has no idea what’s about to happen. Or if he’s about to get hit again.

Anakin steps out slowly, eyes on the floor. Should he say something? Should he – “I’m sorry, Master,” he blurts, “I was not thinking.”

“I know,” Palpatine interrupts, “And I expect you not to do it again.”

“I won’t,” he mumbles.

“See to it that you do not.”

He nods wordlessly.

It had been stupid, really.

Palpatine has a place in the Works where Anakin works on ships much of the day, and Palpatine sells them once they’re finished. At least that something’s he does enjoy doing as much as he can anything anymore, even if it’s just as lonely as everything else is now. Usually when Anakin flies the speeder back to Palpatine’s apartment, he goes at full speed, ducking wildly between the traffic lines just to see if he can – even if he’s careful to not make anyone else crash. It’s about as freeing as anything is anymore, feeling the wind whip past him, even knowing where he’s going back to. Except for the day the droid police somehow managed to actually catch his license plate and realize that he's associated with the Chancellor personally.

He didn’t exactly expect a speeding ticket to be such a big deal, but there’s some kind of publicity-something about it that he didn’t follow. And okay, he gets why he’s in trouble for that but he doesn’t understand why what Palpatine seems to care about far more is reputation, as opposed to how someone could have been hurt. Which Anakin always makes sure doesn’t happen, but he could understand being punished better if it had been for that.

But Palpatine is a slaver, so it shouldn’t surprise him that deeply. A slaver running the Republic which is allegedly against slavery. A Republic that is so, so fake. He can’t believe there was a time during the years he spent on Tatooine that he thought someone from the Republic might come help them someday.

Anakin shifts uncertainly, just… waiting. Always waiting, for whatever it is his master will demand of him or give him permission to do this time.

“We have somewhere to be,” Palpatine says finally, “And we’ll be leaving soon. Clean up and then I’ll… get you some water before we go.”

Anakin glances down at himself – his clothes are covered in grease and machine oil. So are his hands. He never really had the chance after coming back from Works earlier. It’s not something that bothers him at all but Palpatine is obsessively picky about being clean. Anakin hadn’t seen a shower with water in his life until Palpatine first took him back to his apartment. He’d been nine then. That was six years ago. It feels like a lifetime ago that he was anywhere else now.

He lingers a moment longer, just to make sure he’s actually been excused, before edging towards the door.

***

Anakin leaves Palpatine’s bedroom, with all its insane fanciness, and goes to his room across the hall. It still scarcely feels like his sometimes, despite all the time he’s spent in it. It’s not like it’s a private space. Anyone can come in here at any time. He can’t lock the door either. Well – he’s never tried and he doesn’t care to find out if it’s against the rules. His room is something his master may have given him but that doesn’t mean it’s his.

The room is barely furnished, with nothing more than a bed and one chair, not that he needs anything else. But it’s better than anything he’s ever had before, better than anything many free people have, and he knows he ought to be grateful for that.

He scrambles his way through the shower – it still feels like such a waste to use this much water sometimes, even if he knows they have plenty, but Palpatine will have a fit if he doesn’t look presentable – and changes clothes before heading back out into the rest of the apartment.

The apartment is probably about the fanciest around, with high ceilings and crystal chandeliers and decorations and that infinity soft carpet he used to be obsessed with feeling years ago. He’s used to it now though.

“Master Ani!” Threepio’s voice calls and Anakin spins around, his face splitting in a grin at the sight of the golden protocol droid.

It’s about the most welcome voice there ever is to hear. He just wishes he didn’t always call him master but he’d have to alter his programming and he just – Doesn’t want to mess around with that without permission.

“Threepio,” Anakin greets, “It’s good to see you.”

“It has been a dreadfully long time,” the droid agrees, “Master Palpatine seemed unusually angry.”

Ugh. He really, really doesn’t want to talk about it right now.

Especially not when he hears movement in the next room which probably is his master, listening to them. “Is he waiting for me?”

“He is. He told me to get you.”

Anakin nods, hastily heading for the next room even if he’d rather be anywhere else. But it’s probably not wise to keep him waiting.

Palpatine’s sitting on the couch, scrolling through something on a datapad when Anakin enters, lingering awkwardly in the doorway. He motions him to the seat next to him.

Exactly where he was hoping not to sit, but he slinks to the far end of the couch, as far away as he hopes he can get away with and waits. The cushions are insanely soft, enough that he sinks a bit into them, and he’s used to that now but sometimes it’s still overwhelming. Guilt pools in his gut the way it often does, for even getting to have this when so many slaves can’t even dream of it.

His master briefly glances up from whatever he’s reading, reaching out to briefly pat his shoulder.

Trying to get him to relax, he thinks. Maybe?

Doesn’t do much to help right now.

“Such fools,” Palpatine muses, looking back down at his datapad. “The Senators are so busy double-crossing one another they never realize when someone is playing all of them.” He seems amused and smug.

Anakin looks up. That –

Well, it’s easy enough to guess Palpatine’s referring to himself. He’s a politician, after all, and he’s good at it.

“What?” Anakin asks, uncertainly. Palpatine probably wouldn’t have started a conversation if he didn’t want him to talk.

“The Military Creation Act. There’s still many who really believe they can stop it.”

Oh – that.

Anakin’s heard a little about it, mostly from the rare times he very boredly watches the holonews and from the times Palpatine talks about his work to aids at his apartment sometimes.

“You… think they’re wrong that it will start a war?” Anakin asks hesitantly. That’s the main issue he heard. Many Senators are convinced it will push the growing Separatist movement, led by Count Dooku of Serenno, to take violent action against the Republic.

“No, I know it will,” Palpatine replies, what feels like far too flippantly, “And the Republic will be ready when it happens.”

What, he wants there to be war? Anakin doesn’t really understand and he’s hesitant to ask. He doesn’t want to make it look like he’s questioning his master but he doesn’t really… understand.

He wants the Republic to burn sometimes, for how fake it is and how many it hurts and ignores entirely, but… too many innocent people would be hurt for no reason if there was an actual galactic war.

Threepio enters the room suddenly with a glass of water, bringing it to Anakin.

He takes it, glancing at Palpatine for a moment but he waves him on, so he gulps it down without hesitation.

“The war is inevitable,” his maser goes on after a pause, scrolling through something else on his datapad, “It’s only a question of if we’re ready when it comes.”

Anakin nods, a bit mindlessly.

Palpatine ought to know what he’s talking about. It has him a bit unsettled, though. Is he really right that the galaxy is about to descend into a war? The last galactic war was before the formation of the Republic over a thousand years ago. But he can feel it sometimes, somewhere deep inside of him, that something is going to change. He doesn’t know if it’s with himself or with the galaxy but it’s… coming.

***

The landing platform outside Palpatine’s apartment is busy when he and the Chancellor go outside together.

His ship is being prepared to go somewhere.

Anakin has no idea why something unsettling crawls in his gut as he looks at it. Everything seems perfectly normal so he doesn’t know why something just seems… off.

None of the security even glance at him.

He tries and fails to ignore the bitterness swelling tight inside of him. What do they think he is? Or do they know and not care? He never really talks to anyone. Palpatine often seems twitchy about it, unless it’s to a droid. Not that there’s really anyone around to talk to.

He has no idea where they’re going but maybe he’ll get to spend a bit of time in the cockpit. That’s always fun.

But something’s – wrong. Anakin stands lingers a bit behind the Chancellor, looking around uncertainly. He doesn’t know what it is.

But it’s –

He feels it right before the danger surges and Anakin jerks forward, right as a blaster shot splits the air. He sees the flash of light and the shot takes down one of the guards.

He pushes Palpatine out of the way purely on instinct, as a shot goes over their heads that probably would have hit one of them if they hadn’t ducked fast enough. His master’s hand is on Anakin’s arm, jerking him to the ground next to him and out of the line of fire.

Everything explodes into chaos. The guards start drawing their blasters. There’s more shooting from somewhere out of sight.

What’s happening?

Assassination attempt or – something.

And then something explodes. There’s a blinding flash of light. The sound is deafening. Anakin jerks back, shielding his face. There’s the sound of tearing metal as the ship blows up, pieces of debris flying across the platform.

Everything’s happening too fast and people are dying. He can feel it somewhere deep inside of him even if he can’t see it and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. Not that there ever has been or is.

The guards are yelling and a few of them come over, to get Palpatine back inside to safety. Anakin scrambles after, dodging another blaster shot that nearly hits him.

The guards who came inside move off, saying something about going to make sure the perimeter is secure.

Which they obviously already failed at. That was close. Very close.  He can see the smoke and flames on the other side of the door. Had they been to the ship one minute faster, they’d be the ones in the middle of that. And those guards – they died senselessly in whatever this was.

His heart is still hammering. That was close. He didn’t even know it was possible to get that close to actually killing the Chancellor. Palpatine could have died there and he never realized how scared he was of that until this very moment.

He would’ve just been dead, gone, the exact same way his mother is. And Anakin would be –

Left without anyone.

Because for all that Palpatine is an awful master, he actually wants him. And if he was gone, Anakin would be just another nameless, faceless slave, left to work for the rest of the Palpatine family until he died.

“Master?” Anakin asks, turning to Palpatine hesitantly, “Are you… alright?”

What is wrong with him what is he thinking this is still his master he still hates him and he never couldn’t but he’s so scared -

“I’m fine.” Palpatine reaches out, ruffling his curls. “And you?”

Anakin nods wordlessly,

Palpatine’s hand drops to his shoulder.

His heart skips a beat the way it always does at the proximity. He wants him to stop touching him.

He also doesn’t want him to stop because it’s – He’s the only one who ever touches him anymore. He’s the only person Anakin gets to interact with period anymore.  It’s so – lonely. Empty.

“Who would attack you like that?” Anakin asks uncertainly, biting his lip.

“It could be any of many people,” Palpatine replies, hand dropping back to his side. Anakin breathes a little easier. He also misses the touch, stupidly. “I expect it has something to do with the Military Creation Act. Either someone who doesn’t want it to pass or someone who does. Or the Separatist movement itself but that would be a high risk for them to take.”

Anakin just nods. He doesn’t really know what to say. What is this going to mean for the war? Because he’s fairly certain it’s going to guarantee there will be one now. Did Palpatine already suspect this would happen? Either way, it’s… worrisome. So many people will be hurt if it really comes to that.

Even if sometimes he thinks there’s little of the Republic worth saving anyway. That doesn’t change how many actually innocent people live here.

“I suppose the meeting I was going to attend will have to be called off,” Palpatine muses, “Why don’t you tell me about the progress you made on the Twilight yesterday?”

He resolutely ignores the way that question reminds him of when Shmi would sometimes ask him something similar to that, some version of how was his day. It’s nothing like that. It never could be.

He can never truly say anything without the constant gnawing fear that he’ll say something that will anger his master and then he’ll be punished for it. Or for even talking at all.

Or maybe it’s just the closet incident that has him so jittery right now.

“I’m still trying to get the ramp cycle to work properly,” Anakin answers finally. The ship is basically his baby, even if he’ll never say so. He doesn’t want it to get sold. He wants it to be his. As though anything is his or ever has been. Tatooine was awful but he had an at least partly private space, a place to have his own things, even if they could easily be taken from him. That’s not nearly as true here.

“Still trying to salvage that wreck pile?” Palpatine asks, amused.

“It’s not that bad,” Anakin defends.

“As always, I’ll leave the mechanical disputes to the mechanics genius,” he replies dryly.

Hmm. Alright.

Chapter Text

“Need someone to protect the Chancellor at once, we do,” Yoda murmurs, from his seat the front of the Council chambers.

Obi-Wan stands in the center of the circle, looking between the members, his helmet under his arm.

He just got back from settling a score on Ansion, to come back to chaos in the Republic. Not that that’s a surprise. And he truthfully doesn’t have much care for the Republic anymore – the corruption in the Senate is hard not to notice, but that the Chancellor has nearly been assassinated right when the Senate is debating whether to create a military is… concerning. It’s pretty much a guarantee that the Senate is going to vote in favor of that now and…

If nothing else good will come of that disaster, it may give the entire Bounty Hunter Guild far more missions than even they are able to handle. Which will be good for them, so long as the Republic doesn’t go bankrupt.

“I can take it,” Obi-Wan replies, “I have dealt with many politicians in the past.”

“Protect the Chancellor at all costs,” Windu orders.

Obi-Wan nods. He would do no less. He’s Mandalorian, after all. If he gives his… client his word about a mission, it’s not something he’ll back out of. The Council knows that and that’s probably why they picked him for this job.

So he doesn’t know why there’s another bounty hunter present here too.

Obi-Wan throws a sideways glance at the other who was summoned.

Soara Antana.

She’s one of the best bounty hunters out there. There’s rumors of her having crossed lines that he knows she’s nearly been arrested for by the Republic in the past. Not that he knows the exact details.

“A possibility, there is,” Yoda goes on, “That a traitor there be may among us.”

“Why do you suspect that?” he queries.

“Whoever attempted to assassinate the Chancellor was highly skilled,” Windu replies, “While there are still bounty hunters who don’t join the Guild, it is uncommon now. If possible, we need to track down who it was. Since you need to focus on protecting the Chancellor, we have called Antana for the mission.”

Reasonable enough.

“I’ll look into it,” Antana replies, nodding to the Council members.

“This is not a mission we can afford to lose, Obi-Wan. We’re in an increasingly precarious situation with the Senate, especially when tensions are this high,” Windu adds.

“I understand,” he replies evenly.

Politicians and their messes. He’s grateful that’s a problem the Council itself will handle. But still, he knows it’s a problem and he’ll do his best to deal with the situation. It’s his job after all.

He and Soara leave the room together.

There’s a young red-haired human girl standing in the hallway waiting.

“Come, Darra,” Soara calls and the girl follows her.

She must be taking an apprentice then. There’s few children in this place. Most don’t choose to become bounty hunters until they’re older but occasionally someone will pick up a child when they’re still quite young and raise them.

Working alone is more common, though. There’s specific rules they do need to follow when working for the Republic but still, it’s always a risk to work with others.

That loneliness is simply part of this life.

Not that he has any other to go back to after… what happened on Mandalore. He shies away from that thought.

For a moment, he desperately misses Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon, who for being a bounty hunter, was still sometimes infuriatingly kind and considerate to everyone and stopped to help people all the time, even if it sometimes meant losing the bounty they were supposed to be going on. It was so unlike everything Obi-Wan learned on Mandalore. Sometimes, it annoyed him to no end but now he misses it desperately. It’s not a gentleness he’s ever been able to near manage himself.

But Qui-Gon is a piece of him that’s never coming back.

Any more than whatever is left of his family on Mandalore.

He’s on his own now. As he always has been. Dwelling on the emptiness he feels deep inside of him, the what is he even doing with his life anyway because this isn’t even for anything for any purpose he just exists isn’t going to change anything. Working closely with others doesn’t usually end well.

Obi-Wan makes it the rest of the way to the hanger and on board his ship. He’s flying to the Seante when he suddenly hears a suspiciously loud thump in the back of his ship.

What was that?

Is someone else on board…?

He flips the ship onto autopilot, hand on his blaster as he heads to the back to look around.

Something moves in the vents up above. Something that definitely shouldn’t be there.  He

He flips out his blaster, firing a shot up at it. The hold of the grate shatters and it falls to the floor, over the sound of a high-pitched yelp.

That didn’t sound like an adult.

 Unless it’s a strange species.

“Whoever you are, you can come down and… talk.”

“Not if you’re gonna try shooting me again,” a very sullen childish voice says.

“You stowed aboard my ship. What else did you expect?” he asks, crossing his arms.

A tiny Togruta’s head appears in the opening. She looks familiar, though he doesn’t quite remember where he’s seen her before. “I thought this was Plo’s ship? Are you with him?”

…Right. She’s Plo’s kid. That’s where he’s seen her before.

“He already left on a different ship.”

Her eyes widen and she jumps down from the opening. “But I thought this was his. That’s why I came on board. I thought – “

He’s not sure if he’s more amused or annoyed. Even if he’s got to admit she’s kind of cute. “You stowed away on a ship you thought he would take and never considered what if someone else took it?”

She pouts. “I thought I knew what I was doing. I guess I umm… need to get back home. Can you… not tell anyone?” She looks too hopeful.

Antics like this could well get her killed, though. “If you cause no further mischief, I won’t,” he decides, “But I have an appointment to protect the Chancellor. I’ll have to send you back later once I have the situation stabilized.”

He’s expecting disappointment but her face instantly lights up. “Wait, so could I maybe help? I won’t get in the way. I promise.”

This is a terrible idea.

He doesn’t need Plo having his head if something happens to her but really, she’s probably more likely to get into chaos out of his line of sight. “Alright,” he agrees grudgingly, “But you’re going to do what I tell you to and stay out of any actual fighting if it comes down to it, understood?”

Her head bobs up and down eagerly.

…he really doesn’t find the promise reassuring. But it’s time to get moving.

***

It’s always awkward when people come over to the apartment who aren’t normal. Anakin never knows what to do with himself when Palpatine has him present. He doesn’t understand what makes his master decide when he does and doesn’t want him around.

He doesn’t know why his master wants him around period, sometimes.

The ships he has him fix isn’t really an official business and even if it was, it’s not Palpatine needs the money anyway. The dozens of slaves in the Palpatine family’s hidden operations make more than enough for all of Naboo, probably.

It’s evening when the bounty hunter from the Galactic Bounty Hunting Guild shows up. Anakin doesn’t know what he was expecting, but –

A Mandalorian wasn’t one of them. The markings painted onto his armor are unfamiliar but he knows they mark his clan.

When he was little, he sometimes wanted to be one. He thought maybe he could be free someday and help people by being a Mandalorian. But that’s just a dream now. Doesn’t mean he can quite tear his gaze away from the man, though. Mandalorians have honor. They’re better than most bounty hunters, or at least they’re supposed to be.

But then he sees someone else behind him – a tiny adorable little Togruta child. She can’t be over nine. Why is she here…?

She’s not his slave, is she?

She looks too eager to be here for that but – He can’t trust anyone anymore.

“Chancellor,” the man greets, holding out a hand and shaking his. Mandalorian handshake. “I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

“I must say I feel your presence is unnecessary but I will let you do your work,” Palpatine tells him.

“The Council insisted,” Obi-Wan replies. “As per request from the Senate.”

Palpatine nods. “I know. And who is this… child?” He looks curiously down at the girl.

“Bounty hunter in training. If you don’t mind her presence here.” The man looks down at her and she beams up at him way too innocently.

The adults all start to disperse after that, but the tiny Togruta lingers behind. “Hi,” she chirps, approaching Anakin.

It’s so weird to see another child around. He doesn’t even remember the last time he got to talk to one.

“Hey,” he replies, smiling faintly, even if he’s instantly on edge because he has no idea if he’s allowed to talk to her or not. “What’s your name?”

“Ahsoka Tano,” she replies cheerily, “Who’re you?”

“Anakin Skywalker. You know, I didn’t know bounty hunters could be so…. young.”

“I’m nine,” she insists like that’s not still little, “And I’m not a bounty hunter yet. I’m still training.”

“Are you Mandalorian too?” he asks curiously. He thought they were only human.

She shakes her head. “I’m just on this mission too.  But who’re you? Are you the Chancellor’s child or something? I didn’t know he had one.”

His gut flips violently. Is that – that what she thinks? What is he supposed to say?

“I – I just work here,” he blurts, heart pounding.  Hopefully, Palpatine won’t say something contradicting that later.

“With politicians?” Ahsoka asks, face scrunching a bit, “That seems kinda boring.” Getting a job at this age isn’t that unusual in some places. He can just hope that doesn’t catch anyone’s attention in the wrong way. Or his master will not be happy.

There’s movement in the doorway behind her and Obi-Wan reenters the room, helmet under his arm. It’s the first time Anakin’s seen his face. He looks –

Well, kind of what Anakin thought he would look like, actually.

Ahsoka hardly even glances his way and her sheer casualness at him walking in on them clearly means she’s not a slave. And that means… Obi-Wan should be as safe as any adult is.

“You’re Mandalorian, aren’t you?” Anakin inquires curiously, looking to him. He has so many questions. He’s always wanted to meet one even if he’s a bit jittery about it now.

“I am,” Obi-Wan replies eyeing him.

“I’ve always wanted to meet one. I heard about them a lot.” And he knows warriors doesn’t always mean something good but there’s many who do help people.

Obi-Wan looks like he’s about to reply when there’s a sudden noise. Anakin senses somewhere deep inside of him, almost before he hears, when Palpatine steps into the doorway on the opposite side of the room.

“Anakin,” he calls from the doorway, “It’s bedtime.”

It’s not worded like an order but it always is. Hopefully it’s not that he didn’t want him talking to them. Anakin turns away, shuffling after him into the hallway, resisting the urge to look back.

***

Something is still wrong.

Anakin rolls over in bed, trying and failing to fall asleep but he can’t shake the nagging feeling deep inside of him. He can’t shake the worry tight in his gut either.

He shouldn’t be this afraid that – that Palpatine could actually die, should he? He’s a slaver, he’s –

But someone’s trying to kill him and he can’t chase away how afraid he is of that happening.

He doesn’t want him dead. He just wants to be away. Even if he doesn’t even know what that would mean anymore. Palpatine is the only person he even has anymore, ever since his mother was… lost. He doesn’t have family anywhere anymore. He doesn’t have anyone. He’d still be as lost and alone if he was free as he is now, but at least he’d be able to do something to help people.

He rolls over again, on the unreasonably comfortable bed. He had no idea what to even do with the thing when he’d first gotten it. He’d slept on the floor most of his life until then. He’s used to it now, though.  But it doesn’t feel fair. All of Palpatine’s other slaves probably sleep right where they work and barely get enough to eat and – That’s why he wishes he could be a Mandalorian or just something so he’d be able to free them.

There’s a sudden noise up above him and Anakin freezes. What was that?

It’s coming from the ceiling and he sits up warily, right as there’s the screeching of metal and then someone jumps out of the vent over his bed, landing on the end. He jerks forward, half expecting to be attacked, only to come face to face with Ahsoka?

“What are you doing?” Anakin hisses in a whisper.

“Scouting the vents for intruders,” she whispers back.

“Then why are you jumping on my bed?”

“I thought I could land quietly and scout out your room,” she says, almost pouting. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“I was already awake,” he assures, though there’s no way he wouldn’t have woken up anyway.

She swings off the edge of the bed, pattering over to the window and looking out. “Your room’s one of the only places that doesn’t have security everywhere.”

Hmm.

Is there not a camera in here, then? Does that mean he might have slightly more privacy than he’s always feared? It’s probably not a risk worth taking. “I don’t think I need any,” Anakin points out, “No one is after me.”

“They could come in through here and hurt you along the way,” she insists. That she seems to think she could protect is actually kind of adorable. She is carrying a blaster that she probably knows how to use, but it looks ridiculous on her.

He wants to talk to her but what if he’s not supposed to? What if Palpatine finds out? He might not care but he also might. It has him on edge, even as much as he wants to ask her to stay. “I don’t think you need to stay here.”

“The adults have everything else handled,” she insists, going to climb into the chair near his bed. She leans forward, staring at him through the darkness.

It’ s probably stupid how antsy he is but he can’t help it. “I really don’t think – “

“I do,” she chirps, interrupting him, “You’re stuck with me, Skyguy.”

“Skyguy?” he repeats, incredulous and amused.

She shrugs, still grinning. Her eyes narrow a bit, though. “What? Are you scared of me?”

He lets out an incredulous laugh. “What?!”

“You’re acting scared.” She bears her fangs at him. “Some of the reallyyy little children of different species I’ve seen find me scary for some reason.”

Anakin laughs, even if his heart is pounding anyway. Is how jittery he is really that obvious? He needs to calm down. And breathe. Somehow. Before he exposes Palpatine for sure. “You’re as un-intimidating as it gets, Snips.”

“Hey!” Ahsoka yelps, “That’s not my name.”

He snorts. “I know.” But if she’s in here, he’s going to take advantage of it. He hasn’t been able to talk to anyone else in so long. And looking at Ahsoka now, he’s suddenly wondering if she’s as lonely as he is. Is that why she doesn’t want to leave?

Now he feels really bad for trying to make her, even if he’s still on edge.

“What’s it like being a bounty hunter?” Anakin inquires curiously, watching her through the darkness.

“I’m not one yet,” Ahsoka admits, “But I’ve lived at the Bounty Hunter Complex most of my life. Plo’s taken care of me since I was very little.”

“Where are your parents?”

“I don’t really remember them.” She twists her hands together, not really looking at him. “There was some kind of attack on Shili. Some fight related to the Separatists, I think. I don’t know. But it was too dangerous for me to stay there so my parents gave me to Plo. I don’t know the details”

Anakin winces in sympathy. He can’t imagine what would be enough for someone to give up their child but the situation must have been bad for them to do that, knowing they would never see her again.

“What about you?” Ahsoka asks.

Anything about him is always a potentially dangerous topic. Even if he’s wanted to talk about just something to anyone for years, because there’s never anyone to talk to. “My mother is… dead. I never knew my father.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh. What happened to her?”

The sound of blaster fire, of the flashes as they whiz over his head dance through his mind again. “There was an attack,” Anakin replies distantly.

He can still hear her scream.  Mostly, he just remembers screaming for her as he was dragged away.

“Pirates came through the slave quarters of Mos Espa. Krayn was the leader – he takes slaves, somehow gets their chips out and resells them. He usually doesn’t kill because that would be a… waste but it – the fight got bloody.”

“Oh,” Ahsoka whispers, eyes wide with horror. “You were a slave?”

He nods. Hoping she keeps focused on the were and doesn’t ask about now.

Krayn had taken him and resold him along with many others and that’s how Palpatine had gotten him.

He’d finally worked up to the courage to ask Palpatine if he could find Shmi, just to know, because he had no idea if she’d survived that or not. She hadn’t been shot in the chest. It had been lower than that. And Palpatine had done what he asked. Only to return with the news that she was already gone, He remembers crying himself to exhaustion in Palpatine’s arms after that.

“Is Plo Mandalorian?” Anakin asks, trying to divert the topic before she starts asking questions.

“What? Oh – no, he’s not. Most bounty hunters aren’t.”

Hmm. He knew that but he can’t stop thinking about how the other adult here is. “I’ve always wanted to be Mandalorian. Or wished I could be at least,” Anakin comments, “So I could you know… help people. Protect them when no one else will.”

“You could always join the Bounty Hunter Guild,” Ahsoka says, perking up, “Maybe you can quit your job here and come with me!”

The longing that pulses through him is overwhelming.  How does he tell her no when that’s all he wants?

“.. I don’t know,” Anakin says, shifting.

It’s not like it’s a choice he can make. No matter how desperately he wants to. Conversations like this are probably why Palpatine never likes it when he talks to anyone. Because he’s successfully backed himself into a corner, the longer it goes on.

“Why not?”

“This is what I’m used to. I know my place here.”

She makes a face. “That sounds like an excuse. You know, you don’t need to be scared. Or nervous or whatever. Plo would be happy to get you somewhere to stay.”

He bites his lip, trying to find something to say. He can’t speak for how desperately he wants to agree, to just tell her what the problem is in the hopes someone will get him out of here but it’s ridiculous. Ahsoka is nine. She wouldn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. Even if she did, there’s nothing she could do.

She’s so adorable, though. He doesn’t want this brief mission to be the last time he ever sees her. Even if he hardly knows her.

“Maybe we can talk about this in the morning. It’s late.”

“Right,” she agrees, perking up and throwing a glance back out the window. “I’m supposed to be protecting you so you can sleep.”

He tries very hard not to smother a smile at the sheer ludicracy of the statement.

And honestly, now he feels bad. She’s younger than him and she’s going to stay awake to protect him? “You want to sit on my bed, at least?” Anakin asks, “There’s plenty of room for two.”

She hesitates a moment, but then invites herself over, climbing on next to him. He stakes up the two pillows behind her so she can lean back against them.

“This seems kinda bouncy,” she says, bouncing just a little before she settles next to him, “Even more than mine. I used to jump om my bed all the time until Plo made me stop. I think this would be even more fun.”

Anakin laughs softly. “I would like to try myself but we had better not damage the Chancellor’s property.”

He doesn’t want to think of the punishment he’d be given if he did.

Or it might one of those things that Palpatine doesn’t even care about. It’s hard to predict. He remembers very clearly the time he’d accidently knocked some kind of purposeless crystal ball-thing on the floor and broken it.

He’d been terrified nearly to tears that he was about to get beaten for it because Watto always reacted very badly to him damaging anything. Palpatine had just patted him on the shoulder and asked him if he was okay, over Anakin’s frantic string of apologies.

He’d been so confused.

Sometimes he still is because he can’t well figure out why there’s moments he’s so gentle and other times that…

He’s just not, to say the least.

After a hesitant moment, Anakin stretches out on the bed but he doesn’t want to sleep – he wants to talk to her while there’s still time. So he settles for staying awake, listening to the quiet sound of her breathing.

In the end, it’s Ahsoka who starts to nod off to sleep first.

***

Ahsoka awakens with a start, to hands on her shoulders. She looks shakes herself awake, blinking at Anakin hovering over her.

Oh, Wait –

She didn’t mean to fall asleep!

She’s still sooo tired, though. “What’s happening?” she asks, blinking up at him sleepily.

“I don’t know. I just think something’s wrong.”

“Did you hear something?” she queries, instantly reaching for her blaster as she swings off the side of the bed.

“No. It’s just a feeling.” His face is tight with worry. He looks scared a lot, even if she’s pretty sure he’s trying to keep it a secret. She doesn’t think he likes his job at all so she doesn’t get why he’s being so weird about it.

She’s barely even known him but there’s something about him that fills her with a bright warmth in a way she’s never felt before. She wants him to come back with her. And he seems to want it to, so why is he being so reluctant about it? But now’s not the time to worry about that, not if something’s about to go wrong.

“I get weird feelings too sometimes,” Ahsoka agrees, frowning.

“I don’t think the threat is in here,” Anakin says anxiously, moving toward the door uncertainly.

Ahsoka runs out in front of him, looking around the dark hallway of the apartment.

Now that she’s awake and moving, she has the strong feeling she knows what he’s talking about too. It’s an uneasiness crawling in her get that she just gets before things explode into violence somewhere.

The noise they’re making out in the hall must have gotten Obi-Wan’s attention because there’s sudden footsteps and he rounds the corner. “Is something going on?”

A blaster shot rings out from literally right next to them in–

The Chancellor’s room.

Obi-Wan runs for the door, Anakin and Ahsoka tripping over each other in their haste to follow.

There’s something right outside the window. It looks like some kind of droid and it has a blaster function on it. And it’s so small, that’s probably how it got past the cameras unnoticed because she’s pretty sure there’s supposed to be cameras right outside. And there’s a smoking blaster shot right in the bed above the Chancellor’s head.

He’s jerking upright, clearly alarmed.

The droid’s about to fire again and Obi-Wan steps in the way. The blaster shot pings off his armor without damaging it and he fires back at the droid.

It fires again and Ahsoka draws her own blaster, shooting at it. The shot hits in and it sparks, and with a few more shots from Obi-Wan, the thing is crashing down and out of sight.

Ther’s other guards are coming in now, asking the Chancellor if he’s fine, which he is.

Now that she’s in here, she can’t help finding it very weird to be in the Chancellor of the entire Republic’s bedroom of all places.

Anakin is lingering in the doorway, expression tight.

Obi-Wan is saying something about sending out more security to pick up the droid and analyze it so basically boring adult stuff. She slips away, snatching Anakin’s hand and tugging him back out into the hall. “That was close,” she says, “We’re lucky you felt it.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, blinking a few times. He looks pretty shaken. “I do not understand why I can but… I have always been able to.”

“I’m able to also,” Ahsoka says, “Sometimes. Not like that but… I don’t get it. Sometimes, I think maybe the weird legends about the Jedi and Sith are areal.” Because that’s exactly how they’re powers are described – some kind of weird feelings no one understands anymore.

His eyes seem to brighten at the mention. “I’ve heard of them before in… old legends on Tatooine. Rumors of people who would come to free us, in times long gone.”

Ahsoka still has no idea how to feel that he used to be a slave. And all the other stuff he was saying. It was awful.

“Plo says there’s always some truth to legends. Maybe that’s how we can feel stuff.”

“Maybe,” Anakin comments, something dreamy and longing on his face, “But whatever their way was, it’s… probably too lost to time to know.”

“Yeah,” she agrees. She’s tries to let go of Anakin’s hand, but his grip tightens, lightly tracing his thumb across the back of her hand.

Hmm. Fine.

“You want to… come back to bed?” he suggests.

“Now?” she asks, “But there was already one attack cuz I was sleeping!”

“I cannot imagine someone would attack twice the same night. The security’s going to be everywhere now,” Anakin points out. Then he pauses, looking around the hallway nervously again. “But that’s okay. You can – “

“No,” she decides, yanking him away into the bedroom again. If he’s offering, she’ll take up the offer. She wants to stay near him anyway. She had been scouting the vents for a reason, as Obi-Wan asked but… she also wanted to be around the sole other child she’s really had time to interact with in ages.

They climb back onto the bed side by side and Ahsoka picks up one of the pillows, shoving it at Anakin. “You should take this back.”

“Alright.” He’s smiling faintly as he lay down and she flops out next to him, onto her side. And now that she is, she has an up-close view of his hair. It’s so weird to see species with hair like this and she always wants to touch it. Which she knows is kind of rude but now that she’s staring at it, that’s all she can think about.

She reaches out slowly, very lightly tugging the curls. She’s never seen hair this curly before. It looks so pullable

He jumps. “What are you doing?”

“I just wanna know what it’s like to have strings on your head.”

“Theat’s not string! Its hair.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The difference is – massive.  You use string to tie things. You are not using my hair to tie anything.”

“Oww,” she supplies. Because she can’t imagine trying to tie her lekku to something. “Fiiine, but can I touch it? Pleaseeeeee?”

Anakin’s face flickers with amusement. “Okay.”

Though now that she asked, she suddenly feels a little weird about it but she reaches up, poking at his curls anyway.

They still look so pullable she can’t resist the urge to give them a tiny yank.

“Hey!” Anakin yelps, what sounds way too dramatically and tries to bat her hand away. She rolls away from him, giggling.

And then nearly rolls off the side of his bed and yelps, but Anakin catches her arm, dragging her back on. “Thank you,” she offers, flopping back against the pillow. Anakin rolls over to face her, smoothing out his precious hair. “No more pulling,” he requests though he sounds like he’s about to laugh.

She just grins at him. “I’ll try not to.”

Chapter Text

“But I can be helpful!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to take you on a potentially dangerous mission without your… guardian’s consent.”

Ahsoka pouts. “Then let me call him! I don’t wanna just stay here.” Mostly, she just wants to be on the mission so she can be around Anakin again. She hasn’t gotten to make a new friend in so long and after this, she has no idea when she’ll even see him again. Maybe she can see if he has a comm number or something.

Obi-Wan huffs. “Very well. But I’m letting you do the explaining.”

“Fine,” she says, crossing her arms.

Which is how they end up in a transmission room to send a long-range transmission to Plo, who answers almost right away.

“Koh-to-ya, Plo,” she greets, when his hologram finally appears.

“Koh-to-ya, little ‘Soka,” he replies, gaze shifting between her and Obi-Wan, who’s moved to stand in the back of the room. “Is… everything alright?” he asks, traces of amusement in his voice.

“Yes? I mean no? Sort of?” Ahsoka supplies, rambling. And then she starts rambling out the story as fast as she can before he can interrupt. “And if Palpatine is going off-world, no one will know where he is anyway and it won’t be dangerous for me and – ”

“You went on a mission to deal with assassins?” Plo interjects finally. She can’t tell he’s more alarmed or amused. Hopefully that’s a good sign.

“It was an accident! Can I go? Please? It’s not going to be dangerous anymore and just because something went wrong last time doesn’t mean something will go wrong this time and it’s so boring here. And I… made a friend there.” She adds the last bit as an afterthought.

Which she thinks might actually have worked to her advantage, from the slight shift in Plo’s expression. “Alright,” he says. “But Obi-Wan?”

The Mandalorian shifts forwards, where he’s been standing in the back of the room. “Yes?”

“Keep her safe.”

“I’ll add that to the mission parameters,” he replies dryly.

He’s agreeing. He’s actually agreeing. And it’s about all Ahsoka can do to not to start literally bouncing with excitement. She’ll finally get another mission and get to see Anakin again.

***

“No antics,” Palpatine warns, pulling the hood of his robe lower over his head. He climbs into the passenger side of the speeder as Anakin slips into the pilot’s seat. “We need to appear inconspicuous.”

He was afraid it would be a whole lot longer before he was allowed to drive again, but apparently not.

The bounty hunters tasked with protecting them are gone now, headed back to the Bounty Hunter Council for further instructions and Palpatine’s going on one of his… excursions. Anakin doesn’t know the details of what he does and it’s not his place to ask. All he does know is that he’s the only one who knows about whatever this is.

Anakin offers a mumbled “Yes, Master,” as he fires up the engines and flies away. Flying is free as it always is, with the wind whipping past him, even if he can’t speed.

They fly to Palpatine’s place in the works, the same place Anakin spends much of his time working on ships. The familiar smell of machines greets him as he and Palpatine get out of the speeder. He’s only been away from here for a day but he misses being here.

“I shouldn’t be long,” Palpatine says, still keeping the hood over his head.

Anakin has so many questions about what he even does here but he doesn’t ask.

“But you can work on the Twilight while waiting if you want. As long as you don’t get yourself all dirty.”

Anakin suppresses the eyeroll he really wants to give at the words and just nods instead. But at least he has permission to do something so the moment Palpatine’s disappeared through the hanger doorway into a deeper part of the complex – despite being here for years, there’s still areas he’s never seen – and Anakin scrambles over to the Twilight.

Everything is always easier when he’s fixing things. He put the Twilight mostly back together himself, from an almost literal scrapheap that no one else had use for.

Basically, about what’s true about him, so maybe that’s why he likes the ship so much.

He ends up going on board the ship and spends a while tinkering around, working over some of the controls on the dashboard.

It’s only been about half an hour or so when Palpatine comes back, telling him that it’s time to leave.

***

Not long after they get back to the apartment, the bounty hunters return with word that Council believes it would be safer if Palpatine could be off-world. Palpatine talks it over with Obi-Wan for a while, and they decide going back to Naboo discreetly may be the safest.

Ahsoka’s there too and he doesn’t miss the way she keeps trying to get his attention, but with his master lingering so close, he just tries to avoid her gaze, as much as he hates himself for it.

Especially because he can feel how hurt she’s starting to feel but he doesn’t know what else to do. And he doesn’t know how to just to her to please be discreet about this. He misses talking to her too and he desperately hopes he’s going to have the chance later but now isn’t it, as much as it’s frustrating him too.

And then they’re leaving for Naboo on a small, unregistered shuttle, and Anakin’s stuck sitting near his master for the trip.

But they’re… going to Naboo.

He’s been there before, in the past.

It was a nice planet, full of so much green and water even if… most of his memories of the place are far from pleasant. But if they’re going there, that means –

He might have the chance for something else he hasn’t in a long time. It takes him several hours into the hyperspace ride before he works up enough courage to say anything about it.

“C-Can I ask you something?” he says finally, and it’s so awkward when he doesn’t address him as master but he’s not supposed to if anyone else is within earshot.

Palpatine looks over at him. “What is it?”

“The Federation war memorial,” he blurts out, heart suddenly pounding. He almost wishes he could back out of this conversation. But – he won’t be hit in public. That’s the only good thing. And Palpatine seems to be in an unusually good mood, despite nearly dying twice yesterday so – “Can we stop to see it?”

They’re supposed to be going to one of the Palpatine family’s mansions in the Lake Country but a short detour to Theed couldn’t be that dangerous, right?

His master’s expression softens the slightest bit. “Yes, of course, Anakin.”

Well that –

Went way better than he expected.

***

Obi-Wan hasn’t been to Naboo in six years. Theed looks nearly the same when they land, except rebuild from the destruction of the Trade Federation.

He didn’t realize there was a memorial to those who died in the battle but he isn’t really surprised.

He doesn’t fully understand why they’re stopping here, though. Especially not when the only one who gets off the ship is Anakin. It’s Obi-Wan’s job to stay near the Chancellor at all times but he’s the one who fought in the battle alongside Qui-Gon, who helped protect the then Queen Amidala, and… he’s the one who held Qui-Gon’s body in his arms as his life faded out.

He’d like to know if there’s a memorial to Qui-Gon here and if there is, he’d like to visit it himself so he momentary leaves his post. Checking around for potential threats at the same time isn’t a bad idea anyway.

The fresh air greets him when he steps outside, though the rush of grief that fills him is nearly enough to take his breath away anyway. He always misses Qui-Gon, but – Being in the same city that he died in his so much harder and he can almost feel the weight of him in his arms again, as he quietly moves into the memorial after Anakin.

The boy is standing in the center of the room – there’s plaques on the wall that have endless names of the people who were lost. But near the center of the room is a carved statue of Qui-Gon himself and Obi-Wan freezes, staring at it.

The people of Naboo certainly haven’t forgotten. That means a lot.

What strikes him as a bit odd is the way Anakin is looking at the statue. And how he sort of looks like he’s about to cry.

“You lost someone in the battle?” Obi-Wan guesses. He assumes the boy is from Naboo but he doesn’t actually know that.

Anakin nods, not turning around. “Qui-Gon Jinn. I… knew him for a short time.”

Obi-Wan stills. “You knew him?”

Anakin turns. His eyes are wet. Clearly he’s good at crying silently. Though Obi-Wan can’t well fathom doing that in front of anyone. “Did you?”

“I was… his apprentice of sorts,” Obi-Wan explains. Not that he’d really needed any more training by the time Qui-Gon had picked him up but he’d still been his mentor. He’s the one who introduced him to the Bounty Hunter Guild. And helped him when no one else would. He roughly shoves away all further thoughts of Mandalore and everything that happened there.

“Oh,” Anakin’s eyes widen. “I think I heard him talking to you over comms sometimes.”

“When?” Obi-Wan asks again. He hasn’t spoken to anyone of Qui-Gon in a long time. There are others part of the Guild who knew and miss him but he’s never run into just a random anyone who remembers Qui-Gon.

“When he was on Tatooine, during the Federation attack. You landed there because you needed a new hyperdrive,” Anakin replies, “I… won a pod-race so he could get the parts. He said he… tried to free me but Watto insisted on rolling dice to see who he was gonna free. And it didn’t land on me. My mom was freed then but I wasn’t. She wouldn’t leave me. Qui-Gon said he was going to come back and free me once the situation on Naboo was dealt with.” The boy bites his lip and his eyes are even more visibly glistening with tears now. “I didn’t understand why he never came back until… It was a long time later when I heard that he was gone.”

Of all the things Obi-Wan expected to hear, it was never that –

This.

Because Obi-Wan has heard of Anakin. Qui-Gon talked about him a little bit. He’d asked him to go back to Tatooine to find him in his last moments, because he’d made a promise, and as a Mandalorian, Obi-Wan understood the importance of keeping a promise like that. But when he’d gone back to Tatooine to find the boy, it was to realize that he couldn’t find anyone who knew anything about Qui-Gon and he hardly knew a thing about the boy enough to locate him in the first place.

He knew his name was Anakin but it had been so many years, that when he heard the Chancellor had someone working for him named that, he hadn’t thought anything of it. But this is the very same Anakin who Obi-Wan had been tasked with finding and helping so long ago. And he’s someone else who knew Qui-Gon. That means… a lot.

It’s filling him with a certain sense of duty towards him that he never expected to feel about anyone again.

“I went back for you,” Obi-Wan says, “But I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

Anakin looks away. “You w-were going to free me?” He’s definitely crying now.

“I was. What happened?” That’s what confuses him the most.

Anakin’s hands clench. He still won’t look at him. “There was an… attack. A pirate named Krayn. He steals slaves, finds some way to override their transmitters so he can take them without them blowing up.”

“Transmitters?” Obi-Wan interrupts, totally mind-blown.

It’s only registering now that this child used to be a slave. And awful things like that happen all the time but the boy is so young. Does he have anyone who’s taking care of him anymore?

“All slaves on Tatooine have chips placed in their bodies. They detonate if they go past a certain perimeter,” Anakin explains. He says it so calmly for how awful that is.

“And he took you?” Obi-Wan guesses, “How did you end up here?”

“Long story.” The answer is flat and empty and it leaves him with so many more questions but there’s probably no reason to press about it.

It still feels like he has a duty to Qui-Gon and Anakin himself, to make sure the boy is at least happy with whatever life he’s found for himself. “Do you have any parents?”

“No. Not – not anymore. My mother was lost in the pirate attack. I never had a father.”

He frowns. “You don’t have anyone who takes care of you, then?”

Anakin hesitates. “I… I have what I need.”

It sounds like a lie, though Obi-Wan could be reading too much into it. It’s not unheard of for teens to have already found a job and be on their own on some planets. That’s not how it was on Mandalore, though, even if teens were definitely far along in learning how to be warriors. That doesn’t mean they weren’t still children.

“If there is anything else you do need,” Obi-Wan starts slowly, “I will be more than willing to help you. I made a promise to care for you once and I was never able to fulfill it.”

Anakin looks up at him sharply, disbelievingly. “Anything?” he asks.

“By the Mandalorian way, that is my duty.”

There’s a certain desperation in his eyes. He can see it clearly and for a moment, he thinks Anakin’s about to say something. But then he just looks away.

Something’s… wrong.

“Are you alright?” Obi-Wan inquires, eyeing him.

“Yes.”

It sounds like a lie.  He doesn’t know why he’d be lying, though. Maybe he is just reading into this too much, as though fulfilling this duty now would do anything to fill the emptiness Qui-Gon’s absence left in him.

There’s a long pause of silence.

“I still miss him,” Anakin says finally, voice barely audible.

Obi-Wan breathes out heavily, looking back to the statue of Qui-Gon in the center of the room. “So do I,” he replies, “But…there is something we say on Mandalore about that. Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la.”

“What does that mean?” Anakin asks, curiously.

“Not gone, merely marching far away,” he translates for him, “He died as a warrior and he’s still with us as long as we honor what he fought for. And it means we’ll see him again.”

Anakin nods, looking down. “We have a thing like that on Tatooine too. That death means… freedom. That we’ll get to see each other again someday. So I guess I will see him and my Mom again someday.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan agrees quietly, heart clenching.

“I better not keep m- the Chancellor waiting,” Anakin says finally, turning to go.

Obi-Wan follows him but he still can’t shake the distinct feeling that he’s missing something.

***

Ahsoka’s hardly seen any planets other than Coruscant and Naboo is beautiful. If she’s going to be on a long trip, she’s glad it’s too a place like this, though she doesn’t get why Anakin is ignoring her. There hasn’t really been time to talk without all the adults hovering, to be fair, but it still stings.

She wanted to come on this trip so she could talk to him and she risked getting a big lecture from Plo just for that and he’s not even paying attention to her.

The transport stops outside of a large mansion. It’s nowhere near the size of the building she lives in, but that’s for thousands of people. And this house is for just one person. Or one family anyway.

The house is at least three floors, and the ceilings are insanely high. What would someone even do with so much space?

She waits until the adults mostly disperse before running up to Anakin. “Why are you ignoring me?” she demands sullenly.

Anakin winces. “I am sorry, Ahsoka,” he replies quietly, “That is not what I intended. I am glad you’re here.”

She bites her lip, some of her hurt fading out. “I came here because I wanted to be with you,” she says.

Anakin inhales sharply before slowly lowering himself to one knee in front of her. It’s insane how much taller than her he is when he’s standing but he’s slightly shorter now. “You did this for me?” he asks faintly, disbelievingly.

“What?” she queries, “Do you never get to have friends either?”

Anakin stills. “Are you not allowed to?”

“Of course I’m allowed to but there’s never anyone around.” And she knows Plo is busy but it’s so lonely when he’s not there all the time. That’s half of why she wants to get to go with him more. It’s not half as much about an adventure, she’s starting to realize now. But then the rest of Anakin’s words catch up to her. “What? Are you not allowed to? Is that why you avoid me whenever the adults are around?” Because she’s starting to realize how different he acts when someone’s watching him.

“I… suppose I am not. Not really,” Anakin replies, not really holding her gaze.

“That’s just mean. And stupid. Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

He looks up. His eyes are burning with an intensity that’s nearly overwhelming. “I do, but – ”

“But what?”

“I can’t.” He shakes his head, standing. “I cannot explain why, Ahsoka. Just… do not speak to anyone of this again.”

She scowls. She doesn’t appreciate that total not answer at all but Anakin keeps talking before she can ask.

“But maybe we can go outside?” he suggests, looking around, “There should be time now. Everyone is… busy.”

Ahsoka brightens, grabbing his hand.

Anakin squeezes it back tightly, but the force of his grip makes her skid to a stop. She pauses, looking up at him in confusion. “What?”

Only to get answered by being yanked into a crushing hug.

Ahsoka yelps in surprise but she winds her arms around Anakin, hugging him back. “You could’ve just asked,” she mumbles, face pressed against his chest. He feels warm. It feels nice. She hugs Plo all the time and he does it back but it’s never with this fierceness, this burning.

He laughs quietly but doesn’t let go. “I have not… had a friend in a long time,” he says, softly. There’s an intensity to it that’s nearly overwhelming.

“Then uhh… maybe let me breathe and we can go play while we still can?”

Anakin laughs again and he sounds lighter than she’s ever heard him. “Let’s go.”

***

“Race you!” Anakin calls, running through the grass ahead of Ahsoka.

“Hey! No fair!” she yells back and runs after. The grass is tall and she hasn’t seen grass this tall in a very long time.

Anakin’s heading for the water and she runs as fast as she can but he still makes it there first, jumping in.

Ahsoka jumps after with a loud splash, the water going over her head for a moment before she surfaces next to him again. “That’s no fair,” she huffs, spitting out a mouthful of water, “You can’t call a race before warning me.”

“Well where would the fun be if I didn’t?” Anakin asks, grinning.

She scoops up a handful of water and throws it in his face.

His spluttering as he shakes it off his face has her giggling hysterically.

“Water war,” she calls gleefully, splashing more at him.

“You might regret that, Snips,” Anakin warns.

“I doubt that, Skyguy,” she calls back, dodging as he throws water at her. She streaks away, swimming past him, and Anakin chases after.

The splashing war ends with both of them laughing too hard to even breathe anymore, which she knows Plo would warn her is too dangerous when they’re in water.

“We better get back to shore. I will need to get my clothes dried,” Anakin comments finally, turning and swimming away.

She swims after, climbing onto the bank next to him and flopping out in the sand.

Anakin eyes her. “You don’t mind getting sand all over you?”

“Why would I? Sand is fun. We have a huge sandy area in the Complex. Technically it’s for training and for species that normally live in deserts but I go there all the time to make sand castles.”

Anakin smiles faintly. “I don’t like sand,” he replies, “It’s course and rough and irritating and gets everywhere. That’s how it was on Tatooine, at least. On here it’s… different. Soft.”

“I guess a sand only planet might get annoying,” Ahsoka muses, “But I think it’s just nice to be away from buildings for a chance. I like never get to go anywhere or do anything interesting. All I remember of Shili is just… flashes. But there were a lot of trees. I kinda miss trees.”

“I’d never seen a tree until I came to Naboo for the first time,” Anakin comments, something distant in his eyes. “It was the one thing I really liked about this place.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka agrees, pushing herself up and shaking the sand off her clothes. The sun is still high in the sky and it’s weird to have nothing to do all day but play with Anakin but it’s amazing. She can’t help wondering, even if it’s silly, what it would be like if they’d always known each other. Always been friends.

“Maybe we can go to the meadow. And this time – race you!” she finishes gleefully and takes off.

She also has no idea how Anakin got to his feet so fast and runs after.

Nor does she have any idea how he manages to run fast enough to pass her on the way there. But she’s running so fast she can scarcely breathe at all and she finally just flops face-first in the grass. “Not fair,” she wheezes, “How are you always faster?”

“Practice, I guess.” Anakin appears over her, grinning, and she’s very tempted to bite him for a moment.

Except the only thing within reach is his boot and that would be gross.

He sits down in the grass next to her and she pushes herself up a bit shakily but she’s still pretty worn from the run and the swim so she just dramatically drops her head onto Anakin’s lap. He reaches down slowly, lightly touching her lekku.

That’s something personal.

No one does that unless they know a Togruta well. Clearly that’s not something he fully realizes but she doesn’t really mind. It feels like she’s known him far longer than a pathetic two days.

Anakin reaches out, picking a flower and studying it. And then he wiggles it in her face close enough that it tickles her nose.

Ahsoka slaps his way away. “Gross! That could have bugs on it.”

“You have a fear of insects?”

“I don’t want them in my nose! I’m so glad I don’t have ears. That would be so annoying.” Honestly, she doesn’t really care considering that Togrutas can eat bugs but the thought of having something crawl inside of her is just revolting.

Anakin just laughs and she has no idea how someone could be so cheerful but it’s nice.

Ahsoka rolls off his lap to pluck another flower and then she leans closer to stick it into his hair.

He was just touching her lekku. She doubts touching someone’s hair could be considered a whole lot more personal than that.

Anakin smiles down at her and something in his eyes is adoring in a way she’s never seen in anyone before. “It’s gonna be very boring when this mission is over,” Ahsoka blurts finally, “If… you really don’t come.”

Anakin’s smile falters. “We don’t need to think about that yet,” he points out.

Which… she’s glad of.

Anakin stands suddenly, and Ahsoka follows his gaze to see a group of shaaks is moving closer to them. He takes off running toward them and she watches, only half sure what he’s trying to do.

Especially when he jumps on one of their backs and tries to stand up.

The herd takes off running and Anakin nearly falls off three times along the way. Ahsoka jumps up, running toward them, fully intent on climbing on one of their backs herself, but they’re moving too fast and she’s too small.

And then Anakin falls off the one he’s riding, landing in the grass on his back and the shaak runs right over him. She has no idea if it actually stepped on him or not but that looked painful.

“Anakin?” Ahsoka calls, worry suddenly worming its way through her when he doesn’t immediately move to get up. She runs over to him but now that she’s close enough, she can hear very well with her montrals that he’s muffling his laughter against the grass.

She grabs his shoulder, yanking on him and he rolls over, still laughing. “I’m fine. Don’t worry – .

She punches him.

“Ow,” he says, dramatically enough that she knows there’s no way that could’ve hurt that much.

“Don’t do that again,” she scowls, even if it’s about all she can do not to start giggling too.

“Sorry,” he offers.

She swings the rest of the way on top of him, intentionally knocking his breath out when she lands. And then tickle attacks him.

Which –

Ends in them both laughing, as Anakin finally flips her off of him and tries to return to the favor.

Which is bad news.

Because he’s about twice her size. Oops. Maybe she should’ve thought of a different form of revenge other than a tickle war.

It’s going to be a long afternoon. One that she’s more than looking forwards too.

She has no idea how long they’ve been rolling around in the grass, just goofing around, when she senses movement with her montrals. Looking up, she sees that Obi-Wan is approaching.

“I see someone is having fun,” he comments dryly.

Anakin rolls into a sitting position first. “Hi,” he says, almost shyly.

“Do you want to come to the house for lunch or should I bring you something out here?” he queries, crouching into the grass across from him.

Ahsoka’s a bit baffled that he’s even offering, but well… “Can you bring it out here?” She doesn’t care to go back inside with the boring adults until she has to.

“Good thing I already did,” he responds dryly, taking some food out of the bag he’s holding and passing it to them.

“Thank you,” Anakin replies quietly, though he doesn’t really hold his gaze.

Their interaction gives Ahsoka the feeling they must’ve talked some time when she wasn’t around, not that it matters much. She’s just glad they get to spend the day out here together.

Chapter Text

It’s nighttime as Anakin sits in the living room, watching the flickering flames of the fireplace. The living room is insanely fancy and so huge, he genuinely has no idea what anyone would do with this much space.

The Palpatine family was large, but not that large. There’s a picture of them when Palpatine was younger up on the wall. He’s the oldest teenage boy with red hair. There’s four other siblings in the picture, two boys and two girls.

Anakin’s met three of them and he can’t say he likes any.

The last one, one of Palpatine’s sisters, was evidently killed some years ago in some kind of bounty hunter attack. He never really got the details about it. It’s not something his master ever really talks about but Anakin’s gaze lingers on the picture for a few more moments before he looks away, back to the fireplace. He tries to refocus on the somewhat peaceful brightness feeling flames always does.

Ahsoka already headed off to bed. After the long day they had, it’s not surprised that she’s tired.

He is too but then Obi-Wan came into the room so he’s still lingering. The day had been fun – the funnest day he thinks he’s ever had since back on Tatooine, back with Mom and Kitster. And Ahsoka is… she came here for him and no one else would ever do that.

Except apparently Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

But Ahsoka… he hasn’t known her near long enough to call her family but then he thinks of her tiny hand in his, of when she flopped out in his lap and… He’s never had a sibling before. He can’t help thinking that this is something like what it would feel like.

“What’s being a Mandalorian like?” Anakin inquires curiously, the first to break the comfortable silence between them.

He can’t stop thinking about everything Obi-Wan told him earlier. He was going to come back for him. In another lifetime, Obi-Wan may have taken him instead of Palpatine. And he doesn’t even know him, but he thinks that would be – better.

And he promised to help him. For a desperate moment, Anakin had been tempted to tell him what he really is, but –

He can’t. He can’t take that kind of risk. Not knowing what Palpatine will do. He talked too much once already and that had gone… terribly. Anyone taking action to free him, against the very Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, would be suicidal. Why would anyone do that for him? It’s more likely that Obi-Wan would want to get someone else involved and then Palpatine would find out and he’d – He doesn’t want to think about it. Not –

Just no.

Obi-Wans quiet for a pause, crossing his arms. His helmet his off right now, set on the couch seat next to him, and something about the topic seems… touchy. “I haven’t been on Mandalore for a long time,” he replies, “But before it became a peaceful world without any weapons, we were part of clans. And Clans are essentially family, usually biology somewhere way back. The leader of the clan ruled over the specific territory area the clan had claimed.”

“That must be… a large family.”

“Yes,” he agrees, expression shadowed.

“Are there really Mandalorian warriors who would go to other worlds and help those who needed it?” he asks. He heard whispers on Tatooine. He always thought it was true but… He doesn’t know anymore.

He’s heard the same about Jedi and Sith, and even if they did once exist, that was from so long ago now.

“Some did, but that was mostly long ago. When I was there, the clans were more focused on fighting one another over territory on Mandalore itself than doing anything off-world.”

Anakin frowns. “Why couldn’t they just negotiate an agreement?”

“Qui-Gon tried to help with that,” he replies, voice a bit too flat, “It never worked very well.”

“Oh,” he supplies, quietly. He wants to press for more details but he doesn’t really think Obi-Wan wants to talk about it, whatever happened.

“Ahsoka told me you mentioned that you used to want to be a Mandalorian,” Obi-Wan comments, studying him.

“Oh. I – uh… I mean I did,” Anakin says. He’s suddenly afraid he knows where this is going and he hates having to refuse when this is all he wants. Anything but what he’s stuck in now. “I thought maybe I could help free the slaves on Tatooine if I was a warrior like them.”

“You still could,” Obi-Wan points out, “We have a Mandalorian custom that when there is a child without a parent, we care for them as our own until we find where they belong.”

He heard that a little, briefly. That’s half of what made him look up to them so much. And is Obi-Wan seriously offering that for him? “I… don’t know what to say,” he offers finally, and it sounds like a pathetic excuse.

“Are you happy where you are now?”

Happy? Him?

He hardly even knows what that means anymore. He knows how to adjust to any situation and that’s what he does. Survive. Sometimes, he thinks that’s all he’s ever done. Even if on Tatooine, he’d say he was as happy as he could be while constantly dreaming of flying away someday.

He has no idea what to say to Obi-Wan that isn’t a lie. “I… I’m just used to this,” Anakin offers finally, “Any other life would be nothing like what I am used to.”

Obi-Wan nods but he almost seems disappointed. Anakin can’t tell for sure. He doesn’t mention it, though.

They just sit there a little longer, Anakin taking in the small access he even has to a human presence outside of Palpatine while it lasts.

***

Because he should have known it definitely wasn’t going to last. It’s early the next afternoon, when he and Ahsoka have come back inside to eat after another day of chaos, that Threepio comes over to him.

“Master Ani,” the droid greets, “Have you heard of the visitors?”

“What visitors?” he queries, frowning.

“I heard Master Palpatine’s family is coming to visit,” Threepio explains.

Anakin’s stomach drops to his boots instantly, maybe lower. He hates it when that happens. It always means bad things.

It might depend which family members, to be fair, but he doesn’t really want to hope. Not – not after how this usually goes. Anakin goes over to one of the towering windows, looking out. He can see a speeder pulling up on the long driveway and someone far too familiar gets out.

It’s Cosinga Palpatine.

Of all the people it could possibly be.

He’s always the worst. Always –

“Anakin.” Palpatine appears behind him, expression tight and eyes narrowed. “Go wait in my office.”

Anakin nods wordlessly and takes off.

He has no desire to be anywhere near Palpatine’s father if he doesn’t have to be and he’s glad his master doesn’t seem to like it either. He just hopes that he isn’t going to have to try explaining any of this to Ahsoka or Obi-Wan later. He doesn’t know what he’d even say. But they’re both going to notice his sudden disappearance and be wondering about it.

Anakin’s been to this mansion before so finding the office that Palpatine uses while he’s here isn’t that hard. It’s enormous, bigger than the one that he has in his apartment, though that’s probably only because the house has so much space, it doesn’t seem like anyone even knew what to do with it.

There’s also not much even in here because Palpatine doesn’t really use it anymore. This was apparently one of the houses he grew up in when he was a child. It’s weird to imagine his master ever having been a child, truthfully.

But Anakin’s seen more than enough of his family, more than he ever wants to have to again, so he has a few pretty clear impressions on just what it was like when his master was a child.

Palpatine’s mother died a few years ago from some sort of sickness. Anakin never knew the details. All he knows is that his master never went to visit her until the funeral. Considering the little he saw between them, he can hardly even blame him.

Palpatine’s mother is… nothing like Shmi, to say the least. Shmi is the best mother anyone could ever have and Anakin sort of thought all parents were always like that. But… he was so wrong. 

And he’d rather not get stuck dwelling on that mess. Anakin tries to shake it out of mind, looking around the office for something to do.

There’s some books on a shelf in the corner, from years ago. Mostly, some sort of political stuff and Anakin shifts nervously in front of the shelf, making sure that no one’s coming before he pulls one of them off, idly paging through it. He hates being able to do nothing even if he’s been forced to grow used to it.

He spends a while looking through some of the things, careful not to disturb the dust until he hears footsteps coming. He hastily shoves it back on, turning around, trying to give off the perfect picture of innocence. He doesn’t know if he’s allowed to do that or not.

Sometimes Palpatine will let him scroll around uselessly on his datapad but that’s only if he gives it to him first.

The footsteps grow closer and then Palpatine enters the office. One look at him is enough to say that he’s in a mood.

But he always s when Cosinga is around.

He says nothing when he enters, going to his desk and going though some pile of datapads that he must have brought along with him.

Anakin takes a seat on the floor, a few paces away from the desk since he doesn’t know if mindlessly pacing will annoy his master or not.

He hasn’t been excused yet which… might mean that Cosigna is still here. He probably is. He doesn’t know if his master will appreciate him starting a conversation, though, so he stays quiet.

He tries losing himself in his own thoughts, pondering the best way to give the Twilight a few new features without getting a bunch new parts.

But then he suddenly hears footsteps again and the door abruptly opens again.

Anakin’s breath catches in his throat when he sees who it is.

It’s… Cosinga.

He’s not supposed to be in here. That’s why Palpatine had Anakin wait here. It’s the one place that’s usually private because it’s so work related.

Palpatine is on his feet instantly. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that a way to speak to your father?” Cosinga asks.

His master crosses his arms. “I told you I have work to do.” His voice is flat, devoid of nearly any tone at all.

He’s scared and it makes Anakin feel unreasonably sick – for all that his master treats him hardly any better.

But maybe that’s the thing. Cosgina is supposed to be his master’s father. Not his owner. But he’s –

Anakin really just wishes he were anywhere else.

“I sometimes cannot believe I waste all this time coming to see you when you have this attitude,” Cosgina says.

“Well,” Palpatine says, far too pleasantly, but Anakin can feel as much as hear the traces of a barely buried fury there, “I didn’t ask you too.”

Cosinga slaps him.

Anakin flinches, turning away.

Can the floor please eat him?

Actually –

His back is against a filing cabinet and if he could get around it as invisibly as possible –

“You know,” Cosinga hisses icily, “All your status, everything you’ve accomplished, has been because of me. You ended up in office as Senator and Chancellor because of my influence and still you know nothing of respect. I can only wonder sometimes, how you made it this far when all your siblings listen to me far better than you ever have.”

Both of them are focused solely on each other. Anakin jerks to his feet, ducking behind the filing cabinet, finally out of sight.

No one even looks his way.

“Maybe that should tell you something,” Palpatine shoots back.

He hears the sound of someone being hit again. Ugh, can he please just get out of here –

Actually, there’s a fresher door here. And he has no idea how Cosinga can still get away with this when his son’s been an adult for probably thirty years and is also the Chancellor.

“I came here because I was concerned for you after the assassination attempts,” Cosinga snaps, practically seething and that usually means things are about to get a lot more violent. “But I’m beginning to think if it actually worked, you might finally understand how much I wasted my life doing for you while you’re forever ungrateful and insolent.”

…

Did he really just say he wants his son dead to make a point?

Well, this is why he can understand why Palpatine was so entirely unemotional about his mother dying.

All Anakin knows is – he doesn’t want to be here a second longer. He’ll worry about if this is a bad idea later. He scrambles for the ‘fresher door. It opens in front of him and he winces at the loud noise it makes as it closes behind him.

There’s another door on the opposite wall of the ‘fresher that leads into a bedroom – the one Palpatine used to have as a child, Anakin thinks. He moves for it quickly, stepping into the large room. It has a door to the hall and he sprints for it, ducking out into the hallway.

He’s not supposed to be out here. He’s breaking rules. He could be in trouble. What did he do – what –

It’s too late to go back. He doesn’t want to go back. He just –

Maybe he can go find Ahsoka and pretend that everything is normal. Or… something.

Or he can find Obi-Wan and stay near him, because if anyone tried to hurt him, he doesn’t really think Obi-Wan would let them. Ahsoka would go feral too but she’s half Anakin’s size as it is.

He just starts walking through the halls, but the house is so huge and this isn’t an area he’s been in for a long time so he’s kind of lost and he thinks he must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere because he doesn’t think the hallway he’s in is where he’s supposed to be. He thinks he’s in the hall to the bedrooms and now that he thinks about it, he thinks the one he’s right near is the one that used to belong to the sister who died.

He’s trying to find a staircase to go downstairs, not –

And now someone is coming.

Maybe it’s just a guard who will tell him the way. Maybe…

Anakin just keeps walking, trying to act like he belongs only to round the corner and come face to face with Cosinga.

He freezes, stumbling back a panicked step, heart pounding wildly.

How’d he even get out here so fast? How –

Maybe he can back away slowly and –

But the man’s gaze is focused entirely on him now and Anakin’s alone in the hallway.

“You again, boy?” he asks, studying him.

His voice is eerily similar to Palpatine’s, except that there’s obviously never the slightest trace of affection in his voice when he speaks to… Well, anyone.

Anakin takes a step back, half a mind to just run.

“Going somewhere?”

There’s a dangerous edge to his voice and Anakin doesn’t know why – is he somewhere he’s not supposed to be or does Cosinga just want a fight?

“No,” he blurts, fumbling for words and just something to say.

Palpatine may have the ability to give him a spontaneous case of muteness an annoying amount but Cosinga is much worse.

“No what, slave?” the man asks, taking a step toward him.

“Master,” he adds hastily, heart pounding.

“For all the time Sheev wastes around you instead of spending it with his family, I would have thought he’d have beaten better manners into you by now.”

He wants to run. That would probably be the stupidest thing he could do, though. Maybe someone will come by and –

“But I suppose he’s never been one to know a shred of respect either so I shouldn’t be surprised he passed the same on to you.” He sounds disgusted now and Anakin feels a sudden, irrational surge of anger.

Because his master may be a lot of things but he owes nothing to Cosinga. Not seeing the way he treats him.

“He’s the biggest disgrace to my family name that there ever has been,” Cosinga goes on, like Anakin’s supposed to want to listen to this, “Acting as though a slave is his son or something.”

Why does everyone keep implying that when it’s so untrue? Anakin’s no more free than he ever has been even if he can’t deny the gratitude he feels towards his master for saving him from someone like Cosinga. Because if not for Palpatine, he would’ve been dumped off in the mines or as a household worker probably for Cosinga and that would be unspeakably worse than what he does have.

And he can’t entirely ignore the irrational urge to say something in his defense because he’s just so tried of how awful everyone in the entire galaxy always seems to be to each other and he doesn’t even understand it. Especially not remembering Shmi’s soft “the biggest problem in this world is that no one helps each other.” And the older he gets, the more true he can see that is.

He knows how to keep his face blank but clearly the anger burning in his heart is still a little too clear in his eyes.

“Got something to say, boy?” Cosinga demands, moving a little closer.

“Why do you think he doesn’t want to be around you? With how you treat him?”

He blurts it out without thinking.

And –

Did he really just say that –

The amusement on Cosinga’s face is sharp in a very bad way. Oh no. Why does he always manage this? Even if there’s a tiny part of him that still feels vicious satisfaction. “I see he really hasn’t given you a lesson in respect. No surprise there.” He scoffs. “But do you really think I’m not capable of handling that myself?”

Anakin sees him move a split second before it comes but it’s not fast enough to duck and fighting this only ever means more pain. A fist slams into his eye hard enough that he falls, landing on the floor. His head is pounding.

He’s felt worse.

Cosinga is looming over him a second later, grabbing ahold of his shirt, yanking him back to his feet and shoving him against the wall. For his age, he’s unreasonably strong –

And Anakin probably could fight back if he tried but this is a master and he knows what resistance always means.

He’s expecting to get hit again. Not for Cosinga’s hands to wind around his throat, tight and crushing.

He gasps, struggling to fight against it, reaching up instinctively anyway to try to pry his fingers off but he can’t seem to get a good grip, and he can’t breathe and he’s –

Stars are swimming in front of his eyes and he’s not letting go and –

Is he trying to kill him? There’s people who’d notice. That’s not – He doesn’t want to die here.

But all he can see, other than the growing stars in front of his eyes, is Cosinga’s smug smirk.

“Let him go!” Palpatine’s voice filters in from far away. He sounds furious.

“Or what?” Cosinga mocks.

“I’ll call security. And throw you out,” he replies icily.

“You would ruin your place as Chancellor, our family name, for this slave?”

“Last chance,” Palpatine warns. Vaguely, he can’t help thinking this is the first time he remembers hearing him raise his voice on his father. The occasional time he backtalks him doesn’t really count.

Wishes Palpatine would call the security, though.  Maybe – maybe they’d see this and free Anakin too and –

The pressure on his neck releases and he desperately sucks in a breath of air, stumbling to his knees as he tries to catch his breath.

He can hear voices but he doesn’t have the mental space to listen to what they’re saying.

But he hears footsteps receding and then Palpatine is crouching in front of him. “Anakin?”

“Master,” he rasps, wincing at how sore his throat is. That’s going to bruise terribly. It feels like his throat was already crushed, from how he can still feel the pressure lingering on it.

He looks worried. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. I didn’t know he was going to show up.”

Anakin nods slightly, gaze on the floor.

Palpatine reaches for him, pulling him against his chest in a tight hug.

Anakin breathes out shakily, leaning into it without protest. He reaches back after a moment, clinging to him, fingers twisting in his shirt.

There’s a few moments of silence, with nothing but his own what-feels-like-much-too-loud ragged breathing.

“Feeling better?” Palpatine asks him finally.

Anakin nods wordlessly against his shoulder even if it’s not really true.

Palpatine nudges him finally, gently pushing him back. Anakin tries to suppress his ridiculous surge of hurt disappointment. This is his master. That he shows him any affection at all is a bit unbelievable sometimes, even years later.

But it’s just – he wants someone to hold him and he can scarcely find it in himself to even care who it is. He’s come far closer to dying before. That’s not really a big deal. It’s just – he wants out. He wants to have someone again.

Palpatine reaches up, fingers lightly touching Anakin’s throat. He tries not to flinch away purely on instinct. And also the mere touch hurts. It must look awful already.

His master’s eyes are dark with a quiet rage. Anakin’s just grateful that it’s not directed at him for once.

“You need to have this treated before it starts swelling,” he says, standing and pulling Anakin to his feet. “Come.”

***

The mansion has its own medical bay and as soon as the medical droid is done looking Anakin over, Palpatine has it delete the incident from memory and then power down, leaving them in the room alone.

The droid put some kind of bacta-something on his neck and eye – both of which are black and blue – and he’ll have to stay in the medical bay a short while until it’s absorbed. The bruising is still gonna take time to heal, though, and he can’t stay in here forever.

He’s presently lying on his back on the couch and Palpatine settles on the floor next to him, lightly running his fingers through his curls. It’s sort of calming. Maybe.

Anakin’s not really over comfortable being in this vulnerable of a position but he doesn’t have much other choice right now. Not since he also has an icepack on his eye.

“How is it?” Palpatine asks, watching him. He seems a bit unsure what to do himself, even if that’s a strange thing to see on his master.

“Better,” Anakin supplies, wincing at how much his throat still aches.

Palpatine raises an eyebrow.

“Still soar,” he mutters.

“You’re mine,” Palpatine tells him softly, “I’m never going to let anyone take you from me.”

Anakin bites down on his lip, looking away.

Please no.

He just wants to be out of here.

It also feels unreasonably… unkind to even indicate such a thing right now, when he knows he’s really the only person his master has.

Palpatine’s studying him closely. “I know what you’re thinking.”

His heart lurches.

It’s hardly a secret that he wants out but –

“Anakin,” he says gently, but it’s firm enough he knows it’s still an order, “Look at me.”

He really, really doesn’t want to.

He still does as he’s told. As always.

“I know you think you want to be free. You think you know what you’re asking for but you don’t. Freedom is nothing but an illusion, something you dream for as a child but in the end, realize it will never be. Being a slave is hardly the only form of bondage there is. Here, you’ll have everything you’ll ever need. You have better than the billions of beings on Coruscant who work on their own all day long but still barely have enough food. Life is never fair. You have to take what’s within your reach and you’ll have to fight for it, regardless of who gets left behind or you will be the one is.”

Is that his justification for slavery?

Anakin knows countless free people on Tatooine barely had it any better than some of the slaves because surviving there was hard. But at least they –

Well, did they have a choice? They were too poor to leave anyway.

Palpatine’s words just leave him feeling like he has his brain in backwards, more than anything else and it’s too messy to think about at all. All he does know is that that is never what his mother would have taught him. You don’t just step on people so you can survive yourself.

But he can’t help morbidly thinking that Palpatine probably views freedom that way because of Cosinga. But that doesn’t change how many he’s hurting.

“That doesn’t – ” he starts, then bites down sharply on his lip.

He’s definitely done enough back-talking for the day.

“Yes?” Palpatine prompts.

Well, he’s not going to get out of answering that. He doesn’t quite want to hold this back anyway, even if he knows he’s being stupid. “You’re the Chancellor. All those people on Coruscant, on any planet, you could help them if you wanted to.”

A humorless smile flits across his master’s face. “Things are not nearly as clear-cut or simple as you see them as, Anakin.”

Saying anything more will probably constitute as arguing with him and with his master’s hands this dangerously close to him, he’s tempted to just shut up like he should’ve from the start but – “Even if the Republic really isn’t strong enough to help everyone, that doesn’t mean you can’t try.”

“Are you unaware,” Palpatine begins and his voice is way too calm in a way that has him instantly on edge, but his master’s hand is still gently running through his curls despite the conversation, so he has no idea what to expect, “That the Palpatine family is one of the largest financial donors to the Republic’s relief efforts?”

Something he knows they only do for their own reputation, because if they didn’t then – “Money you make from everyone you’ve enslaved.”

He seems amused as though this is somehow funny. “Someone will always serve another, Anakin. That’s the nature of things. It’s simply a question of whether the greater majority of people benefit or not.”

He’s going to have his head inside out for days if this conversation keeps up. He knows what’s being done here is wrong but it –

Ugh.

“Instead of thinking so hard on things you’re still too young to truly understand, I suggest you get some rest,” Palpatine tells him, leaning closer and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Anakin turns his head away the moment he can, trying to stubbornly blink away the tears burning his eyes again – for more than one reason.

Chapter Text

Anakin doesn’t think he actually fell asleep but he’s jarred back to a full awareness of his surroundings at the sound of someone coming again. Fear flares up inside of him instantly as the door opens but this time it’s Palpatine’s other sister.

Mara.

He doesn’t know exactly how old she is but her hair is still entirely a bright red, without any traces of greying. She’s probably just in her forties, not that he’d know exactly.

But he instantly moves to sit up because he doesn’t want to be in this vulnerable of a position in front of anyone. Palpatine’s hand catches his shoulder before he can, though, gently pushing him back down. “Rest,” he repeats, standing and turning to Mara.

“I thought I’d find you here,” she comments, eyeing him.

“Yes, I should think you’d find Dad’s habits a given by now.”

“You know, if you didn’t always aggravate him so much, the situation wouldn’t always have to escalate,” she replies with a sigh.

Um, excuse –

How was that fight Palpatine’s fault?

Palpatine smiles thinly at her. Anakin’s expecting him to argue but then he just… doesn’t. Like he never seems to about this. “What he did to Anakin had nothing to do with me.”

Mara’s gaze shifts past him to Anakin for a moment. “I doubt that was unprovoked,” she replies, crossing her arms, “It’s not as if you’ve never mentioned to me before that he can be disobedient.”

He’s disobedient?

He actually really, really tries not to be, because what slave would be stupid enough to do anything else?

Unless she’s referring to that… one time.

“That changes nothing,” Palpatine replies tersely.

Mara sighs. “I didn’t come here to argue about this. But I really think you ought to apologize and leave this in the past, instead of dragging on a commotion about it.”

Anger crawls its way through his gut and he’d say something if that were even his place, because what -

“I don’t think so.” He turns away, approaching the couch again.

“You know, Mom is already gone. You aren’t going to have forever to have a better relationship with Dad.”

“What makes you think I want to?” he asks, without turning around.

“Sheev,” she says, aghast, as though he just insulted all of Naboo’s deities. “Come on. Why are you always like this?”

“Perhaps I just have other priorities.”

“Like what? Your own power? Or him?” She throws a pointed look at Anakin.

“Yes,” Palpatine replies icily.

“You know, one day that’s a choice you’re going to regret.”

“That wouldn’t be a new thing.”

The tone is maybe slightly mocking but Anakin’s pretty sure there’s something else there. Because he can feel lingering traces of guilt, about something Palpatine actually does regret very deeply, though what, he’s not fully certain.

“I would have thought Mom and Szulla dying would’ve taught you something, but I guess not.” She sounds more than a little miffed as she walks out.

Palpatine throws a final glance after her but he doesn’t speak.

His expression is often pretty unreasonable but Anakin doesn’t need to be able to read it to know that he’s back to feeling as broody as he was earlier. He can feel it too, deep within himself, even if he’s never really been able to understand how he can sense that about another. But he can feel how upset and hurt Palpatine is and it –

Anakin reaches out jerkily after a moment, before he can re-think himself, touching his master’s hand. Palpatine’s gaze snaps to his.

“She’s wrong, you know,” he whispers, “You don’t owe him anything.”

No matter what his master may have done to him, it doesn’t change that.

Palpatine reaches up, hand gently cupping his cheek. The look in his eyes is soft.

Adoring.

It makes Anakin’s heart ache, and clench uncomfortably at once.

“I know,” Palpatine says, even if it sounds heavy. And it’s never something he fights about to anyone else.

Anakin leans into the touch a little, unable to help it. If this is the only person he will ever get it from again, he doesn’t have the strength to refuse it. Not anymore. He’d rather not think about what that says about him right now.

“Cosinga may think he controls if I stay in power,” Palpatine says, and there’s something darkly satisfied in his gaze, “But he has no idea what I’m working towards. What I’m preparing for.”

Unease twists inside of him, even if he can’t truly say why. “What… do you mean?”

“In time,” he replies softly, thumb lightly trailing across his cheek, “You’ll see too.”

Something he’s not planning on talking about, then.

Anakin thinks, for a moment, of all the trips to the Works and can’t help wondering if it’s something to do with that but it’s not really his concern or his place to question it.

“There’s going to be a dinner later this evening,” Palpatine says, after a long pause, “I want you clear of there.”

“Yes, Master.” All he can feel to that is relief. He hopes he doesn’t have to see any of the Palpatine’s again for the rest of the stay.

“And if anyone sees… this, say you fell,” he adds.

Anakin nods.

That –

Well, he’s going to have to come up with something. Because there’s no way he’s not going to be interrogated about it the moment he sees Ahsoka and Obi-Wan again.

He ignores the tiny part of him that just wants to tell the truth. He can’t do that. He knows he can’t –

Ever.

He knows what will happen if he does.

No matter how every inch of him still desperately aches to be free.

***

Obi-Wan’s been trying to stick near Anakin as much as he can, even if he probably doesn’t need to. The boy said he’s happy here, or at least implied it, so he should just let it go. But he can’t stop thinking about it,

Especially not when – after having spent the entire day making sure the making sure the perimeter is still secure with the other Palatines here – he sees that Anakin’s eye and neck are black and blue. He can’t get a clear look at his neck, especially not with the way he’s wearing his collar, that looks like a deliberate attempt to cover it up, which about sends off all the alarm bells in his head. Because he knows exactly what that looks like.

Ahsoka gasps when sees Anakin. “What happened to you?” she yelps.

Anakin winces, not really looking at her. He’s sort of fidgeting like he’s very uncomfortable, actually. “I fell.”

“You fell,” Obi-Wan repeats, incredulously. If the boy is going to lie, he should at least have a better excuse. “Goodness. That must have been quite a fall.”

“Fell on what?” Ahsoka asks.

“The – “ Anakin hesitates. “Balcony. I hit my face on the railing. And my eye on the pole.”

“And it didn’t take out your eye?” Obi-Wan asks, eyebrow raising.

“Owww,” Ahsoka says dramatically, staring at him wide-eyed.

“I was lucky,” Anakin offers, grinning but then he grimaces, clearly at how the movement jarred his throat.

Because he could totally get both sides of his neck black and blue with handprints by falling on the balcony.

Totally.

And suddenly, the way Anakin looked at him when he asked if he was happy, the way he had looked at him with tear-filled eyes when Obi-Wan promised to help him if he ever needed it, is starting to make too much sense. He’s missing something huge here and he’s going to get answers.

“Have you ever climbed on a chandelier?” Ahsoka asks. Clearly, she’s accepted Anakin’s answer but she’s so young. And not to mention short – Obi-Wan frankly doubts she can properly see the bruises anyway.

Anakin laughs, then winces again. “What? No. Don’t even tell me you did.”

She grins up at him. “So you know, in that banquet hallway you told me not to go into? Well after you disappeared again, I couldn’t find you so I climbed onto the huge chandelier over the table and it was so fun. It twirls.”

“You swung from the chandelier in the banquet hall?” Anakin repeats, gaping. He looks some mix of horrified and amused. “You didn’t break it by any chance, did you? Because there’s supposed to be a party tonight.”

Ahsoka just grins back sheepishly. “It’s fine.”

“And it did not break and you didn’t get hurt,” Anakin repeats disbelievingly.

She nods again.

“It appears,” Obi-Wan interjects, crossing his arms, “That I’ve been putting effort into security in all the wrong places.”

Anakin laughs. “Well, I wish I could have seen that but – ”

“- I can do it again – ” Ahsoka interjects.

“No. No way. What if you get caught? Or did damage something this time?”

“I’d hide,” Ahsoka replies, far too cheerfully, “And pretend I didn’t do anything.”

Anakin laughs again. “Well, that could work but no.”

“I will have to second that,” Obi-Wan interjects.

Ahsoka makes a face. “Why are adults always so boring?”

Anakin looks like he’s trying very hard to muffle a laugh.

Obi-Wan’s not going to bother replying to that question. “Have either of you eaten?” he inquires. He should be checking security at the dinner party that’s going on but well…

All he focus on right now is Anakin. He needs answers.

“Nope,” Ahsoka says, “Can I have chips? You said you’d let me have a meal of that if I behaved. And I did!”

“You swung from a chandelier,” Obi-Wan repeats, trying to hide a smile, “And you’re telling me you’re well-behaved?”

“I was!” she protests, pouting, “I didn’t break anything! And Plo would never let me have a meal of them.”

That’s all the more reason he shouldn’t but it’s not as if they need to tell Plo those details.

Obi-Wan huffs. “Alright, but Anakin? What do you want?”

The boy blinks a few times, looking totally lost. “I – Can I just have water?”

His neck is that badly swollen?

“Alright,” he agrees slowly, unable not to notice the way Anakin pointedly avoids his gaze as he leaves the room.

Obi-Wan waits until after the meal and Ahsoka’s headed off the bed to bring it up again.

“I will… see you in the morning?” Anakin says, slowly standing.

“Before you go,” Obi-Wan cuts in, “Would you like to tell me what really happened?”

Anakin freezes. “What?”

“With your neck?”

“I already did.”

“I find it difficult to believe,” Obi-Wan says, rising from the couch and approaching him, pointedly standing between him and the doorway, “That a balcony railing left handprints on your neck.”

Anakin looks down, blinking repeatedly. “I – I need to go.” His gaze is darting nervously between him and the door now.

Obi-Wan doesn’t doubt he might’ve just tried to leave if he wasn’t in his way. He thinks he’s just scaring him now but – He doesn’t know how to deal with children. He doesn’t have the gentleness Qui-Gon always managed but he really, really wishes he did right now.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan says, as gently and firmly as he can manage, “I just want to help you. No one will be able to overhear us in here. Who hurt you? Was it Palpatine?” He’s seen the way Anakin responds whenever Palpatine gives him an order, but at first he hadn’t thought much of it. If Anakin works directly under him, that’s just natural as part of his job, especially for the leader of the entire Republic. But –

“No.” he looks around again, still skittish.

“Then who was it?”

“Cosinga,” he blurts.

“The Chancellor’s father?” Obi-Wan repeats, incredulous. But well – he doesn’t actually think Anakin’s lying.

The boy nods tentatively.

“And the Chancellor didn’t stop him?”

“He – he can’t.”

“Why not?” Obi-Wan asks, “What is it you are so afraid of? How can he get away with hurting you?”

Anakin looks down. “You won’t tell anyone I told you?”

“I won’t get you in trouble,” Obi-Wan promises.

“I –“  He stumbles over his words. “I don’t know how much people know about their business but it – it uses slaves.”

Obi-Wan stills. He knows what he’s saying, without directly saying it.  Why is it that he’s so terrified to even mention it, actually? “When you said Krayn took you, I thought you were freed after that,” Obi-Wan says, trying to keep the anger creeping into his voice hidden only so he doesn’t scare him even more. Because he is so, so angry right now.

Anakin is a slave.

And suddenly, everything about the strange way he’s been acting all along makes too much sense.

“I never said that,” Anakin points out quietly, which is the truth. He didn’t. Obi-Wan had just assumed. Foolishly.

“When I asked you if you wanted to leave… you do, don’t you?” Obi-Wan asks.

“I – I can’t,” Anakin blurts, “You don’t understand. I can’t just leave. On Tatooine, they have… transmitters. Mine was never taken out.”

…Right.

Anakin had mentioned that to him earlier.  “Palpatine has the control for a bomb implanted inside of you?” he repeats.

It sounds almost unreal. He can’t imagine how the Chancellor of the Republic could be what Anakin is saying. But he can see the evidence right in front of him.

“Do you know where in you the chip is?”

Anakin wordlessly shakes his head. “But it will detonate if tampered with.”

“Even if a skilled medical droid did it?”

“I don’t know. But the only one here is owned by Palpatine.”

“But there is one here?”

“Yes, but… I don’t think we could ever use it.”

That’s true but there has to be something he can do. “You said Krayn has found a way to override slave’s chips so he can steal them,” Obi-Wan points out, “So there has to be a way to do it.”

“I know but I do not know what. No one on the freedom trail on Tatooine has been able to figure it out. At least not when I was still there.”

“But still, there must be some way. We just need to find it. Do you want me to get you out?” Obi-Wan inquires gently, even as his mind whirs. He can’t just leave him here. He can’t. He doesn’t think he would do that for anyone, but that’s especially true when it… has everything to do with his promise to Qui-Gon as well. And that the boy is already important to him, even if he can hardly say why.

“Yes, but – If my master finds out… I don’t want to try if it’ll fail.”

What’s been done to him that’s made him this scared? It’s not too surprising when he’s likely been a slave all his life, but still.

“I… will see what I can do,” Obi-Wan concedes finally, “But you will have to trust me.” He has a few ideas, already. There’s people he can contact, people who might be able to figure out what Krayn’s secret is, but he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to get the information in time. All he can do is try.

Anakin nods again, silently. Doing this will mean he’s about to break his contract to protect Palpatine but – Obi-Wan’s not so sure he deserves protection. Still, maybe he can make it look like he’s done both and then take word of this to the Bounty Hunter Council. He’ll see what he can do. But he’s not sure he’ll able to do it alone and the only person here he can trust other than Anakin is… Ahsoka.

“Do you think Ahsoka could keep a secret?” Obi-Wan asks a bit dryly.

“She snuck along on a mission with you in the first place,” Anakin points out.

Fair enough She’s clever. And he’s going to need that. He has an idea but… he doesn’t know if it will work.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Obi-Wan promises again, “You should get on to bed.”

“Thank you,” Anakin whispers.

Obi-Wan moves aside and Anakin heads to the door hesitantly. Obi-Wan pats his shoulder as he passes, trying not to think too hard at how he flinches sharply at first, as though expecting to be hit before relaxing again. He watches Anakin go, a certainty settling inside of him. He’s going to get him out of here, whatever it takes.

***

The last thing Ahsoka expected the next morning was to get pulled aside to hear that Anakin is a slave. She almost doesn’t believe Obi-Wan but she knows he wouldn’t make that up, especially when he explains why he figured it out.

She’s never met the Chancellor’s dad in her life but she’s also never wanted to beat anyone up this badly in her life. And to think that she was trying to protect him.

But she has strict orders not to breathe a word about this so long as they’re inside the complex so she has to wait until her and Anakin go out to the fields to play again before bringing it up. She noticed before how nervous he seemed to be but now she can really understand why. It seems even worse now.

Ahsoka tackles Anakin in a hug the moment they’re alone. He lets out a startled squeak of surprise but hugs her back tightly. “You know?” he asks.

“You could have told me!” Ahsoka exclaims, “We could’ve done something about this from the start.”

Anakin’s expression falters. “We don’t even know if this is going to work, Ahsoka. If it doesn’t, it…”

“What?” she asks, baring her fangs. She’ll definitely be biting some people if it doesn’t. “What would happen?”

“I don’t know.” It comes out barely a whisper.

“And Obi-Wan said you have a bomb thingy in you?” She goes on, appalled. She always wanted to do some kind of real, actual mission. And this is the first time it actually feels like she is doing something. Getting to help someone, like what Plo taught her she’d get to do when she was older. She just never realized people could be so awful. “He wouldn’t use it, would he?”

“I don’t know,” Anakin says again and she really thinks he should look more scared of that than he does, “I don’t think he would kill me.”

“Have you ever tried escaping before?” she wonders.

He looks away, idly fingering a blade of glass. “When I was little, I tried to create a scanner. It never worked out. And once… years ago. Well, I did not try to escape specifically. But when I was younger, my master – ”

Ahsoka makes a face. “Don’t call him that.” Slavery was just an awful concept from something she thought was long in the past. She didn’t know it was still a real thing.

Anakin smiles faintly. “Palpatine,” he amends, “He’d take me to the Senate with him sometimes.”

“And no one ever noticed?” Ahsoka demands indignantly.

“I don’t understand people. I think more are willingly blind than they want to believe. Om Free Taa has slaves too.”

Ahsoka’s head snaps up. “Who? Is that that big fat Twi’lek Senator or something?”

Anakin stifles a laugh. “Yes.”

“He’s so ugly. I guess that’s not surprising. How do you know?”

“I recognized the look on them,” Anakin says, quietly, “I tried talking to them once. I didn’t really directly mention escape but it was implied. But… somehow word of what I said got out. Word that implicated Palpatine as a slaver.”

Unease suddenly churns inside of her. “What did he do?”

“Well, he never let me go to the Senate again. He’s never really let me talk to people since.”

And suddenly all Ahsoka can remember is the ceaselessly loneliness she feels and – At least she has Plo, even if it’d be very nice to actually know another child. Anakin doesn’t even have that. “I hate him,” Ahsoka says, with as much force as she can manage, “How could anyone want him as Chancellor?”

“He’s good at words.”

“Good at being mean.” She pauses. “Is that all he did?” Not like that’s an all. She just has a morbid curiosity that she doesn’t think she wants answered.

Anakin sort of chews on his lip, not really answering. “It doesn’t really matter. It was years ago.”

It seems to have him jittery about talking years later so she highly doubts the it doesn’t matter part. Probing further probably wouldn’t be very nice even if she’s only more curious now. “I sorta hope that the next assassination attempt does succeed.” She’d never say that about anyone else, but she hates him too much to care.

She expected Anakin to agree. He doesn’t say anything at all.

“Anyway, Obi-Wan told me we should stay out here and be normal until he has a plan.”

Anakin looks up, hope burning in his eyes. “You really think he’s going to have one?”

“If he doesn’t, I’m going to make one myself.”

***

It’s later that afternoon when Obi-Wan calls them down to the ship. “Is this what Mandalorian ships normally look like?” Anakin asks, head turning in every direction as he enters.

“No. I picked this one up later with Qui-Gon,” Obi-Wan replies.

Ahsoka doesn’t quite get his fascination with their surroundings but she trots over to the holotable, hoping onto the seat next to it.

“Why is there a hole through the vent grate?” he asks, “Do you need me to fix it? I can fix anything. If I had… the parts.”

“It’s there because Obi-Wan tried to shoot me,” Ahsoka announces loudly.

Anakin’s head whips toward him, eyes widening. “You what?”

“She stowed aboard my ship,” Obi-Wan grumbles, crossing his arms, “I didn’t know she was a kid. Now we need to focus. We don’t have much time.”

He doesn’t need to say it twice.

He starts going over the details of the plan with them, and Ahsoka is excited to do her part but she’s also nervous. She’s never had to do anything this serious before but she can’t fail. They’re only going to get one shot at this. Maybe she can also use this as a good way to prove that she’s perfectly ready to start doing real missions. But most of all, she just wants to help Anakin get to safety.

Obi-Wan gives each of them a comm to stay in contact and… she’s never had anything this cool before.

“One last thing,” Anakin says, “Is there any way to bring Threepio along? I… built him when I was still with my mother. I don’t want to lose him.”

Obi-Wan looks thoughtful. “As a droid, anything we say to him could be retrieved from memory. I’ll… see if I can get to him but I can’t make any promises.”

Anakin nods “Thank you,” he says, quietly, “I couldn’t ask you to do more. I couldn’t ask you to do as much as you are.”

“You didn’t,” Ahsoka chirps, “We’re doing it anyway.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan agrees, solemnly. “Can you both do this?”  They’ve already triple gone over the plan.

“Yes,” Ahsoka says, firmly.

Anakin nods tentatively. He’s far more scared, not that she’s surprised. She squeezes his hand in reassurance.

For what’s going to be the last time for the day until he’s hopefully free because the plan requires all of them to split up.

She thought she heard that could be a bad thing.

***

She was excited before but now she’s just nervous. It’s dusk when Ahsoka takes a speeder from Obi-Wan’s ship, firing up the engine and driving away, straight through the valley so no one should spot what she’s doing. She doesn’t think any security would pay her much attention even if they did – which is half of why half the jobs are hers. Plo’s taught her how to use speeder bikes but she’s never done it unsupervised before. It’s fun. And about time. She’s not that little, just because she’s not quite ten yet.

She keeps a close eye on her surroundings, though, just to make sure she doesn’t get lost or their entire plan is gonna be blown.

The sky is entirely dark by the time she reaches an area outside the Palpatine’s retreat and fully away from any security.

It was supposed to be this group of trees and she parks the bike, suddenly a little on edge. There’s someone she’s supposed to be meeting, some contact Obi-Wan got ahold of.  The person is supposed to be someone who could get ahold of Krayn’s technology, is all Obi-Wan said. She thought it would be someone bad and she doesn’t know that it’s not.

Especially not because she senses something right above her –

There’s sudden movement and Ahsoka jerks back with a yelp as a dark clothed figure jumps down from the trees.  “Well,” a woman’s voice says, “And here I thought Obi-Wan would come himself after how long we’ve been apart instead of sending… a kid.”

Ahsoka lifts her chin, staring up at the woman. “I’m not just a kid. Are you the one I’m supposed to meet?” She sort of looks like a kidnapper. She’s not, right?

Ahsoka knows how to bite really hard if she is.

She’s still scared suddenly.

“So I am,” the woman replies, “Tell Obi-Wan I’m a bit disappointed he didn’t come out here but… I’m assuming he’s wrapped up in something big to have asked me to come all the way out here in twenty-four hours or else.”

“Do you have the thingy or not?” Ahsoka demands. She doesn’t even know who this weirdo is.

“I do.” She reaches into her pocket, withdrawing a small device. Some kind of signal interference, from what Ahsoka can gather.

“This really works?”

“It does. I’d like to know why you need it on Naboo, though.”

“If you’re all classified and weird, so is this mission,” Ahsoka replies defiantly, but she holds out the bag of credits Obi-Wan said to give to this “contact.”

The woman laughs softly. “Alright. Well, good luck with whatever you’re doing. I’m Siri.”

The name means nothing to her but it still mean something that this stranger would even tell her that, for really no reason. Maybe she’s not a kidnapper after all. “Ahsoka,” she says, crossing her arms as she watches the woman turn to go, “Thank you.”

“Good luck,” she calls back, and then she’s gone, disappearing into the shadows.

It’s time for Ahsoka to get back to the house.

Chapter Text

Anakin’s heart is pounding as he makes his way to the medical bay. If someone catches him now, he’ll have to have an excuse fast. Each step feels like he’s walking to his doom. He could say he wants more bacta for his bruises but –

He’s never done that without his master’s permission before. Palpatine would probably be fine with it but he doesn’t know that. It just –

His mind is whirling a mile a minute and he’s so scared. He can’t stop remembering all the things he knows could happen if this goes badly, but the truth is that he has no idea what actually would. Which half of what makes agonizing over it so awful.

He already didn’t manage to sleep like at all the previous night. He’s too on edge.

The tiniest whisper of hope is burning in his chest, despite his fear, that maybe this is the chance he’s been waiting for, for years, that he’ll be able to get out of here. It’s something he’s always dreamed of but now that it’s here he’s so scared. He has no idea what will happen if it goes that far. His master would be so angry if he knew.

That just means don’t get caught. He cannot fail. He can’t.

He tries hard to ignore the small swell of guilt burning in his chest at how he’s about to just walk away without looking back. Palpatine’s not always bad. He’s the only one who’s taken care of him in years. That he expects good behavior in return isn’t that unreasonable, is it? Maybe?

The way he feels about his master ought to be clear-cut and simple but it’s not and it never could be. But Anakin knows very well what this is from Tatooine. He’s heard the whispers, of the slaves who start to care for their masters to much to leave, and he’s not going to become that. He has the chance to get out and he’s not going to just not take it.

“Can you locate my… chip?” Anakin asks the medical droid.

“You are not authorized for this kind of information.”

Right.

Because he’s not even a person legally. The bitterness rushes through him full force, chasing away the lingering guilt that he barely understands why he’s even feeling.

“Run an override,” Anakin requests.

The droid tilts his head, its eye flickering.

“I cannot. You do not have this authority. I can contact Master Palpatine and request permission – “

His heart nearly stops at the mere suggestion. “No, that’s alright. I just – “ He moves forwards sharply, flipping the power switch and the droid goes still.

He’ll have to do this fast. How much time does he have?

Obi-Wan is supposed to warn him, via the cameras he’s watching now, if someone is coming.

There’s a party right now. Everyone should be busy. But –

He works as fast as he can, trying to keep all his concentration on redoing some wiring, to get the droid past whatever programming has been installed 

Finally, he gets the wires in the right slot. He doesn’t sense anyone coming. Obi-Wan would warn him – Just breathe.

He turns the droid back on, repeating his request.

It ushers him over to the table right away, running a scan over him. It has to run the scan a couple times before locating the thing. It’s in his neck.

Predictable enough.

“Can you take it out?”

“Yes,” the droid agrees, “The surgery should only take a minute, with a local anesthetic.”

“Do it,” Anakin requests, pushing the button on his comm, “Obi-Wan? I’m ready.”

“Go ahead Ahsoka,” he hears Obi-Wan’s muffled voice say – carrying out her part to the plan. The distraction. “Anakin, do it. Make it fast. Then get to the ship.”

He flips off the comm, turning on the signal scrambler once the droid is ready to begin. He pauses just a moment to look over the device, trying to figure out what it is about that’s different than he tried to build on Tatooine. The most he can gather without dissecting it is that it has some top quality parts and things that link directly to whatever kind of specific signal the chips have. He’ll have to take this with him when he goes.

He doesn’t know for sure how slave chips work but he’s certain now there’s no way to cover up what just happened, if it were necessary. Palpatine will know it was tampered with. Assuming he carries his transmitter with him at all times because now that he’s thinking about it, he doesn’t actually know that he does. He’s just always assumed. Either way, there’s no going back.

***

Remote control droids are officially Ahsoka’s new favorite. She’s in the hold of Obi-Wan’s ship, controlling the droids on a datapad. There’s two of them – she can’t make a mistake. She directs the two small droids to fly through the grass, hoping they’re actually staying concealed. They each have a camera, showing where they are – and another screen showing the tractor of where they are on a map. They’re getting close to the house and she managed to get them past all security. Seriously, she’s almost surprised that doing a fake assassination attempt is this easy.

She gets one of the droids to right outside the window of the grand dining hall first. She flies it up carefully peering over the edge.

The room is full of people,

And –

A distant alarm starts blaring. Oh no.

Something was triggered.

The guests are starting to stand.

She slams on the control, sending the droid spiraling through the window, smashing the glass.

The droid starts shooting. The shots fly into the walls, not hitting anyone even if she’s supposed to be making it look like a close thing.

Considering what she’s heard about these people, she’s actually slightly smug about messing up their hall.

Seeing how much everyone is panicking is making her almost feel bad.

But then she remembers the bruises on Anakin’s neck and – Never mind.

She nearly shoots Palpatine in the head just out of spite.

The security are drawing their blasters, shooting back at the droid, and a few shots send it flying out of reach, sparking. She hits the self-destruct thing and electricity zaps through it, short circuiting it entirely so no one will be able to trace where the droid came from and realize Obi-Wan set this up.

She sends the other droid smashing in through the opposite window and starts shooting again.

Obi-Wan finally shows up, shooting at it. She jerks twirls the droid out of his reach and sends it speeding back out the window. Obi-Wan activates his jetpacks, flying after.

As planned.

To explain what he’s doing going out to his ship.

None of the other security follow, from what she can tell, assuming he’s capable of handling this on his own. Now she can only hope that Anakin’s gotten out of there by now.

***

The chip is so tiny in the palm of his hand. And to think this is the thing that’s kept him from freedom all his life. He wants to smash it himself but he doesn’t know if that will detonate it. It’s best to just leave it here.

He’s free.

Or at least, he will be momentarily.

He thought it would be a feeling he would understand right away but it’s not – probably because it could still change. He drops the chip to the ground, quickly wiping the droid’s memories and then runs for the door. He takes a window exit away from cameras the way they talked about and then runs for Obi-Wan’s ship. He can still distantly hear the sound of shooting – everyone should be too occupied to notice him.

There’s a flash of armor not long later and then Obi-Wan’s flying overhead. Anakin makes it to the ship first, running on board.

He made it.

But he doesn’t see Threepio here.

It was expected but he’s still disappointed.

Obi-Wan lands moments later, going to the cockpit and firing it up, taking off. Anakin stays in the back, out of sigh as Obi-Wan contacts the head of Palpatine’s security, to report that he’s trying to track down a lead on suspicious activity he saw on where the droid was headed.

The security officer accepts that, assuring him that he’ll control the situation back at the compound.

Anakin watches out the window as the house rapidly shrinks until it’s gone.

He’s away. It’s actually happening.

The rush of giddy relief and gratitude is nearly overwhelming, even if mostly he just feels in shock and disbelieving. And half afraid this could change in a moment.

And then Obi-Wan’s comm suddenly beeps again.

Anakin’s heart skips a beat.

“That’s not Palpatine calling, is it?” Ahsoka asks appearing at his side.

He reaches for her hand and she squeezes it tightly.

“No,” Obi-Wan replies, frowning, answering the frequency so it can only pick up sound on his end. “This looks like Aurra Sing’s frequency. She was investigating the assassin. I don’t know why she’d be calling.”

A hologram flickers to life in front of them but it’s of a girl who looks maybe somewhere about thirteen. Her red hair is pulled back, hanging a good distance past her shoulders. And she looks scared. “Is this Obi-Wan Kenobi?”

“It is,” Obi-Wan replies, “Did you find something? Where is Soara?”

“She was captured, taken by some kind of battle droids,” the girl replies, looking around again, “I got away but they’re searching for me. You need to get this to the Bounty Hunter Council. We tracked the bounty hunter involved to Kamino and then to here. It’s Jango Fett. And we ran into some kind of meeting – there’s an alliance between commerce groups and Count Dooku. Wait –!” she yelps, cutting off suddenly and spinning around.

Droids move onto the hologram and she raises her hand in surrender before the hologram flickers off.

“Who is that?” Anakin asks, urgently. He doesn’t know her but she clearly needs help.

“Darra. Somme girl another bounty hunter named Soara Antana takes with her sometimes. Like an apprentice.”

“Geonosis isn’t far from here,” Anakin says, biting his lip, “We could help her.”

Obi-Wan turns to look at her. “Going there could be dangerous. Neither of you are equipped for what might be there.”

The plan was for him to have Anakin take the smaller ship with them and head back to Coruscant and wait there until the protecting Palpatine mission was over. But…

“But she needs help. And no one’s going to be able to get there before us. The Bounty Hunter Guild is on the other side of the galaxy.”

“And it’s part of investigating, isn’t it?” Ahoskie pipes up.

And besides, this is something of galactic importance. Even if his opinion of the Republic is extremely low anyway.

“Alright,” Obi-Wan concedes finally, “But we’ll have to make it fast.”

***

This actually worked and Obi-Wan is still mind-blown about it. Anakin is free. He truthfully thought it would be harder and while he knows there’s a high chance Palpatine will suspect what happened, he shouldn’t be able to prove anything. And as soon as they have the situation under control, he’ll go to the bounty hunter council.  There has to be something they can do to expose him.

Obi-Wan lands the ship concealed near a factory on Geonosis’ surface. “I’ll handle this,” he says, standing, “You two stay on the ship.”

“But what if you need help?” Anakin objects.

“The help I’ll probably need the most is a fast exit. But here.” He passes Anakin a blaster. “If you need it. Can you use it?”

Anakin nods. “I… think so.”

“Good.” He heads off the ramp, scanning his surroundings with his visor on his helmet. And there’s actually dozens of hostiles here and the bugs come swarming out of the corner before he’s even gotten anywhere. He draws his blaster, shooting at them. But they just keep on coming.

But he’s Mandalorian and he knows how to do this, cutting his way through all of them before moving deeper into the facility.

It lasts until he’s deep in the catacombs and suddenly gets unexpectedly surrounded by destroyers on all sides. And using a few explosives to take them out ends with half the tunnel coming down on his head.

He digs his way out quickly enough, only to see more Bugs swarming towards him. He goes for his blaster again, but a familiar voice stops him.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

Obi-Wan turns around sharply, to see Jango approaching, but he’s holding onto Anakin, holding a blaster to his head.

How did he even –

“What are you doing, Jango?” he demands icily.

Bounty hunters aren’t really loyal to each other but they do have a code of sorts to follow, once they sign up to work for the Republic. And this is violating every bit of it.

“Surrender,” he warns.

Obi-Wan lowers his blasters slowly, even if he’s thinking of all the ways he would like to kill Jango right here. Anakin looks – well, not quite as terrified of being about to be shot as Obi-Wan thought he would, but he’s no normal child.

The bounty hunter releases him, gesturing to the Bugs who swarm forwards, putting both of them in restraints after searching for and removing any other weapons. And then they shove them forwards, through the halls of the factory again.

“What happened?” Obi-Wan asks, glancing sideways at him.

Anakin looks down. Now he does look nervous. “I’m sorry. I – I tried to hide but they searched the ship and they were going to…” He pauses, but the meaning is obvious. They would’ve found Ahsoka otherwise. “I didn’t mean to cause this,” he mumbles.

“It’s hardly your fault.”

Anakin doesn’t seem too reassured but Obi-Wan doesn’t have time to give that any more thought before they’re led into a room with the last person he ever expected to see.

Count Dooku.

“Obi-Wan,” the Count greets, standing.

He’s only seen him in holograms. He looks a bit more imposing in person. “What do you want?” he demands shortly. Under other circumstances, he might respect the man a little more but not right now.

Dooku adopted Qui-Gon when he was a child. He adopted Qui-Gon’s older brother, Rael Aveross also, though Obi-Wan never saw much of him.

“I could ask you the same question This is the second time in the past few hours that the Republic has sent an agent to territory they don’t belong in,” Dooku replies.

“You’re amassing an army,” Obi-Wan replies bluntly, “Do you really think the Republic isn’t going to investigate that?”

“Oh, it’s expected, but your presence here is still espionage none the less, since you were acting on a mission for the Republic.”

“And that means?” he asks, even if he’s suddenly wary. Taking Anakin here was a very bad idea.

“It means I’ll have to turn you over to the planet’s authority… unless we can come to an agreement.” Dooku sighs. “I never spoke to Qui-Gon much in his later years but I know he knew you. He talked about you a little bit. I thought I might meet you someday. And… it seems you have picked up an apprentice already yourself. What’s his name?”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan replies after a moment of debating if he should even bother responding or not. But the word apprentice warms something deep inside him, because the truth is… that is what he wants. But he doesn’t actually know what Anakin wants, now that he’s free.

The boy is looking between them both, uncertain and wary.

“As I was saying,” Dooku goes on, “I have a proposal to make to you. If you would eliminate all allegiance to the Republic and agree to work for solely the Separatist movement on their behalf, the way you do for the Republic now, I may be able to secure your release.”

The politics of this mess is insane. Obi-Wan doesn’t much care for it, thoughtfully, but doing that would be a direct violation of every agreement he made and…. as a rule of honor, that’s not something he’s willing to do. The Republic is what he’s worked for all these years, even if it was also about money. He’s not going to just back out of that. “I think not,” Obi-Wan replies, “You’re a traitor to the Republic and when your movement is destroyed, that’s not the side I’m going to be on.”

“This is about more than money. It’s about the right thing. You must have seen the corruption of the Republic. Qui-Gon saw it once too. He would have stood with me.”

What if –

Dooku might be able to offer them the protection Anakin is probably going to need. But truthfully, a political battle isn’t something he’s going to get tied up in and he’s not very appreciative that he’s being blackmailed into doing so. “I made a deal with the Republic long ago. One I cannot back out on. But perhaps at a later time, I might consider your offer if you prove to be a little more trustworthy.”

Dooku sighs. “Is this really a fate you want to doom the boy to?”

Obi-Wan bristles. “He’s a child. He’s not even an agent of the Republic. You can’t harm him.”

“I’m afraid if you won’t stand with the Separatists and pledge allegiance to our cause, then there’s nothing I can do for either of you.”

Honestly, all he’s doing is convincing him of all the reasons he’s not going to stand with him. Now isn’t the time to be petty but he doesn’t think this kind of agreement is going to end any better, for reasons he can’t explain. “I’ll have to decline your gracious offer, Count.”

“Then I have done all I can for you.”

***

This could be going worse. Maybe.

The bugs shove Anakin forwards again when he tries to pause for a moment. From the look Obi-Wan shot him, he’s pretty sure he has some kind of plan for getting them out of this, but Anakin doesn’t know what. It’s his fault they got captured in the first place because Obi-Wan wouldn’t have had to surrender if not for that. He didn’t seem angry at him for that, though, which is weird.

Not that he has the time to think about it right now. He doesn’t want to die here.  He’s free for the first time in his life. He doesn’t want this to be the end.

And he doesn’t care much for politics after how much of a lie the Republic is, but after the kind of method Dooku was using to try to get them to join the Separatists, he’s not sure he has any higher of an opinion of it.

He hears the rattle of more chains and then two other people are led in. They must be Darra and Soara Antana. The Bugs lead the adults away first, to some kind of carts, leaving Anakin alone with the other girl.

“You must be Darra?” he asks, edging a little closer to her.

She’s fidgeting nervously, while looking like she’s trying very hard to cover how terrified she is. He wishes there was something he could actually do to help – at least they didn’t find Ahsoka.

“Yeah,” she says, fingering a lock of her hair. She sticks it in her mouth and starts nervously chewing on it. “Who are you? I haven’t seen you before.”

“Anakin Skywalker,” he replies, smiling a bit shyly, “Obi-Wan just… picked me up.”

She nods, abruptly dropping her hair and making a disgusted face when she seems to realize what she was just doing.

“I’m sorry I got you dragged into this mess, then,” she says, biting her lip, “Assuming you came here after me?”

“Yes but it’s okay,” he promises, “Everyone needs help sometimes.”

Darra smiles a little, even if it looks more like a wince. “Well, thank you for coming. This is my first mission ever. I was really hoping to give a good impression. I hope all missions aren’t always this hard.”

“I doubt they all are but I don’t know. This is my first mission too. I guess we can figure it out together,” he replies. He doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing either so he entirely gets her anxiety. He managed to hide his blaster in his boot before the Bugs got to him but he can’t reassure her of that right now.

The Bugs fly closer, abruptly shoving them forwards toward the waiting cart. Apparently, they’re getting in that together. Anakin’s oddly relieved that he’s not being dragged into whatever’s coming next alone. And he doesn’t think Darra wants to be in it alone either. “I guess we can,” Darra agrees, “But… you think we’re going to make it out of here?” There’s a desperate, vulnerable fear in her eyes that –

Well, Anakin is scared too but he’s faced death in the past. Even if it was never being dragged to his own execution. “If it helps any, I don’t think what they’re about to do is going to work.”

“Really?” There’s the tiniest bit of hope in her eyes now. “Is there some kind of plan or - ?”

“I don’t know,” he admits, “I think Obi-Wan might have something in mind and if not… Well, it’s just a feeling.” It’s something he can feel deep inside of him, a knowledge of a future and he can’t believe he’s about to die here after he just got free. It doesn’t feel like it even if he’s still afraid. He doesn’t know about anyone else though and that’s what’s scaring him most of all.

“Okay,” she says, fidgeting, “You know, I spent half my time wanting to finally be a bounty hunter on a mission but now I’m glad I’m not yet. I wish Soara was here.”

“We’ll stick together if we can,” Anakin promises.

She nods, looking tentatively hopeful.

He doesn’t know why she’s trusting him so fast when he truthfully has no way to protect her but he knows how to be strong when someone else needs it.

A blinding ray of sunlight falls across them and Anakin looks up. They’re being led out into a large arena where thousands of Bugs are watching and there’s for poles there.

Great.

This is not looking good.

He hates how much his surroundings remind him of Tatooine. It hurts too much to remember.

They’re led to the poles and chained to them. Anakin’s between Obi-Wan and Soara. He’s a bit disappointed Darra’s on the far end away from him. Even if he’s also glad he’s next to Obi-Wan because he has no idea what he’s doing but Obi-Wan probably does and he’s helped him this far, so Anakin’s certain he’s going to try to help him now too.

Doors at the far end of the arena open and three creatures come out – a nexu, acklay, and a reek.

They’re going to be eaten here.

It’s not like their death will be fast. It will be messy and painful and –

What is wrong with the galaxy? He doesn’t understand.

All he knows is he’s beginning to rethink what he thought about them being fine. He doesn’t even know how they could make it out at this point.

The creatures charge right towards them.

The reek looks like it’s his – great. The beast runs right up to him, and Anakin twists around, straining against the chains, trying to maneuver out of its way. The thing slams its nose against the pole, unable to move fast enough, and he flings the wraps the chain around it’s horn. The creature flicks its head up and rips the chains totally free from the pole. Anakin stumbles out of the way, but the chain is still attached to the reek and he ends up flat on his face, getting dragged after the thing through the sand.

The acklay has knocked over Obi-Wan’s pole and is now chasing him and –

Soara is fighting off the nexu from her position at the top of the pole. He has no idea how she got up there.

Darra’s stuck trapped at the far end, watching wide-eyed.

Anakin reaches for his boot, slipping out the blaster. Lifting it, Anakin fires at the nexu first, considering that it’s two seconds short of eating Soara. The blast hits it in the head and it goes limp on the ground. Anakin leaves the reek to rampage on its own, sprinting across the sand to Darra’s pillar.

“Here,” he says, breathlessly, “The only way I know to get it off is like this.” He raises the blaster, aiming it at the chains above her head.

“How’d you smuggle that in here?” she asks, a bit impressed.

“Evidently the Bugs can be stupid.” He fires and the chain jerks free. She stumbles away from the pillar and Anakin turns around. The acklay is still stumbling around blindly and Obi-Wan’s escaped it completely now. He doesn’t know if he should shoot the other animals but they aren’t presently attacking them so he hesitates, uncertain. He doesn’t really want to if he doesn’t have to but – He doesn’t actually know what to do now.

The sound of clattering droids reaches his ears a second later and destroyer droids come rolling in, taking aim on them.

Anakin breathes in sharply, hands tightening on his blaster.

Obi-Wan moves closer to him, expression tight, but there’s nothing he can do. He still has his armor so he could last a bit against the baster shots but not forever. And there’s nothing he can do to protect anyone else.

A blaster shot suddenly rings out from somewhere up above and they all look up sharply, to see – someone Anakin doesn’t recognize but he just shot at Jango.

“Windu?” Dooku asks, “Foolish of the Republic to send you here. You’re impossibly outnumbered.”

“I don’t think so,” Windu retorts, a blaster in each hand.

A shot rings out and he ducks, as destroyer droids come clattering up behind him. Windu jumps over the edge of the balcony, using a grappling hook to drop to the ground below.

Dozens of bounty hunters are suddenly emerging from doorways across the arena and then Anakin hears the loud sound of clanking droids approaching. Dozens come in all sides of them and start shooting.

This does not look good. At all.

Chapter Text

People are dying everywhere. Anakin’s seen death before, but not in these numbers. He doesn’t quite know why the Republic thought sending dozens of bounty hunters out here was necessary but so many people are dying.

Blaster shots are flying past him and he keeps ducking trying to shoot back at the droids. He’s come so close to getting hit countless times.

“Anakin!” Darra calls next to him, gesturing to an animal that’s galloping across the sand – something the Geonoisans were riding.

He doesn’t have the breath to answer but he sees as Darra runs over to it, swinging onto the back of the animal to use it as a better perch to shoot from.

Convenient.

It works for two minutes until a droid shoots the animal in the head and it goes down.  The cart it was pulling flips onto its side. She runs to the cart for cover and Anakin scrambles to join her, crouching in the opening. Except the droids will have a clear shot at them now if they try.

They just have to shoot fast enough that all droids that turn their way will be hit first.

“Good thinking,” Anakin calls to her, over the noise.

She smiles back, even if it’s tight and strained. “Seemed like a good idea.”

“I don’t understand why the Separatists are doing this,” Darra says breathlessly.

“I don’t either. Obi-Wan tried to negotiate with Dooku, with no luck.”

She winces, firing a few more times in rapid succession. She’s trying to be brave, like he is too but he’s scared. This probably is the closest to dying he’s ever come but mostly he’s worried about everyone else. He doesn’t want anything to happen to them. Hopefully Ahsoka is okay.

“I guess negotiations don’t work. Soara told me even trying is often a waste of time. I tried anyway but…”

“This is a new form,” Anakin calls back, “Aggressive negotiations.”

Darra grins back, even if it fades fast. “I guess so.”

The droids are continuing to close in on them and then a super battle droid turns their direction. They both dive out of the way as a blast tears through the back of the cart and they scramble to try getting behind it.

Darra pushes Anakin down, as a shot nearly takes his head off.

And then she gasps sharply, going on her knees in the sand.

There’s a smoking blaster shot in her leg and Anakin winces. He stumbles to her side, helping her upright. “Darra?” he calls, worried.

So many people have died here already. He knows how easily she could be next. Especially now that she’s hurt. He’s seen so many people hurt and he’s so tired of never being able to do anything to stop it. He’s not going to let that happen again. He won’t.

“I’m okay,” she coughs, “Just - don’t get shot too.” Her face is tight with pain.

Anakin dodges another shot. This needs to end or they’re all going to end up dead. He might hate the Republic but he’s not seeing the Separatists as any better.

Obi-Wan looks around, clearly catching sight of their predicament because he turns, quickly moving closer to them to help cover them as much as he can – which would be easier if his armor hadn’t been stripped of weapons. Now that Anakin thinks about it, it’s weird that Dooku let him keep his armor in the first place unless he didn’t want him to end up dead after all. But considering what Dooku is doing here, Anakin doesn’t have much hope of that and he’s still so angry at him.

The cart won’t give much but between that and Obi-Wan, at least it’s something and Anakin helps get Darra settled in the cart before he turns back to the battle.

A ship suddenly flies in overhead and Anakin freezes when he realizes that it’s the ship they came on. And the only person who would be flying it is Ahsoka. What’s she doing?

The laser canons open fire, ripping through countless droids.

The droids instantly shift to start shooting back up at the ship, the shots marking it’s hull but it’s fast and the firepower is far greater. A shot nearly hits one of the engines and the ship barely jerks out of the way in time.

Anakin practically holds his breath as he watches, because there’s really nothing he can do.

The low rumbling of engines reaches his ears suddenly and Anakin looks up to see gunships flying in. They start firing, green laser blasts ripping their way through the remaining droids. Some of the shuttles land, opening and people in armor jump out.

It’s the army Palpatine was talking about.

This is the start of the war his master spoke of, isn’t it? And Anakin has no idea what that’s going to mean but he has the chilling feeling that – this is not good. At least someone came to their aid, though. Is this why his master seemed to think an army is what the Republic needs right now?

The troops shoot their way through the droids, then motion for the bounty hunters to get on board their ships.

To which Anakin has to say, a number of them look pretty disgruntled about – probably at needing a rescue in the first place.

Darra limps alongside Anakin, leaning her weight against him.

“Soara?” she calls suddenly, pausing.

Anakin looks up to see the same woman from earlier. She pauses, glancing over at her, eyes flicking with worry. She pushes her way through the crowd, over to them at the sight of Darra’s injury.

“Darra,” she says, worried, “Is that your only injury?”

Darra nods.

“Good.” A blaster shot flies over their heads and Soara dodges, drawing her blaster to shoot at some of the droids. “There’s a reason I told you that you can’t hesitate, simply because the Geonosians aren’t droids. If you hadn’t been hesitant about shooting, we may have avoided this situation in the first place.”

Darra sags against his side a bit, looking away. “Sorry,” she mutters.

Another blaster shot skims over their heads, a group of droids surging forwards again, forcing Soara away from them.

“Get on the ship. We’ll meet up later,” she calls.

“C’mon,” Darra mumbles, lumping forwards.

“Who is she to you?” Anakin wonders, frowning. He knows bounty hunting can mean killing but…

“She’s the one who trained me and looked out for me since I came to the Guild.”

His frown grows. “She seems kind of… harsh?”

At least if she’s actually her care-taker. Mom was always so infinitely gentle.

“She says I need to learn how to handle myself, If I’m really ready for missions,” Darra replies, wincing sharply as she tries to limp another step forwards.

“Anakin.”

He looks up, to Obi-Wan appearing next to him. “Here,” he offers and he picks up Darra easily, in one arm, shifting so he can still shoot with the other, “Come on.”

Anakin nods his relief and thanks, scrambling for their other ship, where the ramp is now down, and Obi-Wan is quick to follow.

Another Kel Dor comes over, as they near the ramp. “Ahsoka’s safe,” Obi-Wan calls. “Don’t worry. Aside from how she’s flying the ship in here without permission.”

Oh. Is that Plo?

“Good,” he replies, “I’ll cover you.” And he does, the rest of the way to the ramp, before getting on board himself.

They’re finally getting out of here and Anakin has never been more grateful to leave almost anywhere. Almost.

***

Obi-Wan might not know Dooku but he’s still furious about what he’s done. He can’t believe the Count nearly killed him, not remembering how highly Qui-Gon always used to talk about him. But most of all, he can’t believe he was so calm about killing Anakin, when the boy had done absolutely nothing. This is not something he is ever forgetting.

He’s just grateful that the boy is alive, at least. He may hardly know him but he truthfully doesn’t know what he would do if Anakin had died there. Maybe it’s that Anakin’s the first mission that’s actually felt like it’s given him some purpose in so long. The first thing that’s actually some connection to what he… used to have. Either way, he’s never letting any harm come to him again.

Obi-Wan sets Darra down on a bunk in the back of the ship, and she leans against the wall, breathing heavily.

“I’ll be back,” Anakin tells her, giving her a small smile before he and Plo head towards the cockpit. Obi-Wan follows.

“Hey!” Ahsoka calls brightly without turning around, hands still on the controls as she tries to fly.

Anakin scrambles to the copilot’s seat to help.

“You made it,” she says breathlessly, never tearing her gaze away from the controls as she struggles to keep them under control. But her hands are clenched tight enough on them that it’s not hard to see how scared she is.

“’Course I did,” Anakin replies cheerfully, though Obi-Wan’s not sure it’s a cheerfulness he actually feels. “And I have the controls, if you want to – “

“Good job, little Soka,” Plo interjects.

She freezes the word, expression lighting up and then she leaps off her chair, about jumping into Plo’s arms. He catches her, holding her tightly.

Darra’s watching from the hold, Obi-Wan can see. She stares Ahsoka and Plo for a long moment before looking away, expression unreadable.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” Ahsoka mumbles, face pressed against his shoulder.

“It was unexpected but… urgent,” Plo replies. “You’re the one I didn’t expect to be here. Hopefully you have had your fill of adventure because this is not a kind of mission I am letting you go on again. I would like to know how you ended up here in the first place.”

“Long story,” Ahsoka says, as Plo lightly sets her back on the floor, “But I don’t wanna be near so many droids ever again.”

“Me either,” Anakin agrees, as the Togruta turns back to him.

“Don’t ever run off like that again,” she warns, and she sounds fierce but there’s a slight shake in her voice.  “You could’ve died there.”

Anakin’s expression falters. “Well – we didn’t have much choice. But don’t worry, Snips. We made it.” He reaches out, pattering her head. “And… I thought you said you had no friends at the Guild? So there’s someone in the back you might wanna meet.” He turns back to flying, until they’re far enough away from the surface to make the jump to hyperspace, before he takes Ahsoka to the back where Darra still is.

She’s watching them silently.

“Hi,” Darra says, smiling a little as the children approach.

“Hi,” Ahsoka says, “If you’re part of the Guild, why haven’t I seen you around before?”

“It’s a big building,” Darra points out, smiling weakly. Plo moves over to treat her blaster wound, as they talk. “And Soara usually keeps me busy training. She says that’s what I need to focus on, if I’m going to be a good bounty hunter.

She doesn’t seem very happy about it.

Anakin frowns.

“More adults who don’t want anyone to have friends?” Ahsoka asks, making a face, “Ugh. That’s just dumb.”

Darra shifts a bit, not really replying.

Anakin reaches out, squeezing her hand. “We’ll be around now.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka agrees, “I thought I was the only child in the Complex and it was soooo boring, but I guess not.”

“Now there will be three of us,” Anakin replies, smiling almost shyly at them both.

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan interjects finally, for as admittedly heartwarming as it is to see him already loosening up so much from when he was last with Palpatine, “Can I have a word?”

Anakin nods, a bit uncertainly, following him back to the cockpit. He seems nervous now.

And Obi-Wan’s pretty sure that’s only because he is an adult and the others are not. It makes him feel a little bad but… this will only change by him gaining the boy’s trust. “It’s about your… future,” Obi-Wan explains, “Is being a Mandalorian what you want? I can train you to be one, if it is. And – if you would rather be elsewhere,” he forces himself to say, even if he doesn’t want to because he doesn’t want to let Anakin go but giving him a choice now is the most important thing, “I can find somewhere else for you to live.”

Anakin hesitates. “I… I do want that. If that’s... okay?”

“Of course it’s alright, Anakin.” He doesn’t think the boy has a clue how actually relieved that makes him feel. Even if the thought of having a full-time responsibility for raising a child is… suddenly a bit nerve-wracking now that he’s thinking about it, “I would be… honored to take you as my official apprentice.”

Anakin’s smile is shy. “Thank you,” he whispers.

For being fifteen, he still manages to be adorable.

“There’s an official ceremony for that on Mandalore,” Obi-Wan says, after a pause, “But we won’t be able to do that here. The most we can have is our word to each other.”

“You have mine,” Anakin offers, a bit awkwardly.

“And you have mine, that I will raise and train you in the Mandalorian way,” Obi-Wan promises.

Forget being a little nervous. He’s actually about to panic. He has never had a responsibility nearly this massive before. “And I was thinking, that… we can take what you know about Palpatine to the Bounty Hunter Council. They might be able to help in doing something to expose him.”

“You really think so?” Anakin asks tentatively.

“I do. They aren’t usually as… corrupted with money as many others. They’re on the Council because they’re representatives to the Republic.”

Anakin nods. “I can tell you everything I know about the Palpatine family business. It’s… not just the Chancellor. His father owns most of it, the others are just part of the companies or something. I don’t really understand.”

“There’s got to be some way to find more evidence. I’ll look into it later. We’ll start by speaking to the Council and… then I’ll get you settled in.”

***

The Complex is huge. Anakin follows Obi-Wan through the halls, head swiveling as he takes it in. 500 Republica where Palpatine is far fancier but this building is still impressive. He tries not to think on how he can see the Senate building right out the window – where his master probably is right now. It’s so strange to be away from him.

And what he just committed to –

He’s excited. He’s dreamed of being a Mandalorian, of being able to free slaves, for so long. But he’s also nervous because he doesn’t even know what this means, what… anything is going to be like.

He’s wanted a parent again for so long.

And that’s essentially what Obi-Wan’s offered to be but he hardly knows what that will mean. He doesn’t really know him.

They go to the Council chambers together, moving to stand in the center of a fancy circle.  Anakin doesn’t recognize any of the people here, other than Windu.

“A crucial matter to bring to our attention, you said have you?” Yoda asks.

“I hope it is urgent,” one of them – is that Cad Bane? – says, “Because we have a lot of new missions with the war breaking out.”

“The war?” Obi-Wan repeats, “We won the battle.”

“Won, you think we did?” Yoda objects, “No, not won, have we. Begun, the clone wars have.”

Anakin tries to ignore the shiver that runs through him at the words. The galaxy Is descending into a war and… he has no idea what that will mean. How many people are going to end up hurt because of it?

“This is about the Chancellor,” Obi-Wan responds.

“You left in the middle of your mission. The Senate is not happy,” Windu says.

“I’m afraid that while I was there, I realized the Chancellor may not be worthy of the protection the Senate wants for him,” Obi-Wan replies, “He’s a slaver. He has many such operations and… Anakin was one of his. I freed him.”

All eyes turn to Anakin.

“True, is this?” Yoda asks.

“Yes,” Anakin replies quietly but firmly. “It is.”

“So that’s what you’ve been doing?” Plo asks, “Ahsoka was telling me a little about it. I intended to ask you as soon as I could.”

“Slavery is outlawed in the Republic That’s impossible,” Windu objects.

“That’s my point,” Obi-Wan replies bluntly.

“And you’re asking us to do what?” Bane asks. He sounds so flippant.

Anakin thought Obi-Wan knew what he was speaking of when he said they would help. But now he’s suddenly wary.

“Help us expose him. I think that would be your duty to the Senate,” Obi-Wan replies.

They exchange glances. “We’ll discuss this. Wait outside,” Windu orders.

They’re sent to wait outside after that.  They’re called back in not even fifteen minutes later.

Anakin’s instantly on edge when he sees the way they’re holding themselves.

“I’m afraid that right now, there’s nothing we can do,” Windu declares, “With the Republic on the brink of war, the Republic needs stability and the Senate is not likely to believe us. Palpatine has power and people everywhere. It could put us at odds with the Senate. We cannot afford that at a time like this.”

What –

“Are you quite aware of what you’re saying?” Obi-Wan demands, crossing his arms.

“Yes. This isn’t all about morality,” Bane drawls.

They’re really not going to do anything. Anakin should have known. He had doubted it but Obi-Wan thought they would and now…

“I cannot say I agree with this decision,” Plo interjects.

“There is no other choice,” one of the others replies.

“And right now,” Windu goes on, “It would be best if Anakin would not publicize where he is from. Or tell anyone else about this matter. It’s too sensitive of a topic right now. And we don’t need to cause a scandal with the Senate.”

“Difficult, this situation is,” Yoda murmurs, ears drooping.

“Is money and your status all that matters?” Obi-Wan sounds furious and Anakin entirely shares that though he can’t imagine yelling at his superiors like this.

“Y u heard our decision, Kenobi. I’d suggest keeping that boy out of sight,” Bane replies flippantly.

“Very well. I don’t need your help regardless,” he replies curtly, turning on his heel and moving for the door, motioning for Anakin to follow.

“If word of this spreads, it won’t go well so take care,” Bane calls after him.

“I’ll tell Ahsoka not to tell anyone else,” Plo says but he doesn’t sound happy about this at all.

Anakin isn’t of the mental space to give that much thought, though. He can’t believe they’re doing this. But he also can because no one ever helps those who need it the most. That’s why the galaxy is such a mess.

They haven’t made it far when they run into Yoda in the hallway. He’s leaning on a cane and Anakin has to genuinely wonder how he’s a bounty hunter if he’s doing that. “Agree with the Council’s decision, I do not,” Yoda speaks up.

“But it’s still a decision we have to abide by?” Obi-Wan asks bluntly.

“Yes,” he agrees, ears drooping. From what Anakin’s gathered, they aren’t an actual authority but they do have a say in the Senate in terms of security, so… “But still, help you, I will, if any way there is.”

Anakin stills. “You… will?” He doesn’t know if it’s his place to speak but he’s supposed to be free. He wishes he just knew what that meant. Because right now, he’s just lost. There’s got to still be some kind of rules, right? He just doesn’t know what they are.

“I will. Look into the matter myself, I shall,” he promises.

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan tells him, before Yoda hobbles away.

“How can he be a bounty hunter if he has a cane?” Anakin asks, confused.

Obi-Wan actually laughs – it’s about to the first time he’s actually heard that. “Believe me, Anakin, that cane is just for appearances. He doesn’t need it to walk. He’s one of the best fighters there is… the times he actually takes a bounty.”

…okay.

Anakin just nods, even though he only half follows.

“What happens now?” he asks instead.

“We’ll deal with it on our own and maybe with Yoda’s help,” Obi-Wan replies firmly, “I’m sorry, Anakin. I thought they would actually do something. But either way, we will have to heed their warning for now. It would be best if you tell no one else about this and… you can stay in my apartment for a while until we get something figured out, so not many see you. Palpatine may be looking for you so… concealing your face will make it safer.”

Anakin nods, even if he’s disappointed. He had almost stopped dreaming of being free but he never thought it would mean living in constant fear of being retaken. And of the government refusing to do anything about it.

“Before I go,” Anakin says hesitantly, “Can I go see Darra? Just to make sure she’s okay?”

“Alright,” Obi-Wan concedes, “But we’ll have to make it fast.”

***

Anakin keeps track of where they’re going as best as he can. If this will be his new home, he needs to know his way around, though Obi-Wan will have to give him an actual tour later. Right now, they’re taking as many back halls as they can, to avoid people.

They go to the medical bay, where someone directs Anakin into Darra’s room. Obi-Wan waits outside.

Darra is lying down when he enters and her eyes are closed. She looks unreasonably small like this. He may hardly know her but she’s…. the second friend he’s had in years.

“Hello, Anakin,” she says, eyes still closed as he approaches.

“Hey,” he says, smiling, “I came to see how you were.”

She opens her eyes, smiling up at him. “You came all this way, just for that?”

“Someone has to. “

“Thank you,” she whispers.

Why is he getting the feeling she’s not used to this?

Slavery isn’t the only form of bandage, Palpatine’s voice in his mind whispers.

“Can I do anything for you?” Anakin asks, “If you need something, I can get it. Like water or…”

“Just one thing,” Darra requests, “Could you stay until I fall asleep? It’s lonely here.”

“Of course I can,” he promises, lowering himself to the floor next to her and leaning against the side of the bed, so she can feel his presence there. He tries not to think to hard on how Palpatine has done this for him before. “Hasn’t Soara been here?”

“She’s been in and out. She’s busy.” The tone is a little too flat.

“How did Soara pick you up? She can’t be your mother.” They aren’t even the same species.

Darra’s expression falters a little. “She… she rescued me when I was a child. There was a bounty hunter – I never saw. But they – they killed my parents. Then Soara came in and she took me.”

“Oh,” Anakin whispers, “I’m sorry. I lost my mother in an attack, too.”

Darra winces.

“Don’t you have any other relatives? Anyone who could have taken you?”

“I don’t know,” she says, “I… I think they were wealthy but I don’t remember. I don’t even know what my last name was. Soara says she doesn’t either.”

“Oh,” Anakin says softly, reaching up to squeeze her hand, “I have noticed you… don’t really seem happy here.”

Darra sighs. “It’s okay. Soara’s spent a lot of time on me. I’m just trying to be the best bounty hunter I can be. I owe it to her.”

“Is that what you want to be?”

“I don’t know.” The reply is quiet, barely audible.

An example of someone who is free, who has a life they don’t want with no way out. “Is there somewhere else you would like to be?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, I guess. This is what I have to be. I don’t want to be passed off to some orphanage where no one will think of me again.”

Anakin bites his lip. That – he gets that. That wanting to matter. To have an actual family. And he thinks he’s finally starting to get to have that for the first time since his mother. “I will,” Anakin promises, “You and Ahsoka are the first friends I’ve had in years.”

Darra turns her head to look at him. “I’ve never seen you around here before either. I have heard of Ahsoka, or at least Plo having a kid, but not you.”

He wants to tell her the truth.

He’s also pretty sure that classifies as what he’s not allowed to do. He hates having to lie. Palpatine acted as though he ought to be good at it just because he said so, but he’s not. He’s too open. Always has been. He thinks that’s the one thing Palpatine never really got – he wasn’t trying to be difficult by not keeping it a secret. Not usually, at least. He’s just not overly good at it, even if he does know how to lie on the spot if he needs to.

But this is something he’ll have to try to keep hidden.

Again.

When will he ever not have to hide this?

“Obi-Wan found me not long ago,” Anakin offers finally, “He’s training me now. So, you’ll be seeing a lot more of me.”

“Okay,” she says, smiling shyly at him, which he returns.

They sit there together in silence after that until he hears her breathing starting to even out. “And I promise you,” he says softly, even if she’s already sleeping and won’t hear him, “That I will always do what I can to be here for both you and Ahsoka. If Soara won’t be here for you, I will be. I won’t let anything separate us.”

All he gets in response is the sound of her soft breathing but it’s enough.

It’s a promise he has every intention of keeping. So he doesn’t know why he can’t shake the feeling way inside that maybe it’s not a promise he should be making so hastily, when he has no idea if it is something he’ll have the choice in keeping.

He waits a bit longer than he maybe needs to, until he’s certain that she’s soundly asleep, before he silently slips out of the room.

Chapter Text

The apartment Obi-Wan takes him to is small. He doesn’t know why he almost expected it to be bigger. Obi-Wan isn’t wealthy like Palpatine and Anakin’s almost surprised at how used to that environment he’s grown.

There’s only a large common room and then two bedrooms. And this… .is where he’s going to stay. Anakin doesn’t know why he’s suddenly so nervous. He hasn’t shared quarters with just a random anyone before, other than his mother and… Palpatine. And there’s definitely got to be some kind of rules about that, free or not. And he wants to show how grateful he is. Because he is. He just doesn’t quite know how to do that or what’s going to be expected of him.

He follows Obi-Wan down the hall to the other bedroom. Anakin freezes in the doorway.

The atmosphere itself in here feels familiar. It feels like –

“This used to be Qui-Gon’s,” Obi-Wan tells him, something like longing flickering across his face.

“And you’re going to give that to me?”

“That’s what he would have wanted. And I think I’ve left the room untouched long enough.”

Anakin doubts it’s something he would have ever changed if he had the choice, and he feels a little bad about that, but… There’s no real other way and this is what Obi-Wan is saying he wants to do.

“I can help you pack up the rest of his things. You’ll need room for your own.”

His things? He doesn’t even have any but he will need new clothes.

He awkwardly does as he’s told, though, wishing it didn’t feel like they were removing all traces of Qui-Gon here as they pack his old remaining things into boxes. It’s weird to even be seeing these things that once belonged to him.

 He may have only known him a day but the amount he still misses him is insane.

It’s long after dark by the time they finish. “We can talk about… the next step in the morning,” Obi-Wan says, “Right now, I have something else to give you.” He leaves the room

But what he comes back with is… a rock?

But it feels bright, alive, in a way Anakin doesn’t understand.

“Qui-Gon used to keep this with him. He said it helped him focus. I never quite understood what he meant,” Obi-Wan says, “But… here.”

Anakin takes the rock, turning it over in his hands. Why does it feel living?

“Thank you,” Anakin breathes. It’s a permanent connection with Qui-Gon but it’s also a physical reminder of everything Obi-Wan’s given him.

And he’s beginning to feel more and more like he ought to be doing something to make up for this. He’s not doing anything. He’s just being given it and it just feels strange. He should at least have work for some of this. Right?

“Sleep now,” Obi-Wan tells him, “See you in the morning.”

Anakin nods, waiting until he’s gone before going to sit on the edge of the bed.

The room is much smaller than his with Palpatine’s but it feels more…like his.

He’s glad the window that shows the night sky and endless lines of traffic isn’t a view of the Senate.

That would be unsettling, to say the least.  He’d rather not have to look at the place where Palpatine is every night.

So Anakin doesn’t know why there’s a tiny part of his mind, as he lays down to sleep, wondering what his master is doing right now. If he’s alright, considering that he was still with his father on Naboo. And that always goes badly for everyone involved.

He genuinely can’t believe for a few moments that he’s really free. That he’s not going to wake up in the morning and just be back there.

But he’ll try to do as Obi-Wan says and sleep now and…. ask his questions in the morning.

***

Obi-Wan really thinks he way underestimated how nerve wracking having a child to care for out of nowhere was going to be. He spends all night thinking about it, actually, and gets up early the next morning. He doesn’t even know how to start, truthfully.

Training shouldn’t be hard, but there’s so many… other things involved in raising someone.

Especially considering how sensitive Anakin seems to be.

He doesn’t own a single thing either and that will require a trip to the store. But more than that.. he needs a disguise. And Obi-Wan can only think of one realistic way to give him one, even if it’s going to entail something he does not want to think about ever again.

But –

There is no other way. For Anakin, he’ll do it, even if it’s the last thing he wants to consider. A trip back to Mandalore.

It’s near sunrise when he leaves his room. Anakin is standing out in the common room, looking around curiously, but he instantly straightens when he sees Obi-Wan coming.

Still not relaxed, clearly.

“Got any food preferences?” Obi-Wan queries. Goodness. He doesn’t even know that.

Anakin shifts. “No.”

Is that a lie? He can’t tell. The boy is likely not used to being asked after his wants.

“I’ll make breakfast then.” He wonders if Anakin is aware that he feels probably nearly as awkward about this as Anakin himself.

“I can help,” Anakin offers, moving toward the kitchen area.

He’s old enough that it’s not an unreasonable offer, but –

“You don’t have to,” Obi-Wan tells him.

Anakin freezes, blinking a few times. “I should help,” he repeats, “I – You’ve already done all this for me. And I haven’t… done anything. I know how to cook. It’s not hard.”

He looks sort of hopeful and Obi-Wan can’t help how lost he’s feeling.

“You can help if you want to,” he settles for carefully, “And you’re a child, Anakin. You don’t have to give me something in exchange for being taken care of. I know that’s what you’re used to but you’re free now.”

Anakin doesn’t reply. He doesn’t seem sure what to say so Obi-Wan drops it. Letting him help will probably make him more comfortable and that’s kind of important right now.

Anakin does come to help him after a moment, and it’s – Well, it’s significantly less lonely to have him here. He might be very quiet but he also has a constant brilliance to him. It’s a feeling Obi-Wan doesn’t really understand but it feels like having him here fills something he never realized was missing.

“Did Palpatine have you do this for him?” Obi-Wan asks, because he can’t quite contain his morbid curiosity anymore. And he needs to know more of what the boy’s been through, to even begin trying to help him.

Anakin stills. “Not – not really. I did sometimes at first because I thought I had too but he told me my skills were far more useful elsewhere, than at jobs that could be done by kitchen droids.”

“What did he have you do?”

“Mostly, I just worked on ships. Things like that.”

“Ships?” Obi-Wan repeats, “That’s all he wanted of you? Then why’d he keep you in his apartment?”

Anakin looks down. “I don’t know.”

Probably best to drop it there, even if he wants to press.

They sit down to eat together. Anakin pauses at the cup of tea, curiously studying it.

“Never had tea before?” Obi-Wan asks,

“No. It… is interesting.” He cautiously sips it.

“You get used to it,” Obi-Wan tells him. Silence falls again, and he starts rethinking over all the things he needs to figure out about raising him. “Have you ever been to school?”

“I…. I know how to read,” Anakin replies quietly, “Palpatine had me learn when he realized I didn’t know. But I never really learned much else that isn’t… job important.”

“There’s a limited amount you need to know as a bounty hunter but you should probably take a test on that,” Obi-Wan muses, “But perhaps after a trip to Mandalore. You’re going to need armor like mine.”

Even if he really doesn’t want to go back there.

Anakin perks up. “I’m gonna get armor?”

“You can’t be a Mandalorian without it. We should leave soon.”

***

Ahsoka can’t stop thinking about the battle. She wanted a real mission yes, but that was far more terrifying than she somehow ever thought it would be. She can’t stop remembering seeing so many people dying. She’d heard the shooting and she’d been so afraid that she was going to find out that Anakin was dead too which is when she’d finally taken the ship and gone looking.

It was kinda fun, now that it’s over, but – She hopes they don’t have to go into the middle of a battle like that anytime soon again.

“Are you alright?” Plo inquires, coming to sit next to her at the breakfast table.

It’s the next morning now and it’s almost as though nothing’s changed at all, except now she actually has a friend here.

Maybe two, if she sees Darra again sometime.

“I’m fine,” Ahsoka says, “I just keep thinking about the battle.” It’s haunting her actually and she can’t get it out of her head.

“A lot of people were lost,” Plo agrees, expression grave, “I was hoping for you to not have to see something like that until you’re older.”

She wishes she’d never had to at all. But she doesn’t want him to think she couldn’t handle a mission yet.

“At least I got to help them,” she points out, “Like you do.” And she kind of wants to do that part again. Not the fighting, but getting to help someone like she did Anakin. And all the other people who she helped rescue in the arena.

“Yes,” he agrees, though his smile is faint and fleeting, “And there is something important for you to know, Ahsoka.”

“What?”

“It’s… about Anakin.”

She perks up instantly.

“The Council discussed the situation with him. Both for his safety and because of the situation with the Senate, we believe it best if no one else learns about his past.”

She frowns. “But aren’t we gonna try to do something about Palpatine? He’s mean.” She still kind of wishes the assassination attempts on him would have worked.

“I want to take action, yes,” he replies, “But with the situation the Republic is in now, the Council doesn’t believe that would be wise. And we don’t have much solid proof.”

“What?!” she demands, jerking forwards, “Yes we do! Anakin can tell you all about it.”

“I know but that is not something the courts are likely to accept, if there is no tangible evidence. The population is greatly in support of Palpatine. Especially in times like this, they’re not likely  to accept anything to the contrary.”

“That’s – that’s stupid!” And so entirely unfair.

“I know,” he agrees quietly, “It may change eventually. But for now, especially for Anakin’s safety, if fewer people know his identity, the better.”

That’s probably true. She has no idea if the Chancellor would be mean enough to try to get him back, but they definitely need to be careful about that. “Can I go talk to him?” she inquires, “I can do my homework there. He can help me.” Besides, she needs to make sure he’s okay and let him know how incredibly dumb she thinks this whole thing is.

“Very well,” Plo agrees.

Ahsoka about inhales the rest of her breakfast and runs.

Obi-Wan opens the door to his apartment after she bangs on it a few times.

“Ahsoka?” Anakin asks from somewhere behind him, and Obi-Wan steps aside to let her enter.

She runs up to him, throwing her arms around his waist and he hugs her back tightly. “You okay?” she asks, “I heard about how mean the Council was being.”

He sighs. “I did not think they would do anything. No one… ever has. But I am fine.”

“I came to do homework together,” she chirps, “Can you help me? I mean, if I ever need it. I just wanna be with you.”

Anakin hesitates, though he’s smiling. “Well, I can try. I have some schoolwork to be doing myself.”

So, they go to sit on the couch side by side and work on it together.

***

Darra lets out a muffled groan as she lands on her back on the floor mat again in the training room.

“You’re not focusing. Again,” Soara says, standing over her.

“Sorry,” she mutters, rolling to get back to her feet.

Her leg is still stinging and it’s making it much harder to keep up with the training. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked to get let out of the medbay so soon. Bounty hunters are supposed to be able to work past injuries, though.

“You could have been of far more use on Geonosis if you had been focused. We may not have been captured at all,” she ssays.

Darra shifts her stance, trying to get back into position again even if she really, really doesn’t want to keep doing this right now. “I’m ready.”

“No, you aren’t.” Soara crosses her arms. “You still haven’t learned anything.”

The words cut through her sharply.

“Soara – ” She starts to protest.

“You can’t keep up here. You definitely aren’t ready for another mission.” She turns, leaving the room.

Darra watches her go, trying to ignore the desperate aching emptiness in her heart.

She doesn’t want to do her training, truthfully. She just wants to go find Anakin. Something she doubts Soara would agree to let her do right now. Maybe if she’s gone then – she can go anyway. It still feels like lying to go to find him when she has instructions to be training and she knows she should be doing her best, but… She can’t help it. She just…

This isn’t what she wants. Even if it ought to be when it’s the only life she knows.

The distant memory of blaster fire rings through her mind, uncalled for. The memories of her parents’ faces that are actually too blurred over through time for her to properly remember what they were. She issues them. She misses having someone.

She doesn’t want to do this.

She waits just a bit, making a mental note to get to the train later before she darts out into the halls. Soara should be gone now and her leg is still soar but she can walk, so she makes her way to Obi-Wan’s apartment as fast as she can, lightly knocking on the door.

He opens it and past him in the living room, she sees both Anakin and Ahsoka doing something on the couch together. They’re both grinning at each other. They look –

Happy.

Something she wants to feel herself but hasn’t in so long. It’s what she wants to have with someone – that connection. Doesn’t feel like she ever will.

“Can I come in? I just wanted to see Anakin,” she says, a bit shyly.

“Of course,” Obi-Wan steps aside, letting her enter.

“Darra?” Anakin asks, brightening instantly.

“Hi,” she offers.

“Hey,” Ahsoka adds, brightening, “I was thinking about finding you.”

“I thought I’d come and… see if we could do something together,” Darra offers, a bit awkwardly.

Anakin throws a glance at Obi-Wan. She can’t tell the meaning. “I… I have to stay here right now but you can stay too, if you want,” he offers.

Is he as demanding as Soara?

It’s not like she’d know.

“Hey, maybe we can play here!” Ahsoka perks up, “Like dejarik or something. I’ve been doing schoolwork for hours anyway.”

Anakin throws another glance at Obi-Wan, though the adult has already turned away. “Alright,” Anakin agrees.

Darra frowns but doesn’t ask. She comes to sit next to them on the couch, on Anakin’s other side.

“Should you really be walking?” he queries, frowning at her, “Is your leg already healed?”

“It’s a little sore but it’s okay.”

They start playing dejarkik together, though they have to take turns because it’s only a two-person game.

“You okay?” Anakin asks quietly, nudging Darra’s shoulder.

She looks up, a bit baffled that – Well, Soara rarely asks that. She doesn’t really know what to say. “Yeah,” she offers, giving him a small smile, because right now she is – this is the funnest afternoon she’s had in a long time. She’ll just have to make sure to get back to the training area before Soara comes back.

***

They leave for Mandalore that night. Anakin can’t deny how excited he is, but Obi-Wan seems unusually on edge. He’s also grumbling about everything, from why are there so many ships in the way of the hyperspace lanes today to why was this the only ship in the general area that they could take.

He doesn’t think he’s actually annoyed at him but it has him nervous to ask about anything so he stays quiet most of the trip.

Obi-Wan helps him a little through some of his schoolwork – frankly, trying to do it has him restless even if he doesn’t want to sound ungrateful by saying so. He just feels like he should be doing something more, something active, not just trying to sit still. It was somehow easy with Ahsoka there, when trying to help her at the same time, with whatever he knew himself.

Once they come out of hyperspace, he can see the plant below. But it looks like rock. Barren. “Why does it look like that?

“Civil war. It destroyed most of the planet. The survivors all live in domed cities now.”

“…oh.” He had no idea it got so bad there.

He doesn’t quite know what Obi-Wan seems so tightly wound about, either.

“Go to the moon,” he instructs, as Anakin flies the ship in closer. He asked to fly and almost surprisingly, Obi-Wan agreed. It’s the first time he’s ever really flown a space ship and it’s incredible. Freeing. It’s still hard to believe he is free.

“We aren’t going to Mandalore itself?”

“The moon is where much of the beskar was mined. Duchess Satine – “ The way he so stiffly says the name makes Anakin wonder what’s with that “- banned all mining of beskar for more armor, when she reverted the planet to be strictly peaceful. We should be able to get into the mine and get out without drawing attention.”

“So this is illegal?”

“It won’t matter if we don’t get caught,” Obi-Wan says, a tinge of amusement in his voice.

Anakin brings the shuttle in low, to hopefully avoid any scanners. They land on a side of the planet away from the towns up here. Obi-Wan goes off the ship first, scanning their surroundings. “The mines should be up ahead in the woods. We’ll have to go on foot.”

Anakin nods, and they take off together.

He doesn’t know why, as they move, he’s beginning to get a bad feeling about this. Something is just… wrong.  He’s about to tell Obi-Wan so when he suddenly stops, pushing some kind of control on his helmet.

“This area isn’t abandoned. There were heat tracks here recently. We must be cautious.”

They finally come out to a clearing between the trees, up to an old building that clearly goes deeper underground. They enter silently, looking around the dark space. It’s so cool, if he’s being honest. He wanted to see the galaxy. This is probably only the fifth actual planet he’s ever been to. But this place doesn’t feel abandoned.

They creep in a little further, and the feeling of tension only grows.

Something is –

Ther’s a sudden move from behind them and Anakin turns sharply. He’s positive he just saw a flash of armor.

Are there other Mandalorians here? He wants to tell Obi-Wan but should he? What if the person hears and –

The hissing of a jetpack suddenly catches his attention and about half a dozen Mandalorians streak out from behind them, landing all around, blasters raised.

“What are you doing here?” one of them demands.

“You’re trespassing,” another accuses.

Obi-Wan reaches for his own blaster but pauses when he sees the way the others are holding there’s. “Death Watch?” he demands, a bit incredulous, “You’re still around?”

“Who are you?”

“Does it matter? I didn’t know you were here. Now that I do, we’ll be on our way.”

“Not until you tell us what you’re doing out here.”

Should Anakin say something? Should he – He doesn’t really understand the tension. All he knows is that he’s pretty sure it’s about to get violent.

“Does it matter if you won’t see form us again?” One of them shifts closer threateningly.

Obi-Wan moves first. “Drop,” he orders Anakin sharply and he does instantly, without stopping to consider why.

Obi-Wan fires at them.

Stun blasts, Anakin notes, which is odd. He didn’t seem shy on shooting the Bugs on Geonosis.

Blaster shots whiz over his head as he presses close to the floor. They’re trying to kill Obi-Wan, aren’t they? They could easily kill him if they tried. They probably only haven’t because he hasn’t tried moving yet.

Obi-Wan jumps one of them and they roll across the floor, exchanging blows. But then another two jump into the fight and Obi-Wan’s good at fighting them off, but they’re just as skilled and there’s too many.

He needs to do something.

He can’t just sit here. He can’t –

He’s never been in a situation like this before. He’s never been so incredibly without orders and he has no idea what to do or if he’s supposed to do something or what.

But Obi-Wan isn’t going to have the time to tell him anything and he doesn’t want to get used against him again and forced to surrender like what happened on Geonosis.

And –

Think. Fast.

All he knows form what he gathered is that these people aren’t supposed to be here, Because Dutchess Satine is trying to keep her world peaceful, and she would help them, right? At least so long as she doesn’t know they came here to break the law in the first place.

Keeping low to the floor, he ducks away, dodging out of sight behind some kind of control panel.

Obi-Wan is losing. They’re going to kill him, aren’t they? He has to be fast.

Heart pounding, Anakin scrambles along deeper into the mine until he finds a functional control panel. The power here is mostly shut down but he pushes some buttons, powering it up. What he needs now is a surge of energy. Something that might draw someone’s attention if they’re scanning for that. Maybe.

His fingers fumble wildly over the controls, trying to concentrate all power and then he settles for hotwiring a wild surge of power to one specific control panel.

The power that zaps through the system is strong enough that the entire control panel shorts out.

Oops?

Sudden footsteps sound behind him and Anakin whips around, in time to see a group of Mandalorians approaching from behind him.

The one in front has a long flowing cape and something about him feels important. Maybe it’s just the air of authority he’s walking with.

There’s a strange cylindrical object on his belt which he draws, igniting.

There’s an odd snap-hiss and a black blade springs to life.

Lightsaber?

Ahsoka showed him pictures. All he can do is gape.

The blade hums with a strange sound and it almost seems to suck the light around it into itself. He thought those things were nothing but legend. He thought they were all gone. But he’s staring right at one of them for real.

“Stand down, boy,” the man orders gruffly. Why does his voice sound familiar?

Anakin backs away, lifting his hands.

The others shove him forwards, back to where Obi-Wan still is.

Please let him be okay. He may hardly know him but he saved Anakin, something no one else has ever done. And Anakin cares for him more deeply than… well, it’s not something he quite know show to put a label on. But it’s similar to how he felt towards Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan is on his knees on the floor, arms held behind his back, and about six blasters trained on him. His helmet is off.

The man with the cape comes to a sharp stop. “So you’ve come home, Ben?” he asks, some mix of bitter and many other things Anakin can’t name.

“Good to see you, Pre,” Obi-Wan shoos back, though he sounds tense enough that he could be about to explode.

Pre reaches up, pulling his helmet off. The face that greets him is so familiar.

Why does he look so much like Obi-Wan?

Chapter Text

Obi-Wan knew someday he would probably see his brother again. He just never expected it to be now. He didn’t know what was left of his family. He didn’t want to look – to know what he was responsible for or know what he left behind.

But here Pre is now, very much alive.

And holding the Darksaber.

Something that once belonged to their father. How much has he missed?

Pre deactivates the darksaber after a pause, but he keeps it in his hand as he glares down at them both.

They have Anakin captured again too. Why does this keep happening?

“I’m surprised you were willing to come back and show your face here again,” Pre says, sharply, “When you know what it will mean.”

He hates the way the fear tightens sharply inside of him. There will be no clone force showing up to free them now. “Do I?”

“You betrayed our family, our entire clan,” Pre throws back sharpy. “You’re a traitor to all of Mandalore. And a coward.”

By walking out on the fight because he couldn’t deal with either side anymore. Qui-Gon told him it was the only choice he could have made. But Qui-Gon was nice to Obi-Wan no matter what he did.

“What Buir asked me to do was no less dishonorable.” He has to be blunt about that and he’s still angry about it, even if all he can feel is a lingering pang in his heart because that his father isn’t here now is a clear sign of where he is.

“He is gone because of your failure,” Pre says lowly. “Don’t try to defame his name now.”

There’s a million snarky things he could say to that, but he still remembers a time when he and his brother were close. When… they fought side by side, even if they squabbled a lot.

A time when they fought alongside their father to avenge their mother’s death in one of the countless wars that tore Mandalore apart.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you, Pre.”

“What are you here for?”

He could lie but there isn’t much point. “I have a foundling and he needs armor to be Mandalorian.”

Pre’s gaze shifts to Anakin. The boy is doing well at not showing his fear outwardly but Obi-Wan can still feel it, in a way he can’t quite explain.

“If he really wants to be Mandalorian, he’ll certainly not learn it from you. a traitor to our way. You left our planet, abandoned our way to become a bounty hunter, and then try to raise someone as Mandalorian?”

“Wait,” Anakin protests, jerking forwards. He falters when everyone turns to look at him. “You’re brothers, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Pre replies shortly.  “I see he hasn’t taught you much of anything.”

“I haven’t had much time,” Obi-Wan snaps back.

“Don’t count on having any more.”

Obi-Wan still cannot tell if he truly means it. If he’s actually planning to kill him or if he’s just bluffing because he’s angry. He did betray everything his family once believed in, but – That is far, even for Pre. He can’t imagine facing his little brother as he kills him, and he hates how he’s starting to feel the first creeping fear. And he can’t leave Anakin alone here. And yet, there’s clearly part of his brother that still cares for him, considering that he seems to view Anakin as potential family, simply because Obi-Wan said he adopted him.

He misses Pre, truthfully, far more than he thought now that he’s seeing him again but… there’s nothing he can do about that now. There’s no going back, because he’s certainly not going to join Death Watch. He doesn’t quite believe their intentions are as benevolent as they’re acting, not remembering how they used to be, but he has no way to prove that. And the truth is, he doesn’t want them to get hurt.

“You’re brothers. How can you fight like this?” Anakin asks, sounding so lost.

Scared.

The protectiveness burns tightly inside of him, seeing it.

“Our family was at war with other clans for years,” Pre says, “Then we thought there was a chance at peace so Ben was chosen to marry the head of the Kryze family’s daughter. But as soon as she became the Duchess, she turned on us. She tried to root out all of our traditions, everything that made us Mandalorian. Ben could have killed her and ended it but instead he ran.”

“If it means anything, I didn’t want to leave you. I just saw no other choice.”

Pre scoffs.

He’s hurt.

Obi-Wan knew that but somehow he never thought of how much of that is behind the rage. And Mandalorians are always strict with loyalty, Obi-Wan is himself.  That’s why he has every intention of fulfilling his promise to Qui-Gon, no matter what it takes.

But he can see clearly right now, that that isn’t the only thing he needs to be making right.

“And besides, you did say once that you wondered what it would be like to get to be a leader yourself, because it was me everyone always looked to as the next one.”

“That doesn’t mean I wanted you gone, di'kut.”

That means, well – more than he wants to think about.  He often regretted the amount they fought after he left and thought back on it, but now… Their paths are firmly separate. That hurts more than he wants to think about. “I wanted to come back but… I think you can see why I didn’t.”

“Because you’re a coward.”

“Maybe.” He sighs “Just let me go, Pre, and this doesn’t need to be a fight. We can stop fighting.”

His brother’s expression tightens. “What assurance do I have you won’t betray our clan for the Duchess again?”

“I haven’t spoken to her in six years. I have no intention of doing so again.” He misses her too, truthfully, but he thinks she’s as angry at him as Pre is. And at the end of the day, she’s not the one he spent years growing up beside. He barely knew her, even if at the time, he actually thought their marriage was going to be real – that they were going to have a family together.

The thought of having a child had been a bit terrifying, though.

But now, when he thinks of what that would be like, his thoughts instantly turn to Anakin.

“In that case,” Pre replies shortly, “There’s no reason for you to turn down a chance at coming back.”

He’s asking him back?

Once, Obi-Wan would have agreed in a heartbeat. But it’s been so many years and these warrior ways aren’t something he wants. He enjoys fighting – it’s one of the few things he does enjoy – but Qui-Gon changed him a lot. Senseless killing that can be avoided is not something he cares to live in, anymore.

And Anakin’s dreams are elsewhere too. He could never confine him a life on Mandalore here.  A life of this level of violence. Though, he may actually be safer from Palpatine if he did.

“You would really trust me for that?” Obi-Wan asks, a bit dubiously.

“You would have to prove it first,” Pre retaliates, “After your betrayal, I think you owe it to our entire clan.”

“I can’t do that. Not now, at least,” Obi-Wan replies firmly, because he needs to be serious on that, “This isn’t the place I want to teach Anakin the Mandalorian way.”

Pre scoffs. “If you want to teach him anything of our way, you would do it here after making right your own mistakes.”

And that’s exactly the thing. Because he has no intention of raising Anakin the way he was once raised.

“Our paths can’t be the same anymore, Pre. You’re forever a warrior and I suppose that’s why you’re the one as clan leader now. And I am – “

“A bounty hunter? What purpose is there to that?”

He can’t count the number of times he’s asked himself that. “One I’m still finding. Just because we have different paths now doesn’t mean we need to fight. If there is every something you actually need, that doesn’t involve fighting a war, I’ll be willing to give it.”

Pre seems to be debating but then he slowly steps forwards, holding a hand out to him. Obi-Wan takes it a bit warily, standing. He looks about to say something when his comm suddenly beeps.

Obi-Wan can’t hear the voice on the other end exactly but Pre’s face is rapidly twisting with anger. “The Duchess is coming?” he repeats, “What suspicious activity?”

The most he gathers is something about a power surge at the mine and –

Oh.

Oh no.

“Keep her distracted. I’ll be there shortly,” he says stiffly, ending the call, turning his now furious gaze to Obi-Wan.

“That wasn’t – ” He starts to object.

Only for Pre to punch him in the face.

Hey.

He will grudgingly admit he probably deserved that though, even if it not for this specific thing.

“You sold out our position to her,” Pre seethes.

“That wasn’t me,” Obi-Wan protests, “I didn’t – ”

“I’m sorry,” Anakin blurts, fidgeting, “I thought you were gonna kill him. I was just trying to help.”

Pre huffs out an irritated breath but he slowly deflates. “Very well. We’ll discuss this situation when I get back.” He steps closer to Anakin, patting his shoulder. “Whatever you do here, kid, just remember that being a bounty hunter isn’t the Mandalorian way. Don’t let Ben tell you otherwise.” He turns, heading for the entrance.

Most of the warriors start to disperse but a few of them stay, standing watch.

Obi-Wan has no idea what’s about to happen but he’s on edge for more than one reason. He doesn’t want his brother or Satine to be fighting. He doesn’t want either to get hurt and that’s exactly why he’d left before. Because he didn’t know how to take a side, especially when he didn’t agree with either one.

And he has no idea what Satine is about to walk into now or what Pre is going to do.

“I didn’t mean to make him think this was your fault,” Anakin mumbles.

“It’s fine, little one,” he promises.

Anakin’s expression twitches at the words, to the tiniest smile but he still seems jittery.

“Really,” Obi-Wan repeats, even if he’ll admit he’s almost annoyed but he knows it’s not Anakin’s fault. He was just trying to help, “And I have to say, that I don’t know that Pre’s intentions are as innocent as they appear.” He motions Anakin closer and the boy comes, shifting a bit uncertainly as he looks up at him.

“What do you mean?”

“The Death Watch are warriors. They kill anyone who stands in their way. I expect the only reason they haven’t taken action yet is because they don’t want to make themselves look bad in the eyes of the Mandalorian people.”

Anakin bites his lip. “Is that why you left them?”

“It is.”

“That’s why Satine stamped out these ways. And I cannot fully fault her for it even if I could never agree with her.”

Anakin looks thoughtful and a bit troubled as they fall into a tense silence, waiting.

***

The trip to Mandalore is nothing like Anakin thought it would be. He genuinely thought Mandalorians were – Well, different.

He can’t help thinking back to Ahsoka and even Darra, though he doesn’t know her nearly as well, and… He often wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. Sometimes, it feels like they’re both something close to… sisters. At least as close as he’ll ever know.

He thought having a sibling would be amazing. At least he wouldn’t always be alone. As long as they weren’t separated.

He doesn’t understand why Obi-Wan and Pre, and… honestly Palpatine and his siblings have so much tension.  Though he knows the situation for all of them is messy.  “What were your parents like?” he asks finally, mostly curious.

He looks momentarily distant. “My mother died in battle when I was quiet young but she was always kind. Our father was… He did his best. He was often a bit… rough and demanding, but he was the clan leader. He was busy. He was a good leader.”

Anakin’s pretty sure there’s a lot more feelings there than Obi-Wan is saying, but he doesn’t really know how to ask. Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t. “What happened to him?”

“He was still alive when I left. I assume he must not be anymore.”

“Oh,” he whispers, and they leave it at that.

They’ve been waiting for a while when Anakin suddenly hears movement.

The warriors abruptly back out of sight into the darkness of the mine and moments later, a blonde haired woman, who’s clothes look unreasonably fancy, enters the mine silently, looking around with a frown.

Obi-Wan tenses, watching her.

Wait, is that –

And then he slowly steps out of the shadows, in front of her.

The woman jerks to a stop, staring. “Ben?”

Is that his real name? Anakin actually forgot to ask.

“Satine,” he replies, voice a bit stiff, “May I ask what you think you’re doing out here alone?”

She’s gaping at him. “I thought you were off-planet. What are you doing here?” She looks suspicious now, glancing around warily.

“You shouldn’t have come out here alone, Satine,”

It’s not intending as a threat, Anakin knows, but he’s pretty sure Satine just took as one.

Especially because the Mandalorian warriors suddenly appear out of nowhere, blasters raised.

“Death Watch!” she exclaims, looking around wildly, “You’re with them?”

“No,” Obi-Wan objects.

They’re married, Pre had said. Anakin is still a bit mind-blown at the mere thought.

“Then what are you doing here?” she snaps back, incredulous.

“We may have showed up by mistake at the same time.”

Her looks is entirely disbelieving. The warriors grab her, shoving her to her knees and aiming their blasters at her.

Are they going to hurt her? Anakin knows Obi-Wan wouldn’t have been lying about Death Watch’s genuineness and – This a mess and he only half understands but he wishes everyone would stop fighting. Honestly. Can’t there be some other way to resolve it?

“We have the Dutchess,” one of the warriors says into their comm. “She’ll be here to deal with when you arrive.”

Wait –

“What are you planning to do?” Obi-Wan demands, jerking forwards.

“She destroyed our traditions across the planet. What do you think?” one of the others snaps back.

“I was trying to save our civilization!” Satine throws back. “Our entire planet was destroyed by the war and – ”

One of them shoves her with the end of his blaster. “Quiet.”

Anakin’s stomach twists.

This is wrong.

He knows that much, even if he doesn’t fully understand the conflict. They’re planning to kill her and he doesn’t know what to do. He looks to Obi-Wan a bit desperately.

His expression is tight, not something Anakin can read, but he approaches the two guards. And then suddenly moves, tackling them. They don’t seem to have been fully expecting it, and they both go down. He fires a few stun shots at them, though the blasts don’t do much more than crackle across their armor and fade out, before he grabs Satine’s arm and runs.

Anakin runs after, hands tight around his own blaster.

Stun blasts ring out over their heads – stun shots this time. They aren’t trying to kill them anymore. Right now.

They don’t make it much further out into the trees before a group of warriors is catching up with them, and Anakin looks up to see someone else flying through the sky with a jetpack.

Pre.

Great.

He’ll definitely consider this a betrayal all over again, maybe fairly, but what he’s doing is wrong. They can’t just agree with that either.

“So you’ve shown where your loyalties really are,” he says, landing on the ground, reaching up to take his helmet off.

Satine jerks back. “Governor Viszla?”

“What did you expect?” he hisses, “You tarnish the very name Mandalorian. The enemies of Mandalore have died on this blade for generations and you will join them.” The Darksaber hisses to life, humming ominously.

“Wait,” Anakin protests, starting forwards, heart pounding.

He didn’t expect being free to mean he would end up about to die twice within a week.

Pre’s gaze is dark. “Stay out of this and I’ll spare you. You can stay here and learn the real Mandalorian way.”

As if he would ever do that if Pre did kill Obi-Wan. “Why do you have to fight?” he protests, “Can’t you just reach an agreement with her? Or – ”

“Perhaps you would like to ask the Duchess that,” he replies with a scoff. “You’re naïve, boy.”

Anakin looks at her, uncertainly.

“So long as we are warriors, there will always be a risk for another war,” she argues, “I didn’t want to do this but I saw no other way for there to finally be peace.”

Pre scoffs. “Well you can die here in peace then.”

“You know, my offer to help you still stands, Pre,” Obi-Wan says, “And – I’m sorry.” He fires a something from his leg armor –

Anakin barely sees it happening before it does. It rips through the ground around the Mandalorians surrounding them, a violent flash of light blinding him as the explosive goes off. Obi-Wan reaches for Anakin, winding an arm around his waist and he catches Satine with his other arm. “Hold on,” he orders, and then he takes off, flying into the sky with his jetpack. 

Anakin tries to wind his arms around him to hold on, though it’s weird being squashed against Satine.

“What about your brother?” Anakin protests, half-freaked that he just –

“He’ll be fine,” Obi-Wan assures breathlessly, “I wasn’t aiming to hurt them.”

….oh.

That’s proved moments later when Anakin sees the glow of several jettpacks pursuing.

They make it back to the ship before Obi-Wan lands outside the ramp, and they run onboard. Anakin scrambles for the pilot’s seat, firing up the engines and they take off.

A canon blast streaks through the air, right towards them.

Anakin jerks the ship upwards, barely dodging it as he flies higher as fast as he can.

He has to dodge a couple more shots on the way, though some of them deflect off the shields, before he’s far enough away that they have to give up the chase.

“Would you like to explain to me what’s going on here?” Satine asks, turning to them.

“Would you like to explain why you were foolish enough to go somewhere like that without your guard?” Obi-Wan demands.

“It’s good to see you too,” she retorts, a bit icily.

Anakin shifts back in his seat, crossing his arms. He doesn’t know why they’re fighting now but – It always ends badly when people start fighting around him. At least it always has before now.

Both of them seem to catch his uncomfortableness though because they both turn to look at him.

“Who are you?” Satine asks, voice suddenly a mix of professional and gentle.

“I’m Anakin Skywalker,” he offers.

“My apprentice,” Obi-Wan adds.

“Mandalorian apprentice?” she asks, almost instantly wary, “Are you with Death Watch then or not?”

“I’ve been a bounty hunter ever since I left,” he replies, a bit curtly.

She’s eyeing him again, her own expression a bit tight. “Then what were you doing there?”

“We were there to get armor,” Anakin speaks up, “Fo me. So I could… train. I’m the one who signaled in the mine. I thought we would need help.”

“Well then, I will have to thank you,” she says, sighing, “Death Watch has been carrying out terrorist attacks against the government for a long time but we’ve never been able to find a lead on them until now.”

“Terrorist attacks?” Anakin repeats, gnawing on his lip. Maybe Pre is worse than he seemed. But he does care about Obi-Wan and him and it’s strange to see.

“Blowing things up. Leaving threats. Attempt on my life, mostly,” she explains.

“Can’t you make some kind of deal with them?”

“I have tried, Anakin, believe me,” she replies, “But they won’t settle at any less than gaining complete control of Mandalore. The last war wiped out most of my people. Most of my family was lost in it. Something had to change.”

That – well, Anakin doesn’t know what to say to that. It’s a messy situation where he doesn’t even know if there’s a right answer.

“But why were you after armor? Mining beskar is illegal, as I’m sure you have heard.”

“Seeing as I saved your life, you owe me one for such a daring rescue,” Obi=Wan replies dryly.

Her eyes narrow. “Fine words for someone who nearly killed me once before.”

“In case you didn’t notice, you’re still alive.”

She huffs out a breath. “I must say, that it is good to see you again, Ben.”

“I can tell you the same,” Obi-Wan replies, though he still looks a little guarded.

After a moment, she looks back to Anakin. “I must say, it’s nice to meet you. There was once a time where, if you were taken as his apprentice then, we would have raised you together.”

Like – like another mother? That…

“A time before you barred all weapons,” Obi-Wan snips.

Satine glares at him. “You’re well aware of why I did that.”

“My point still stands. But I am serious that I need something for Anakin. His identity needs to be concealed.  There is… someone he’s in danger from.”

Satine’s eyebrows raise. “And there’s nothing the law can do about it?”

Anakin swallows hard, the familiar bitterness swelling inside of him.

“The law is responsible. And no, I’m not insinuating we belong in jail for something, before you ask.”

“I almost don’t believe you now that you said it like that,” she retorts, but she looks thoughtful, “But you’re right. I do owe you something for what you did now. There may be one place I can give you armor without breaking the laws.”

“What?”

“I… have my old armor,” she says, after a long pause.

Obi-Wan blinks. “You’re a hypocrite.”

“And you aren’t?”

She huffs. “No, look. I won’t need it again. Those ways are done. But it was all I had left of my own ancestors, since their armor was reforged to be mine. I’m willing to pass that on to Anakin, if you stay off Mandalore. I’m not supporting whatever violence you may intend to teach him, Ben.”

“Do you have such a low opinion of my skills at being a father?” he grumbles.

A father.

Is that what this is? It makes his heart fill with warmth and hope, though. But it really is what he’s trying to be and that means everything. Even if it’s also terrifying because he still has no idea what all that entails.

“Well,” Satine says, a bit dryly, “I can’t say you were a very good husband.”

“You were a dreadfully unpleasant wife. What did you expect?”

Are they being serious?

He hopes not because they’re both just being mean. Honestly.

But that’s not what stands out to him the most. “Why would you give me your armor if it means so much to you?” Anakin asks.

“Because you are about as close to a son as I may ever have, even if I don’t know you. You deserve to have it.”

He opens his mouth then slowly closes it again. Because – what –

The one thing that he will always like about Mandalorians, whether they’re big on weapons or not, is how much they’re still about family. “Thank you,” Anakin whispers. It feels like he should really be doing far more to earn what he’s getting.

“I suppose I will owe you one for this now,” Obi-Wan says.

“Technically, it makes us even.”

“In that case, I’ll have to ask one last favor. Don’t hurt Pre Viszla. My brother.”

She sighs. “I’m not planning to hurt any of them. I just want peace. But I’ll keep that in mind.”

He nods in silent thanks, and that’s about when they’re nearing the surface of Mandalore, to drop her off.

Satine stands once they land but she pauses next to Anakin. “If you ever want to visit, you are welcome to. Without weapons.”

Anakin nods, smiling shyly and they leave it there.

Chapter Text

Obi-Wan has to grudgingly admit that the trip to Mandalore went better than he thought it was going to. But at the end of the day, the fact that Pre and Satine are both fighting still means there’s no way he wants to get back involved. He’s not sure Satine actually wants him back, not that he blames her and besides, that’s not really something he’s ever cared for anyway.  Maybe he’ll try to contact Pre again some time but... he doesn’t know how.

They’re on the way back to Coruscant now, back to his new life, and he thinks that’s for the best.

Anakin shifts in the seat next to him.

He keeps looking at him and then quickly looking away.

“What?” Obi-Wan asks finally.

“Are… you alright?” he asks, quietly.

His heart flares with warmth, hearing the boy actually ask that. As though it needs to be his concern. “Well, everyone we met were such pleasant fellows.”

Anakin laughs, even if it fades quickly. “Don’t you miss them?”

“Sometimes, yes, but… I can’t really go back.”

“I guess not,” the boy agrees quietly.

Obi-Wan stands. “In the meantime, let’s have a look at your new armor.”

Anakin jerks to his feet, a hint of childish excitement clear in his eyes as they go to the back. 

“We’ll have to reforge some of these pieces,” he muses, shuffling through them. because Anakin is not going to fit into armor meant for a female.

Anakin is lightly touching the helmet, a look of awe on his face.

“And we’ll have to repaint it,” Obi-Wan adds. “And at least once we’re back, it’ll be time to properly begin your training.”

Anakin’s face lights up even further. He’s adorable, honestly.

Obi-Wan wishes he felt as confident as he’s pretending to be about this. He has to wonder for a moment, if it actually would be easier if Satine was helping him but – He shoves that thought aside. That is the past now and… whatever happens with Anakin now is his future. And that actually fills some of the emptiness that’s been eating him out for so long.

***

It’s only been a day but Ahsoka is itching for when Anakin finally comes back. But she doesn’t have to go looking because he comes to find her. She hears a knock on the apartment door and goes to answer, about flinging it open when she sees it’s Anakin who’s there. “You’re back!” she squeals, tackling him in a hug.

Anakin catches her, squeezing her tightly. “Good to see you again, Snips,” he murmurs, though his face is half pressed into the top of her montrals. It tickles crazily but she’s too happy to see him to care.

Also, his hugs are still insanely strong and intense.

“How was the trip?” Ahsoka asks, when he lets go and she grabs his hand, yanking him into the apartment.

“Eventful,” Anakin replies, crackling a grin.

“Good eventful or bad eventful?”

“Both I guess.”

“I wanna hear all about it,” she decides, hoping onto one of the chairs at the table she studies at. Anakin goes to sit at the one opposite her. “But first, there’s something I think you’ll want to know.”

“What?” Anakin asks.

“Plo was telling me about it. About the army that showed up to help us on Geonosis.”

“I’ve been wondering who they are,” Anakin says, perking up.

“Yeah, and you won’t even believe it.” Her face scrunches. “Apparently, Jango decided to clone himself like one hundred billion times for no reason and that’s who they are. He made an army for the Republic, without Senate agreement. Said some weirdo named Sifo-something whatever – I don’t remember that part – asked him too. And I think they’re slaves like you were.”

Anakin inhales sharply. “They’re slaves? How could Jango just…”

“I dunno but Jango was always pretty annoying. I just figured out what they were cuz the Senate was talking about how much they were gonna buy them for.”

Anakin’s hand clenches. “They aren’t even going to hide this anymore?” he bursts out finally.

Ahsoka reaches over to take his other hand, squeezing it. “I don’t get it either. People are so mean.”

“How can everyone just… be fine with this?” It’s a rhetorical question, one she’d like the answer too herself.

But he sounds desperate and angry and bitter and scared all at once. Which is fair, because they’re basically going as far as to legalize slavery in the Republic even if they won’t say so. She doesn’t know what that could mean for Anakin either.

“I think there is some kinda debate in the Senate about it. About whether it counts cuz they’re clones. Plo was watching the news earlier.” She waves a hand at the holoprojector.

Anakin’s gaze shifts over to it and after a few moments, he goes to turn it on.  It’s live-broadcasting the middle of a Senate meeting – great, this will be boring.

“Why are we talking about purchasing troopers when we should be stopping this war before it starts?” a woman with dark brown hair which is put up in such a fancy hairpiece that Ahsoka can’t stop staring at it, is saying passionately. Actually, her clothes are just as fancy.

Anakin freezes, staring.

“What?” Ahsoka wonders, leaning closer to watch.

“That’s Padme. The Senator of Naboo.”

“You know her?” She’s a bit surprised, but maybe she shouldn’t be. She doesn’t really know that much about Anakin, all things considered.

“I met her on Tatooine when I was a child. She was stuck there because she needed a new hyperdrive and I offered her shelter,” he explains. “I looked her up once. I wanted to meet her again but I never really got the chance.”

Other Senators start talking on top of each other then, arguing loudly about the issue.

But then the life feed flips to showing Palpatine standing at the front of the Senate.

Anakin’s breath shudders. He’s staring at the hologram.

It’s weird to think that this where the Chancellor is right now and – It reminds Ahsoka all over again of how much she hates him. She reaches out, flipping it off right as Palpatine starts speaking. “You probably don’t wanna hear him rambling anymore than I do,” she grumbles.

“Thanks, Snips,” he says with a small smile, though it doesn’t quiet reach his eyes.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” she goes on, “Maybe he’s just trying to get one million new slaves to make up for how he lost you.”

Anakin breathes out heavily. “I want to free them. Somehow. I – I can’t just do nothing. I don’t know where to start, but we have to do something,”

“Maybe I can ask Plo,” Ahsoka suggests but she doesn’t know either. She just wants to bite someone. Or – something. She almost wishes she’d just killed the Chancellor before when she had the chance. Even if she’s not sure Plo would approve. And she can’t quite imagine actually doing that, but…

There’s a long pause of silence.

“It must be weird to be around one million Jangos,” she remarks.

“Technically they aren’t Jangos even if they must look like him,” Anakin points out.

She huffs. “Whatever.  But yeah – having so many brothers would be weird.”

“It would be better than having none.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Ahsoka agrees, smiling up at him.

Anakin returns it, adoration shining clearly in his eyes.

Maybe she does know what it’s like to have a sibling.

“Have you seen Darra while I was gone?” Anakin asks.

“I went to try finding her once, but Soara said she was busy,” Ahsoka replies.

He nods, frowning a little.

“That reminds me,” Anakin says, perking up, “You would not believe what I saw on Mandalore. A real lightsaber.”

“What?!” Ahsoka yelps.

“It’s called the Dark saber – “

“I heard about that in history but I didn’t know they still had that thing,” Ahsoka exclaims. “I wanna see it!”

“We’d have to find Death Watch if we want to see it but – Hey, if we know how to build them sort of, maybe we can build one ourselves?”

She perks up. “Yes! But – I think we need some kinda crystal. No one knows where to get those anymore.” She read a lot about them because she always found them intriguing.

“Well, we could just make a model but… that is true.” Anakin reaches into his pocket, withdrawing… a rock?

“I’ve been wondering,” Anakin says, “If it has the Force in it. It feels bright.”

Ahsoka takes it, running her fingers carefully over it. “I know what you mean.” It feels alive in a way a rock should not.

“I don’t know if we’re really ready to make a lightsaber but I had another idea. What if we tried meditating?”

“We can try,” Ahsoka offers, brightening, “I found some weird instructions once but it seemed reallyyyy dull.”

Anakin cracks a grin. “It should be less uninteresting together.”

They go to sit side by side on the floor and Ahsoka tries to do what the instructions said. But trying not to think is nearly impossible and she’s so impatient to just feel some kind of something – the way the Jedi used to – that it’s probably not helping at all.

The most she can tell is that when she concentrates for long enough, she can feel the life around her. Can feel the way the rock is definitely alive and that there’s got to be a lot of people moving around nearby because everything is too busy and mostly, she just feels Anakin – burning like a fire yet still as soft as a candle.

Even if this is a little boring, maybe it’s worth it.

“You know,” Anakin speaks up, after a pause, “It’s like I know exactly how to move that rock with the Force, but when I try, nothing happens.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Me too. Maybe we just need more practice.”

It’s their special little thing and she wants to keep at it.

***

Anakin goes to look for Darra as soon as he has the chance. It’s the first time he’s wandered the complex on his own and he can’t help feeling unreasonably jittery. Reasonably, he knows no one knows who he is and there shouldn’t be anyone after him, and even if there was, the bounty hunters here are supposed to be abide by Republic regulations, but he’s still on edge. Maybe it’s just that a lot of the people here also feel so shaddy. Like they don’t follow rules half as well as they claim they do.

He's grateful for the armor, truthfully. Both because of how it hides him and that it’s the first thing that’s ever truly been his. Obi-Wan promised he could work on personalizing the paint job on it later.

Darra’s not in the apartment she shares with her adopted mother and it takes a while of wandering around the complex, now dressed in his armor, to actually hear from someone that Soara was down in the large cantina.

He enters the place, pausing at the loud music blaring. The party here reminds him of Tatooine in a way he doesn’t like. There’re dozens of people in here and he spends a while scanning the room before he spots Soara sitting at a counter, talking to someone. Darra’s next to her. She looks – Well, honestly kind of miserable.

Anakin goes over, sliding onto a seat next to her.

“Hey,” he whispers.

She looks up sharply, brightening instantly as recognition dawns at the sound of his voice. “Anakin?”

“Yeah,” he grins though she won’t see it because of the helmet concealing his face. “This is my new armor.”

Darra’s smile grows as she looks at him. “It…looks nice.”

“You need something here?” Soara Antana is looking at him. She doesn’t sound hostile exactly but the way she’s talking is still…

Anakin shifts, crossing his arms. The helmet helps at hiding hi and it makes him feel safer but he just – He doesn’t like Soara, if he’s being honest. She just doesn’t seem very nice. “No. I am just… here to stop by.”

“Well, we came down here for business. If you have anything to add, you’re welcome to stay.”

But what if he doesn’t?

He thinks that’s a subtle implication for him to leave, unless he’s reading into it too much.

“I won’t disturb you then,” Anakin offers quietly, shifting a little.

All he can tell for sure is that Darra doesn’t want him to go and he doesn’t want to leave either. As long as he doesn’t push it too far, maybe it’ll be okay.

He understands it if Soara is busy and if she doesn’t want them talking to distract her, but…

He falls quiet, slowly reaching out under the table for Darra’s hand. She takes it, squeezing his fiercely and they sit there in relative silence. They’ll have to find another time to talk but at least they can spend a short while together.

***

Anakin doesn’t know why but he jolts awake sometime in the middle of the night. Maybe it’s just that there’s been a restlessness crawling under his skin ever since he saw that hologram of Palpatine earlier. The reminder that yes, his master is right here on planet.

All he knows is the room feels too dark and it’s beginning to feel like the walls are closing in on him. Which is stupid because this isn’t that stupid closet and he can leave whenever he wants to. He’s not trapped in here. In the dark, in the endless silence, but everything feels too quiet.

He could turn on the light but he doesn’t want to wait electricity either, and – He’s not sure it would help much anyway.  Everything is just too still.  

He doesn’t want to be alone right now.

What he actually wants is –

To go crawl in bed next to his mom the way he always used to.  He hasn’t been able to do that in years.

Maybe what he also misses is – It feels so, so stupid to say that he misses Palpatine’s hugs when he never wants to see him again.

Obi-Wan is far more reserved about touch. Anakin’s pretty sure it’s because they don’t know each other well and Obi-Wan Is just giving him space which he appreciates more than he could say so he doesn’t know why he just –

He turns to look out the window again, trying to ignore the way he’s wondering where his former master is now, if he’s alright.

If…

A lot of things.

He can’t stop thinking about him suddenly and he finds his mind jumps to the past unwittingly.

He’s supposed to be focusing on sorting out this pile of files, getting it into alphabetical order. Palpatine told him to do it as practice – because he apparently wants Anakin to learn the Basic letters properly, even if he’s hardly certain why.  He thought knowing how to read wasn’t something slaves were supposed to know but his master seems to think otherwise.

It’s not hard, not really, even if he’s still jittery of what’ll happen if he makes a mistake. It’s a little easier with Threepio because the droid won’t get upset when he makes a mistake, even if he does report on his progress to his master. But really, it’s not hard exactly – it’s just that he can’t focus. Because all he can think about is that he’s never going to see his mom again and all he wants to do right now is cry. Normally, he’s good at holding back from that when he’s not alone but right now – It’s too much.

And he can’t see these stupid letters when his vision keeps blurring from tears.

“Anakin?” Palpatine asks, looking up from his desk. They’re in his office, at his apartment, His master usually calls him in here in the evenings, after he’s back from the Senate.

He’s probably expecting him to be finished by now and it makes his heart flip. “I’m almost done, Master.”

“Bring them here when you are,” he says. He doesn’t sound impatient which – is one good thing.

Normally, he’d already be done if he could just focus.

He gets the last few together a little faster than he probably should’ve before shuffling over to his master’s desk,

Palpatine takes them, looking them over. Anakin doesn’t fully understand why he’s taking the time to do this. Watto only gave his work attention. Not him.

“Forn is before grek and herf, Anakin,” he says, reaching down to pat his shoulder. “And krill and krenth are after that jenth.”

That – Well, that was a dumb mistake. He’s a bit more confused at his master’s lack of irritation, honestly.

“I can fix it?” Anakin offers hesitantly, reaching for them, trying to blink away his tears.

His master pauses when he catches his expression. “Anakin? What’s wrong?”

He bites down on his lip, trying to and failing to blink away his tears. “I -  I just miss my mom,” he mumbles.

Palpatine’s expression softens a little. Reaching for him, he picks him up and settles him in his lap.

Anakin freezes.

Why is he… doing this?

He hugged him once, after Anakin had heard the news about Shmi and couldn’t stop crying. Be’d been so confused at Palpatine’s reaction and he’s even more so now.

This is his master. Why is he acting like he cares?

He’s sort of sitting sideways and Palpatine’s arm wraps around him to hold him securely.

“I know that would be… hard,” his master says, softly, “I wish I could have gotten to her sooner, for you.”

Anakin bites down on his lip, still uncertain what to say. If he hadn’t been buying slaves from Kryan, that wouldn’t have happened at all. Not that he can say that.

And shouldn’t he be working –

“Take whatever time you need,” his master says, as though reading his thoughts.

Anakin breathes out shakily. He’d never cry in front of a master but – It’s too much to hold back anymore. Especially when he’s actually being held again and that’s about all he wants. To not be so completely alone.

Against his better judgement, he finally leans into it, resting his head against his master’s chest, sniffling quietly. Palpatine’s hand moves up to lightly rub his back.

Anakin tries to make himself calm down, though it’s near impossible and takes far longer than he’s comfortable with. His master doesn’t seem to be impatient to put him down, though, considering that his grip only tightens a little when Anakin shifts a bit, wondering if he should maybe try to get up now.

“Tell me about her,” Palpatine requests, once he’s mostly quieted again.

Why would he ask that?

It sounds like a request but he doesn’t –

He doesn’t know that it’s something he can refuse to do, either.

And it’s not – he wants to have someone to talk to, but this is his master and how is he supposed to even…

“I… don’t know what to say,” he mumbles, trying not to squirm too much.

“I expect there’s a lot you have to say about her, for how much you miss her. What was she like?” He just seems curious, though Anakin doesn’t fully understand why he cares.

He tries to scramble to get his thoughts in order, though, because he has to say something. “She… she’s the only family I’ve had.” He bites his lip. There is a lot he could say but it just feels too personal to actually say to his owner. But it’s not as if it’s something that could be used against him. Not really. She’s gone and she’s not coming back and that’s nearly enough to make him cry all over again.

“She used to tell me bedtime stories most nights.” He doesn’t know why that’s the next thing he thinks of. But he won’t elaborate on that considering that most of the legends she taught him were about finding freedom. “She taught me a lot of what I know about machines. She gave me her food a lot of times. And she was always… nice. To everyone. Even people we didn’t know.”

“She does sound like a good mother.” His tone is unreadable.

“She was the best.” It’s all he can do not to cry again.

Palpatine is oddly quiet for a long time. “I know this… will not be an easy thing to come to terms with.”

Anakin frankly has no idea how he’s supposed to at all. How he’s supposed to spend every day for the rest of his life with this constant emptiness. “I don’t know how,” he says, miserably.

Palpatine’s arm around him tightens a little. “The only thing that really helps, if you can truly say anything does, is time.”

Something about how Palpatine says that sounds personal in a way he can’t quite place.

“Do you know what it’s like?” he blurts before he can double-think it.

Palpatine looks down at him.

Anakin tenses, torn between apologizing for asking something that’s definitely not even his place – it’s not as if curling up in his master’s lap should be either, though – and staying quiet and pretending he said nothing.

There’s something dark twisting around his master. Grief? Guilt? He thinks. He can’t tell clearly but it’s something he’s always been able to feel about other people for some reason.

“I do,” he says finally, “But not for a parent.”

He really, really wants to ask but he should probably just be quiet.

“One of my sisters,” he goes on, after a very long pause and Anakin frankly has no idea why he’s telling him this, “Szulla. It… was about four years ago.”

His eyes widen. “Oh. How – ”

“Bounty hunter attack on Cosinga’s main residence. I didn’t know Szulla, her husband, and their daughter were going to be there.”

He should probably say something. He doesn’t even know what, though. How would he make his master feel better about something? He can’t believe he even wants to but – he does.

Anakin twists sideways, wrapping his small arms around him. Palpatine gives him a small squeeze.

Anakin slowly shifts back after a moment, looking up. “What’s it like to have a sibling?”

His master’s eyebrows raise. “Why do you ask?”

He bites his lip. “I – I just – I’ve always wondered. I never got to have one.”

He looks thoughtful. “When you’re young,” he says finally, “They’re the ones you share your life with. There’s not really anyone else who can understand it better. But in the end, when you need them, they are never there.”

 He’s definitely radiating something dark now.

“That – that’s not what a family ought to be like,” Anakin objects, “Mom was always there when I needed her to be.”

“You have a very simple view of the universe, Anakin.” Palpatine lifts him, setting him lightly back on the floor. “Here, finish up these files and then you can go to bed. It’s getting late.”

Anakin shakes himself out of the memory, looking around the room. The quiet is just too much and he finally slips off the bed, quietly tiptoeing out into the hall. At least it feels less closed in to be able to leave the room. He enters Obi-Wan’s room as quietly as he can, even if his gut flips a little at it – he doesn’t know if Obi-Wan will want him in here. He can just leave before he wakes up maybe, but he just really, really doesn’t want to be alone. He lays down on the floor next to the bed, as quietly as he can.  He’s approaching falling asleep himself when he hears sudden movement.

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan asks and he nearly jumps, looking up.

Obi-Wan’s sitting up, looking down at him.

“Is everything alright?”

“I – I just didn’t want to be by myself.” It sounds stupid to say aloud. “I can leave – “

“What? No, of course you can stay, Anakin.” Obi-Wan gets off the side of his bed, crouching on the floor next to him. “Are you alright?”

He nods numbly. “I just – I was always alone with Palpatine. And I keep fearing you will be gone.” Which is stupid because Obi-Wan’s not going to just disappear. But he thought that about his mother too once.

Obi-Wan reaches out, lightly squeezing his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere, little one.”

“I know,” Anakin whispers, even if it stupidly feels like he doesn’t. He leans forwards before thinking it through, wrapping his arms around him. Obi-Wan returns the embrace, and Anakin breathes out shakily, leaning into it.

It feels nice.

It doesn’t have the same possessive feel that it always did with Palpatine. Even if it’s not nearly as tight either.

And… at least he doesn’t think Obi-Wan will hurt him. Probably not, at least. He hasn’t so far and if Anakin messed something up at this point, after everything Obi-Wan’s already done for him, he’d probably deserve it. The thought makes him nervous anyway though because he – he just hopes that doesn’t happen.

“You need to be sleeping,” Obi-Wan speaks finally, pulling back, “Are you certain the floor is such a desirable spot?”

“It’s fine. I used to sleep on the floor all the time.”

“With the Chancellor?” He sounds a bit indignant.

“No. Before that.”

“Well, take a pillow and blanket at least.” Obi-Wan climbs back onto his bed, passing some things down to Anakin and he’s beginning to feel like he’s stealing all his bedding by the time he stops but he makes himself comfortable on the floor anyway and finds himself slipping off into a restful sleep far faster than he thought he would.

Chapter Text

It’s been a month since Anakin was finally freed, a month since he started training as a Mandalorian. The training has been a lot, but it’s what he’s always wanted to do. He finally feels closer to what he’s always dreamed of doing.

When he once dreamed of being free, he always thought it would be alongside his mother, but even if she’s not here – even if he’ll never stop missing her – he’s beginning to think that maybe something like this is the life he always wanted to have. There’s still a lot of this life he’s just getting used to but there’s no question that he far prefers it to what he did have.

Obi-Wan still hasn’t let him go on any missions yet. He says he’s not ready for that and he’s probably right, even if Anakin is impatient for it. He wants to start actually doing something to help people – instead of just training for it. Obi-Wan promised he’d consider it depending on how this training mission goes, though, so he’s going to make sure to do his best.

Anakin leans forwards in the pilot’s seat, as he flies the small ship they’re taking down through the atmosphere of the planet, Ragoon-6.

Green and sparking blue cover the planet’s surface in every direction, once they’re finally far enough down to see. It’s not even like Naboo, which is also covered in buildings. The planet here is free of towns and it’s… beautiful.

“It’s beautiful,” Darra breathes, gaze fixated on the window from where she’s sitting behind him alongside Soara Antana. They’re here for part of this training mission too.

“It is,” Anakin agrees.

Obi-Wan’s hand reaches up to squeeze his shoulder. “I forgot how much of a sight this place is too.”

“You were here with Qui-Gon?” Anakin asks.

Obi-Wan nods.

“Are there really no people here?” Darra asks.

“It was given in trust to the Senate by its own government,” Obi-Wan replies, “Only small tribes of natives still inhabit it. A Senate committee handles requests to visit. Occasionally, they will give permission for groups of bounty hunters who have always had a good track record with doing work for the Republic to come here for training. Access is strictly controlled. That way, Ragoon-6 will remain unspoiled, as the government wanted. There are no air lanes, no factories, no cities.”

“The Ragoons never allowed colonizers to settle,” Soara agrees, arms crossed, “Their own population sickened and dwindled until finally, there was only a handful left. They could no longer keep out all those who wanted to come. They knew they would have to give up what they loved most in order to save it.”

Anakin frowns. “But they could have kept their planet if they let colonizers come, right?”

“Yes, but they chose not to. The beauties of their world were too important to them,” Obi-Wan explains, “To keep the planet unspoiled was their first goal.”

“If I had a home planet still, I would never leave it,” Darra comments quietly.

Soara glances sideways at her. “Bounty hunters don’t have connections like that, with either people or places. It’s a liability.”

Darra sinks back a little against her seat, staying silent.

Anakin turns his gaze back to the window, watching the scenery as he brings the ship in for landing.

“Those are the Rost Mountains,” Soara speaks up again, “Once we land, Darra and I will start out together.”

“And then you’ll have to hunt us down,” Darra chirps, brightening a little.

The point of the training mission was for Anakin and Obi-Wan to try tracking the other two through the wilderness, without using any form of technology. It’s supposed to help them learn to work better with each other and give Anakin actual experience.

And it’ll give Darra a little bit of training herself.

“I will be my honor and pleasure to find you in a single day,” Anakin replies with a grin.

“Don’t count on it being that easy,” she replies lightly.

“I’m not. I know you will do your best at staying hidden.” He pats her shoulder.

Soara is watching them and Anakin hates how that makes him feel awkward for it. Mostly, he can tell that it makes Darra uncomfortable.

Anakin finally brings the ship down, and they head to the back to get ready to go.

“We need to leave our comlinks here,” Obi-Wan says.

Anakin nods, dropping his into a container safely aboard the ship.

“If you can’t find us, we’ll meet back here in ten days,” Soara adds. “Come on, Darra.”

Darra pauses to exchange a final small smile with Anakin before she follows Soara off the ship. They head out into the grass and within a couple minutes, they’ve disappeared from sight.

Anakin has no idea why he suddenly has an uneasy feeling about this. This planet is peaceful. There shouldn’t be any serious danger out there. “How long do we give them?” he asks, looking up at Obi-Wan.

“A few hours. Time enough for us to explore the surroundings a bit and have a meal, you’ll be glad to hear.”

“What about Darra?” Anakin asks, “She didn’t get to have a meal.”

At least, he doesn’t think she did.

Darra has told him before that Soara often has her work without eating for hours, as field practice. Which is understandable but sometimes he can’t help thinking how it reminds him of Tatooine, of when he had to work tirelessly with no end in sight either.

“I’m sure she ate before coming,” Obi-Wan assures. “And for now, we’ll be on rations and protein cubes once we leave, but we can raid the ships galley now. And remember, this is meant as a lesson but it is also supposed to be fun.”

Anakin smiles almost shyly. “Alright.”

A meal does sound good.

And the mission does seem like it’s going to be fun, though he wants to get on to an actually serious mission.

They go to sit in the meadow to eat together. It’s peaceful. He wishes Ahsoka was here. She’d love a mission this fun and harmless. Maybe he can convince Plo to let her come on something like this.

***

They start tacking a few hours later and it only takes until midday for Anakin to realize that they’re hopelessly lost. They’re somewhere near a forest now and looking for traces in the grass itself is nearly impossible now.

“I think Soara and Darra would be very happy if they could see us,” Obi-Wan says, a bit grumpily.

“The day isn’t over yet,” Anakin chirps, grinning, though he has to admit that his hope of finding them by the end of the day is starting to fade.

“Come on, let’s backtrack,” Obi-Wan advises, “We must’ve taken a wrong turn.”

They retrace their steps, Anakin keeping a close eye on the ground.

And then he sees a sudden change in the trail he hadn’t noticed before – it looks like they went into the woods.

The tracks in the woods are almost oddly easy to follow,

At least until Anakin trips onto some marks he thought were fresh but only ends up running into a den of wild animals. And he and Obi-Wan nearly get eaten – though thankfully, beskar is stronger than teeth.

“And here I thought this was a peaceful planet,” Anakin remarks, a bit breathless still, “Why would they lead us right into that den? That seems extreme. Even for Soara.” At least he thinks it is. He doesn’t know her that well.

He doesn’t know why he has a sudden gnawing anxiety about if Darra’s okay.

“They wouldn’t,” Obi-Wan agrees, “That’s against the rules of this exercise. We must have misread the clue. Let’s return to the place on the trail where we saw it.”

They backtrack, going to look over the marks on the trial.

“It was my fault,” Anakin says, biting his lip. But Obi-Wan has never yelled at him for making a mistake in his training and he’s starting to think that maybe he’s not going to. Even if it’s a strange concept to get used to. “I saw the edge of the trail was flattened and I thought it was them.”

Obi-Wan nods, but he’s still studying the spot.

Anakin turns away, looking for some other disturbance in the dirt.

The impression in the dirt a short ways away, of a heel, is deep. It’s weird, honestly, because that’s obvious and very unlike Soara. Unless Darra made a mistake but he doesn’t really think that could be true either.

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin asks, “I think it’s this way.”

Obi-Wan comes without comment – the point is to let Anakin lead it, though that has him a bit nervous.

He follows the new trail this time to edge of a rocky hillside and they start climbing down it. It leads them into another forest and then all the way to a rock wall.

Another dead end?

“But I was certain they went this way,” Anakin objects, frowning.

“Look around. We may be missing something out here,” Obi-Wan points out.

Anakin hesitates, but does as he’s told, trying to look closer. And then he finds it – an opening in the rock.

A cave.

They go inside together, and Anakin runs ahead, scanning the cavern. He maneuvers his way through a few turns before coming to a stop right beneath an opening in the top.

“Anakin, we should get out of here,” Obi-Wan calls, as he hurries down the tunnel towards him, “I think this cavern may flood periodically.”

Anakin nods, waiting for Obi-Wan to catch up.

Except then, he hears a distant whooshing sound.

It’s rapidly coming closer and he suddenly senses an inkling of danger. But he can’t tell quite where it’s coming from and then –

A wall of water blocks out the sun above, heading straight for the hole in the top of the cave. Anakin dives out of the way, jumping onto a ledge in the cavern as water pours through the opening, rapidly flooding the floor. The armor is protection and thankfully sealed so he can still breathe but he’s nearly about to lose his grip on the cave wall, from the force of the water.

And where’s Obi-Wan?

He twists around, trying to spot. He’s a distance away, on a higher ledge – he seems to be fine, at least.

For now, all Anakin can do is start moving, climbing through the rushing water towards the cavern opening. He hasn’t done anything quite like this before but it’s not as if he’s any closer to dying than the countless times he raced pods as a child. He reaches the opening and waits for Obi-Wan to catch up.

It takes a while before he finally manages to swim to the surface and out of the water. A waterfall is crashing over the rocks above the cave – that’s why it was all going right in.

“I don’t understand,” Anakin says, once they’re safely out of the water and he’s managed to catch his breath, “Soara wouldn’t lead us in their on purpose, would she?”

“No,” Obi-Wan says immediately, “The clues are meant to be hard, not life threatening. That would be against the rules entirely and… she wouldn’t do that.”

“But I thought I read the clues right.” He’s both disappointed at the mistake and confused. Something doesn’t seem right but maybe he’s just paranoid.

They backtrack again and find a seemingly different trail entirely to follow for the third time. That results in them climbing higher and higher up into the mountains,

It’s starting to grow increasingly colder, Anakin can’t help noting. He can see the snow above and – He actually wants to be near it because he’s barely ever had the chance to see any.

But then something nags at him.

A warning.

He knows those feelings, because he’s become so used to paying attention to them when he needs to prepare for a master to lash out at him. But this is something else.

Anakin looks over at Obi-Wan. “I think someone’s watching us,” he says, in a low voice.

Obi-Wan nods, looking around discreetly. “We should split up,” he says evenly, tone normal. Clearly intended to throw off anyone who’s watching them. “We’re getting nowhere. I'll head back, and you continue ahead.”

Anakin nods.

Obi-Wan’s probably trying to lure out whoever it is, so he just keeps on moving, ready for action.

He has armor and he’s more than ready to fight. He’s never actually had to yet, though.

He turned another bend in the path on the mountain and then light glints off something sharply.

A girl who looks about his age is standing in the path right in front of him, something glinting in her hands. “Don't come any farther,” she warns, but he can feel the fear she’s radiating, “I promise you, I know how to use this. And it's aimed straight at your heart.”

Anakin pauses, eyeing her.

And he can feel that Obi-Wan’s close. He needs to keep the girls’ attention on him, in case she actually is planning something. He can’t say how he always senses these things but… he’s beginning to think Ahsoka is right about it being the Force. After since they started trying to do regular meditation sessions, he could swear he’s beginning to feel things more clearly.

But really, a blaster shot won’t kill him in this armor. And actually, what she’d holding hardly looks like a blaster. The angle is too odd for him to tell what it is, though. “Why do you want to shoot me?” he asks evenly and a little confused.

“Do not try to trick me,” she retorts, “I know you've been following me. I know you killed my friends and my teacher.” Her voice is wobbling a little. “I won't let you kill me too.”

Anakin sees a sudden flash of armor, as Obi-Wan’s jetpack activates and he drops down behind the girl, knocking the thing from her hands and tossing them to the ground.

Anakin stares at the object on the ground. “You were going to shoot me with a hydrospanner?” He would almost laugh under any other circumstances.

“I didn't have a real weapon,” she mumbles sullenly.

Then she whirls and tries to jump down over the edge of the cliff. Obi-Wan grabs her and jerks her back. “That's not a solution,” he chides, “We're not going to hurt you.”

“We can help you,” Anakin interjects, instantly moving forwards, “What happened? What do you mean somebody killed your friends?”

The girl shifts a bit, tugging her cloak closer. Her hood falls back, long blonde hair spilling down her back. “My name is Floria,” she says, “I'm from the planet Aaeton, only half-day's journey from here. Young people from my planter often go on survival survival camping trips on Ragoon-6 when we reach fourteen years of age. I’m fifteen now. We have a special allowance from the Senate because we gave the elders of Ragoon refuge when they handed the planet over to the senate. My group arrived yesterday. I was separated from them. We were on a hike and I got lost.” Something doesn’t feel quite right but Anakin stops focusing on that when he sees the way Floria’s eyes are filling with tears. “When I returned – I – the ship – ”

“Go on,” Obi-Wan interjects.

She swallows hard. “Was completed burned,” she whispers, “I knew we were supposed to meet back there for evening meal I am afraid my friends and my teacher were in it. Someone blew it up.”

Her pain is strong. He can feel that much.

“Are you sure they were inside?” Anakin asks.

Her hands clench. “How can I be sure of anything? Everything was smoke and ash and fire. Maybe they escaped. Maybe they are lost. I've been searching ever since. But lately I am positive that someone has been following me. They were keeping just out of sight.”

Something’s wrong here. Is that why he keeps getting edgy feelings about Darra?

“More than one being?” Obi-Wan inquires.

“I – I’m not sure,” Floria stammers, “I don't know what's wrong. I just know that something is. And I'm all alone!”

“You’re not alone,” Anakin promises gently, “We will help you.” He knows how this is too well and he’s not going to leave her here all alone when he can help her.

“Who are you?” she asks, “And why would you help me?”

“We’re Mandalorian,” Anakin answers, “And that’s just what we do.” He throws a hesitant glance at Obi-Wan but he says nothing to contradict him.

“The first thing to do is to examine your ship,” Obi-Wan decides.

Floria nods, leading them back to the crash site. The entire thing is burned, just like she said. Obi-Wan goes inside, telling Anakin to wait out here with her.

Floria glances curiously over at Anakin. “Do you ever take your helmet off?”

“Sometimes.” But he’s not supposed to do that around anyone he doesn’t know. He misses being able to freely feel the air against his face but – He’d rather stay hidden then risk what could happen if he doesn’t.

“I think I heard there’s some Mandalorians who never do so I was just wondering,” she says quietly.

“I’m not exactly one of those, but… It’s easier to keep it on in case of an attack.”

She nods, falling silent again.

A few minutes later, Obi-Wan remerges from inside. “There are no remains of beings aboard.”

Floria closes her eyes in relief. “Thank you for looking.”

“This is a small cruiser,” Anakin muses, eyeing the ship, “It’s for travel within a planetary atmosphere. How did you get here from Aaeton?”

“We have a space cruiser in orbit,” she explains, “We’re supposed to rendezvous with them in three hours. But I have no way to contact them to tell them we won't be there.” But then she suddenly brightens. “Can you take me? I can tell them what happened, and they'll send a rescue party down.”

“Very well,” Obi-Wan agrees, “We’ll have to head back to our ship but it’s not far.”

“Thank you,” Floria breathes, “I feel certain now that my friends are alive. But they could be in danger. We must find them.”

Obi-Wan nods, turning away and laying a hand on Anakin’s shoulder, pulling him aside. “We need to be on guard,” he warns, “Something isn’t right here. I’ve been thinking about Soara.”

“What about her?” He’s even more worried now.

“The clues we have been following. something is wrong. They are too easy, and they lead us to danger. Maybe Soara and Darra aren’t the ones leaving them.”

His gut clenches uneasily. “So something might’ve happened to them?”

Obi-Wan nods.

They’ll definitely have to go looking. He wants to go now, but… They better get Floria to safety first. She’s entirely without defense.

***

They don’t even make it all the way back to the ship before getting attacked. Some kind of mist comes floating towards them, and Obi-Wan yells at Anakin to duck.

He tackles Floria out of the way and the spray hits the ground where they were just standing.

“Stokhli spray stick,” Obi-Wan says breathlessly, scanning their surroundings, “Keep moving.”

“What’s that?” Anakin frowns.

Floria looks just as confused.

“It’s a weapon that sends out a spraynet mist with a stun current. It will leave you paralyzed for hours,” Obi-Wan hours, “So stay away from it.”

No question there.

“I’ll circle around to get him. Anakin? If you keep walking, he’ll focus on you. Use your jetpack to evade him and whatever you do, do not get hit. Can you do that?”

Anakin nods firmly.

Well, he’s beyond nervous but he’s trained for this. He has to be ready.

Obi-Wan lingers a moment longer but then takes off.

Once Anakin’s sure Floria is safe, he starts walking, whirling at the sound of the spray stick. He flies into the air, streaking out of the way of the two-hundred-meter spray. It comes at him again and he ducks mid-air to avoid it, seeing down below as Obi-Wan tackles someone in the bushes a distance off.

He flies over to help, landing right as the person drops to the ground – their own spray hitting them in the face.

“They – were – mine,” he gasps out, before he goes entirely paralyzed.

What –

What does that mean?

“That wasn’t what I intended,” Obi-Wan says, a bit grumpily, “Clearly we won’t be getting answers out of him.”

Anakin really wants answers too. This isn’t adding up. Why are other bounty hunters here?

“Does he work for the Republic?” Anakin asks, looking down at the man’s paralyzed form.

“I don’t recognize him,” Obi-Wan says, shaking his head.

That’s not entirely unheard of, and bounty hunters who do work for the Republic are never supposed to attack one another, but… Something’s wrong.

Floria appears next to them. “Who is he?” she asks.

Obi-Wan kneels to check the person over. “I don’t see any identification but he’s obviously a bounty hunter.” He moves to restrain him, then pauses. “You'll recover from the stun in about five hours. But I guess you know that. We’ll return for you.”

It’s a bit eerie that all the person can do is stare straight ahead when Anakin knows he can hear what they’re saying.

“Can't you ask him what happened to my friends?” Floria queries.

“He can't speak. Not yet. If he did attack your friends, we'll escort him to your home planet for trial,” Obi-Wan assures.

Teras suddenly spill down her cheeks. “He killed them,” she chokes out, “I know it. Did you hear what he said? 'They were mine.' He did it.”

“You don’t know that,” Anakin tells her soothingly, “He could have meant any number of things. We don't know anything about him. You can't jump to conclusions that way. You can't imagine the worst.” He pats her back gently, as she dries her tears on the hem of her cloak. She could be right, though. Something’s wrong here.

Obi-Wan doesn’t even spare Floria a glance.

Which –

Well, Anakin knows he’s lost in thought but it still feels a little cold.

But then Obi-Wan comes over, pulling him aside again. “What is a bounty hunter doing on an underpopulated planet and attacking us for?” he asks rhetorically, “And why would he attack a group of young students on a camping trip? It doesn't make sense.”

“Something happened to them,” Anakin points out. He’s confused too, though.

“Yes.” Obi-Wan eyes the paralyzed bounty hunter. “I wish I could ask him some questions. I'd like to know if he's operating alone.”

A chill snakes through him. “Do you think Darra’s okay?”

“Why don’t we head back to the ship and try comming them?”

“And we can call for help for Floria at the same time,” Anakin agrees, perking up.

But something tells him it won’t be that simple. Anakin’s certainly not glad for the turn of circumstances, for how Floria and Darra could both be in danger, but… he still can’t shake the tiny exhilarating feeling of finally being on an actual mission. Of finally being able to help people for real. This is what he’s always wanted to do. It’s not really what bounty hunters do either honestly, but… Maybe he can just be a different kind of bounty hunter. The way Qui-Gon apparently was.

***

They don’t even make it back to the ship before being attacked again. Blaster shots whiz past them, tearing through the rocks and dirt in front of them.

Obi-Wan spins around, as a blaster shot pings off his armor.

“Anakin, Floria, get to the ship!” he calls.

Anakin pulls Floria to his side, to keep her safe from the blaster fire, before he runs for the ship. A couple shots ping of his armor too but nothing happens, of course.

They run up the ramp, Obi-Wan close behind.

Anakin races to the pilot’s seat, hands closing on the controls. “Should I try to contact Darra?”

“We have to hurry,” Floria says, eyes wide, “What if they come after us, onto this ship too?”

Anakin moves to fire up the engines.

Blaster shots are still ringing out outside.

“Wait,” Obi-Wan orders.

Anakin stills, looking at him uncertainly.

“Wait?” Floria demands, voice rising, “For what? To get killed?”

“No. This is too easy. The bounty hunter was here before us.” Obi-Wan pushes a button on his helmet, as though scanning, and then he drops to the floor.

Floria stares at him as though he’s insane. “Is he afraid?” she whispers, looking to Anakin, “I don’t blame him! Let’s take off!”

“Wait,” Anakin objects. He’s jittery to leave too but Obi-Wan wouldn’t have ordered him not to for nothing.

“I found it,” Obi-Wan says, sitting back. He pulls a black box from somewhere, that it’s definitely not supposed to be. “A sleeper bomb. If we had taken off, we would have been blown out of the sky.”

Floria looks like she’s about to faint. “A bomb? Can you d-defuse it?”

“Not without setting it off. We need to go.”

“The commlinks – ” Anakin starts to object.

“No time,” Obi-Wan interrupts, “Go.”

Considering that they’re about to be blown up, he’s probably right about that.

Floria runs for the exit, Anakin and Obi-Wan close behind. They barely make it to the bottom of the ramp when Anakin senses danger –

Someone ducks into the shadows.

The bomb explodes.

Pieces of their ship go flying in every direction. Something hits Anakin, flinging him to the ground. All he can see is smoke and flames, as he tries to shove himself back to his feet. If not for his armor, he doesn’t doubt that he’d have been actually hurt from that.

Stumbling upright, he goes over to where Flora is on the ground. “You okay?” he asks breathlessly.

She nods, shaking herself off as she takes his hand, climbing to her feet too.

But that was close and the attacker is only meters away.

Chapter Text

Obi-Wan sprints for the figure in black, who’s still picking himself up off the ground. Anakin’s about to give chase too when Floria suddenly moves. She jumps on top of Obi-Wan’s back, hands smacking over the visor piece on his helmet.

Anakin jerks forwards. “What are you doing?!”

“Floria?” Obi-Wan asks, trying to shake her off and nearly falling.

Wait –

She…

She’s acting nothing like the terrified girl she was seconds before. She’s moving like she’s trained, as she tries to slow Obi-Wan down.

What – was all of this fake?

She yanks his helmet off, tossing it a distance away into the dirt.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Obi-Wan says, though it sounds more like a warning, as he attempts to pry her off of him.

Which lasts until she grabs his ear to stay balanced as she tries to trip him.

“That’s enough,” Obi-Wan says, more than a little crossly, as he pries her wrists off, flipping her to the ground. Floria lands unceremoniously on the ground, knocking her breath out.

The other figure hesitates, almost as though considering going over to her.

Obi-Wan grabs him by the back of the neck before he can try taking off. “All right, you two, what’s going on?” he demands.

The figure tries and fails to jerk away, stubbornly not answering.

Obi-Wan reaches up, pushing his hood back.

His blonde hair is short and his blue eyes are about the same shade as Floria’s. He looks a couple years older.

“Your brother, I presume,” he realizes.

“But you said you thought your family was dead,” Anakin says, looking down at her, the full extents of what this means sinking in. He was worrying about her for… nothing? He thought he was finally helping someone, but no, it was just a trap. “Why are you doing this?”

Her face flickers with a little guilt and she shoots a look at her brother, who gives her a pointed look, obviously telling her to stay silent.

“Anakin, check his pack,” Obi-Wan orders.

He scrambles to do as he’s told, looking for anything lethal – Are they the ones who set off the explosives?

“Just survival gear,” he concludes finally, finding nothing. “Was that you?” he demands, unable to help the hurt bleeding into his voice, “You tried to blow up our ship.”

“That wasn’t us!” Floria bursts out. Her expression is open enough that he doesn’t think it’s a lie.

“Then who was it? Why did you attack us?” Obi-Wan demands.

Again with the silence.

“I’m losing patience,” he warns, giving the boy a little shake.

“Dane, we've been double-crossed,” Floria says finally, gingerly rubbing her elbow, “Why shouldn't we tell them? I'm getting a bad feeling about this planet. There was a sleeper bomb aboard that ship! That's totally against the rules!”

Dane says nothing.

“What rules?” Anakin asks. Are they bounty hunters or mercenaries or something else entirely? He’s so confused. And hurt, if he’s being honest.

“Now we’re stuck here with angry Mandalorians and no way to get off planet,” she goes on, a bit sullen as she eyes her brother, “We destroyed our ship for nothing. You and you’re big ideas!”

Wait – “You destroyed your own ship?” Anakin asks disbelievingly.

But her grief then had been so real. All of what she said couldn’t have been a lie, could it? Or she’s just really, really good at pretending but he’s not sure.

“Cooperation doesn't seem like such a bad idea, considering the circumstances,” Floria says pointedly, still looking at her brother.

Dane shrugs, though he looks none too comfortable about the situation himself. “So things didn't work out. They could have.”

“But they didn’t.”

“But they could have.”

“But – ”

“Who are you two?” Obi-Wan demands, voice rising.

“Bounty hunters,” Floria answers finally.

“Attacking other bounty hunters who are part of the Guild is illegal,” Obi-Wan says.

“We’re not part of the Guild,” she replies.

“Who are you hunting?” Anakin asks.

“You,” she says finally, “We were supposed to find you and take you in. Alive.”

Anakin stills.

He suddenly feels cold all over.

A bounty hunter after him? But – but no one’s even supposed to know who he is.

“Bring him where?” Obi-Wan demands fiercely. Anakin’s never seen him look quite this angry before and it immediately has him jittery even if he knows it’s for him, not at him. “Who hired you?”

“Let me point out that we weren't going to kill either of you,” Floria replies quickly, not answering the question, “We weren't the ones that planted the sleeper bomb, obviously. We don’t kill people.”

That feels like the truth.

Anakin has every intention of avoiding killing on missions too, if he’s being honest. He hasn’t actually told Obi-Wan saw and he knows being a warrior means killing sometimes, but he’s trying to help. Not hurt. “What about the blaster fire?” he objects.

“We knew you could handle that. We just wanted to add a little urgency to the situation,” Dane offers. “We thought you’d take off faster and then Floria could get to you.”

“But we didn’t know about the plan. We weren’t going to hurt you. We just trick people. Just like we tricked you. It would have worked if there hadn't been that bomb. Listen, tricking is much safer,” Floria offers.

Well, that probably is true.

“Are you actually successful at this?” Anakin queries. They’re both nearly his age. Why are they even doing this kind of thing with no adult around?

The siblings exchange a look. Floria sighs. “Nobody ever believes we're bounty hunters. It's so insulting. Yes, we're successful. Take our last case. We – ”

“Who hired you?” Obi-Wan cuts her off, irritated.

“If you're going to confess to everything, you might try to be organized about it,” Dane grumbles, eyeing his sister, “You always get off the subject.”

“I don’t!”

“You do too! Always.”

“Always is rarely true,” Anakin interjects.

“This time it is,” Dane offers.

“Is not – ”

“Enough!” Obi-Wan about roars and everyone freezes. “Who hired you? I want answers and I want them now.”

The other two look nervous now, which Anakin has to admit makes him feel a little bad, even if he can’t quite shake the lingering sting of betrayal.

“I don’t know his name,” Floria says finally, “We just saw a hologram of him. He never gaze his identity.”

“And do you have this hologram?” Obi-Wan demands.

She nods, withdrawing a holographic disk from her pocket, flipping it on. The image is blurry, almost like it’s deliberately meant to hide features. The figure has a hood pulled over his head so his face isn’t even visible.

But taking one look at that, and Anakin knows.

There’s only one person it could be. Only one person who would be after him – an entirely unknown, unimportant former slave.

His master knows where he is.

He can’t breathe. He can’t – think.

This isn’t happening. It’s not – Why? Why does Palpatine want him back this much? He doesn’t have anything to offer him, anything to give him, anything to –

And if he ever sees him again, he doesn’t want to know what he’d do to him, what –

His eyes burn with tears uncalled for and he’s more than grateful for his helmet concealing his face right now.

Obi-Wan lets go of Dane, coming over to Anakin, touching his shoulder, “Anakin, don’t worry,” he says, voice suddenly gentle again, “I’m not going to let him anywhere near you ever again.”

He wants to believe it. He does believe that Obi-Wan will do whatever he can to try but that doesn’t mean –

They need to get off this planet.

“Uhh you know who this is?” Floria asks.

“Sounds like you know more than us,” Dane says, “So we’ll be on our way – ”

Obi-Wan spins around. “I don’t think so. You have a lot more to answer about. Who put the bomb on the ship?”

“I don’t know,” Floria says.

“It could be anyone,” Dane points out, “There were four other bounty hunters hired for this mission. But the bounty hunters weren’t supposed to fight one another.”

Four others?

“Obviously someone broke that rule,” Floria seconds disapprovingly. “We could all have died on that ship.”

And then Anakin suddenly remembers the feelings he keeps getting about Darra, and – Could that be why? “What about Darra and Soara?” he asks urgently.

“I… don’t know who those are,” Floria replies, earnestly, “The only person we heard of was that we were here for you. And that another Mandalorian would likely be accompanying you, who we were supposed to neutralize by any means necessary.”

He’s planning to kill Obi-Wan?

Anakin shouldn’t be surprised of that either. Not really. But –

“What information were you given about us?” Obi-Wan presses, “How did you know where to find us?”

“We knew you were on a training mission to Ragoon-6. That’s all,” Floria replies.

That’s all?

“But I thought no one knew of the missions here…” Anakin trails off, swallowing hard. The world feels like it’s spinning and his mind feels fuzzy and faint. They need Senate permission to come here. Of course Palpatine would know about it. But that must mean that he’s been paying far closer attention to him all this time than Anakin ever thought. He wants to cry. And scream. Or both. Or –

Obi-Wan goes on to ask the two about the other bounty hunters. None of the names stick out to Anakin. All he knows is that none of them are with Guild because they don’t follow the rules and don’t care to.

Someone could still get to him.

Darra could be hurt because of him.

So could Obi-Wan.

“I can’t believe the one with the stun stick almost blew my cover,” Floria rambles and actually, her voice gives him something else to focus on other than his own fear, “I couldn't believe it when he said ‘they were mine’.”

“So he was talking about us,” Anakin realizes, “And you made us think you were concerned about your friends?”

“Wasn’t I good?” Floria asks hopefully.

At acting, yes.

He’ll grudgingly admit he’s impressed even if it still stings.

“She can cry on cue,” Dane confides, before Obi-Wan interrupts to get them back on topic again, going over the rest of the details of the bounty hunters.

“We were deliberately led into that den and the cavern,” he says finally, “Someone left those clues for us to follow. It was never Soara.”

Anakin swallows hard, heart rate picking up again. “Which means someone already has them,” he whispers.

No.

This isn’t happening.

They need to move.

“We need to go,” Obi-Wan agrees. “We’ll take the fight to these bounty hunters.”

“In that case,” Dane says, perking up hopefully, “Hanging around with you two might be dangerous to our health. So if you don't mind, Floria and I will take our chances on Ragoon.” He grabs his sister’s hand and starts to edge away.

Obi-Wan instantly circles to stand in front of them. “Not a chance,” he replies firmly, “You’re not going anywhere until we find out exactly what's going on. We might need your help.”

“What help could we possible be?” Floria objects, “We told you everything we know.”

“I'm sure you did not,” Obi-Wan replies flatly.

“But you’re tracking down these bounty hunters. That will be dangerous.” She looks nervous and Anakin doesn’t think it’s fake.

But – “And bounty hunting isn’t dangerous?”

“We minimize our risk,” Dane says, “Which doesn’t seem to be a consideration for Mandalorians.”

“When it comes down to it, we just aren't very brave,” Floria confesses sheepishly.

Considering how easy they gave in to questioning, that’s definitely true.

“Speak for yourself, Floria,” Dane scowls, which isn’t helping their point at all.

She ignores her brother. “So it's in your best interests to let us go. I tend to scream when trouble happens. And after all, it isn't fair. Bounty hunters are chasing you, not us. Why put us in harms way?”

“Considering that you were endangering my son only moments ago, I think it is fair,” Obi-Wan snaps.

Anakin’s breathing hitches.

Did he just –

He called him his child.

Now he is about to cry again, though for an entirely different reason.

“Besides, the bounty hunter who planted that bomb had to have known you could be on that ship. So you likely are a target too, since they know you’re here,” Obi-Wan goes on. “And don’t go on about rules. You’re all breaking rules by coming right here.”

Floria bites her lip. “Well, you might be right.”

Dane finally nods his agreement and they all turn to move off together.

***

They don’t make it far before getting attacked again – a bounty hunter in a large ship comes in, firing down at them. Obi-Wan goes to blow it up though the bounty hunter escapes on a speeder barely in time. But they still aren’t any closer to finding Darra.

“Whoever was leaving the clues for us instead probably still is,” Obi-Wan muses.

“So what should we do?” Floria inquires eagerly.

She wants to help now. That… actually means a lot.

Anakin doesn’t quite know when her mood suddenly shifted but it was somewhere along the way of nearly getting killed twice over. He… still kind of likes her, he has to admit.

“We give him exactly what he wants. We follow them, of course,” Obi-Wan replies.

They go back the way they came and start climbing the mountain all over again. But it’s taking a long time and Anakin will admit he’s getting exhausted. Though, he’s pushed himself far past this kind of limit before. It’s not that big of a deal. Not with Darra in danger.

“I'm beginning to think I'd rather take my chances with the bounty hunters,” Floria grumbles finally.

The siblings are both starting to fall behind.

Anakin slows a little, falling into pace next to her. “How did you and Dane get into this line of work? Where are your parents?”

Her face shuts down so fast it catches him by surprise. “Where are yours?” she snaps back.

“My mother is dead,” Anakin replies quietly. “Obi-Wan adopted me.”

Her face softens. “Oh, I’m sorry. Our parents are dead. I don’t come from Aaeton. That was a lie. Dane and I are from the Inner Core world of Thracior. We grew up in peaceful times, but six years ago the warlords of Thracior began to argue over territory. Raids began between the different tribes. My mother was Hnsi, my father a Tantt. They were killed because they intermarried. The Hnsis burned our house down and killed out baby sister. Dane and I escaped.”

Anakin swallows past the well of horror rising inside of him. They had a little sibling who’s dead too. He can’t find words to even begin to say anything to that. He knows how it is to lose a mother. But not both parents and a sibling on the same day.

Floria’s eyes are dead ahead on the mountain trail. Dane doesn’t look back or even acknowledge he’s hearing this but he’s moving extra stiffly.

“Dane and I had to make our way as best we could,” she goes on, “We had lost everything, so we had to work. We found jobs in a café at a space station, washing up and serving food. Our boss was a very cruel man. We discovered he was wanted by the security forces of a nearby planet. We tricked him into getting caught. We got the reward, but we had to leave the planet. So we kind of fell into bounty hunting. We've been moving around the galaxy ever since.”

That explains…

Well, all of this and the hurt he’s been feeling all this time slowly fades out. They were just trying to survive. He understands that too well.

“Did you ever consider joining the Guild?” Anakin asks.

“We didn’t want to be answering to people again,” Floria replies, “Not after last time.”

“I understand that,” he admits quietly.

“When you find something you're good at, you stick to it,” Dane says, a bit flippantly but Anakin doesn’t think he feels half as casually about it as he’s acting.

“What about you?” Floria inquires, “How’d you end up in this? Is Obi-Wan really your father?”

“He adopted me. So… I would say that.” It’s how he feels, now that he’s actually hearing it spelled out. It fills him with a wild rush of giddiness that he was willing to call Anakin that in return. It – it means a lot.

“Do you ever take your helmet off?”

“Not usually. Not when I’m on a mission, at least.”

“Well, I don’t think we’re about to get attacked now. Could I see your face?”

Anakin hesitates, consideringly, but then decides better of it. “Maybe later.”

“Okayyy,” she whines, a bit dramatically, “But it’s just weird to talk to a faceless person.”

Anakin laughs. “I know.”

Their conversation is interrupted when they finally get back to the trail and start finding clues again.

***

They follow the trail for a while until they finally reach a meadow. Flowering trees spread across the meadow. It’s beautiful and Anakin wants to get a closer look, though now isn’t the time to be focusing on that.

But then he sees –

Wait.

Right under one of the trees is Darra and Soara is right next to her. They both look like they’re sleeping peacefully.

But something’s off about that. They don’t feel real.

“Obi-Wan?” he asks uncertainly.

“I see them,” he agrees, moving forwards.

“Wait,” Anakin interjects, before Obi-Wan can go any closer, “Look. Over there.” He points to another close by tree, where Soara and Darra are also sleeping under.

“Holograms,” Obi-Wan realizes, as they look over the rest of the field, to see that there’s actually dozens of them, some mostly hidden by the brush.

Anakin flips down the visor of his helmet, trying to scan for heat signatures. All he can tell from what he’s sensing is that none of the ones he’s seeing are real.

And then he finally picks up on which one it is, on the far side of the meadow. “Over there,” Anakin observes.

Obi-Wan nods, probably already having reached the same conclusion. “Stay here and don't try anything,” he warns Floria and Dane, “We’ll handle this.”

“Be my guest,” Dane shrugs.

They take off across the grass together, racing towards the real figures.

Except, they’re only halfway there when both of them are suddenly jerked up into the air. They’re both moving limply – paralyzing drug, clearly and a wild rush of anger surges through Anakin. He has no idea if they’ve been hurt or not but they could be and that’s all because these bounty hunters are here after him.

A shower of poisonous darts suddenly rains down from the tree above them and Anakin dodges out of the way, trying to make sure none of them hit him between the joints of his armor.

The bounty hunter was up in the trees and Obi-Wan activates his jetpack, giving chase. Anakin flies after and the bounty hunter takes off through the trees, dodging the probably five-foot-tall birds that are now squawking angrily at them.

One of them tries to peck at his armor and he ducks out of the way, continuing to give chase. Obi-Wan starts shooting at the bounty hunter, clearly just aiming to injure and that lasts until a shot hits the bounty hunter somewhere, knocking him over backwards into a bird’s nest.

The heads of two baby birds pop up next to him, screaming.

Their parents come flying in instantly, angrily snatching up the bounty hunter and carrying him away.

Well.

That went better than expected.

It’s also slightly unnerving to see that they’re strong enough to do that. “Let’s not rile up these birds anymore?” Anakin calls breathlessly.

“Couldn’t agree more,” Obi-Wan grumbles, as they fly the rest of the way to the tree where Darra is.

Anakin flies up, carefully lifting her from the branches and he lets Obi-Wan do the same for Soara. They fly back to the ground, landing safely away.

Darra’s eyes aren’t moving but Anakin can feel her panic. And her relief at being found. She has some scratches and bruises, by the looks of it, but she seems otherwise okay.

The same can’t be said for Soara. She looks like she’s been shot at least once.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to you sooner,” Anakin says, squeezing Darra’s motionless hand. It makes his gut clench at how she doesn’t even respond to it. “You’ll be fine eventually. This wears off in a few hours, Obi-Wan said.”

Obi-Wan’s pulling out some bacta to deal with Soara so Anakin takes some to help treat Darra’s injuries – even though they’re far more minor.

“We’ll get you back to Coruscant now,” he promises, desperately wishing she could say something. He knows she’s allegedly going to be fine, but that doesn’t make him any less worried. He wants to actually see it.

“The bounty hunter’s ship should be nearby,” Obi-Wan muses finally, “We should find it.” He stands, lifting Soara. “Can you handle Darra or – ”

“Yes,” Anakin assures. She’s kind of heavy, honestly, but he’ll make it work. He holds her close, trying to adjust her position so she’s resting in what’s hopefully a comfortable way against him. But looking around, he suddenly realizes –

“Where are Floria and Dane? They were supposed to wait by the hill.”

“I think I know where I can find them, too,” Obi-Wan assures.

The ship is a distance off in the meadow, and the two siblings are sitting by it, waiting. They jump to their feet when they see them approaching.

“We saw the battle,” Floria says in a rush, eyes wide with awe, “I'll never underestimate Mandalorians again. You were so cool!”

Anakin smiles faintly, though she won’t be able to see it. He keeps forgetting how the mask hides his face.

“Nice star cruiser,” he comments instead, eyeing the ship, “We could get to Coruscant on this.”

“Don't bother going inside yet,” Obi-Wan advises, “The engine’s been disabled.”

“Why would you say that?” Anakin asks, frowning.

“Check it out,” he advises.

“Sorry,” Anakin says, very carefully lying Darra down in the grass. He trots over to the ship as instructed, trying to look for something missing. At first glance, he doesn’t see anything.

“Well?” Obi-Wan asks.

For a moment, Anakin thinks he’s talking to him, but then Dane very slowly opens his hand, holding out a sensor piece. “Just a little part,” he says, “And the engine is easily fixed. It's an activation sensor for the sublight drive.”

“So the other bounty hunter wouldn't be able to leave the atmosphere,” Anakin realizes, “He’d have to rely on repulsorlift engines.”

“And a warning light would tell him so,” Obi-Wan finishes, “He’d know he wouldn't be able to take off without work on the engine. And while he was working on it, you'd disable him. And take off with us for a prize.”

What –

Hey.

They are still trying to survive, so it’s fair.

It’s not as if they know what they’re taking him back too. But the rush of fear hits him again full-force, remembering that. “Wait a second,” Anakin objects, “This means that you expected the bounty hunter to capture us.”

“No offense,” Dane objects, “But what kind of bounty hunters would we be if we didn't explore all of the alternatives?”

That’s fair but that doesn’t mean he’s very happy about it.

Anakin snatches the piece away from him, going over to the ship to get to work on fixing it up. “I can fix the engine in no time,” he promises.

Except, as he works at it for a while, he’s starting to quickly realize that that’s not half as true as he first thought.

Anakin finally clammers his way back out of the engine. “You shorted out the sunlight engine fuses and deactivated the power converter! I can't fix this! Not without new parts.”

“I did?” Dane objects, surprised, “I didn't mean to. I don't know that much about engines.”

Floria smacks his arm. “I told you to be careful! Now how are we supposed to get out of here?”

“You're the one who told me to disable it!” Dane protests.

“You said it was a good idea! If I'd known you didn't know how, I wouldn’t have suggested it!”

Obi-Wan huffs out an exasperated breath. “Stop squabbling, you two. We have to get Soara and Darra to safety now. We’ll have to return and find the other bounty hunter's ship.”

“Go back down the mountain?” Floria protests, dismayed, “I’m exhausted!”

“And dusk will be here soon,” Dane agrees, a bit putout.

“Then we’d better get started,” Obi-Wan replies smoothly. “But we better leave the others on the ship.”

“What if someone finds them?” Anakin asks nervously.

“Unlikely,” Obi-Wan assures, “It's been almost five hours. With luck, the other bounty hunter will be just getting over his paralysis. He'll have no choice but to cooperate.”

“We certainly are developing a collection of bounty hunters,” Anakin remarks.

“Unfortunately they're not all as harmless as Floria and Dane.”

Anakin eyes him curiously. “You knew Floria wasn't telling the truth from the beginning, didn't you?” That would explain why he was entirely ignoring her, even at the start.

“I suspected as much. But I had no way of knowing what she was concealing.”

“I believed her story,” Anakin says quietly. Shouldn’t he have known? He’s supposed to be good at this. He’s supposed to have showed he’s ready for missions. He doesn’t know if Obi-Wan’s made a decision in that regard yet and he’s nervous.

He just smiles at him, though. “The ability to read a beings true motives comes with experience and patience. I was once very bad at it. Qui- Gon taught me how to look and listen. Floria betrayed herself by playing on our sympathies just a bit too much.”

That’s true looking back. Though she’s very emotional by nature, period. That’s something Anakin has always liked in people. He doesn’t like it when they constantly hide behind a mask. “And you knew they were going to disable the ship too?”

“Experience,” Obi-Wan repeats, “It tells me the beings follow their best interests. Floria and Dane have had to fight their way through the galaxy. They are used to looking out for themselves. Naturally they would still try to foil another bounty hunter winning the prize.”

That’s… true enough.

It feels like he should’ve seen it, though.

Obi-Wan touches his shoulder. “Don’t trouble yourself with it, little one. You have an open heart. This is a good thing. With time you will learn how to see those things. What matters most now is getting off this planet – and whatever comes next, I will not let any of them get near you.”

“Do you think back at the Complex…”

“It should be safe,” he says firmly, though Anakin’s almost certain he senses an inkling of doubt, “I expect there’s a reason he chose bounty hunters who weren’t of the Guild to go after you. So there would be no records.”

Anakin hopes so. But that doesn’t do much to stop the fear freezing him inside out. Especially because he has a sinking feeling that this isn’t going to be the last time something like this happens. And they still aren’t off the planet yet.

Chapter Text

They bounty hunter is slumped against the tree when they arrive. But something seems off. There’s an emptiness in the air that he’s felt before, on Tatooine, after –

“He’s still paralyzed,” Anakin observes, starting forwards.

Obi-Wan catches his arm before he can go any closer. “No. He’s dead.”

Anakin freezes. “But – how?” The emptiness suddenly made sense now.

Death.

He knows how it feels. He’s felt it on Tatooine before, the sickening emptiness after a life fades. But it’s like he can feel things even stronger now, ever since he started meditating with Ahsoka. Maybe there really is something to that.

Obi-Wan goes to check the body, with the report that he was poisoned.

They split up from there, looking for a ship, only to find nothing.

Again.

Which means they’ll have to walk all the way back up the mountain all over again to see if there’s not something else he can do to fix the other ship.

“Again?” Floria asks, groaning.

“You did blow up your own ship or we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Obi-Wan points out, a bit smugly.

She groans. “Fiine. We’ll come. Besides, I'm starting to like you. And I bet Dane is, too.”

Her brother groans even louder. “Guilty. Some bounty hunter we are. We befriend our prey instead of betraying them.”

“That isn’t always a bad thing,” Anakin offers.

“Well, it’s not getting us any money.”

“If you joined the Guild, you’d have a lot more jobs to pick from,” Anakin points out.

“I don’t know,” Floria says, hesitantly, “We’ve avoided them all this time for a reason.”

“It’s more independent than you might think. Even if the Council can be kind of…” He doesn’t know how to say it. But he still can’t forget how they refused to help him. But they didn’t turn him over and that’s still something.

“Yeah, that’s what I mean,” Dane grumbles, as they start walking again.

“Wasn't it your idea to become bounty hunters?” Floria grumbles probably half an hour later, as they trudge through the snow again. If Darra wasn’t in danger, Anakin would be tempted to throw a snowball at Floria just to lighten her up. “Floria, we can see the galaxy. Floria, it will be fun. Floria, it's an easy way to make a fortune – ”

“Floria, you're driving me crazy,” Dane interrupts.

Anakin tries not to laugh. But their squabbling is a nice distraction from the fear that’s frozen to ice in his veins. Even if they get off this planet just fine, Palpatine is still after him. He’s the Chancellor. He has unlimited resources. He’s not going to stop trying if he’s already come this far.

He doesn’t doubt that Obi-Wan will do everything he can to protect him but what if that just gets him hurt in the process? What if –

No. He’s finally free. He doesn’t want to think about that changing suddenly.

He feels danger suddenly, somewhere close –

There’s a faint whistling sound.

“Hit the ground!” Obi-Wan yells at them.

Anakin drops.

Dane tackles Floria to the ground, covering her with himself.

Obi-Wan is ducking too as an explosion rips through the snow right where they were standing moments before.

Thermal detonator?

So much for no one else being after them.

And then three attack droids come gliding towards them, above the surface of the snow. There’s no way to hide.

“Stay down,” Obi-Wan warns the other two. They don’t even have the cover of armor.

Dane nods, staying firmly in front of his sister. Floria looks genuinely scared. She wasn’t lying about not being very brave when it comes to a fight.

Anakin draws his blasters, fighting at the droids. Obi-Wan fires some explosives back at them. The explosives take out the droids, only for two more thermal detonates to sale through the air towards them. Anakin activates his jetpack, streaking into the air to avoid them. They still explode nearly close enough to hit him.

But now, ahead through the snow, he can see another bounty hunter. Hopefully the last one this time.

A few more thermal detonates sale past them and Obi-Wan flies at the bounty hunter, shooting at him at close range and forcing him to start retreating through the snow. They exchange a few more explosives, until two collide mid-air, flinging their attacker backwards into a thermal pool far below.

It must’ve injured him enough that he can’t swim because he doesn’t come back out. The bounty hunter was trying to kill Obi-Wan and take Anakin back to his master. But it’s still the first time someone’s been killed because of something he did.

He never meant for that – doesn’t really know how to feel about it either as he stands at the edge of the cliff, looking down into the water. He knows people who are not good are going to end up getting killed sometimes on their missions. That doesn’t mean he was quite prepared for it happening.

“Come on,” Obi-Wan tells him, pulling him away from the edge.

He doesn’t seem bothered by it at all.

Not that Anakin is surprised but he’s still a bit… shaken. For many reasons.

Dane and Floria are a distance up the hill when they look back and when they catch up, it’s to see them standing by another ship. “This must be his ship,” Floria says excitedly.

“Then it’s time for us to leave,” Obi-Wan agrees.

“The best word I ever heard,” Floria says with a shiver. Night is already falling and they definitely need to get out of here before then.

When they finally make it back to the ship, it’s to see that Darra is sitting up now, though Soara is still motionless on the ship. Darra jerks to her feet, running to Anakin as soon as they enter. “You’re back!”

“You okay?” he asks, pulling her into a hug. She squeezes him back tightly, though he can’t feel it much through the armor.

“Yeah,” she murmurs, with a small shudder, “It was just scary. I didn’t even know there was something that could paralyze you like that. I – I didn’t know it was going to wear off.”

Anakin hugs her a little tighter. “Don’t worry. We’re going to get out of here now and you won’t have to deal with one of those again.”

She nods, though she doesn’t look very convinced. “Are you okay? You were the one fighting those bounty hunters.”

“I’m fine,” he assures, grinning even if thinking about it sends a rush of fear spearing through him again, “I’m the one with armor, remember?”

“Yeah,” she agrees, “But what were those other bounty hunters doing here? Why were they attacking us?”

Anakin hesitates, trying to find words. He doesn’t know what he should say, even if it’s perfectly fair to explain to Darra what’s happened to him. It’s weird to think sometimes that she has no idea.

“We don’t know for certain,” Obi-Wan interjects, coming closer.

Anakin exchanges a glance with him, then looks away. He doesn’t want to have to lie to her. He’s not really happy that they basically just did but there’s other people here, and…

Darra looks between them with a slight frown but doesn’t say anything more.

“Come on,” Anakin advises, taking her hand, “Let’s get on board.”

“I was really hoping we’d get to actually get to be with each other on this mission,” she admits, as they go on board, with Obi-Wan carrying Soara.

“Me too,” Anakin confesses, “But I guess if the bounty hunters hadn’t attacked, we wouldn’t really have either unless I really did find you in a day.”

She nods, smiling faintly, though mostly she just looks empty.

He knows that look to well himself. The loneliness haunted him ceaselessly when he was with Palpatine too. He just doesn’t know what to do about it if Soara always has her busy. The most he can do is try to be around her whenever he has the time.

***

Floria and Dane come into the cockpit after they’ve made the jump to hyperspace. “Hey,” she says, a bit awkwardly, once they’re both alone in here.

“Yes?” Anakin asks, looking up.

He’ll admit that he’s a bit fond of them even if that’s almost ridiculous, all things considered.

“I don’t really know who was after you,” Floria explains “I suppose you probably don’t want to tell me but I guess I noticed you seemed a bit worried about it.”

A bit worried?

To be fair, they never saw most of his reaction, thanks to his helmet hiding it. Anakin’s hands clench again anyway. His stomach sort of feels like it’s in uneasy knots and he hasn’t eaten all day but he can’t imagine eating a thing. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“I’m sorry,” Floria offers and Anakin blinks in surprise, “We were just trynna make a living ourselves. I never thought about if you were gonna get hurt. I didn’t realize you were my age when we took the job. I just knew what your armor looked like.”

Palpatine knows what his armor is like?

How close of an eye has he been keeping on him? It’s almost as though there’s hardly a point to hide anymore, not that he’ll take more chances than he already has. But maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise. His master isn’t stupid.

“It’s okay,” Anakin finds himself offering finally, “I can’t imagine being entirely alone the way you were all this time. With no parent or… anything. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider joining the Guild?”

Maybe there’s a tiny part of him that’s hoping he’ll get to see her again at some point.

She exchanges a glance with her brother. “We have been on our own too long,” Dane says finally, shaking his head.

“I want what Dane wants,” Floria agrees after a heartbeat, “He knows what’s best.”

Anakin smiles faintly.

He can’t imagine having an older sibling who he looks up too so blindly but that seems to be the way Ahsoka looks at him so he can understand it on some level. “Alright,” he agrees finally, “Well, it was nice meeting you.”

She grins at him. “It was fun to meet you too. Even if I still don’t know what you look like.”

“Maybe you’ll find out someday if you do stay around,” Anakin teases.

Floria rolls her eyes at him and he laughs.

He frankly will miss getting to see her again but something tells him this may not actually be the last time he ever gets to see her.

***

Obi-Wan supposes he shouldn’t be surprised that Palpatine is after Anakin. He’s not really but that doesn’t mean he’s not worried. They came so close. Anakin could have been hurt and he knows how easily he could have been taken.

And yet, he has to say that the boy has handled himself impressively. He’s ready for missions on some level, basic ones at least.

Though now with the Palpatine thing, Obi-Wan is suddenly wary to agree. He doesn’t really know what to do, actually. He’s not been a parent near long enough to have a clue how to handle this.

But at the same time, he also doesn’t think Anakin would like to hear otherwise – probably. Maybe it would be best to just ask him.

He knows Anakin always tries his hardest to prove that he’s capable of whatever he’s learning. He tries to do his best always. At first, Obi-Wan thought it was because he was trying to repay the debt he felt he owed and to avoid getting in trouble. But they’ve known each other long enough that now he thinks it’s at least partly – hopefully – just because he wants Obi-Wan to be proud of him.

It’s the way he once felt towards Qui-Gon, though that was far messier because Qui-Gon’s way of doing things was never something Obi-Wan understood, almost until the end.  He was too caring and Obi-Wan has to say he notices that on Anakin too. Forever caring of everyone around them. Bounty hunting really isn’t a job for him at all. Maybe something like actually freeing slave is what they ought to be doing, though that would mean they’d need some other source of income. He’ll have to think about it later.

Either way, he just knows he’s not going to be able to let his guard down in the slightest. He won’t let the boy get hurt. He meant it when he told those bounty hunter children that Anakin was his son – it’s what he’s become and he intends to protect him like it. And truthfully, he can’t imagine what it would be like with him gone. He never realized how lonely and empty his life was until he got him. He can’t imagine ever living without him again.

“You did well on the mission,” Obi-Wan tells him finally.

Anakin smiles shyly up at him.

“And I’ve been thinking about missions. With Palpatine out there, is that what you want? To go ones?”

Anakin perks up instantly. “Can I?” he asks, hopefully.

“I think you’re ready for it. You more than showed that here. But… it could put you in more danger.”

Anakin hesitates for a moment but then his expression settles with a stubborn determination. “I’m not going to spend my life hiding just because of that. I want to help people.”

He has no idea how Anakin manages to be so good, truthfully. “Alright,” Obi-Wan agrees, squeezing his shoulder, “Then we’ll begin.”

He’s not quite expecting the boy to nearly jump him, squeezing him in a tight hug in thanks.

Obi-Wan hugs him back with a chuckle. “I’m not sure this is quite necessary.”

“It’s what I’ve always dreamed of doing. I just wanna get to.” But it was worth agreeing just for that.

Now he’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t lose Anakin because of this.

***

Ahsoka’s just getting off the ship with Plo when sees Anakin and Darra getting off some other ship, followed by their parents and some other children. Ahsoka runs over to them,

“Anakin, Darra,” she calls eagerly, nearly bouncing up and down.

“Good to see you, Snips,” Anakin says, grinning.

Darra smiles in the soft way she always does. “Yeah. It’s been a long time.”

“Agesss,” she agrees, “And guess what? Plo actually took me on a mission this time. I can tell you all about it later – if you can come over later. Maybe we can do some stuff together this evening?”

Obi-Wan and Plo are a distance off, talking.

“Sure,” Anakin agrees.

Darra hesitates. “I – “

“Darra needs to get a checkup in the medical wing,” Soara objects, moving closer, “And she has other training to be dealing with.”

Her expression falls.

“Why do you always say that?” Ahsoka asks.

“When you’re training to be a bounty hunter, you don’t get the luxury of fun. I expect you’ll understand that eventually,” Soara replies.  “Come on.” She motions to Darra who hesitates, gaze lingering on them for a long moment before she follows.

Ahsoka scowls. “Why is she so annoying all the time?”

“I don’t get it either,” Anakin admits, “I know she just wants to keep her safe but…”

“It just seems like she’s trynna be annoying,” Ahsoka grumbles. She reaches out, taking Anakin’s hand. “C’mon on.”

They go to his apartment to spend time for a while, and that lasts until that nearing bedtime when Ahsoka gets the sudden ingenious idea of so what would happen if they decided to climb onto the top of the Bounty Hunter Complex?

“It would be fun,” she says, cheerfully.

“Could be,” Anakin agrees, “But I’m not sure Obi-Wan would approve.”

“Who said he needs to know?” Ahsoka snips, “And you have a jetpack. Can’t get much higher in the sky than that.”

“True enough,” Anakin concedes, and so they head off.

And run into Darra only a few hallways down. She skids to a stop in front of them, a bit breathless.

“Darra?” Anakin asks, surprised.

“I… got out for a minute. Unless it’s time for you two to go to bed?”

“Well, it is but I don’t want to right now,” Ahsoka says, grinning.

“We can’t say up for… a bit longer,” Anakin concedes.

“What’re you up to?” Darra asks.

“Climbing the building,” Ahsoka chirps.

“Climbing the building?”

She nods. “Just for fun! Let’s go.”

They take off together, going to one of the areas where they technically aren’t allowed but sneaking past the posted security isn’t all that hard. Ahsoka’s training to do this.

They start climbing, going up the side of the building and then out onto the roof. And from there, it’s not too hard to climb all the way up to the top.

They settle on a perch at the top, looking out over Coruscant. The wind whips past her face and the clouds seem dangerously close. Maybe that’s why she’s having a hard time catching her breath. The air is a little thin up here, to say the least.

“It’s beautiful,” Darra murmurs, staring out across the city.

“Yeah,” Ahsoka agrees, eyes wide as she looks around, “It worth the climb just for this.”

Anakin nods, though his gaze is fixed on something far away.

Something near the Senate building –

Oh. Oops. She didn’t think about that.

Ahsoka pokes him pointedly and he shakes himself, turning away.

“You okay?” Darra asks, eyeing him.

“Just thinking,” he offers after a hesitant pause. She nods, settling next to him and Ahsoka is quick to claim the seat on his other side.

“Sometimes I’ve wondered what it would be like to have siblings,” Anakin says, after a long stretch of silence where they just watch the passing traffic.

Ahsoka looks up, curious. “And?”

There’s something oddly intense on his face, the way he gets – well, a lot of times actually. “I guess I finally have the answer,” he replies, giving her – both of them actually – an adoring smile.

Her heat lurches and she leans closer, squeezing him tightly.

“You’re saying it’s… us?” Darra asks, hesitant but voice clear with emotion.

“Who else?” Anakin asks, a lightly teasing note there.

She breathes in almost shakily and then she’s waiting around to hug him too.

“I guess that makes us sisters too,” Ahsoka muses, reaching for Darra’s hand. The older girl squeezes it back tightly.

She shifts so she’s resting her head against Anakin’s shoulder.

And now that she is, all Ahsoka can do is stare at her hair. She finally reaches out very cautiously, poking at it. It’s too tempting not too and she still finds it unreasonably disturbing that a piece of someone can swing like that. Honestly. Yikes.

Anakin gives her an amused seriously look.

“What are you doing?” Darra asks, side eyeing her.

“Hair’s just weird,” Ahsoka offers, shrugging a bit.

“You can touch it if you want,” she says, almost shyly, “I don’t mind.”

Similar to what Anakin said but Anakin’s hair was so much shorter so less fun to play with.

Ahsoka perks up, climbing into Anakin’s lap and he’s quick to wrap an around her side to keep her there. She shifts, reaching for Darra’s hair, running her fingers through it.

“Ever braided hair?” Darra asks.

“No, how do you do that?” Ahsoka asks.

“I did that on my mother sometimes,” Anakin says, a faint smile on his face, “Mostly just to… play with it.” He shifts forwards, to touch Darra’s shoulder. “Do you mind?”

“Go ahead,” she offers, some mix of amused and… longing? Ahsoka can’t quite tell.

Anakin splits her hair surprisingly neatly and starts braiding. It looks fun.

Though she’s trying to imagine someone braiding her lekku now and it’s making her head hurt.

“Are you sure that doesn’t hurt?” Ahsoka asks nervously.

Anakin laughs.

“It actually feels nice,” Darar replies, though a bit shyly.

“Can I try now?” she asks hopefully. Hopefully they aren’t being annoying.

But Darra just nods reaching back to study Anakin’s work for a bit before she shakes it out again, turning her back on them again.

Ahsoka tries at it for a while but it looks sloppy and messy and stupid, honestly.

It’s fun up until she suddenly hears Darra inhaling shakily.

Anakin and Ahsoka both freeze.

“Darra?” Anakin asks, “Are you okay?”

Ahsoka freezes. “Sorry? Am I being annoying or – “

She’s still picturing someone trying to braid her lekku together, okay?

“No, it’s not you,” Darra promises, shifting to turn around. She reaches down, squeezing Ahsoka’s hand.

Her face is wet.

Anakin reaches out to touch her shoulder and she leans against him, sniffling.

“It’s just… I don’t remember much about my parents. Mostly, I remember my mother braiding my hair sometimes when I was little. She didn’t have to do it. There was a… maid or something around. I don’t really remember. I know we were wealthy, though. We had a big house – but she still did it. She said she wanted to give me better than what she had. I don’t know what she meant by that. Just that’s most of what I remember about her.”

Ahsoka doesn’t remember enough of her parents to miss them. Plo’s the only one she’s ever needed. But she can still imagine Darra’s pain.

“Can I ask you something?” Anakin asks, a little hesitant and quiet.

Ahsoka looks up at him curiously. She doesn’t know why he sounds so nervous.

“What?” Darra asks.

“About Soara. Does she ever hurt you?”

Darra stills. “No – no, of course not.”

Anakin breathes out a quiet sigh of relief.

“Well, she sems kinda annoying sometimes anyway,” Ahsoka grumbles. That’s not usually how she’d talk about adults, but well…

“I know she’s just trying to do best for me. I’m just not as good at things as she wants to me to be. And… we don’t need to talk about this right now.” That’s probably true.

It’s peaceful up here and Ahsoka wants to enjoy it while it lasts.

***

Darra wishes she felt as flippant about the whole thing as she told Anakin and Ahsoka. She frankly feels kind of bad that she doesn’t, because Soara is trying and she’s just being whiny. Ungrateful.  But that doesn’t stop how she constantly wishes she could spend more time with them and she never gets that.

That’s all she wants.

She should want to be a bounty hunter and the best of them, because that’s what Soara’s always tried to make her, but it’s just not what she wants. And it’s hard to do it when she can’t put her heart to it at all.

It’s long after her normal bedtime when she silently creeps back to her apartment. Everything is quiet and dark, until she’s halfway to her room and then the light flips on.

“Need I ask what you’re doing out at this time of night, Darra?” Soara asks, arms crossed.

She freezes. “I was – ‘

“I can guess,” she replies, flatly, “Either way, you left without permission.”

She looks down. “I’m sorry.”

Soar sighs. “I’m not sure you are. You’re never going to succeed at this if you don’t start trying.”

“That’s why I went now,” she blurts, “So I didn’t go during training.”

“And you’re going to be falling asleep all day tomorrow during training, while I’m trying to teach you.” She wants to argue but she knows better than to keep pushing it. Doesn’t need to make it worse.

“Get to bed. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

Great. She’s not looking forward to morning at all.

But truthfully, she never does.

Chapter Text

It’s been a couple months since the mission to Ragoon. And Anakin’s finally gotten to start going on missions.

Obi-Wan doesn’t usually take him on hard ones but they’re fighting for justice – the missions they actually take are very specific, because they don’t take ones for random criminals. The Republic gives them plenty anyway, usually hunting down some kind of criminals or going to rescue people who are seriously in need of it. Obi-Wan sometimes asks his opinion on it and it’s weird. He’s usually a bit too hesitant to even have anything to say but it’s so different to even… have that option.

It finally feels like he’s fulfilling his dream. Or starting to, at least.

Anakin hasn’t seen any more bounty hunters after him. He doesn’t know if it’s because there’s never been a cause or something else. But either way, the mission he’s on right now is by far the most dangerous one they’ve ever taken.

The war has been raging, making travel harder and harder. But they’ve never taken a mission that has them interacting directly with the clones until now.

Republic forces were trapped on the surface of Christophsis and they were hired to fly an invisible ship down to the surface to drop off supplies.

Obi-Wan didn’t want to get involved but Anakin kept offering. No one could fly better than him. And eventually, Obi-Wan had agreed to let him. He is sixteen now. Or at least roughly, he doesn’t know his exact age. But he’s been training for a long time and handling a ship in a dangerous situation like that isn’t that much more different than many other missions they’ve been on, even if getting involved in an actual battle itself was.

While they were mid-flight on the way down, Anakin realized that the only shot they had at taking out the commanding Separatist ship was with this ship – and it was not what they were getting paid for but he still did it anyway. And it actually worked.

They finally get past the Separatists’ failing blockade, bringing the ship down. The clone troopers come over immediately to take the supplies.

Anakin steps off the ramp, watching them.

He’s never seen them in person before.

They’re an army of slaves for the Republic. He’s always wanted to get to meet them. He’s just never had the chance.

He finally slowly goes up to one of the ones giving commands. “Hi,” Anakin offers cheerfully.

The clone turns to look at him, seemingly a little startled. “Do you need something?” His voice is a bit rough but he doesn’t sound that old. How old are they? Anakin thought they were all adults but he’s never actually seen their faces.

He reaches up, tugging off his helmet. There’s nothing to hide, really. Palpatine already does know who he is. And he thinks it would make the situation a bit more comfortable, to actually be able to talk face to face. “No, I just… I’ve always wanted to meet one of you.”

The blue and white helmet inclines in a way that indicates he’s a bit mind blown. “One of us?”

“Yes. You’re soldiers for the Republic. You’re fighting and dying to keep the Republic safe. That’s… a lot.”

The clone reaches up slowly, taking his own helmet off.

Anakin can’t help staring.

He looks the same age as him. His blonde hair is cut so short it’s barely an existing thing and his brown eyes are intense and sharp, but he’s… he’s a teen just like Anakin is. “Can’t say I’ve heard that one before,” the clone replies, studying him.

“What do you mean?” Anakin queries.

He shifts, expression a bit stiff. “Well, we’re just clones. We’re not really… like you.”

Anakin frowns.

He’s heard whispers, of how people don’t like the clones. He’s heard people saying nasty things about them because they’re clones and because they want the war to end, as though the war is somehow the clones’ fault. But he somehow never thought that the clones would outright get bullied. He didn’t even know they interacted enough with normal people for that to be cone kind of concern. To be fair, the clones themselves have always been an unreal, horrific concept to him more than reality. Until right now.

“But you’re people too. Just because you have the same genetic material at each other doesn’t mean… you aren’t?” Anakin objects.

The clone seems a bit… well, actually, unsure what to say.

“What’s your name?” Anakin wonders.

That seems to startle him even more. “I…. go by Rex,” he replies, slowly, “But you can use my number.”

“What? No way,” Anakin protests, “Why would I do that? If you have a name you want to go by, of course I’ll use it. I’m Anakin Skywalker.”

They are slaves.

Slaves who aren’t allowed the slightest bit of individual identity at all.

He’s only talked to Rex for one minute but it feels like meeting someone who knows exactly what this is like.

Rex nods stiffly, though there’s the slightest smile on his face.

“Sir,” one of the other clones calls, suddenly running up to him, “We have Separatist forces coming out of hyperspace and more forces inbound for our position right now.”

Sir?

They call their brother sir? It is the army but it’s a mind-blowing that they even do that.

Rex instantly yanks his helmet back on, spinning away to give orders and assess the situation.

And then Anakin hears a distant whistling sound and looks up to see an explosive incoming.

Well, they were not supposed to get stuck right in the middle of a battle but he can’t exactly say he’s surprised that it’s happening.

***

Anakin’s never fought battle droids before. But he helps the clones now as they fall back into their position and lock themselves in some kind of tower, alongside Obi-Wan.

“The droids are overtaking our position,” Rex says, coming over to Anakin, “We’ll get you out of here as soon as we can.”

“Don’t worry,” Anakin promises, “I’m okay with helping you if I can.” He glances over at Obi-Wan, to see if he’ll disagree but he’s moved off, scanning droid positions outside the glass windows of the structure.

The clones all start moving around, starting to establish guard positions when the sound of blaster shots suddenly starts ringing out again.

The door to the room bursts open, droids streaming through. How did they even get here?

Anakin joins the clones in shooting at the roids that keep coming, through multiple entrances into the room. Some of the clones go down.

They’re dead. Or still dying.

He can feel as their lives fade away. Their brothers are dying and he doesn’t know how the others aren’t panicking.

This is normal for them. Of course it is but he never realized how much. or how messed up it is for them.

Do they want to get out as much as Anakin always did? Because if they do, he’s going to do whatever he can to help them.

“We need to fall back,” Rex calls breathlessly, throwing a glance over at another clone in the room who has orange armor. He seems to be a leader too.

“There’s no way out of here,” the other replies, continuing to shoot at the droids.

Which is true. They’re trapped in here and droids keep on coming.

A few shots ping off the beskar part of Anakin’s armor – If a shot hits between the joints, it will hurt him. And he’s not going to just stand here as the others are dying.

He throws a desperate glance out the glass windows. There’s another tower at the far end. “What about over there?” Anakin calls, pointing, “You could get over there easily.”

Rex and the other one – Cody – exchange glances.

“Extension cables,” Rex agrees, “We can get over there. Good thinking.”

Anakin grins back at him, though Rex won’t be able to see beneath his helmet.

Anakin blasts out the glass as Obi-Wan fires a few explosives at the droids to slow them down. The clones fire cables to the opposite towers and swing out the windows, sliding along down them. It’s dangerous but at least they won’t die in here.

Or so he’s thinking until the droid comes swarming back in, shooting at them.

A few of the shots go past them out the window and one hits one of the clones’ cables.

It’s Rex’s.

And then he’s plummeting over hundreds of feet down for the surface far below.

Anakin slams the button his jetpack, streaking out the window after him. He zooms down, unable to dodge the shots properly as he goes. One of them hits him. He feels the burning pain stinging through his arm and gasps faintly against it but he’s been hurt far worse before. And Rex is about to die and that’s all that matters right now. He catches Rex only feet above the ground, heart pounding.

“Anakin?” Rex asks, a bit confused and breathless himself.

“Just saving you,” Anakin pants, streaking back up into the sky and for the opposite tower, in time to see Obi-Wan flying over to it himself.

“Thank you,” Rex offers, awkwardly clinging on to him as he flies him in that window and they land.

They don’t have another chance to talk because then droids attack this position too and gunships fly in to rescue the rest of them. Anakin’s shoulder is burning and he’s had worse but he sinks to the floor in a corner finally, leaning against the wall. Obi-Wan is the first to come over, immediately fussing over his injuries. Once he’s gotten it treated, Rex comes over, looking a bit awkward about it.

“Hey,” he says, “I should… thank you again. For what you did.”

Anakin smiles a bit shyly. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Why did you do that?” Rex asks, “You could have been killed.”

“You were the one about to die. How couldn’t I?”

Rex hesitates. He seems almost confused. “That’s what our job is.”

A sharp knot of horror twists inside of Anakin. “No, it’s not. You – Maybe you were created to be killed in this war but that doesn’t mean that’s what your only purpose is. You’re still people. You shouldn’t have to die in this.”

“It’s what we believe in. We’re fighting for the Republic,” Rex replies firmly. He doesn’t even see himself as a slave, does he? The loyalty he shows the Republic is admirable but mostly, it just has Anakin feeling sick over what in the galaxy he’s been taught about his own worthlessness, that he could feel this way.

“But what does the Republic give you in return?”

“It doesn’t need to give us anything. This is our duty.”

That… Anakin doesn’t even know what to say to that, truthfully. Now isn’t really the time to talk either, because then they’re arriving at their next base and getting set-up.

Apparently, Separatist ships have come out of hyperspace over the planet and getting off now would be difficult. They’re going to shoot down any ships that try to pass them, which means they’re stuck here a little longer. Anakin can’t deny that he’s actually glad about that. He doesn’t want to just leave yet.

But then he sees Rex and Cody whispering about something and edges a little closer, trying to pick up on what they’re saying.

It’s something about… a traitor? They think someone reported on their defenses and now that they’re mentioning it, Anakin has to agree that it’s weird that the droids knew exactly where to attack them.

“I didn’t mean to overhear,” Anakin says, a bit sheepishly, “But… would you like help with the investigation?”

They both look at each other.

“Hey, I’ve been with you this whole time. And I don’t know anything about your positions. I promise whoever did it wasn’t me.”

Rex huffs out a breath. “I don’t doubt that. I suppose it won’t hurt if you stick around to help. But you know this isn’t something the Republic will pay you for.”

“That’s fine,” he promises, “I don’t need the money.”

Obi-Wan comes over to join them. “You might stand a better chance at finding out who was behind this if someone took a trip behind enemy lines. Perhaps I can take a look,” he offers.

Anakin perks up. “I can – “

“No,” Obi-Wan objects, “It’s going to be dangerous and I believe one person could get in and out unnoticed more easily. But I’ll signal you if I need help.”

Anakin hesitates but then nods slowly. Besides if he stays here, he can help Rex and Cody.

Obi-Wan turns, disappearing from the room to do whatever he’s about to.

And that’s when Rex suddenly freezes, going over to the table that has comms on it. “Someone left their comm unit on,” he says, looking up, “Someone just heard our entire conversation.”

“The traitor,” Anakin realizes.

They all sprint for the door.

White armor flashes at the end of the hall as a figure disappears from sight.

“Hey!” Cody shouts and they break into a run after him.

It lasts until they reach a turn in the hall and half to split up. Anakin goes with Rex, finally activating his jetpack and streaking past ahead of him, flying a bit clumsily down the halls. He’s finally gaining ground but the clone – it’s definitely a clone – disappears into a room before he can catch up with him. Anakin goes up to the door instantly, but when it opens, it’s just a mess hall.

Which is full of clones.

Rex and Cody come up behind him.

“What happened?” Rex asks.

“He went in there,” Anakin explains.

The two scan the room.

“Ther only ones in there are brothers,” Rex says and Anakin can feel his wild flare of betrayal.

One of their own brothers turned on them. He got dozens killed.

 How could someone do that?

“I’ll help you find him,” Anakin promises, mind whirling. He just doesn’t know where to start.

“The communications logs,” Rex offers, and they head there next.

Anakin volunteers to go through the data because he’s good at that sort of thing and he wants to do something. And the more he looks towards it, the more he begins to realize a pattern. “Are these transmissions supposed to be here?” Anakin asks, motioning to the patterns he’s finding.

“Scattered ones every several days,” Rex realizes, eyes widening, “On a day-to-day basis you wouldn’t even notice it.”

“You think that’s who’s doing it? Cody asks.

“He has to be transmitting information somehow,” Rex points out.

“It looks like they’re all coming from… his barracks,” Anakin observes, motioning to the number that comes up. He doesn’t want to just call him a number. “What’s his name?”

“Slick,” Rex realizes.

“Slick’s not going to like this,” Cody muses.

“Let’s go question him. Come on,” Rex says, and they head off.

Anakin waits outside the room while they’re doing it. In this case, it’s not really his place to try intervening. But the longer he waits, the more he’s beginning to think that something’s wrong. There’s something happening.

And then the door suddenly swings snaps open and a clone dashes out, shoving past him.

Anakin bolts after, tackling him to the floor. He tries to kick him off, and they roll across the floor together. It lasts long enough for Anakin to see the number on his chest plate – he is Slick. He’s the traitor?

Rex and Cody come running out of the room moments later. Slick rolls away from Anakin, reaching for something. It’s some kind of button.

The ground suddenly trembles beneath them violently as the sound of a far too close explosion rings out.

It’s enough to throw all of them off their feet.

“What did you do?” Rex demands.

Slick tries to run. Anakin starts firing stunblasts at him, though Slick rolls out of the way. But trying to dodge slows him down long enough that they’re able to tackle him to the floor again, actually pinning him there long enough for Cody to pull binders out of somewhere, snapping them over his wrists.

Slick’s glowering at all of them.

“How could you do this?” Rex demands, “You’re our brother.”

“It’s not something you would ever understand,” Slick throws back.

“I think they deserve more of an explanation than that,” Anakin interjects.

“Yeah, I bet you sold out your brothers for some shiny coins,” Rex says bitterly.

“Oh, she did offer me money but that’s not what this was about. I was striking a blow for all clones. I was trying to win us freedom, something you’ll never understand.”

“I think freedom is going to have to wait,” Cody replies, going over and jerking him upright, ready to lead him away.

Anakin… feels suddenly speechless. He doesn’t know what to say to that. He should have guessed. Some of the clones would be angry about what they’re being forced to go through. They have every right to be.

Slick did this because he wants to be free.

It doesn’t change how he killed his own family but no one is wrong for wanting to be free.

Rex and Cody go to check on the damage done to the base after that. Apparently, all their weapons were destroyed. That’s going to be bad. Slick may claim he’s trying to help all the clones but he’s doing it terribly.

Anakin follows solemnly, waiting until they have Slick in lockup before he says anything.

“I can’t believe he did that,” Rex says fiercely.

“He was wrong in how he did it but… I can’t say he was wrong for wanting to be free,” Anakin replies quietly.

“We are free!” Rex throws back. “This is our duty.”

“But it’s not something you got to choose. And that should be your right.”

“That’s not how it is for us,” Rex argues, “This is our purpose.” He’s blindly repeating what he’s been told, over and over. It’s also from loyalty, though, and that’s… not a bad thing.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Anakin asks finally, “When you lose so many of your brothers in front of you, in every battle?”

“It does,” Rex replies, expression a bit more subdued now, “Even if many of them I don’t even know. But we’re fighting for their memories, for what they died believing in.”

“I can’t imagine that,” Anakin admits, “To have brothers who die all the time like that.”

Rex sighs quietly. “It can be hard. But we’re soldiers. It’s what we do.”

“How old are you?” Anakin can’t help asking.

“Eight,” Rex replies, perfectly casual.

“Eight?” He can’t help how aghast he sounds.

“We age twice as fast as natborns,” Rex explains, “How old are you?” He looks a little curious now.

“Sixteen. That would make you half my age.” Raised normally and they’d be little children still. He hasn’t been this appalled in a long time. And to the clones, this is just normal.

Rex looks momentarily amused. “I suppose I am.”

“I must say,” Anakin goes on, “That I know you don’t see this the way I do, but… I was a slave. I know how it is for your life to mean nothing, for your name to be important to no one but you. No one should be forced to live that way, with no ability to make any other choice”

“But we aren’t slaves,” Rex objects, though he sounds a bit less… certain.

“Maybe not the same as I was but it’s not all different either.” In some ways, it almost seems worse because they don’t even know it.

Rex is quiet after that.

***

Obi-Wan comes back a while later. His armor is dented in multiple places and he feels a bit ruffled but otherwise fine. “What happened?” Anakin asks, practically teleporting to his side.

“There was some kind of nightsister there,” he grumbles, “She was fighting using magick.”

“Ventress,” Rex interjects.

“Magick is real?” Anakin asks, “Like… like the Force?”

“I think it’s similar but it glows green.”

“What’s the Force?” asks Rex.

“…I’ll explain later,” Anakin offers, “But it’s like what I’m sure you’ve seen Ventress do but invisible.”

There’s nothing else that explains the sheer brilliance with which he can feel the world around him sometimes, something that many other people apparently can’t. And more time he focuses on meditating with Ahsoka, the more that… grows.

“Did you find anything while you were there?” Cody asks.

“That a large droid force is already headed this way. Their plan was to attack after all your weapons were gone. I couldn’t say more than that,” Obi-Wan replies tightly.

This… is not going to go well at all. And Anakin has to say that he’s glad they can stay here and try to help the clones for a little longer.

***

Ahsoka’s never got to go on the same mission as Anakin before but she is now – her and Plo are being sent to Chirstophsis to deliver a message about another mission, to rescue some Huttt’s child. The Republic wants its own forces involved in rescuing the Hutt, for whatever reason.

“I thought there wasn’t supposed to be any Separatist ships here anymore,” Ahsoka says, leaning forward to stare out cockpit window as they come out of hyperspace over the planet. Because there is and they manage to avoid the battle as they get down to the surface but it’s still… unnerving. Even if a bit exciting to be finally doing something cool.

“Be careful and stay close,” Plo warns her as they land, “We don’t know what the situation is down here.”

They get off the shuttle together, and all warnings of be careful fly from her mind entirely when she sees Anakin waiting a short distance from the ramp. She runs up to him, hugging him and he squeezes her back tightly. “Good to see you, Snips. But what are you doing here?”

“We’re here to a deliver a message,” Plo explains.

Obi-Wan and some clones come over to them. “Who’s the head of your battalion?” Plo adds.

“I am,” a blue helmeted one says, stepping forwards. Anakin turns to watch, curiously.

“The Republic is giving you a new mission. Jabba the Hutt’s son has been kidnapped and Republic forces must go to the rescue. Any bounty hunter who wants to has been asked to aid on this mission but most are tied up elsewhere. That’s why we came here – it’ll take more than one person and I’m not taking Ahsoka into that,” Plo finishes.

“I am afraid we’re in a situation here,” the clone leader objects, “Did the Republic hear our calls for reinforcements?”

“I’m afraid not,” Plo replies, “That’s why we were sent.”

Ahsoka perks up. “What about sending a signal through the cruiser that just dropped us off?”

“Good thinking,” Anakin says, squeezing her shoulder.

“That could work,” Rex agrees.

They go to a holotable to try and get a signal out to whoever Republic command is, though the transmissions dies almost before it gets started.

“We’ll have to finish up here and see how soon we can get off-planet,” the clone muses finally, “I’ll go check positions.”

He heads off.

“I’m afraid we’ve been trapped here all this time because of the blockade,” Obi-Wan says, “Getting on planet is a lot easier than getting off.”

Plo nods his agreement. “Whylie we’re here, perhaps we can help them finish up this conflict sooner. Anakin, can you keep Ahsoka safe somewhere?”

She wants to object that she’ll be just fine but then she thinks about terrifying Geonosis was and that’s not the kind of excitement on a mission she wants.

“Sure,” Anakin volunteers instantly, “Why don’t we find somewhere?”

Ahsoka nods eagerly and Anakin leads her away.

He takes her up to the head clone first. “Ahsoka, this is Rex,” he says, “The clone captain of the 501^st.”

He has his helmet off now and Ahsoka can’t help staring at how he looks about the same age as Anakin does. She thought he’d be older.

“What are you doing here?” Rex asks, looking down at her, minorly amused

“I’m with Plo,” she says, lifting her chin.

“So I saw but… it’s just, this isn’t really a place for a kid.”

“The adults would say you and Anakin are kids too.”

“I was trained for this,” Rex replies, a bit amused.

Anakin’s face is shadowed. “I can’t believe you’re being told to rescue Jabba’s son.”

“Is that the big fat ugly slug who rules Tatooine?” Ahsoka asks, realization suddenly sinking in.

Anakin nods.

He’s the one who kept him enslaved. No, she’s not happy about this either.

“Something wrong with him?” Rex asks.

“He’s a slaver. And a criminal,” Anakin explains, “I would say I can’t believe the Republic is allying with him but… the thing is, I can.”

Ahsoka scowls. She hates dumb politics sometimes.

The sound of an explosion suddenly rings out.

Rex freezes, from where he’s looking through macrobinoculars. “This won’t be good.”

“What’s wrong?” Anakin asks, instantly turning to scan with his helmet.

Ahsoka stands on her tiptoes, trying to see but she doesn’t even need binoculars to see what they’re both watching. There’s some kind of red energy shield that’s moving in from far away. “What’s that?”

“It’s an energy field. I doubt anything’s gonna get past it,” Rex explains.  “It’s time for attack. Kid, you better get somewhere safe.”

“Do you know of a safe place?” Anakin asks.

Rex nods, pointing out a building that will hopefully be out of the line of fighting and she follows Anakin away to the hiding spot.

The sound of blaster fire breaks out only minutes later. And canon shots. It’s so loud.

It’s like Geonosis but worse somehow. Her head is ringing in moments. Anakin stays rigidly at her side, watching out a narrow window.

“The droids are closing in quickly,” he says, “I’m not sure how long they’ll be able to hold off. I wish there was something I could do.”

“You can go out there,” Ahsoka offers, “I’ll be okay here.” People are dying out there. She wants to do something to help too but she thinks Plo is right that she’s not quiteeee ready for that yet. And after Geonosis, the thought of another battle that intense is scary.

Anakin hesitates. “I don’t know if I – “

A deafening explosion suddenly rings out, a blinding flash of light clouding Ahsoka’s vision. Pieces of the wall start falling all around them and all she can suddenly see now is smoke. Ahsoka coughs wildly, heart pounding. Anakin’s half on top of her – she’s hardly even sure how he got there so fast – shielding her form most of the debris.

Droids are closing in right here, right now.

Blaster shots streak over her head. She thought getting to help on missions would be fun. It has been, until right now. Anakin stands in front of her, firing off shots at the droids. More explosions are ringing out and Ahsoka tries to cover her montrals but there’s really not much she can do and her head is pounding and then she hears sees a group of clones coming, shooting their way through the druids right in this area. Rex is one of them.

“You okay, kid?” he asks breathlessly, coming up next to Ahsoka.

She nods, a bit shaken. 

“Can’t your canons take our their tanks?” Anakin asks.

“Their shield is too strong. Nothing’s getting through.”

“If the shield is such a problem, why not just take it out?” Ahsoka pipes up.

“Easier said than done,” Rex replies.

“Well… what about going around?” she offers.

“That would take long time, I think,” Anakin says.

Rex nods. “We don’t have that kind of time anymore. We’re being overrun.”

Overrun?

Panic flares up inside of her. She wants Plo to come back. She wants to get out of here. She just –

“Sneak through the middle then?” Ahsoka suggests, scrambling to think.

“Impossible,” Anakin objects, “Unless you can turn yourself into a droid.” He pauses. “That give me an idea.”

“What kind of idea?” Rex asks, a bit curious, as he starts shooting at more of the advancing droids.

“Do you have a metal box I could hide under?”

Another explosion tears through the wall of the building. It nearly throws everyone nearby to the floor.

Ahsoka tries to pick herself back up through the smoke.

There’re clones lying dead near her.  There’s blood everywhere and there’s – one of the clones helmets is shattered all over the floor along with –

She can’t breathe.

That – what –

Anakin jerks her away. It happens too fast but she still – Feels like she can’t breathe at all. That was – what  -

She can’t suck in a single breath or maybe it’s just that she’s suddenly crying and can’t stop.

Vaguely, she registers that Anakin’s carrying her.

“What’s wrong with her?” She thinks that Rex’s voice.

“Breathe,” Anakin tells her, still holding her.

She’s trying. She can’t stop seeing that.

Why is everyone else so entirely unaffected?

She’s being set down somewhere a short distance later.

“Keep her somewhere safe,” Rex is telling someone.

“I’ll be back,” Anakin promises, crouching in front of her, “Stay safe, Ahsoka. I’d stay right now but – “

“Go,” she croaks.

That – they need to make this end.

***

“This was your idea of a plan?” Rex asks, as he crawls alongside Anakin under a box and they wait for the energy shield to pass over them.

“I didn’t hear a better one,” Anakin replies cheerfully, even if it’s not fully a cheerfulness he feels. He’s used to seeing people get blown up on the streets. It’s still different to be in the middle of a battle, to know that Ahsoka could die if he doesn’t move fast enough. He almost wishes Obi-Wan were here but he’s helping the rest of the clones and that’s more important than that Anakin’s scared. Which he is.

Anakin carefully lifts the edge of the box, peering out from under it. They’re close enough, by the looks of it. Anakin pushes it off carefully. The droid lines are all past them now. He and Rex stand.

“Can’t believe we made it,” Rex remarks, looking around.

“Come on,” Anakin advises, and they run forwards together, careful where they step as they head for the central platform.

Something flares in the Force, whispering of danger – “Rex?” Anakin calls in warning.

His foot lands on something and then droids are rising out of the ground all around them.

Rex jerks back, blaster lifting. “I can handle these!” Anakin calls, blasting off into the air, shooting down at them.

Rex runs for the central area, planting bombs and them detonating them. Anakin blasts his way through the droids, finally shooting down a wall to drop on the rest, crushing them.

That… was close. But the shield is down and they should have a much better chance at winning.

Rex looks to him. “Good work,” he offers, “I have to say, you may not be one of my brothers but I would still be happy to fight alongside you anytime, anywhere.”

Anakin smiles back shyly. “I can say the same to you.”

He thinks he has a new friend.

Chapter Text

Darra’s never been to the Chancellor’s office before until today. Soara’s meeting with Palpatine and some senators about a mission when Obi-Wan calls in with word from Tatooine. Jabba is about to have him – and Anakin – killed because he thinks they’re the ones who kidnapped his son. Her and Soara just finished a mission anyway so she tentatively risks asking if they can try to help. Palpatine promises that they’ll be paid plenty, so Soara agrees.

Which is how they end up in the underworld, negotiating with Ziro. But the hutt is far from friendly and a fight breaks out. Which ends with Soara getting injured and that’s kind of Darra’s fault again. She only ever manages to mess things up, it seems.

Soara’s going to be very unhappy with her once they do talk again.

The Republic forces who showed up to help them take Soara to a medbay. But that means she has to go back to the Chancellor’s office to deliver the report herself. It’s unnerving. She never really goes anywhere by herself. Never has.

“Good job,” Palpatine tells her, “I must say, I’m impressed someone so young was able to finish the mission.”

Why is he the first person who’s actually said that to her? Anakin does but he’s like her brother and she wants to hear it from an adult. She wants to hear it from Soara, but she never does. “It was mostly Soara…” Darra starts to object slowly.

“But you’re the one who wasn’t injured,” he points out lightly, “If I may ask… for a few more minutes of your time?”

It’s a weird request but she nods. “If you want, Chancellor.”

Honestly, yikes. She’s talking to the Supreme Chancellor of the entire Republic.

“Leave us,” Palpatine requests, to the other Senators who are present.

They all file out, leaving them alone.

“It’s not often that I see a child who’s aspiring to serve the Republic in this way,” he muses.

Not that it’s something she even wants to be doing but it feels odd to even indicate that now. But this isn’t what she wants and the more time goes on, the harder it feels like it is to keep pretending otherwise.

“Is Soara you’re mother?”

“No. My… parents died when I was young. She rescued me.”

Palpatine studies her thoughtfully, almost long enough she’s starting to get uncomfortable. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he says finally, resting a hand on her shoulder. Darra stills, a bit caught off-guard. “May I ask your last name?”

“I don’t know what it is. I don’t know who my parents were. Not anymore. Soara doesn’t either.”

“That must be hard,” he agrees, “Are you the only child at the Complex?”

“I have a few friends there,” she answers carefully. Why does he want to know? Actually, why does it feel like he’s the first adult who cares to ask her about this when he doesn’t even have time to worry about some random bounty hunter?

“Would you happen to be aquatinted with Anakin Skywalker?”

“…Yes. Why?”

“I knew him well, when he was a child,” Palpatine comments.

She frowns. “He’s never mentioned you before.” He hasn’t talked about his past to her much at all, actually.

Palpatine twitches. “Would you say that he’s happy there?”

“I… I don’t know? I mean, he always acts like he is. I don’t really… Why?” She realizes she’s fidgeting with her hair and drops it. Probably not a good image in front of the Chancellor.

“This is something I would prefer that you not speak of to anyone,” Palpatine says, “But… Anakin used to be in my care. I… raised him and I would say we were close, but then he… disappeared without a trace. I’ve been attempting to locate him all this time.”

Her eyes widen and all she can do is stare for a moment. “What? But he never – he never talks about that. I don’t understand.” If Anakin was kidnapped, surely he’d say so, right?

“I believe the Mandalorian who talked him into leaving may have done so by force. I… fear for his safety, should I try get him back, which is why I have made no move. He could be being hurt even now.”

“I’ve met Obi-Wan,” Darra protests, horror flaring through her. This doesn’t seem possible and yet – She remembers all the times she sees Anakin and Obi-Wan exchange looks, the times it’s like Anakin’s about to tell her something and then Obi-Wan talks on top of him. There’s something they’re hiding. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“But do you know that?” Palpatine asks. He looks worried. It’s too genuine to be fake. He’s the first adult she’s ever seen who even outwardly shows emotions like that.

“I… I don’t know.” She’s so lost.

“I don’t think mentioning this to him is a wise idea right now. Not if there’s a chance his new caretaker will hear,” Palpatine says, “But if you could keep an eye on him, I would be most indebted.”

“I – I’ll try.” She hardly has time to do that anymore but she wants to. Doesn’t mean she’ll get the chance. She doesn’t know how she’s supposed to just not ask Anakin about this, though. She has so many questions for him. The doesn’t… make sense. It’s not –

“But that is enough about me. Is there anything I can do for you, Darra? You did a great service to the Republic today.”

How is she even supposed to answer that? “I… No? I don’t need anything.”

“Not even the identity of your former family?”

Her heart flips. “Could – could you find out who they were?”

“I can try,” he promises, “I have many sources. I’ll look into it. You can call me directly any time you like.”

She’s never been quite this speechless in her life. “Thank you,” she offers finally.

Palpatine’s hand is still on her shoulder as he leads her to the door.

She wishes Soara was this gentle with her.

She leaves the office, mind whirling with questions. She needs to talk to Anakin. And… she can’t help thinking that she doesn’t want Soara to know about the rest of this conversation.

***

Rex has never worked with natborns before, other than Cody’s former general who was killed on Christophsis before those bounty hunters showed up. But Anakin and Ahsoka are… interesting. They’re not brothers but they’re… friends? Maybe? He can’t really be friends with a natborn but he still likes them.

Anakin spent the rest of the mission to Teth with them. Most of his company was killed there but Anakin stayed behind to help them get out, even though the mission nearly failed because of it – the huttlet nearly died before they got him back home.

Ahsoka left Christophsis with Plo and he didn’t think he’d see her again but then they both came here, right as the negotiations with Jabba were concluding.

“Bye, Rex,” Ahsoka chirps, waving.

He’s never seen a Togruta before but he can’t stop staring at her. Hopefully it’s not rude. She’s just looks so weird. And she’s adorable.

“I suppose I’ll be seeing you around,” Rex says.

“Uhuh,” she chirps, “I’m gonna make sure of it. Can we call you?”

“Our comms are only for mission purposes,” he objects reluctantly.

Her face falls and it makes him want to take it back but he can’t.

“I’m sure we will cross paths again,” Anakin interjects, coming to his aid, “Good luck, Rex.”

He nods to him.

“Are you sure you will be alright?” Anakin adds, “With so many lost?”

Loss is expected. That doesn’t mean Rex expected to lose so many all in the same day. “It’s… expected in war,” he replies, “I’ll be fine.”

“You know, it’s fine if you aren’t,” Anakin says quietly.

Rex eyes him, uncertain how to reply. “I’m a captain. I have to know how to handle anything. That’s my job. Or even more will be lost and we’ll fail the emission.”

Anakin steps forwards, slowly laying a hand on his shoulder, as though he’s trying to be sure Rex doesn’t mind it. “I know. But I can’t imagine how hard it would be to have that kind of role. I can’t imagine any of my siblings dying like that. Captain or not, it’s something you should get to have help with.”

This natborn really is weird. “Thank you,” Rex tells him finally.

He throws a final last, long look at both him and Ahsoka before he turns to go. He really hopes he does get to see them again.

***

“It’s so hot here,” Ahsoka can’t help grumbling, as she and Anakin stand outside, watching Rex’s shuttle taking off.

“Welcome to Tatooine,” Anakin teases, though there’s a tightness to his face as he looks around at the sand blowing around them.

“I know what you told me about it. I just didn’t expect it to be quite like this.” She reaches out, grabbing his hand, “Are you okay?”

“I never wanted to come back here again,” Anakin replies quietly, “But… it’s worth it if we will get to free people while we are here.” He already asked Obi-Wan about it and Ahsoka really hopes they do.

She doesn’t want to go on another mission that might lead them into fighting a war. She can’t stop seeing the clones being shot down next to her. She can’t get that out of her head. It keeps making her want to cry at total random even though nothing is wrong because it already happened and they can’t do anything to change that but she just – Ugh.

Never wants to see that again.

At least a mission here to help free people shouldn’t be that messy. Right?

Anakin’s still looking out at the desert, something distant in his eyes when Obi-Wan comes back from some secret call he had to make.

“It’s look like we may have good timing,” Obi-Wan announces, coming in.

“What do you mean?” Anakin asks, perking up.

“I got a call from a… contact,” he explains, “She said that Krayn is planning an attack tonight.”

Anakin inhales sharply.

“He’s coming here again?” Ahsoka squeaks.

“My contact will be there too,” Obi-Wan says, “And she said she’s finally ready to make a move against him.”

“I want to help,” Anakin says determinedly but quietly.

Obi-Wan pats his shoulder. “I know. We should get ready. We haven’t much time.”

“Getting ready” turns out that they decide to abandon Ahsoka at a secret safehouse near the outskirts of Mos Espa where there are other apparently freed slaves. Plo was insistent and… right now, she doesn’t exactly think she wants to go right into another bloody battle anyway. Even if she really hopes Krayn ends up dead.

There’s still things to do here too.

Like wandering around and meeting the other children who are here. And trying to help them with their injuries, though she doesn’t think she has any idea what she’s doing half the time.

Night comes.

It’s been hours now and she’s starting to get restless. What if something happened? What if…

And then her comm beeps. Ahsoka scrambles to answer the call, to see that it’s Darra.

That’s… weird. And rare.

“Hey,” Darra says.  “I found a minute. Is Anakin around too?”

“No. He’s out on a mission.” Times Darra calls them are so rare. She wishes Anakin could be here too.

“Any idea when he’ll be back?”

“All I know is that I’m stuck here and I’m borrrred.”

She smiles faintly. “Don’t worry. I’m stuck back at the Complex. We can be stuck together.”

“Together one million lightyears apart,” Ahsoka corrects.

Darra laughs softly. “I guess.”

“Have you ever been stuck in the middle of a battle before?” Ahsoka asks.

“Not an actual battle itself. I went through a couple areas destroyed by the war.” Darra shudders. “The death is a lot.”

“I know,” Ahsoka agrees quietly, “I got stuck in the middle of a battle once. It was kinda bad.”

Darra winces. “I don’t think you should have to be in the middle of that.”

“Plo didn’t want it. It just kinda happened. I don’t want Plo to abandon me at the Complex just because of that but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Darra winces. “The place I went through, I saw some entirely destroyed cities. Empty cribs. That kind of thing. I can’t forget it either. Sometimes… I guess I really don’t want to fight and cause more of that.”

Missions used to just sound fun to her. She’s not sure she can say that anymore. “Yeah, me either. I wanna do something to help. Not... fight.” She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

Darra nods, expression sympathetic. She looks like she’s planning to say something but then goes quiet.

Ahsoka keeps on rambling, about what it’s like on Tatooine, just hoping Anakin will be back before Darra has to go.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Darra asks finally.

“How do you know?” Ahsoka objects.

“I can see the moon out the window behind you. It looks late.”

“It is,” she says, deflating, “I just… can’t close my eyes without seeing that happening and I don’t know what to do. And I’m stuck here alone right now.” And that’s the last thing she wants. She wants to crawl in bed next to Plo or Anakin but she doesn’t know when either of them are coming back.

“Well, I can stay on the call while you go to sleep if you want,” Darra suggests.

Ahsoka lights up. “Could you?”

“I can. At least for now.” She smiles softly at her.

Ahsoka moves the hologram to her bedside, setting it facing the pillows as she crawls under the blanket pile made for her. It’s not like she has an actual bed in this hideout.

“Want a bedtime story?” Darra asks.

“Sure.” Ahsoka yawns, suddenly tired, even if she’s still afraid to try sleeping again. “Can you do those?”

“Well,” she laughs softly, “I can make something up.”

Maybe trying to go to sleep won’t be as miserable as she first thought.

***

The last time Obi-Wan was on Tatooine was when Qui-Gon was still alive. Being back here reminds him guttingly of that mission. He can see the grief in Anakin’s eyes too. He needs to get off the planet but Obi-Wan thinks he needs the closure of helping people here even more. “Are you alright?” he asks him anyway, as they wait in the darkness near the outskirts of the city for incoming ship.

Anakin nods, though Obi-Wan doesn’t need to see his face to tell that that can’t be fully true.

And then they hear the low drone of an engine and a few ships come flying in. They land a short distance away, the ramp lowering.

A towering blue being, somewhere close to eight feet, comes lumbering off in the front. He has four red eyes and four arms.

Krayn.

He looks more intimidating than Obi-Wan expected, if he’s being honest.

This is the man who took Anakin form him when he was a child. He could have been spared so much pain if not for that.  There’s about two dozen other gangsters following behind him, from a couple other ships. It’s a lot.

Obi-Wan moves first, firing at a few of them. They already know what these thugs are here for. Obi-Wan has no remorse about shooting them all down before they see it coming.

Krayn dodges the shot barely in time, spinning and drawing some kind of axe.

“There they are!” someone yells, and then the people start shooting back.

Anakin and Plo join Obi-Wan in firing at them.

It goes easy until a few of the people circle around to behind them, trying to jump them, some with electrstaffs and other such weapons.

Obi-Wan spins to fight a few of them off, using energy shields on his wrists and an occasional blaster shot.

One of the electrostaffs still comes close enough to slam into his back, electricity crackling through him. He lands unceremoniously on his knees, trying to get enough leverage to shove them off.

A blaster shot rings out.

The person attacking him goes down.

Someone else is standing behind him, blaster raised.

He knows it’s Siri without her having to reveal her face.

“Saving you again, I see,” Siri says dryly.

“Don’t get cocky about it,” Obi-Wan retorts.

“Traitor,” Krayn accuses with a snarl.

Obi-Wan turns to see his four red eyes glowering down at them.

Siri shrugs a shoulder, dodging as someone nearly shoots her head off.

Time to get back to the battle.

Except only minutes later, Obi-Wan spins to see that Kryan is moving towards them, only for Anakin to jump at him. Krayn swings his axe right for his head and Anakin rolls out of the way, firing at him repeatedly. A shot hits Krayn in the shoulder but he keeps moving almost as though it’s nothing. Considering that he’s so huge, it’s going to take a lot to take him down. But he needs to get over there before Anakin gets hurt.

The fight would probably have been a lot harder if the pirates had seen it coming but finally Obi-Wan shoots down the last one.

Krayn is all that’s left. He lands on the ground on his back as Anakin finally manages to rip his axe from his grip, flinging it away. He lifts his blaster, aiming it at him.

Obi-Wan’s expecting him to shoot him but then he hesitates.

“You’ve lost, Kryan,” Anakin is breathing hard.

The pirate just laughs. “You think this will end here? It won’t. What I’ve set up is far too large of an operation for that. And there’s no need for this be this way. Whatever you’re being paid, I can pay you far more.”

“You think anything you could offer me would be tempting?” His voice is shaking the slightest bit. Obi-Wan can’t tell if it’s with anger or if he’s about to cry.

The pirates’ eyes narrow. “Former slave, are you?” he asks, “Or still one. A Mandalorian slave would do well at making up the profit you just cost me.” He dives for Anakin suddenly.

The boy fires but the shot misses Kryan barely. He flips his legs out from under him and Anakin falls, landing on his back. Obi-Wan fires several times at Krayn.

He gets hit a few times, in the area right below his chest. The pirate gasps, landing on his back with a strangled groan. He’s breathing shakily and tries to move but this time he’s too injured. Obi-Wan comes over, gently pushing Anakin away from the pirate and safely behind Obi-Wan.

“You’re going to die here, Kryan,” Obi-Wan tell shim, a bit smugly, “For all of those you’ve hurt.”

The pirate is a bit too out of it to reply now.

He could just shoot him in the end.

Part of him doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to risk that he’ll survive this, though.

“Do you even remember the Skywalkers?” Obi-Wan asks finally. He can hardly say why he’s asking.

Kryan coughs, breathing labored. “Why – remember name of – some slave?”

He fires, shooting him in the shoulder. The pirate lets out a strangled scream.

Anakin flinches, turning away.

Okay, maybe he didn’t need to get so graphic but he has no regrets. “The one you gave to the Chancellor,” he says, lowly.

Recognition dawns in Krayn’s eyes. “Make – fortune from – ones they got,” Krayn rasps.

“Where did you sell them too?” Obi-Wan asks icily.

The pirate ignores him.

Siri appears at his side. “I have all his data. I got into it before we came here. We should be able to go through it and find something later.”

Kryan turns a final glare on her. “Traitor,” He coughs out again as he slowly goes still.

“Ugh,” she says, “You have no idea how glad I am to be out of there.”

Anakin comes over to her slowly. “You’re… helping us?”

“I was undercover. On a mission but I have enough information to take down their entire slave empire. With Kryan gone, it’s already going to start collapsing.”

“We’ll have a look in the morning. We should get back to the town.”

“Unless you’d like to put the chip removal devices on the ship here to good use tonight and free some people. Pirate raid,” Siri says, a bit cheerfully.

Anakin brightens.  “Could we?”

How could Obi-Wan ever say no to that?

***

Being back on Tatooine is hard. He lost everything here and memories of Shmi whispering in the back of his mind are haunting him ceaselessly now that he’s back. Sometimes, it feels like he can’t properly picture her face anymore and it scares him because he doesn’t know how long it will be before those memories fade even more too. He hasn’t seen her in seven years and it feels like another lifetime now.

But… Krayn is dead.

He feels both relieved and unreasonably empty. Just because the pirate is gone doesn’t mean it undoes any of the things he did, even if at least he can’t hurt anyone else.

And it’s also… he’s never wanted to kill anyone before but when he’d finally knocked down Kray, he had. All he could remember was his mother’s cry as she was shot down and there were pirates everywhere and he remembers hearing Krayn laughing and that was all he could think of wanting when he finally had the chance.

But shooting someone down when they were already weaponless is not something his mother would have ever wanted.

But it’s not like Krayn was ever truly defenseless either.

He’s glad Obi-Wan had stepped in for him, honestly.

Though he doesn’t think the number of times he shot him was necessary. He also feels like he should feel more sympathy about that than he does. Krayn ruined so many lives.

It’s nearing dawn by the time Anakin and the others finally head back to Ahsoka’s location. He freed over a dozen people tonight. One of them knew of a movement and they take them to drop them off with someone who can get them fully to safety so they can’t be taken back.

It’s so freeing to finally have had the chance to do that. They’ve barely begun, really, but it’s something.

Twelve people who won’t have to deal with what he did every day. He wants to keep doing this. Maybe they can stay on Tatooine a little longer.

Ahsoka’s unsurprisingly asleep when they get back, though she sleepily wakes up long enough to ask a what took you so long and hear the story before saying that Darra called, asking to talk to him, and then Plo’s ushering her off to bed again.

Anakin should get some sleep himself but if Darra’s around, he wants to see her. It’s been weeks. He tries calling her back, just in case, heart flaring when she answers the call.

There’s some muffled shuffling as she answers, like she’s moving somewhere. “Anakin?” Her face lights up. “I was hoping to get through to you.”

“Everything okay?” Anakin asks.

She hesitates. “The usual. I – What about you?”

“There’s… a lot happening but I’m fine.” He’s finally doing what he always dreamed of. But he just can’t stop remembering Shmi.

If not for Krayn, he never would’ve met Palpatine at all. He also suddenly, stupidly misses Palpatine. Maybe it’s just that he was always the one there when Anakin was dealing with the worst of Shmi’s death and he’s the one he always started going to after he needed comfort because of it.

“There’s something I want to ask you,” she says, fingering her braid almost nervously, “But… it might be better in person.”

Now he’s dying to know. But mostly, a little worried. “Did something happen?”

“Not… exactly.”

He really wants to ask but she’d say it over comms if she was comfortable with that.

“Is it foolish to want to be around someone whom you also don’t want to see again?” Anakin blurts finally.

Her brow furrows. She seems worried. “It’s not stupid. Things like that are complicated. And it’s not something you can really help.”

“Sometimes he’s been nice, but other times…” he trails off. Doesn’t know why he’s even thinking about that so much tonight. He feels so stupid.

“I guess that would… make it complicated,” she says, biting her lip, “Can I ask who you’re talking about?”

Anakin hesitates. “Can we talk about it when we see each other in person?” Darra deserves to know and he doesn’t think there’s any real reason to keep it a secret but it’s not a long-distance thing to talk about.

She nods slowly, though she seems uncertain. Worried.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah. The usual. I –  ” She pauses, looking at something over her shoulder. “I think I have to go. Bye, Anakin.”

She disconnects the call before he can say goodbye. But… at least he finally got the chance to talk to her again.

Though for some reason, he can’t shake the feeling that something is very wrong.

Chapter Text

“Do you hear that?” Anakin’s voice draws Ahsoka out of her attempts at meditating. At least that’s easier than sleeping. Sometimes. She frankly doesn’t even understand how Anakin seems so calm about violence. She knows he’s seen a lot but she just doesn’t get it.

“Hear what?” Ahsoka asks, confused.

“It’s like… a song? I don’t know.”

“I think you didn’t sleep enough last night,” Ahsoka snips.

Anakin laughs. “No, I’m serious.”

She grins back. “Me too.”

Anakin shakes his head, standing and moving to the window. “It’s outside somewhere, I think. It’s not the first time I’ve heard it.”

“Well, maybe we can chase down the cause of this song?” Ahsoka suggests. “If you really think it’s real when I have better hearing than you.”

Anakin laughs again. “I know what I’m hearing. I think it may be something with… the Force.”

Hmm.

They go to pick up a speeder and after a lot of convincing with Obi-Wan, they go out together, Ahsoka squished onto the front of the speeder and Anakin behind her as they ride out into the desert.

Snad whips up around them, stinging against her montrals as they go.  “Do you still hear this… thing?” she asks.

“It’s getting closer.” Anakin’s gaze is fixed on something in the distance and Ahsoka’s pretty sure they long since crossed the distance they were allowed to go out on but she doesn’t really care. Anakin is – well, Anakin and he’s Mandalorian now. He’ll protect her. They’ll be just fine.

They finally pull up the speeder outside a cave in the side of the rocks. They swing off the speeder, going in together quietly. Ahsoka doesn’t see anything. It just looks like a very boring cave.

Anakin moves ahead, studying the walls.

She lingers back, looking around herself.

“What is this?” he asks, crouching and pulling something out of a wedge buried in the rocks on the ground. He’s brushing off a crystal like object when she comes over to see.

It’s a faint golden color, and it’s –

Wait.

Her eyes go wide. “Is that – It looks like a kyber crystal!”

Anakin stills. “You really think so?”

A rush of giddy excitement floods her. “Yess!!! The stories claimed they call to Jedi. Like – like a song that only they can hear.” She’s seen pictures of those even if she never truly thought they were real.

His face splits in a grin. “You think it called to me?”

“Must be! Cuz I didn’t hear a thing.” And she’s maybe slightly jealous but mostly just excited.

Anakin turns the crystal over in his hands. “I guess we’ll take it and keep it somewhere special.”

“What about making a lightsaber with it?”

“I don’t think anyone knows how to make them anymore. Except…” He perks up “The dark saber.

“Can we sneak back to Mandalore to see it again? See how to build one?” Ahsoka asks.

“I think that would be too dangerous, but there may be something we can do,” Anakin agrees cheerfully, “At least, we can try.”

She hopes they can. They got this thing for some reason. They’ll find out why eventually.

***

Anakin and Ahsoka are helping treat some of the injured slaves in the hideout when Obi-Wan comes to find them. “We may have a problem,” he says.

“What’s wrong?” Anakin asks, instantly wary as he looks up. He got a kyber crystal. And he’s finally gotten to free slaves. He’s bene pretty giddy about all that, even despite being on Tatooine. So he’s not too surprised if something did just go wrong.

“I know we were planning to stay on Tatooine longer but I received word from the Republic. They’re asking me to start serving as General.”

“You as General?” Anakin repeats, a bit incredulous.

“I thought only the clones could be soldiers?” Ahsoka protests.

“Anyone can be. It’s just not usually done. I’ve heard word that the Republic is considering drafting those who are known to have past military experience, so this may not be something I have much say in. Joining willingly would probably allow some more leverage.”

That’s…

It would mean that everything they’ve done this time is going to have to change. They can’t be bounty hunters if they’re fighting for the Republic. But… that means they’ll get to work alongside the clones. It’s not all bad. “Do you think you could ask to get to work with Rex?” Anakin asks hopefully.

Ahsoka instantly perks up next to him.

“I can try,” Obi-Wan replies, “But being out on the battle field would be risky for you, Anakin. I don’t want you to end up hurt.”

“Bounty hunting is dangerous,” Anakin argues, “And we’re just fighting droids. Besides, I have armor that the clones don’t.”

“We’ll see,” Obi-Wan decides, but Anakin is already pretty certain he’s going to agree. He couldn’t keep training him if they suddenly stopped working together. And if Obi-Wan is going to fight in the war, how is Anakin going to be useful if he doesn’t do the same thing?

“I’ll make Plo take missions with you sometimes so we get to see each other again. And so I can see Rex,” Ahsoka decides.

***

Obi-Wan ends up being assigned to the 212^th.  But the 501^st works under the 212^th so they should be seeing them a lot.

“Can’t say I expected to see you again,” Rex comments, when Anakin finally finds the chance to go over to him.

“I thought we would,” Anakin admits, “I just didn’t know how.”

“Do you have a position?” Rex asks him.

“Other than son of the general? Not really,” Anakin replies cheerfully. “Don’t worry. I won’t contradict your orders.”

“I don’t know if this is my place to ask,” Rex says, “But what’s the Generals’ past experience with fighting?”

“He fought in wars on Mandalore when he was in his teens,” Anakin replies, “And he’s been a bounty hunter a long time. I think he knows what he’s doing.”

“That’s… good.” Rex still seems a bit wary, though.

“What’s wrong?” Anakin asks. “You can tell me. I won’t tattle.”

“We had a natborn general once before,” he says finally, “He… tried to get the mission done but I can’t say he liked clones much. It didn’t matter how many of us were lost. I would say that why Slick turned on us.”

…oh. He should have realized.

Rex is probably jittery around natborns for a reason, aside from believing that he’s inferior.

“I don’t know how Obi-Wan would lead an army,” Anakin admits, “But… if anything ever goes badly, I can talk to him.” He’s never argued with Obi-Wan about things before but he doesn’t think that would really be necessary, anyway. And if he had to speak up for the clones, then… he would.

“Thank you,” Rex offers quietly.

“And I don’t think he’d intentionally get you hurt,” Anakin adds, because he doesn’t. But he can’t say for much more than that.

Either way, he’s just glad that they’ll get the chance to work with Rex.

***

When Ahsoka wanted to get another mission to be around Anakin and Rex, she didn’t quite have… this in my mind. Plo was going to leave her at the apartment but after confirmation from Anakin that they were just stationed to keep watch somewhere and shouldn’t be in an actual battle, she finally got to go. Anakin hasn’t been back at the complex since he started fighting. She misses him.

Darra does, too.

Ahsoka stands next to Anakin, as they receive a transmission from Plo.

“How’s the hunt for the mystery weapon going?” Anakin inquires. He took up a bounty to find whatever weapon the Separatists keep sending to completely destroy Republic forces. No one knows what it is. All they know that there’s never any survivors. And she’s scared, honestly. She knows Plo can handle anything but it’s still risky. What if something happened to him?

“We’ve tracked it to the Abregado system,” Plo replies, “We need reinforcements.” He’s working with some group of clones, on a temporary basis.

“I’ll have to receive permission from higher command for that,” Obi-Wan replies, “We’ve received strict instructions to protect our staging area.”

The hologram flickers suddenly.

“Plo?” Ahsoka ask, worry spiking. Something’s wrong. She can feel it. “What - ?”

“What’s wrong with the transmission?” Anakin asks, worry visible on his face.

One of 501^st tries to get it back as it flickers out but nothing happens. “We’ve lost the transmission, sir,” he replies.

“You heard Plo,” Ahsoka says, wide-eyed, “We have to go help him.” The transmission wouldn’t have cut for nothing. He’s looking for a mystery weapon. That could mean –

Oh no.

Anakin looks to Obi-Wan hopefully.

“We have to speak to higher command,” he says, sighing.

“But…” she objects.

“Being part of the military means here’s rules that have to be followed. It’s not like being a bounty hunter anymore.” She knows that, from the little Anakin’s said. There can be serious consequences for not doing so. She still thinks it’s stupid. It also sounds like the kind of loss of independence that could be risky. Like these stupid rules that are saying they can’t go help Plo right now when it could be serious.

The most she’s can be grateful about is that at least Obi-Wan sounds a bit disgruntled about it himself. “You two can wait here,” he adds.

“I want to know what’s happening,” Ahsoka argues.

“Alright, but this is an important meeting. So you’ll need to stay quiet.”

Ahsoka nods. She knows what to expect in boring meetings with adults. She just needs to know what’s going to happen to Plo. Her and Anakin follow Obi-Wan into the meeting room, where holograms of a bunch of people from top Republic command are present.

And one of them is…

Palpatine.

She should’ve guessed.

She can feel more than hear the way Anakin sucks in a sharp breath, though the helmet is thankfully concealing his face. Ahsoka shifts a little closer to him in silent support and she can tell he’s doing the same for her – he’s staying here because he knows how worried about Plo she is, despite how hard it must be to even see the Chancellor again.

“The mystery weapon has struck in more than a dozen systems,” someone is saying, “And disappeared without a trace. We cannot afford to lose any more ships on it.”

“Plo was in the Abregado system when we lost contact with him,” Obi-Wan reports. “We were going to send out a rescue mission.”

“Has clone intelligence ever reported any survivors before?” Palpatine inquires.

“No,” someone else says, “The Separatists are being unusually tidy. They don’t want any witnesses.”

And that only has her more terrified because what’s happening to Plo out there? They don’t have time to stand around talking. They need to be out there.

“Tragic, these losses are,” interjects Yoda – apparently, he’s the one other bounty hunter who has say in things like this. Ahsoka doesn’t fully follow what his position is. “But prevent more, we must.”

“All our forces need to be reassigned to guard our supply convoys, including you, Kenobi,” another says. “I’m afraid we cannot risk forces for a rescue mission.”

They’re just going to do nothing?! No, no. This is ridiculous, they can’t just –

“Wait!” Ahsoka protests, jerking forwards, “Just because there weren’t any survivors before doesn’t mean there won’t be any more this time.”

Everyone turns to stare at her. Even Palpatine. She just stares back stubbornly.

“Bold words spoken for one so young,” he remarks.

Obi-Wan shoots her a look and she glares at him.

“We’ll do as you instructed,” he says instead, as the rest of the holograms flicker out.

What?

They just –

Ahsoka spins on her heal, stalking for the day, trying and failing to blink away the tears burning her eyes. Plo could die and it’s like no one even cares. Because they’re all too scared to even bother trying.

Anakin’s quick to follow her. “Ahsoka…” he starts to say.

“If no one’s gonna do anything, then I’m going myself,” she throws back and she means it.

“I understand your desperation, but we have to face reality,” Obi-Wan says from behind her, “The weapon doesn’t leave any survivors. If the interference we picked up was because of the weapon, then…”

She knows what he’s saying.

But she’s not going to accept that. It doesn’t sound possible. It can’t be. He’s like her dad, he’s –

He’s not going to die.

“If something’s happened to Plo, getting yourself killed too isn’t going to help, Ahsoka. At the very least he would want you to stay safe.” Obi-Wan’s trying to sound calming.

It just makes her angrier. “I don’t care!” she shouts back, tears spilling, “I’m not leaving him out there.”

“Can’t we look at least try, Obi-Wan?” Anakin asks tentatively.

“I would have agreed but we’d be violating direct orders now and… they are not wrong that all those who go to look for survivors in the past never come back either.” The door to the hanger opens before either of them can reply and Obi-Wan’s Admiral comes in, talking to him about orders.

Ahsoka takes off without another word and Anakin scrambles to catch up.

“I can’t believe he’s not even going to do anything,” Ahsoka says, through her sniffles. She can’t stop crying now. This can’t be happening. Plo can’t just die.

Anakin circles around in front of her, crouching so they’re close to eye-height. “I agree with you, Ahsoka, okay? We can’t just leave them there. Even if Plo was safe and there were only other clones there… we can’t just leave them.”

“Then can’t you tell Obi-Wan so?” she asks, sniffling.

“I don’t think he has a choice about moving his troops, but technically both of us can go without telling anyone and then no one’s breaking any rules.” She can feel him smiling a little mischievously, even if she can’t see his face.

“Really?” Ahsoka perks up.

“We’ll just have to be fast. And hope Rex will give us a ship. Obi-Wan will probably be busy. Maybe we can be back before he knows I’m missing.”

Ahsoka nods, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “Let’s go.”

They take off together.

***

“I… can say I didn’t see you,” Rex concedes, “But I won’t be able to do more than that.”

“I would never ask you to do more, Rex,” Anakin assures, “I just… need to do this.”

“Thank you!” Ahsoka abouts squeals, briefly hugging 

Rex freezes, reaching down to awkwardly pat her back before she steps back.

“I have to get back on duty,” he says, hastily moving away.

They take off for the ship. Anakin’s flying and Ahsoka slides into the copilot’s seat next to him as they fly away. Under other circumstances, she’s find this fun. Now, she’s just terrified.

The ride through hyperspace is agonizing. It’s taking too long and she has no idea if this is the kind of time Plo has.

Anakin doesn’t seem sure what to say, but there’s not really anything to say.

When they finally come out, she sees a looming red planet out the front viewport. Or maybe it’s a star.

“Is that Abregado?” Ahsoka mumbles, looking around.

Anakin’s about to reply when their comm suddenly starts beeping.

It’s Obi-Wan.

They both freeze.

“Maybe when we get back, we can tell him we never got the call?” Ahsoka offers, “Too much signal interference stuff.”

“I don’t think we’ll have much other choice. If we answer, he’ll give us the order to come back.” Anakin bites down on his lip, eyes worried.  “But he’s going to be even more worried about us if we don’t answer.”

“We don’t have time to argue with him,” Ahsoka insists.

Anakin nods, deflating a little.  He glances at the call a couple more times when it starts ringing again before turning his focus back to flying, in between the debris.

There’s destroyed remains of a ship everywhere. She feels sick. What if – What if Obi-Wan was actually right? What if – no, no.

She doesn’t see anything anywhere. This can’t be happening it’s –

Obi-Wan starts calling again. She wishes he would stop it and let them focus.

“I’m sorry, Ahsoka,” Anakin starts, hesitantly, “I don’t know if we – ”

“No!” she yells, “I know he’s alive!” She grabs the controls, jerking the ship forwards, flying it faster. She can sense something, she’s certain. She thinks they’re getting closer but –

Anakin keeps throwing her worried looks though she thinks he’s trying to sense too.

“There!” Ahsoka realize finally.

One of the pods still has a flashing life sign but there’s battle droids right on the outside of the pod and they’re about to cut it open. A clone goes floating past the viewport.

She’s definitely going to be sick. Anakin slams on the controls, speeding forwards and over to the pod. He fires the cables to pull it on board and Ahsoka runs to the back. Anakin comes to join her seconds later, as the pod is dragged in and the door’s seal. Anakin hurries to the pod door, prying it open.

Plo and two clones stumble out shakily, sinking to the floor.

“Ahsoka?” Plo demands, incredulous. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to find you.” She jumps into his arms and he catches her, holding her tightly.  “I thought – I thought you were gone.”

Plo holds her tightly, gently rubbing her back. He doesn’t make any promise he would’ve come back otherwise. She knows it would be a lie if he did. If they hadn’t come, he would’ve died. If they’d been even thirty seconds later, he would’ve died. She’s still so scared.

Anakin goes over to the clones, fussing over them and then calling a medical droid.

But that’s when they hear sudden beeping from the cockpit.

Anakin looks up, then abruptly takes off.

Danger prickles sharply in the Force. Something is very, very wrong.

Her and Plo follow Anakin to the cockpit, right as an enormous ship comes out of hyperspace in front of them. It’s so long, Ahsoka can’t even see the end of it.

“Is that the Separatist weapon?” Anakin breathes, staring.

“Yes. Shut off the power. Now,” Plo orders sharply.

They scramble into motion, flipping off the power to everything, including the ship.

“It has an ion cannon that destroys the ship’s power and then it blows them to pieces,” Plo explains, “That’s what happened to all the clones’ ships.”

Anakin looks down.

All Ahsoka can feel is a numb horror. And she’s scared. This is – They could die here. Unless that stupid ship goes away. But it shouldn’t be able to scan them, right? All the power is off.

But the ship is very slowly turning around and she could swear that its moving towards them.

“I don’t think it’s buying this,” Anakin says, hands tight enough on the controls Ahsoka thinks he’s about to break them.

“All the power’s shut off, isn’t it?” Plo asks.

“Yes,” she insists. At least she, thought –

“Anything we can do to help?” one of the clones’ voices ask. Ahsoka looks up, to see the cone standing there, leaning against the medical droid. Which is still active.

Oh.

Oh no.

Her heart nearly stops for a moment.

“Turn the power back on,” Plo orders, breathlessly. “Now. We have to get out of here.”

Anakin scrambles for the controls. 

The power comes back on and Anakin fires up the engines, streaking away as fast as they can. “Plot a course to hyperspace,” he orders breathlessly.

“Where?” Ahsoka demands, heart pounding.

“Anywhere.”

That doesn’t help.

Plo goes over to the other controls for her, typing in some coordinates.

But then there’s a blinding flash of purple energy and a rapidly expanding burst of energy is heading right towards them. About to fry them.

Anakin sends the ship diving forwards, ducking in between the endless debris, trying to outspeed it. They’re losing.

“Anakin?” Ahsoka asks, desperately. There has to be something –

He doesn’t answer, swerving and dodging more debris. The cloud is getting closer.

“I have the coordinates,” Plo says. and then flips the lever.

They sneak away into hyperspace, with probably two seconds before it would have been too late.

She slumps back in her seat, trying to catch her breath. That they got away hardly feels real for a moment.

“Are you both alright?” Plo asks.

Ahsoka nods. “Now that you’re back.”

“You both handled this very well,” he says, “But never ever do this again.”

“Then don’t ever almost die again,” Ahsoka protests.

“I’ll do my best to take care, little ‘Soka,” he promises.

***

Anakin disappeared without a trace and it’s not hard to guess where he and Ahsoka went. None of the clones are saying they’ve seen them anywhere and Obi-Wan knows what that means. They went after Plo. He should have known.

He should have and he’s been trying to call them non-stop but there’s no answer.

And if there’s no answer, that means…

No.

He lost Qui-Gon before, because he wasn’t able to protect him.

He can’t lost Anakin too. He can’t.

But if Anakin’s gone after the mystery weapon, after Plo, he already knows what it means. No one comes back from that. And that means Anakin is – No, no.

Obi-Wan’s supposed to be focusing on discussing a mission with Soara and Darra on his comm but all he can think about is Anakin. And how he has no idea if he’s ever going to see him again and maybe just going out there himself to look for him wouldn’t be a bad idea. Because if there’s a chance Anakin is still out there, then… He has to take it. And if not, he’s going to hunt down and kill every single person involved in it.

He's about to leave for the hanger when he suddenly gets a call from Cody, that a shuttle with Anakin, Ahsoka, and Plo just landed.

They… they made it.

Anakin made it back. And he also went out there where he well could have been killed. And –

He’s never been so relieved in his life. But it doesn’t seem to do anything to take an edge off the fear he’s feeling. Because Anakin could have died and he can’t stop thinking about it. “I’ll have to call you back,” he tells Soara.

“We can wait on the line,” she replies.

Plo’s heading off with a medical droid when he gets there, Ahsoka following.

Anakin is there alone, helmet under his arm. He looks a bit shaken but otherwise alright. Somehow.

“Hey,” Anakin offers, a bit sheepishly, “I – ”

He’s never been angry with him before. But now, he suddenly is. “Need I ask what you thought you were doing, Anakin?” he demands. He doesn’t mean to yell. He just – he thought he was dead.

“I – I had to go after Plo.”

“You could have died.”

“But I didn’t,” Anakin objects, “And I – ”

“But you could have,” Obi-Wan cuts off him, “And you left without even telling me. I wouldn’t even have known what happened to you. And I take it you were intentionally ignoring my calls?”

Anakin shrinks in on himself. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles, “I just – I didn’t know what else to do.”

Obi-Wan breathes out sharply, trying and mostly failing to get himself to calm.

This isn’t helping the situation.

He thought Anakin knew by now that he wouldn’t actually hurt him but one look at his face has him rethinking that.

He just needs to take a moment.

Before he makes the situation much worse. “We’ll talk about this later,” Obi-Wan decides finally, “I expect you’d like to go check on Ahsoka.”

Anakin nods, backing away and practically fleeing.

Now, all he can feel is a sudden gnawing guilt. Even if he still can’t shake his fear that he could lose Anakin and be able to do nothing about it.

“Excuse the interrupt,” Obi-Wan says finally, looking back to his comm. Behind Soara, he can see Darra’s eyes following Anakin, her lips pressed together in a clear frown, but she says nothing.

“Yes, let’s get back to business,” Soara agrees, “I’ve agreed to accept your request of going to aid the clones in the system of Quell. I’ll try to leave in short order.”

Obi-Wan nods, cutting off the call there.

***

That could’ve gone worse. Much worse. Anakin still can’t get his hands to stop shaking. Obi-Wan told him he could see Ahsoka but he goes to his room on the ship instead, just trying to breathe.

Obi-Wan’s never been angry at him before. Never yelled at him before.

He thought he never would.

Until now.

It’s not like he didn’t ask for it. He was being… Well, he doesn’t regret his choice to go. He never could. Not when it meant they saved Plo’s lives. And the other clones’ lives.

But he left Obi-Wan thinking he died and that was awful and he should have thought of that and he didn’t mean to make him worry that much, and… Not to mention that it was out of line for him, and Palpatine was always so upset when he did things like that and he has no idea what’s going to happen now and maybe he should try apologizing because that usually helped with Palpatine but he’s too scared to even try to go find him.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been in his room when he hears someone knock on his door. He can feel that it’s Obi-Wan and the pit of dread and guilt in his gut grows instantly.

He doesn’t know why he’s not just coming in but Obi-Wan usually announces his presence before just coming in. Palpatine usually… didn’t. And they’re not the same and he doesn’t know why he keeps comparing them just because Obi-Wan yelled at him. It’s ridiculous that he’s so hurt by that but –

He still can’t shake the gnawing fear. “Come in,” he calls quietly.

Obi-Wan steps inside, helmet under his arm. He looks, well – Anakin can’t really tell, but he doesn’t seem upset.

“Anakin? Are you…. alright?”

He blinks, suddenly lost at the unexpectedness of the question. “…Yes?” And – he knows what else he ought to say and honestly he does feel awful because he didn’t mean to make Obi-Wan worry for no reason but he didn’t know what else he could have done and still doesn’t. “I’m sorry. I – ”

“I know.” He sighs. “And I regret how I handled that, Anakin.”

Anakin looks up, tentatively, uncertain.

Palpatine apologized to him on rare occasion too. It still never stopped him from hurting him again.

“It’s okay,” Ankin offers, shuffling a little, “I know I should have told you. I just knew what you would say and I couldn’t not try.”

“I… have to say that I am impressed you were able to make it there and back when no one else ever has.” Obi-Wan slowly crosses the room. He’s trying to be non-threatening Anakin realizes. That… means a lot. He also just feels even worse for being so broody about this when he literally asked for it.

“But I will have to request you never do something like that again,” Obi-Wan adds, though he says it gently.

“I won’t,” Anakin promises, eyes on the floor.

Obi-Wan lays a hand on his shoulder slowly, squeezing it gently. “Are you alright?” he asks him again.

He doesn’t really know what to say to that. He’s beginning to feel a bit stupid for even getting so worked up about it even a part of him is still… a bit shaken. “Yeah,” Anakin whispers instead, leaning forward impulsively to hug him. Obi-Wan’s arms slide around his back, holding him tightly.

Mentioning how much that actually hurt is just going to make Obi-Wan feel worse when he already feels bad anyway and he doesn’t need to do that.

And frankly, he’d rather not think about it again.

He’s just glad that Plo is safe. And that Ahsoka didn’t lose him.

Chapter Text

The Star Destroyer is blowing up. There’s way too many droids everywhere. Darra and Soara were supposed to come in here to rescue the clones. But now, she thinks they’re the ones who desperately need rescuing.

And she has no idea if the help they called for is coming.

She tries to keep shooting at the droids, dodging the return fire, but there’s so many everywhere. They’ve swarmed the entire Star Destroyer.

The sound of blaster fire suddenly rings out from further down the hall and then an explosive rips through the super battle droids marching towards her. She ducks back, peering back around the corner when the smoke clears, to see Anakin and Obi-Wan running up.

“You made it,” Darra calls, breathlessly.

“I wanted to get here sooner,” Anakin says, “C’mon. Plo’s flying a ship. We just have to get everyone to it.”

“The rest of the ship is lost. It’s blowing up,” Soara warns, “We have to get out now.”

“What about the clones?” Darra objects.

“We can’t just leave them,” Anakin agrees.

“There’s not many of them left,” Soara replies.

Darra bites down on her lip. She’s probably right. But still, it just…

“And I’m not going to risk Darra here any longer,” Soara adds.

She should probably feel grateful and she feels kind of bad that instead she just feels a spark of irritation. This is what Soara’s training her to do but when she wants to make the choice to fight longer, she doesn’t want to let her and why does it sometimes feel like she’s only worrying about her when she could be physically hurt? Like that’s the only thing that matters? As though any physical pain could be as bad as the gnawing emptiness she always feels?

And – she’s being ungrateful again.

Another group of droids round the corner then and all they can do is run. They’re being pushed towards the hanger anyway, But they’re still in the halls when a sudden rumbling reaches her ears. Darra looks up, instantly wary.

“What – ”

“The ship,” Anakin breathes, skidding to a stop next to her, “It’s imploding. Now.”

The floors are vibrating. The explosions are coming closer and closer. There’s no way too –

The wall on the far end of the hall is suddenly ripped down by the flames. It doesn’t matter how fast they run because they’re never going to make it to the ship that’s just docked in the hanger in time.

Anakin spins towards them, throwing up his hands.

Darra has no idea what just happened. All she knows is that her, Soara, and Obi-Wan all go flying down the hall from an unseen force. She lands on her back, instantly rolling over and back to her feet.

Anakin stops to shoot out the controls on the doors in front of them which slows the explosion down by about two seconds, not nearly long enough for him to use his jetpack to try flying down the hall to catch up with them.

The blaster doors explode, smacking into Anakin and flinging him across the length of the hall. The flames are burning dangerously close though their intensity seems to have been somewhat absorbed by the doors.

But Anakin’s on the ground and he’s not moving.

His helmet fell off somehow when he hit the ground and there’s blood running down the side of his face. And his eyes are closed.

“Anakin!” she yells, panicked, trying to run to his side. And no, she doesn’t care that the walls around him are probably about to give in.

Soara grabs her arm. “We have to go!”

“I’m not leaving him!” she yells back, before she can even think it through.

Obi-Wan’s already made it to his side, trying to pull him away.

And she could actually help if she could get over to him.

“Anakin!” Ahsoka’s voice cries. She looks up to see the Togruta standing at the top of the ramp of the ship. She’s mid-running down but Obi-Wan’s already gotten Anakin picked up and is flying him towards the ship.

All she wants to do is go to his side but she stumbles after Soara to the ship, pausing at the top of the ramp long enough to make sure that Anakin’s on board.

“They’re here!” Ahsoka yells over her shoulder, presumably to Plo, because then their ship takes off, barely in time to avoid being taken down in the crashing Star Destroyer. They make a rapid hyperspace jump to avoid the droids that are about to attack them but Darra can’t really focus on anything but how Anakin is hurt.

Obi-Wan takes him to the back of the shuttle and she runs after, Ahsoka right at her side, her eyes wide with worry. The medical droid on the shuttle takes his armor off to bandage him up. “He has two fractured ribs,” the droid announces, as it works, “And a concussion and innumerable bruises but he will make it.”

She still barely dares to breathe out a sigh of relief.

“What happened to him?” Ahsoka asks, fidgeting as watches.

“He got caught in the explosion.” Her mind is still whirling. “I don’t understand what happened but he just – threw everyone to the end of the hall? Without touching us?” She’s beginning to think she’s insane, actually, because that doesn’t make any sense.

Ahsoka’s eyes widen, her mouth sort of opening and closing a few times. “He used the Force?” she squeaks.

“The what?” Darra asks, befuddled.

“I never told you about that?” Ahsoka yelps, “How have I never told you about that before?”

“About what?”

“You’ve heard the legends about Jedi, right?”

“A little bit. I can’t say I ever paid much attention to history.” She smiles tightly but she can hardly feel it past her worry. Anakin looks so still, with the breathing mask over his face, and hooked up to whatever the other equipment is.

“Anakin and I were trying to find a way to use it ourselves. Like through meditating. And it’s veryyyy boring, at least at first, but I kind of like it now. I guess he must’ve made it work?”

She’s frankly just a bit mind-blown. And it reminds her again of how the other two get way more time with each other than she ever does with either of them. She’s glad for them. She just wishes her interactions with them weren’t always so short that it’s like they hardly have time to talk at all.

Which reminds her of all the serious questions she has for Anakin. Something is going on with him and she needs to know what it is.  She’s never seen Obi-Wan yell at Ankin before but that he did, especially when he had an audience, was…

She can’t stop thinking about it. He looked scared. She needs to ask him what’s – happening. She always thought he was happy here. But now she’s beginning to rethink… all of that. And… she’s beginning to think Palpatine was right after the last incident she overheard.

“When is he gonna wake up?” Ahsoka asks, impatiently.

“It is likely to be a while,” the medical droid replies as it continues to hover.

Ahsoka sighs, sinking onto a seat next to Anakin’s bed. Darra joins her, reaching out to take her hand. Ahsoka squeezes it back tightly as they sit here and wait.

Obi-Wan comes in and out a few times. He seems genuinely worried, but – She just doesn’t know what to think of him.

It’s got to have been a couple hours when Anakin suddenly starts to stir.

Obi-Wan’s at his side bedside instantly as he very groggily opens his eyes, blinking up at the ceiling, though he seems mostly out of it.

But then his eyes suddenly widen, and his hands jerk up to for his oxygen mask, trying to yank it off.

Obi-Wan jolts forwards, catching his arm. “Anakin, stop,” he orders, a bit incredulous.

Anakin freezes, eyes wild with fear.

And he’s looking right at Obi-Wan.

She doesn’t even understand what’s wrong.

“What’s wrong with him?” Darra demands.

“I’m sorry,” Anakin splutters nonsensically, voice muffled by the mask, “I didn’t – I thought – “

“Anakin, calm down.” Obi-Wan sounds a bit mind-blown and lost what to do himself. Unless he’s faking.

“I cannot say what is wrong except that his heart beat is heightened,” the medial droid observes, as though that wasn’t already perfectly obvious to everyone.

The door to the room suddenly snaps open, Soara appearing in the doorway. “We have a problem,” she announces, “The ship is heading right for a star. Darra, I need you up the front. We need control more people at the controls.”

They’re about to go into a star?

She doesn’t want to just leave. She wants to understand what’s happening to Anakin. And she’s so tired of always getting called away whenever –

But being about to go into a star is critical. They could all be about to die here and so Darra very reluctantly leaves the room to follow her.

***

The world is foggy and all Anakin knows is that there’s something around his mouth.

Over his mouth.

Reminds him of the –

That thing.

The muzzle.

Of Palpatine’s furious “if you cannot use your tongue for anything of use, you needn’t use it at all.” He’d half been afraid he was actually going to lose it, because he knows on Tatooine slaves can get their tongues cut out for backtalking their masters. What happened instead wasn’t half as bad, so he doesn’t know why it haunts him so much.

It was after the incident where he’d nearly made it go public that he was Palpatine’s slave. The last time Palpatine ever took him anywhere near the Senate. But he’s supposed to be away from him and he shouldn’t have that –

“Anakin?” That’s Ahsoka. She’s next to Obi-Wan.

They wouldn’t – wouldn’t – right?

“What’s wrong?” That’s Obi-Wan.

What’s he even supposed to say? He can’t think to make his tongue work. He’s not supposed to be talking. Right?

That was –

He wore that stupid thing for – a while. And he can’t breathe even though he also can and he can’t –

He wants to rip it off. Obi-Wan told him not to.

He keeps his hand at his side. He always gets into these stupid messes by not being obedient. His head hurts. And it’s so foggy. What even happened? Where… His mind feels like it’s fogging over entirely again.

“It’s just an oxygen mask and you need that to breathe,” Ahsoka pipes up, laying a hand on his chest.

…oh.

That – that’s what it is? Still wants it off.

But at least it’s not – that thing.

Can he talk? They – they wouldn’t be asking him stuff if he couldn’t. He’s still afraid to risk it. He’d been too scared to breathe nearly a word to anyone for – long time after that. Until Palpatine seemed to get tired of the silene between them. And started trying to get him to talk to him again. Still took a long time. Before he dared to risk – anything.

Still feels stupid to have been so scared of that. He could have beaten him. Whipped him. Any other slaver would have. He didn’t and at least the thing didn’t hurt but –  But the world is fogging out around him and when he slips into unconsciousness, he’s grateful for it.

***

The ship jerks out of hyperspace and Darra nearly has to shield her eyes from the burning, brilliant sun in front of them. They’re being yanked right towards it. The ship’s shields are on fire. This is very, very bad. All her previous questions flood to the back of her mind as she tries to help Plo, Rex, and Soara with the ship, getting it under control. They the ship to turn away from the star barely but the ship is crashing.

Right towards a nearby planet.

“Brace for landing,” Plo warns.

Hopefully the others in the back are alright.

The ships smacks into the ground in the midst of a grassy plane, skidding a bit and stopping.

Darra jerks to her feet the moment it’s down, running to the back. Obi-Wan and Rex are trying to get Anakin off the bed, supporting him between them. He’s unconscious again. She still wants to know what was wrong, but there’s no time to talk right now. They all get out of the ship, only right before the entire thing explodes into flames.

Well.

Now they’re trapped.

“What are we going to do?” Darra asks. The medical droid is broken too and Anakin needs treatment.

“We’ll have to look for a way off planet. Some kind of civilian transport, perhaps,” Soara muses.

“Anakin can’t travel anywhere right now,” Obi-Wan argues.

“We can leave him here with a few of us and the rest of us can go searching,” Plo decides.

“I could keep an eye on him, sir,” Rex suggests, looking to Obi-Wan. He seems hopeful.

The adults debate the matter back and forth. Darra doesn’t try to interject because it’s not a choice she’ll get to make. She’s still relieved when she hears they’ve decided to leave her, Ahsoka, and Rex behind with Anakin while the three of them go as fast as they can to try and find help.

***

Ahsoka can’t shake the fear gnawing inside of her, as she sits inside the makeshift tent they set up. She’s sitting on one of Anakin’s sides and Darra is on the other, looking no less worried. She doesn’t know why this keeps happening. First Plo nearly died and then Anakin.  She’s so scared. She knows people can die so easily in the war and on missions. She just never thought about it so seriously until now. Once, she thought missions would be fun. The more time goes on, the more she thinks they’re not fun at all. The fighting just isn’t what she wants.

“I can keep watch,” Rex decides, kneeling near Anakin. She can sense how worried he is. “You two should get some rest.”

“You can’t do all the watching,” Ahsoka objects.

“Do I get a vote?” Darra asks.

“Sure,” Ahsoka offers.

“What if Rex and I take turns?” she proposes.

“I should get a turn too,” Ahsoka argues. She’s not sure she’d even be able to think about sleeping right now anyway.

“I have to agree with Darra, kid,” Rex says, “You’re still… young.”

“I’m older than you,” Ahsoka shoots back.

Rex huffs out an amused breath. “That’s true,” he replies, “But you don’t grow the way we do either.”

“Fine,” she grumbles, deflating.

“Hey,” Darra offers, “At least this way you’ll be the most rested in case we have to fight off some threat.”

Fiiiiine.

Ahsoka nods grudgingly.

Rex goes to the entrance of the tent to watch, and she and Darra lay down on either side of Anakin.

“Do you know what was wrong with him?” Darra asks in a whisper, after a long stretch of silence.

“No,” Ahsoka replies. She doesn’t even get what he was so afraid of. She’ll ask him about it later. “I just hope he’ll be okay.”

“The droid said he would be,” Darra reminds but she can hear the strain in her voice.

Ahsoka reaches over, fingers interlacing with Anakin’s. It’s unsettling how still he feels.

She’s just about to drift off when she feels sudden movement next to her. Her eyes fly open and she sees Anakin stumbling upright, moving towards the tent entrance, only to promptly faceplant on the floor.

“You need to be resting,” Rex protests, instantly appearing at Anakin’s side.

Darra’s jarred to wakefulness too, sitting up.

“Something’s wrong,” Anakin rasps.

Ahsoka stills. Now that he mentions it, she feels it too.

“Something like an animal or the Separatist?” Darra asks worriedly, coming over to the cave entrance with the rest of them.

Rex helps Anakin into a sitting position before he turns back to the entrance, lowering the scanner part of his helmet to scan their surrounding. “It’s animals,” he says, breathless, “They’re closing.”

“I can help,” Anakin coughs, wincing painfully.

“No, dummy, You’re gonna go lay back down,” Ahsoka scolds.

He has the audacity to actually smile for a fleeting moment. “You’ll need help.”

“We can handle it,” Darra promises, even if Ahsoka can see that she’s afraid. She draws her blaster, going to stand next to Rex. Ahsoka yanks Anakin back to a proper spot in the center of the tent, before going to join them.

A feral snarl splits the air and then two creatures run out of the darkness, right towards them. Rex starts shooting, but the blasts aren’t doing much to get through or maybe it’s that they’re  moving so fast, they’re dodging hem. Her and Darra join in shooting. One of the creatures goes down.

The other one leaps right at them. Ahsoka dodges, and the creature smacks into the tent, knocking it over right on their heads. Rex rolls out of the wreckage first, firing at the creature and hitting it several times in the head. Ahsoka stands back, breathing hard.

“That was close,” Darra says, as she scrambles to yank the tent off of Anakin.

“This is why I wanted to help,” Anakin says sleepily, blinking up at them when they unbury him. Though, the fact that he didn’t try to unbury himself says a lot about how injured he is.

“Hey, we’re the ones who saved the day,” Ahsoka snips.

“You okay?” Darra asks him, touching his shoulder.

Anakin nods tiredly, eyes slipping closed.

“Let’s get the tent set back up,” Rex decides. Hopefully, the wait won’t be much longer.

***

Anakin doesn’t fully wake until after he’s been treated by some strange species’ of healer. He’s in one of the huts now, with Rex, his sisters, and all three adults. He’s also awake enough to actually remember his panic attack. It’s also really, really not something he wants to talk about again. So he really hopes they aren’t going to ask.

“Darra said you used the Force,” Ahsoka says, popping up at his side.  Darra comes to sit down on his other side, twirling a lock of red hair around her finger.

Anakin remembers that, remembers the moment he felt the Force come rushing to him without even thinking. It probably only worked so well because he’d panicked.

“How did you do that?” Darra asks.

He can talk. He knows he can talk but he’s still jittery. “I don’t know,” Anakin admits, even if he feels ridiculously giddy, remembering that. It’s a relieving distraction. “I just… panicked. I wasn’t thinking. And it just – happened. I couldn’t let anyone get hurt.”

“You never told me you were studying the Jedi,” Darra says. He doesn’t think she’s hurt, exactly, just a little… left out.

Anakin winces. “I kept meaning too. It just never came up when we had time to be with each other.” They’ve hardly had any time to talk in months. Sometimes, he’s afraid with the war, that’s only going to get much worse. “Do you want to try learning about it? We can tell you everything we’ve been trying, if you want.”

“You think I could?”

“Do you ever feel stuff before it happens?” Ahsoka interjects.

“You mean like… fast reflexes? Sometimes. I didn’t know that’s what it was.”

“Ahsoka and I never knew for sure either, until… today.” He’s still mind-blown he did that.

“Do you think you could do it again?” Ahsoka asks.

“I can try.” He closes his eyes, trying to reach outwards and concentrate on moving a small rock in the dirt floor of the tent.  But it’s not really responding. He keeps thinking it’s about to but then nothing happens.

“Maybe you’re trying too hard, instead of just doing,” Darra suggests.

The entrance of the tent suddenly flaps open, the village leader stalking in. “What menace have you brought to our village now, bounty hunters?” he demands.

“What are you talking about?” Soara asks.

“A Separatist ship is approaching.”

What?

That’s – not good.

“They couldn’t know we’re here,” Plo objects.

“It won’t be good if that changes,” Rex speaks up.

“Should we leave the village?” Anakin asks quietly. He’s still jittery to talk. It’s stupid. That happened years ago. No one here is going to do that. He still can’t stop remembering the feel of the cold metal pressed against his face and the – never knowing when it’d be taken off. At least his master had still let him eat. He could have been far more awful about it. He wasn’t. It was years ago. Why is he panicking about it suddenly?

Why does something else, far away, feel wrong? Something that’s steadily drawing closer.

“We should,” Obi-Wan agrees, “We’ll have to be fast.”

He and Rex come over and Anakin leans on them both as he gets to his feet. At least his head isn’t hurting much anymore but his sides are still aching a bit. It’s hard to breathe. They duck out the door into the fresh air, heading to the tall grass behind the village and Anakin sinks into the direct. The girls quickly claim spots on either side of him again.

“Want a snack?” Darra offers, pulling some ration bars out of nowhere and offering them to him and Ahsoka.

The Togruta snatches one, munching it down with a mumbled thanks.

“I’m okay,” Anakin waves her off, though he smiles a silent thanks. He’s just too exhausted and too tense to think about eating.

They haven’t been in the grass very long when Anakin hears a sudden faint whirring. He whips around, eyes falling on a probe droid hovering in the grass only a short distance away from the. he whips up his balter, shooting at his several times. The droid takes off through the grass and everyone else gives chase.

So much for staying hidden.

***

They end up stealing a Separatist shuttle, only to discover the droids are going back to the village to test a weapon on them. Darra’s glad for the chance to go back and help the people, even if the village leader isn’t very happy about it. Actually getting to help them feels nice. Anakin insists on fighting and he’s somehow able to make it.

A Republic shuttle shows up not long later to pick them up. Darra ends back up on Coruscant with Soara. She doesn’t know where the others are, but Darra has things to back at her apartment, as always. And… she’s been waiting to make a call for a long time and so the moment she has the private opportunity, she slips away with Soara’s comm, dialing for Palpatine.

She’s almost surprised when he actually answers. “Darra?” the Chancellor asks, “I’ve been hoping you would call for a while.” Why? She doesn’t understand why he cares but it means a lot. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay, I guess. I… I think I’m beginning to see what you meant about Anakin. I think there’s something between him and Obi-Wan – I don’t know. I’ve haven’t had the chance to ask him about it privately.”

“You think he is being hurt?” he queries. He looks worried.

“I don’t know,” she admits, “Somewhat, at least. I just don’t know what to do.”

“I may be able to help you with that. And with… your problems with Soara.”

“What do you mean?”

“I found something, Darra. About your family.”

Air catches in her throat. “You know who they are?”

“I do. Are these people familiar to you?” He flips on a hologram of two people – a man and woman.

They look eerily like she does. But most of all, they bring rushing back to the surface images of long ago. Faces she barely remembers but could never entirely forget either.

Yes.

They’re definitely familiar.

“Does the last name Thel-Tanis sound familiar?” he adds.

Yes/

Yes.

She always knew it started with a T. She just could never remember what. But it clicks perfectly in her mind, with what she’s always known.

Those are her parents. Dead, gone, but it’s the first time she’s seen anything of them at all in so long. “Who are they?” Her heart aches sharply enough that she wants to cry.

“The woman is… my sister. Her name was Szulla.”

The words take a moment to sink in. “You’re my – my uncle?”

His expression twitches a little at the word. “I am.”

The Chancellor is her uncle. She still has family. But – “Soara said I didn’t have any,” Darra objects.

“I suppose that would be because she knows more about your family than she’s ever admitted.”

“What?” she breathes. She wondered sometimes but Soara has taken care of her for years when she didn’t need to. She wouldn’t just lie to her about. Would she?

“This won’t be easy for you to hear.”

“Tell me,” Darra requests, heart pounding.

“She was the bounty hunter who went after them. My guess is that when she found you, she decided she couldn’t finish whatever her mission was and took you with her.”

She can’t breathe.

Can’t think.

Soara –

She’s the one who killed her parents? And all this time she lied about it? She didn’t know a betrayal could cut so deeply. Or that she could ever be this angry. She’s spent years missing her family. And it was all because of Soara. She’s been trying to train her into the exact thing that destroyed Darra’s life in the first place.

“I talked to your aunt, my… other sister. She’s willing to take you in, if that’s what you want,” Palpatine goes on, “I can send someone to pick you up, if that would be easier than finding a way to leave.”

Her mind feels frozen.

Family.

She still has a family she could see again.

But how could she just walk out? More importantly, how couldn’t she? She’s not going to just stay with the very person who did this. Even if she’s been with Soara for so long, she can hardly imagine never seeing her again.

“Could you?” Darra asks, voice strained. She hardly knows what she’s agreeing to. But if she has the chance to see someone from her family again, she wants to take it. But she doesn’t know what it’s going to mean because if she’s not a bounty hunter, then she’s definitely hardly going to be around Anakin and Ahsoka but she hardly gets to be anyway and for all she knows, she could find a different way to be with them even more like this. Getting to have a family, to just have a normal life, is all she’s ever wanted but it suddenly feels like walking away from them, even if half of this has always been about how she just wants to be with them.

“I can,” Palpatine promises, “She has no legal claim to you. By all legal rules, she kidnapped you.”

She did. After killing her parents. Darra doesn’t know what to say, what to think. And then the door to the room suddenly snaps open and Soara is standing there.

Chapter Text

 Darra ends the call purely on instinct, jerking to her feet. She’s angry and betrayed and hurt, yes. So she doesn’t know why the first emotion that comes rushing to the surface is still fear. She’s been afraid of her before yes but its’s not – Like this. Not with the knowledge that the one who killed her parents is right here. And –

“Darra? What are you doing…” She trails off, eyes falling on the comm.

“What did you do?” Darra demands. She means to sound angry. Her voice is shaking instead and so is she. There’s so many things in her head she wants to say to her. But as always, when she’s faced with a chance, the words all evaporate her and her mind stops working.

“What are you talking about?” She frowns a little.

“You – you killed them. My parents.”

Soara’s expression flickers. She seems taken aback. But not shocked and instantly denying it. “Who have you been talking to?”

“That has nothing to do with what you’ve done!”

Soara sighs. She actually looks a bit worn. It just upsets her more right now. “What would have been a good way to tell you that, Darra?”

She didn’t realize she was waiting for a denial until this moment. But it really is true. “How – how could you have this?”

“In my youth, I sometimes took missions against the Republic laws. It was before I joined the Guild. I was hired for an assassination. There were too be no witnesses. And then I found you, before it was too late. What else could I have done with you, Darra?”

Why –

What.

“What did they do?” Darra demands, through her tears. She doesn’t remember when she started crying, but she is. “That anyone would want them dead?”

Soara is quiet for a long pause.

“Tell me!”  Her voice sounds about as broken as she feels.

“I don’t know,” Soara replies finally, “All I know is that they weren’t supposed to be there. They weren’t my target. But the contract said no witnesses. And when you bounty hunt, you don’t get involved in the why.”

It’s worse than what she thought. Much worse. Her parents weren’t even targeted. Weren’t – hadn’t even done anything. They were just there. And Soara killed them. She wants to throw something at her. Or – or –

“And that – that was all it – ” She can hardly breathe. Hardly anything.

“Look, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do to change it.” She looks regretful, but –

“I don’t care.” Maybe that’s a mean thing to say. It probably is. But she can’t just tell her she’s sorry after lying about this for years and expect it to be just fine.

“That’s why I tried to make up for it by raising you as my own. I did everything I could to make you the best bounty hunter you could be, no matter how hard to train you’ve often been.”

It’s still about how she’s always messed up, isn’t it? Maybe it’s not all wrong. Maybe she’s being ungrateful. But she doesn’t care anymore. Not remembering her mother’s gentle hands or her father’s distant laughter, memories so faint she can hardly remember. They were happy. She knows that much.

“Maybe that’s because it’s not what I wanted to be.” She’s never said it aloud. She’s always been too afraid to.o

“I think we should be talking about this after you’ve calmed down.”

Calmed down. Soara killed her parents. She’s not going to just calm down. But she’s still the one who raised her and all she can feel is a wild tangled mess of guilt amidst the hurt and betrayal and anger.

Someone knocks on the door to their apartment door suddenly. Soara turns away to answer it. Darra’s almost grateful for how she has no idea how to keep talking about this. But it also feels like a total dismissal of what they’re talking about. She wants to talk to Anakin and Ahsoka. They’re the only people she wants to talk to right now. And Anakin – she still has no idea if he’s been through something similar.

When the door to the room opens, it’s for a group of police droids to come swarming into the room. “You are under arrest,” they’re all reciting, surrounding Soara.

Darra stills, staring. She didn’t expect this. Probably should have. She wants justice for her parents’ murder. So she doesn’t know why she suddenly feels guilty about this too. Because Soara still raised her and – She also feels guilty for even feeling guilty about that in the first place.

Behind them are some Council members and… Sly Moore. The person Palpatine sent.

“You are guilty of breaking Republic laws,” Windu speaks up, “There’s nothing we can do now that the Senate has chosen to intervene.”

Palpatine called the police on her? She shouldn’t be so surprised. That was his sister. She just wishes she had a warning. She wishes she didn’t feel even more empty, watching this happen.

“As if I’m the only one of us who ever has?” Soara retorts.

“This isn’t something we can do anything about,” Windu replies.

Soara throws a glance back at Darra. It’s not a look she can read but then she lets the droids cuff her, leading her away.

Darra watches, numbly.

Sly Moore approaches her. “The Chancellor sent me to get you. He wants you to come immediately. Are you ready to go?”

She’s about to meet her family. She should call Anakin and Ahsoka. Tell them what’s happening. She’d go to look for them but she’s supposed to come right away. “I need to pack some things quickly.” She scrambles off to her room, trying to make it fast.

She does pause long enough to leave a call for them but neither answer. Ugh. Explanations will have to wait.

She gets a bag together, heading back out into the room. It feels empty and suddenly wrong to just be leaving. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever come back. Doesn’t know if she wants to. But this is still the place she grew up in. It’s strange to be leaving. She wishes she wasn’t doing it alone. Even if she’s used to doing everything alone. That’s just… how it is.

Sly Moore doesn’t drive her to the Senate. She takes her to some place in the Underworld.  “Why are we meeting out here?” Darra asks.

“I’m just following the Chancellor’s instructions,” the woman replies.

That’s fair.

She climbs out of the speeder and is led into an empty building. And then sees the Chancellor himself and a couple of the Coruscant guard clones waiting. How does she even address him? She doesn’t remember having hard aunts or uncles. Did she ever even seen them before?

“I’m glad you made it here, Darra,” Palpatine says, approaching her.

“…Thank you for bringing me,” she offers, because it seems appropriate. But her mind is whirling and she can hardly think.

“I expect this has been a lot for you so perhaps we should speak about it later.” He pats her shoulder, gently. “But for now, I have to ask one favor of you.”

“What?” She certainly more than owes him.

“Can you call Anakin and ask him to come here, to meet with you?”

Something clicks in her mind. “You mean so… you can meet him?”

Palpatine nods. “I know of no other way and I would rather no one get the warning before he’s out here.”

It… makes sense. She doesn’t know why something just feels off. But she has no reason not to do it.

***

Soara was arrested, under allegations of murder. Anakin has no idea what’s going on but he needs to make sure Darra’s okay. Soars is a lot of things but she’s still Darra’s caretaker and that can’t be an easy thing to have to deal with. Anakin hears the rumors, even while he’s confined to the healer’s wing.

But he gets a call from Darra before he can dial a call himself. “Darra?” Anakin asks, as a hologram of her appears. He can feel her distress. He’s felt it all this time but it’s even more keen now that he can see her face. “Are you alright? I heard Soara was arrested. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

Darra bites her lip. “She – she killed my parents.”

Anakin’s breath catches in his throat. “She – she’s the one who did it?”

Darra nods. Her eyes look suddenly wet again. “I… I know this is an unusual request, but can you come to meet me? I’m not in the Complex anymore.” She tells him the address. It’s not somewhere he’s ever heard of.

Something’s wrong. It’s a sudden sharp prickling under his skin. He doesn’t know what it is. “Why not? What’s… happening?”

“I – I can explain when you get here.” She seems afraid of something. Anakin’s not sure what.

“Alright. I’ll be there immediately.” Yes, he’s going to have to sneak out of the healer’s wing but it’s not like he’s not perfectly able to leave anyway. Everyone’s just being needlessly stubborn about it.

Darra nods, gaze lowering. There’s something there. Something she’s not telling him. He doesn’t know why. He’ll just go there and find out.

***

Sneaking out of the healer’s wing and taking a speeder to the Underworld isn’t hard. But the sense of wrongness is growing as he flies up outside the building and lands. Why does it feel like he shouldn’t be here?

He’s not wearing his armor. Hasn’t since his injuries. Hopefully that’s not a mistake. Anakin reaches into his pocket for a moment, fingering the rock Obi-Wan gave him from Qui-Gon. He can’t say why he wanted to bring it along. He just… did. He goes into the building, looking around. There’s people here. He can feel it. He doesn’t know why he can’t see them.

“Anakin!”

Darra darts out of the shadows, practically throwing herself into his arms. He catches her, squeezing her tightly. “How are you holding up?” he inquires.

Darra lowers her gaze, as they pull apart. “I still can’t believe she did that. I just – And she said it was just the mission. That’s what she’s always told me.”

Anakin winces. He can’t imagine finding out Obi-Wan did something like that. “Do you know what you’re going to do now?”

“That’s already been taken care of,” a far too familiar voice says from behind him.

Anakin whips around, to see Palpatine standing there.

Air freezes in his lungs. Doesn’t remember he even needs to breathe right now.  What – what –  Why is he here? How did he get here? What –

“It’s good to see you again, my boy,” Palpatine continues smoothly. As though Anakin ever wanted to see him again. As though this hasn’t been his worst nightmare for months, the one thing he constantly feared. And now it’s happening. And all he’s done is standing there, frozen. How is he here -

“Anakin?” Darra’s frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“He – he – ” He needs to find his tongue. Make it work.

“I expect he’s in a bit of shock right now. It’s been a while,” Palpatine says.

And somehow, the one thing that his mind latches onto is how he’s talking to her like they’ve talked before. Like they know each other. Darra was the one who called him here.

Why?

“You knew he’d be here?” Anakin breathes.

Darra bites her lip, gaze darting between them. “I – yes. He said you wanted to see him again.”

What –

How did he never see any of this coming? Palpatine used her to get to him, whatever’s going on here. He never told Darra. He was finally going to but he never did. Is something about this what she was going to ask him? The betrayal and hurt hit him next.  But she didn’t know. It’s not –  He needs to run. Get out.

“I never – never wanted to see him again,” he chokes out.

Palpatine’s expression flickers. He almost thinks it looks hurt.

“Why not?” Darra asks, moving closer to him, “Anakin? What’s wrong?”

“I believe we should discuss this elsewhere,” Palpatine says, “My sister will be arriving to my apartment soon to take you.”

What.

“She’s my aunt.” Darra shakes her head, still staring at him, “What – I don’t understand. Palpatine said he raised you.”

Darra’s related to Palpatine? He can see the resemblance. He knew she looked familiar from the moment he first saw her. Never thought about why.

“You don’t want that,” Anakin protests, shaking his head. What are they planning to do to her – “Trust me, Darra, you don’t – ”

“Now, now, Anakin. She’s getting the chance to finally go home. Like you are.” He sounds gently chiding, the way he so often has. “Are you really asking her to turn that down?” Palpatine takes a step towards him.

Anakin runs.

Doesn’t think. Just makes for the door. Thinks half a second later that he can’t just leave Darra with these people.

A blaster shot goes off. It’s a stunblast. The electricity jerks through him and he stumbles.

“What are you doing?!” Darra sounds horrified. Her voice is distant.

Anakin tries to keep moving. Another member of the Coruscant guard steps out of the shadows right in front of him, stunning him again. The blast hits him before he can duck it. The last thing Anakin registers is falling and Palpatine catching him before his vision goes dark.

***

“What did you do?” Darra demands again, hands shaking.

Anakin’s slumped unconscious in Palpatine’s arms. They just stunned him.

“He’s not in his right mind. I didn’t want to get this out of hand,” Palpatine says, sighing. His hand reaches up, idly brushing Anakin’s curls back from his face, “I do wonder what Obi-Wan’s been doing to him.”

Her heart is pounding. Something is wrong. Something is wrong – “Why was he so afraid of you?” She knows that look.

“I couldn’t tell you what Obi-Wan’s been telling him while he was away,” Palpatine replies, sighing, “But I’ll take care of him. You don’t need to worry. He’ll be safe.”

Then why doesn’t it feel like it? “That’s not what it seemed like,” she argues, shaking her head. She’s missing something huge here. She doesn’t know what it is. Is Palpatine the one Anakin has actually always feared? Doesn’t change how she saw Obi-Wan treating him and she has no way to know that it’s not common, but – She doesn’t know anything anymore. Everything is happening too fast.

“Trust me, Darra,” Palpatine replies, “Anakin will be fine. And we shouldn’t keep your aunt waiting.”

She’s taken back to his apartment in a different speeder than Anakin. She doesn’t like being away from him. She needs to talk to him. Needs to know what’s really happening. But when they get to the landing platform, there’s a Nubian ship waiting. A red-haired woman is standing there.

“Mara,” Palpatine greets, nodding to her.

The woman nods back, gaze shifting to Darra. “So… you’re Darra?”

She nods slowly, suddenly nervous and at a loss of what to say. This is her family but she feels so out of place. And she can’t stop thinking about Anakin.

“Well, I’m Mara,” she says, “I never met you when you were a child but I’d like to get to know you.”

“Why… didn’t you?” she wonders, frowning.

“My sister moved off-planet as soon as she was married. I never did have the chance to meet her family.” Mara’s gaze is shadowed. “But come along. I’m sure we have a lot to discuss.”

Darra throws a final, desperate glance at where Anakin is. She has to talk to him but – Maybe she can ask to call him? Maybe? She doesn’t even know if that would be allowed. But it’s too late to backdown and this person is supposed to be her family. She slowly follows her onto the waiting ship.

***

Consciousness fades in slowly. His head is foggy and there’s a lingering pain in his sides. But then everything comes rushing back to him with a jolt and a wild, icy wave of panic. Anakin’s eyes fly open, heart nearly stopping when he sees Palpatine sitting by his bedside. The same way he’s done many times before.

But he’s back here again. The place he’d dared to hope he’d never have to come back to again. And he has no idea what’s about to happen. He’s been so, so terrified whenever he thought about it, to know what Palpatine would do to him if he ever got him back. And now he’s about to get that answered.

Why, Darra, why? She didn’t know. He knows that. But – now he’s back here again. And he also has no idea what they’re planning to do to her. No idea if he’s ever going to see her or Ahsoka or Obi-Wan ever again.

If his master wanted him back this badly, he’s never going to make the same mistake twice. Especially not when, blinking at his surroundings, Anakin quickly realizes where he is. He’s in a medbay somewhere. Did – Did they put his chip back in? Is that what he’s doing here? He didn’t know his gut could plummet any further. Didn’t know he could feel a wild swell of hopelessness any deeper than he already did. He thought he was out of slavery forever. He thought he was free.

Palpatine catches his gaze and Anakin’s breathing hitches. Should’ve pretended he was still sleeping. Not that it would’ve made him leave. Won’t change whatever’s about to happen.

“Anakin?”  he asks, shifting closer.

What is he supposed to say? Is he supposed to say something?

He already talked when he wasn’t supposed to and Palpatine definitely knows he’s told people about being his slave and –

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

Is he – serious –

He doesn’t want to just submit to this again, not that there’s any other way. He knows what resistance brings.

“Been better,” Anakin mumbles, though he regrets it a moment later because he doesn’t need to make this worse than it’s already going to be.

Something in his master’s gaze looks… heavy, almost. “You know, I didn’t bring you here to make you miserable.”

Didn’t he? What else did he expect?

“But – but then – What… ” He swallows hard. Can’t string together a coherent anything. He just wants to cry. He wants to go home. But he can’t. And he can’t even plan an escape because he doesn’t know if he has his chip in him. He’s trapped here. Just like before. And no one even knows what happened to him. “What do you want with me?” he asks finally.

The look in his eyes is intense. “I raised you for six years. You’re mine. Why do I need another reason?”

It’s because he missed him. Is that why? Anakin knows Palpatine loves him in his own way. He just didn’t think that’s what all this was about. Just because he wanted to have him back.

As his…

Thing.

Whatever exactly it is, he is to him.

A whisper of guilt curls inside of him, as much as he loathes that and tries to shove it away, because he knows he’s really the only person Palpatine’s ever had. And he just left him. What else was he supposed to do?

“What happened to you?” Palpatine asks, studying him. “The medical droid said your ribs were fractured and still healing.”

“Explosion,” Anakin mutters, looking away. He doesn’t want to talk about this. Doesn’t want to act like everything is just normal like how it used to be. He wants to go home. Then another thought occurs to him. “What did you do to Darra?”

“Exactly what I told you I was doing with her. She’s gone home now. And so have you.”

“I was home,” Anakin blurts, because the rush of bitterness is too much to hold back. He regrets it a moment later. Especially as something in his master’s eyes harden. He’s definitely angry at him. Maybe he’s controlling it well right now – Anakin doesn’t fully understand why he isn’t just lashing out violently - but it’s definitely there.

A swell of fear rises and he looks away, gaze falling on a very familiar rock sitting by his bedside. That’s still here. Why’s it not still in his pocket? It’s – he’s never been happier to see it. It’s all he has of any of his family anymore. It might be the last thing of them he ever does. The thought is too much for him to even handle. He constantly feared losing them, on some level. He just never imagined it could be like this.

Anakin reaches for it.

Palpatine picks it up before he can.

“What is this?” he asks.

He swallows hard, heart lurching. Doesn’t want him touching it. He needs it with him. To know he’s not about to lose that too. “A rock.”

Palpatine gives him a flat, unimpressed look  

“Can – can I have it?” he asks, desperately. He can take anything away from him. Anything that belongs to Anakin belongs to him. “It was a gift,” he mumbles finally, “From my – my friends.” He doesn’t want to say who. Doesn’t want to give his master a reason not to give it back. Because he’s suddenly terrified that that is what’s about to happen. And he can’t lose that. It’s the last thing from Qui-Gon there is. His last connection to anything outside of this – he can’t lose it. “Master,” he requests, eyes burning with tears, “Please. I –  ”

Palpatine sighs. The weighted look is back in his eyes. He hands the rock to him, before standing.

Anakin breathes out shakily in relief, clutching it tightly.

“Come,” his master tells him, turning away. He seems upset. Not the angry kind. It’s something else, and it makes Anakin feel even more hollow and empty and a bit guilty and he doesn’t even know what he did or – what. “We should be getting back to the apartment.”

***

The ride back to the apartment feels far too tense and quiet. And it’s not that Anakin even wants to talk anyway. He can’t help looking out the window back at the Complex, that’s still visible. The place he has no idea if he’ll ever get to go back to. Why, why does this even happen?  He doesn’t know if Obi-Wan or Ahsoka or Rex are okay and now he’ll never know again and he won’t even get to tell them where he is. Even if they’ll probably guess. And Darra…

Darra, who he knows always wanted a family, but she must have no idea what this family truly is. Anakin has no idea if Cosinga is as awful to his grandchildren as he is to his children. The mere thought of him treating Darra anything like how he treats Palpatine makes him queasy and downright furious. But there’s nothing he can do.

Why did she leave him here? Why –

The speeder lands on the landing platform outside and he numbly follows his master into the apartment. It feels the same. Looks the same. Feels like walking right back into the past, the part ne ever wanted to see again.

But the one thing Anakin notices right off is that there’s far more security here. The Coruscant guard is all over the place on the landing platform. It’s probably increased security because of the war. He can’t help morbidly wondering if it’s also done to make sure he can’t escape. The well of hopelessness in his chest grows and grows.

“I had the Twilight brought to the hanger here,” Palpatine says finally, “In case you would like to see it again.” He’s not planning on letting him fly around anymore, is he? Anakin’s not surprised by that. He could try to find another way to escape way too easily if that was allowed.

“Can I?” Anakin asks tentatively, trying to ignore the swell of growing hopelessness. There’s no way out this time, is there? Except that now, someone is looking for him. But he doesn’t have much hope that that’s going to mean anything.

“Go on,” Palpatine says, “I’m leaving for the Senate.” He pats Anakin’s shoulder before walking away.

He’s back here again.

His mind feels numb.

He can’t think to move at all for many long moments.

At least not until a very familiar gold protocol droid rounds the corner. “Threepio?” Anakin breathes. He’s missed the droid so much. It’s the one thing he regretted more than anything, to leave behind. It was the last thing he had of his mother. He was afraid he’d never see him again, because there was no practical way he ever could.

“Oh, master Ani!” the droid exclaims, “It is good to see you again. I did not know if I ever would.”

“I wanted to get you out, Threepio. I’m sorry I couldn’t.” Cameras probably picked that up. But it’s not like how he feels about this is exactly a secret.

“You did tell me you wished to be free and that’s why you were leaving. You were my maker and I wished the best for you,” Threepio replies.

Anakin impulsively yanks the yelping protocol droid into a hug. “I missed you.”

“Oh, oh my – ” he wails, arms hovering at his side, sort of awkwardly touching Anakin, “Yes, Master Ani. It was very different not to have you around.”

“Well,” Anakin says, trying and failing to muster up the slightest bit of cheer, “It looks like I’m back now.”

“Oh, yes,” Threepio agrees, “I must say, Master Palpatine has been quite unhappy since you left.”

What does he mean by that? How much did he miss him? Anakin doesn’t want to think about this anymore. He just can’t. “I’ll have a look around,” he offers quietly, turning away.

He goes back to his still empty room. It hardly looks like it’s been touched since he left. He still remembers that night months ago, when Ahsoka first came to his room and that changed everything. He remembers her sitting in the sole chair in his room and seeing that again is what finally makes the dam break on his tears.

He cries until he’s too tired to cry anymore but he only feels even more rubbed raw and gutted than he has all this time. And so, so alone. Anakin finally slips the stone out of his pocket, tracing his fingers over it a few more times before he goes to bury it in the far corner of his closet where hopefully no one will see it. He doesn’t want to risk losing it. So, it’s better somewhere out of sight.

And now… back to the endless nothingness. He can go look at the Twilight. He’s missed working on the ship. Though now, he doesn’t even have the energy to care that he’s about to see it again. He just wants to go home.

Chapter Text

Ahsoka has no idea what happened to Anakin but he’s gone. They can’t find him anywhere and she knows he’s insane enough to disappear from the medbay but this is a bit much. It’s already the next day and Obi-Wan still hasn’t found any signs of him either.

The most they’ve been able to track down is that someone saw him leaving the hanger in a speeder bike and that’s about it. Why would he have left without telling anyone? And why hasn’t he come back?

All she knows is that something is very, very wrong. She can feel it. She can sense his distress but she doesn’t know how to reach for him. And why did this have to happen at the same time as Darra’s disappeared too? All Ahsoka’s heard was that Soara was arrested and Darra wasn’t. The bounty hunter Council said someone called in to have her arrested for something.

She thought they were at least safe here in the Complex, that being out on missions and in the field was the only place they really needed to worry. She didn’t know how wrong she was. But she’s so scared and so lost and she’s been dialing both Anakin and Darra non-stop, but neither of them are answering her.

It’s well into the next afternoon, when she’s miserably attempting to do schoolwork that she can’t focus on in the slightest when a number she doesn’t recognize rings on her comm. Plo always tells her not to answer those calls but after a moment of hesitation, Ahsoka pokes the button to answer.

And a hologram of Darra appears in front of her. “Ahsoka?” her voice is a bit strained.

“Darra?” Ahsoka breathes, heart flaring, “What happened to you? Where are you? Where’s Anakin? What’s going on?”

The way her face pales a little bit has Ahsoka instantly worried.

“I… I don’t know how to tell you this,” Darra admits, “I wanted to get to tell you before it all happened but it was all so fast.”

“What was so fast?”

“I found out that Soara was the one who killed my parents. And… then I found out who my real family was.”

“She’s the one who killed them?” Ahsoka squeaks, “I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. She always seemed kind of mean.”

Darra smiles ever so slightly but she seems too worn to do more than that. “I’m out in the Mid-Rim now. With my aunt.”

It’s stupid that she feels a sudden well of hurt but she can’t quite help it. “You just left? Couldn’t you have told me first?”

“I tried,” Darra says, “I wanted to at least say goodbye. But Soara was getting arrested out of nowhere and I had to leave immediately to meet the Chancellor and – ”

Ahsoka’s blood goes cold at the words. “Why? Why would you have to meet him?”

“He’s… my uncle.”

She stares. “What?”

Of all people Darra could possibly be related to? That sounds horrible.

“Is – ” Darra hesitates, nervously fingering a lock of hair and then biting on it. Ahsoka still thinks that looks agonizing. “Is there something about him that I don’t know? I never had the chance to Anakin, before…” She trails off, looking down.

And suddenly, Ahsoka has a very, very bad feeling about this. “Darra, where is he?”

“Palpatine wanted to meet him,” she says finally.

Her heart is pounding. She can’t have heard that right. She can’t. “Of course he did, that – that – ugly mean – thing – ” Her ability to come up with a single insulting word is suddenly gone. She’s shaking. Both with anger and dread. “But Anakin would never go to see him.”

“Why?” Darra demands, desperately, “No one’s telling me why. He told me raised Anakin.”

Of all the lies he could tell – “As his slave!” Ahsoka exclaims.

Darra freezes. “What?”

“Anakin was his slave,” Ahsoka repeats, “Obi-Wan and I rescued him. Being with that kind of family must be awful.”

She has no idea why Darra looks like she’s about to faint or something. “Why – why did no one ever tell me? And that’s not – that doesn’t make any sense. Slavery’s not allowed. That – ”

“That doesn’t matter. No one cares about that,” Ahsoka replies, but she suddenly has a very, very bad feeling about why they’re even talking about this. “But Darra, where’s Anakin?”

“Palpatine wanted to meet him,” she says, shakily, “I didn’t know – I didn’t – ”

“You called him there?” Ahsoka realizes, a rush of disbelief flooding her.

Darra nods mutely.

She can hardly breathe. Anakin must be –  “Palpatine has him back, doesn’t he? Because of you?”

She nods miserably. “I don’t know. I’m s– ”

“I don’t care!” Ahsoka yells. She can’t think. Can’t – anything. “You could have asked us! You could have at least asked!”

“I’m sorry.” She looks like she’s about to cry. “I thought Obi-Wan was the one hurting him – “

“What? Why would you ever think that?”

“He yelled at him. And sometimes, Anakin seemed afraid of him. I thought – Palpatine told me –

“And did he ever tell you the kind of things he’s done to Anakin?” Ahsoka throws back. Maybe yelling isn’t fair. She can’t stop. She can’t believe this happened. Can’t believe – any of this. She’s so angry. And so scared. Palpatine has Anakin back. “You – ”

“I think that’s quite enough,” a voice says from off-screen.

“No, wait,” Darra protests. She’s looking at someone, Ahsoka doesn’t know who.

“Your family is the worst in the whole galaxy!” Ahsoka yells, “And you’re gonna realize that very soon. So it’s no wonder Anakin is stuck as a slave again because of you.”

Darra looks like someone slapped her. The hologram cuts before Ahsoka can get out another word.

And now, she suddenly feels awful. But she’s still so angry. She can’t believe it just – She knows Darra didn’t know. But she still gave Anakin back into slavery and now she has no idea if she’s ever going to see her brother again. Or her – her sister, because she’s a Palpatine and she’s on a different planet –

Ahsoka throws her pencil across the room. It hits the floor with a very unsatisfying thud. She wants to throw something else. But she – No, she needs to tell Obi-Wan. And Plo. There has to be something they can do. There has to be. And they have to get Anakin out of there.

***

It took asking a lot to be able to call Ahsoka. Darra never imagined that this – any of this.

What.

“What is she talking about?” Dara demands, staring up at her aunt, nearly begging to hear that this isn’t true,

Her aunt crosses her arms, studying her. “Your grandfather has had… business ventures in the past. It’s how the galaxy operates, even if you’re still too young to see it.”

It’s true, then. She didn’t know betrayal could hurt any worse than the last one. Her family are slavers.

You have the worst family in the galaxy.

She does. She didn’t know a betrayal could hurt worse than Soara’s. She thought being home would mean being home. It still doesn’t feel like she is. She feels wrong and out of place. The only real home she has are Anakin and Ahsoka and now, she doesn’t blame either of them if they never want to see her again.

Where her parents slavers too? They had maids. Was that – No, no. She can’t believe – no.

“Anakin is the Chancellor’s slave?” Darra repeats, staring.

“Believe me, Darrra, he treats that boy more like his family than he does anyone else. He’s quite fine with him. That’s not something you need to concern yourself with,” Mara brushes her off.

“Then why was Anakin afraid of him?” She still feels sick, remembering the look on his face when he saw Palpatine. And she thought she was helping him.

“He’s his guardian,” Mara replies, like it’s the most obvious question she’s ever been asked, “It’s normal for a child to fear their guardian. What else would make them behave?”

Is it?

She wasn’t exactly afraid of Soara but she wasn’t also not either.

It doesn’t change how she was trying to help get Anakin away from Obi-Wan because she thought that – Ugh. What did she do?

“How can you be okay with this?” she demands, stumbling to her feet. She doesn’t know how to fight with adults. But she can’t just be quiet about this. She can’t be. “How can you just act like it doesn’t matter?”

“Because it doesn’t,” Mara interrupts, “People will always take advantage of one another. That’s how it works.”

“Not like this!” she yells back.

“You made money on bounty hunting. Killing people. You call that better?”

Darra flinches back. “I never wanted…”

“Maybe not,” Mara amends, voice a little more gentle, “But it’s not any different. It’s no different than what this… Obi-Wan and Ahsoka you’ve talked about do themselves.”

“They – they’re trying to help people.”

“By killing them? Someone always makes money off another’s hurt.” She shakes her head. “This is a pointless conversation. You’re finally home, Darra. It’s time for you to make the most of it.”

As if she can do that knowing what she caused? When its her own fault that her brother is a slave again? When her little sister is going to be left back at the Complex all alone? Her and Anakin were the only friends Ahsoka had.

Ahsoka is right. She’s so awful. So selfish. And so, so stupid. She thought being here would mean being home. She feels more out of place than she ever has. And now she really has no idea if there’s a way out.

***

Obi-Wan knew something was very wrong with Anakin. He just never imagined it could be what Ahsoka’s saying. Palpatine got him back. He hardly understands how it happened. All his mind can focus on is how his child is gone. He promised to protect him. He thought he was going to finally fulfill his promise to Qui-Gon and mostly importantly, to Anakin himself. But he failed. He’s back with Palpatine and all Obi-Wan knows is that he’s going to stop at nothing to get him back. If he has to assassinate the Chancellor, fine. He’ll do it.

Plo is the only one to interject that he needs to think reasonably, as though he’s even able to think about anything reasonably right now. Getting on the bad side of the Republic would only make things worse for whenever he gets Anakin back. He knows that. It’s just hard to even try to take that into consideration right now.

“I have an idea,” Obi-Wan says finally, slowly, “At least on how to confirm Anakin’s location.” They’ll have to be stealthier about it. But he thinks this might actually work.

“Can’t we just expose Palpatine to everyone?” Ahsoka demands, desperately.

“We still don’t have concrete proof,” Obi-Wan reminds.

“The Palpatine’s slave place. Can’t we free everyone and expose that stuff?”

“Siri does have the information about it now but the operation is massive. It would take a lot to infiltrate it. But… I have an idea for that.” He’s a bit wary to try but this is for Anakin. And there’s nothing he’s not going to do to get him back.

***

Ahsoka goes to see Rex later that afternoon.

“Hey, kid,” Rex greets, smiling down at her. But his smile fades a bit when he sees her face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Anakin,” she breathes, voice suddenly choked. “He – he’s – ”

“What’s…. wrong?” Rex sounds worried now.

“Did he ever tell you he used be a slave?” she asks.

Rex frowns. “He mentioned it once, yes. He always said that so clones were. That he knew how it was for us.”

“He was Palpatine’s,” Ahsoka explains, sniffling. She feels so empty. Raw. She didn’t forgot what it was like to be alone, after she got Anakin and… and Darra. And now…

“The Chancellor’s?” Rex sounds incredulous, “The leader of the Republic? But…”

“Technically, he owns you too,” Ahsoka rumbles bluntly.

Rex twitches a little. “I know, but it’s different then – “

“No it’s not. But anyway, that’s not my point. He got Anakin back. And now, I dunno when we’re ever going to see him again.”

Rex looks totally overwhelmed. “I… I don’t know what to say, kid. You can’t go to see him?”

“He’d never let us. Not after last time. I don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t know what to say, kid,” Rex admits, sighing, “I can’t imagine him even doing this. He’s the highest authority we’re supposed to respect. He has… ever hurt him?” He sounds almost afraid to even ask.

“Yeah,” Ahsoka whispers, “I think so. Anakin never talked about it much.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help get him back, I’m… willing to do it,” Rex says, a bit fiercely.

“Really?” Ahsoka asks, “Anything? I mean, not that I wanna get you in trouble, but…”

Rex’s expression is a little tight. “We’ll see what it comes too,” he concludes finally.

Ahsoka nods. All she knows for sure is there’s nothing she’s not willing to do to get Anakin back.

***

Anakin feels like he’s stumbling through the next day in a daze. Still can’t believe he’s back here again. It’s strange to eat the morning meal alongside Palpatine, even if he’s done it many times before. Though, he can scarcely get himself to eat a single bite of anything. He feels sick and he can’t – anything.

“Need anything else for the Twilight?” Palpatine finally asks him.

He tries to get his mind to focus. It’s hard. “No – not really. I think I can make what I already have make it work.” The ship is almost finished being fixed. He almost wishes it weren’t because he doesn’t want to lose it.

Palpatine nods.

The silence that stretches feels tense. Anakin still doesn’t understand the lack of punishment. Or is it still coming? His master never drug it out before and that was one thing Anakin always used to be grateful for, but… he doesn’t know what’s changed since he left.

“There will be a meeting later,” Palpatine speaks up, “Some delegates coming over the apartment. Make sure you’re not a mess when they arrive.”

Ugh.

He hates meetings like that. He doesn’t understand why he can’t stay in his room for them.

“Yes, Master,” Anakin offers quietly instead.

His master goes to prepare to leave for the Senate after that, when he sees who some of the security here is. A few people got replaced or something. But two of the new security guards Anakin sees out here are –

His breath catches in his throat as he stares at them.

Dane and Floria.

What are they doing here? Or is it – The tiniest flare of hope swells inside of him. What if…. this is intentional?

Floria turns away from him, acting as though she’s trying almost too hard to pretend he doesn’t exist. Dane barely even blinks at him. It seems too deliberate.

“Is something the matter?” Palpatine is eyeing him.

Anakin swiftly tears his gaze away from them. “No, m – No.”

He feels his master’s gaze lingering on him for a moment longer before he heads out of the speeder. Anakin’s gaze darts back to Floria. She meets it, then quickly looks away. No need to look suspicious. He just needs to find a way to talk to her. Though he still doesn’t know where the cameras are. So all he can do is go out to the hanger to work on the Twilight for now. He has to come in early to clean up but he is not expecting to walk into the ‘fresher in his room to see Floria standing there.

“This is quite the place for a clandestine conversation,” Anakin deadpans, eyeing her.

Because she is very obviously waiting for him.

“I didn’t want the cameras in the hallway picking up on anything,” Floria defends, “It’s good to see you, Anakin.” She’s smiling brightly, sincerely. He thinks it’s actually genuine this time. “And it’s weird to finally see your face.”

Anakin laughs, even if it’s hard to find anything amusing right now. “You wanted to that badly?”

She shrugs. “You were my first target who I made friends with. I was curious.”

“I never thought I’d see you again,” Anakin admits, “What are you doing here?”

“Bounty hunter serving as security for extra credits.” She blinks, suddenly looking worried, eyes wide and alarmed. “The Chancellor is in danger and Dane and I want to do our service to the Republic.” He could almost believe it the sincerity of it but it also nearly makes him want to laugh because he knows she’s lying.

“You’re here for me,” Anakin realizes, a wild of rush of relief hitting him full-force.

“I am. But it was so easy to trick our job applicants.”

“Thank you,” he says, and he means every bit of it, “What’s the plan?”

“We don’t have one yet,” she admits, “Kenobi hired me to infiltrate and confirm that you’re here. And he wanted me to find out if there’s anything keeping you here or if you just need to find a way to sneak out.”

“I don’t know,” Anakin replies, “I woke up in a medbay. I don’t know if you know what slave chips are or not but I don’t know if I have one in me again or not. If I do, I can’t leave.”

She frowns, concern burning in her eyes. “Have… you been hurt?”

Anakin wordlessly shakes his head.

She nods, looking a little relieved. She does care about him, he can tell, despite the insane way they met. He has to admit he’s still fond of her too.

“I’ll talk to Obi-Wan about that,” Floria replies, “And he also told me was that if there’s anything suspicious that I can gather evidence about while I’m here, I’m supposed to do it. You got anything in mind?”

Anakin shakes his head. “I… I can tell you if I do. But all I do know about is his slave company.”

“I’m sorry,” Floria says, eyes full of sincerity, “I really didn’t know this was who I was going to bring you back too.”

“It’s alright,” Anakin promises, because in the end, she didn’t. Darra did. He doesn’t want to think about that. “You didn’t do it.”

Floria nods, looking around. “I better go before it looks strange that I’m taking so long to check security in your room.” She slips out the door and Anakin can hear her distantly talking, probably pointedly loud enough for the cameras to pick up about all the ways security should be increased. He hears Dane join her a moment later.

Now, he really does feel a firm flicker of hope. He’s not stuck here all alone. He won’t have to be all alone again. But he still doesn’t know how long it’ll be before he’s out of here.

***

The meeting is early that evening but it’s already after dark when some sort of delegates show up to meet with Palpatine. Some of his aids are in the room too so no one is looking at Anakin too deeply. It’s still so boring to have to be present.

He finally phases out entirely, trying to meditate. Trying to let go and hope that… this will be over soon. And when he meditates, he almost thinks he can sense Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex, even if they’re far away. And for a moment, he almost thinks he feels Ahsoka reaching back. It means the galaxy. He reaches for Darra tentatively after that. He can still sense her, but she’s quiet and muted, with the distance. And –  He doesn’t know what it is but something shifts wildly in the Force around him.

He sees Darra’s panicked face.

Sees himself running to her side, as she falls.

He can feel her weight in his arms, and the heat of her forehead. Her eyes are barely open. She’s barely coherent. She’s dying.

He can feel it.

The edges of his vision and their surroundings are hazing over with blue and Darra is dying and here’s nothing he can do to stop it and –

Then he jerks back to himself with a muffled gasp. A few people look over at him. He clamps his mouth closed quickly, trying to be aware of his surroundings but he can’t breathe.

Darra.

That was a vision.

He had one about his mother, before she died. He was so scared but Shmi told him that if it was meant to be changed, it would be.

But that means he knows this is real. He knows what it is.

Darra.

She’s going to die. Or at least, it felt like it was so imminent. And he has no idea where she is. No idea if any of what Palpatine said about her is true. Or even if it is, what could happen to her. And it doesn’t matter what she did to him. He could never ever want anything to happen to her.

Darra’s going to die. He needs to move. Needs to – he needs to know she’s okay.

Anakin stumbles to his feet. He’s not thinking until he makes it out of the room into the hall.  A few people were looking at him. He disturbed the meeting. He walked out without permission. He just disobeyed his master. He left and he’s not allowed to do that.

He needs to talk to Darra.

She’s his little sister. She can’t die. She can’t –

Force.

He stumbles shakily into his room, sinking to the floor and leaning against the wall, breathing hard. This can’t be happening. It can’t be happening. And what did he even do, He’s so stupid. He should’ve just stayed where he was supposed to. But he didn’t because he’s so stupid. He’s always so stupid.

Darra’s going to die.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been in the room, struggling past his panic, when he suddenly hears noise.

The meeting must be over.

His master is coming.

Why did he walk out without permission he’s such an idiot – His chest is tight and he can’t breathe. Can’t –

He’s gonna die here because he can’t breathe and then he’s definitely never gonna be able to do anything to help Darra –

The door opens, his master stepping inside.

He can’t breathe.

“Anakin,” he sounds exasperated, but stops short when he sees him.

“I’m sorry,” he splutters, frantically, breathing hitching enough he can barely get out a word, “I don’t – ”

Palpatine crouches in front of him. “What’s wrong?” He’s frowning.

Is he going to hit him? Or – or – Can’t stop shaking. Can’t breathe. He can’t handle being hit right now. His little sister is going to die.

“You need to breathe.”

He’s trying. But if he doesn’t do as his master says, he’s definitely gonna be angry. That only seems to send his heart into another pounding spree and now he really can’t breathe and he needs to calm down or he’s definitely gonna be in trouble and he’s so stupid will he just breathe and make his heart stop pounding – that’s not so hard it’s not –

His master reaches for him.

Anakin flinches away violently. Tries to at least because all he manages to do his smack his head into the wall and why did he corner himself he’s so stupid he’s always so stupid –

Palpatine actually hesitates for some reason, expression flickering. “Anakin.” he sighs. “You’re not in trouble, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

That – that doesn’t – make sense?

His master shifts closer, pulling him into a hug. The suddenness of the touch is nearly enough to make his heart stop for a moment but it’s gentle. He used to be used to this. It used to be the only kind of affection he ever got anymore. But after finally having a family again, he remembers what it’s like to actually have something else. But he’s still alone here, trapped, and it feels shameful to even give into it again but he’s exhausted suddenly and so lost and scared and alone. Fighting it wouldn’t gain him anything anyway, except probably getting himself in trouble.

Palpatine’s other hand lifts to stroke through his curls. It’s… calming. At least once he can stop expecting to be hit. But if he was planning to hit him, he wouldn’t be doing this right now. Probably? The hand on his hair is… comfortable. He tries to focus on the sensation as he evens out his breathing. He doesn’t know if it’s the touch or that he’s simply too tired to even be scared anymore.

He shifts a little to rest his head against his master’s chest. The grip around his waist tightens a little.

And why, why is there a tiny traitorous part of him that has missed him? Ther’s something truly wrong with him to even think that. It’s not as if these aren’t the same hands that have hurt him so many times. He’s just too tired to even care right now. Or it’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s just – he doesn’t have anything else and he doesn’t know when he will again.

“Feeling better?” Palpatine asks him finally.

He often asks that when he’s about to let go. Anakin’s hand fists in the fabric of his shirt in to keep him there, before he can rethink it.

His master sighs softly. “I’ll stay here if you want.”

What is he doing what is he asking for what is wrong with him –

Anakin nods numbly. This is still the person who took him away from his family. Sill the – But then he thinks of Darra and the fear comes leaking back in full-force, not that his desperation and terror of that has ever truly faded. She’s still in danger. He has to do something

“I believe we need to have a talk,” his master says finally.

That doesn’t sound good. It has him jittery instantly, even if he doesn’t sound upset. Anakin shifts back a little, lifting his head. Palpatine finally pulls back, shifting to sit across from him, eyeing him thoughtfully.

Anakin inspects the carpet.

“Did I ever tell you that when I was young, I…. ran away from home?”

Anakin looks up, a bit befuddled. He wordlessly shakes his head. Palpatine rarely talks about himself but Anakin’s still picked up on a few stories over the years. But certainly never that.

“I was younger than you. Probably still a bit more naïve. I thought it would be an answer to the… situation, at the time.”

Anakin thinks he’s beginning to see where he’s going with this. Maybe? He stays quiet, unsure what to say.

“I was caught before I got very far,” he adds, after a pause of silence, “I tried to explain to my mother why. She asked and I thought she wanted a real answer. I was foolish enough to think something might improve afterwards. Not get far worse.”

Far worse.

He’s not sure he wants to know what far worse means. But does that have anything to do with…. why Palpatine is the one Cosigna seems to hate the most? Seriously?

“I know you’ve been expecting punishment for what you did,” he goes on, and Anakin tenses, gaze instantly returning to the floor. “But you should know that’s why I have no such intentions.”

That –

What –

That’s not what he expected to hear.

At all.

Is – is he supposed to say something? He has no idea what to say. A thank you hardly sounds appropriate. His master is quiet for a long pause. He seems almost uncomfortable. “I know you’re afraid of me,” he says finally, “But I never meant for things to get this far. I’d like to do this better.”

He –

Is he serious?

It leaves him fumbling and even more lost. And guilty. And then he remembers the feel of the muzzle against his jaw and the darkness of the closet walls, feeling like they were closing in on him and he doesn’t want to act like none of that happened. He couldn’t even if he did.

But – but –

Telling him that he doesn’t care and that he just wants to leave feels….

“Then – then let me talk to them,” he blurts, heart pounding.

Palpatine’s expression twitches. “And then they’ll be here immediately to take you back.”

What if he wants to leave? He should have known he still wouldn’t even get this choice. It still floods him with bitterness and hurt. It’s not an issue he wants to press. If Palpatine’s not planning to hurt him for what he did, he doesn’t need to push him and make him change his mind. He thinks he’d feel less guilty over wanting to ignore his offer if he did, though.

But there’s one thing he still can’t drop. Not when he remembers Darra’s still body in his arms or how pale and weak she looked. And he knows how imminent must be, if he’s dreaming about it.

“Master, I – I had a vision,” he blurts out.

“A vision?” He sounds befuddled.

“Before my – my mother, I had one about her.” He inhales shakily. “And I – I had another one about Darra. I just want to know if she’s okay.”

“I see no reason that she wouldn’t be alright but I can tell Mara to be careful,” Palpatine says finally.

Anakin ducks his head, disappointment swelling. Still, it’s something. At least he’s not just brushing it off as him being stupid. “Thank you,” he whispers.

Palpatine reaches out, squeezing his shoulder, before he stands.

Palpatine’s afraid of losing him, Anakin realizes numbly. And he’s destroying them both because of it. And Anakin has no idea what to do about it.

Chapter Text

Obi-Wan really didn’t want to have to go back to Mandalore again. But for the second time, if he has to do this for Anakin, then he will. He feels a bit better than Siri is coming with him, though she’s staying on the ship unless he needs help.

He lands in the capital city first, asking for an audience with Satine. She doesn’t keep him waiting very long. And when she does, she agrees to meet him out in the gardens.

He was here with Anakin only months ago. His heart aches constantly thinking about him. Everything reminds him of Anakin now. He has to get him back. He still has no idea if he’s being hurt or… anything. But every moment that passes is a greater risk he could be and Obi-Wan has no idea what condition he’ll find him in. He failed to take care of him just like he failed to protect Qui-Gon.

“Ben?” Satine asks, “I can’t say I expected you to be back here so soon.”

She doesn’t seem upset to see him, at least. He still misses her, even if he’s long grown used to it. “I know this is a lot to ask but I’m here for a… favor,” Obi-Wan replies.

“Which would be?” she asks, curious.

“You aren’t going to like to hear it.”

“That, I already figured out,” she snarks back.

“Anakin has been taken by slavers. I need a force large enough to take out the operation and hopefully get closer to him while I’m there.”

Surprise flits through her expression. “How did that happen?”

“That’s… a long story.” He wants to rant about the Chancellor for hours but right now, he doesn’t want to get distracted with that. “But I need your help.”

“I wish there was something I could do,” she replies, “But you know Mandalore doesn’t have a force like that. Can’t the Republic do anything?”

“The Republic government is what’s behind it. And I didn’t come here for that. I… know one force here that could help me. But I’ll have to offer them something in exchange.”

Satine goes still. “Death Wach. You’re going to ally with them?”

“I don’t have any other choice,” Obi-Wan replies, “I promised my brother I would work out a deal between you and him. That’s what I’m offering now.”

Satine sighs. “I wish you were here to ask anything else.”

“The conflict with Death Watch is never going to go away. They’re going to keep training their own children and other children in their way. There is no other way around it.” He wishes he could’ve tried dealing with this before he needed something again but he can’t change it now.

“You know why I don’t want them back here, Ben,” Satine replies firmly, “And Death Watch will stop at nothing but complete control of the planet.”

“What about a separate area of the planet where they could stay? Or perhaps they could serve as Mandalore’s security force.”

“That might work, if Death Watch were even willing to consider it.”

“I can’t promise they are. I just want to know that you’ll be willing to reach some kind of agreement if it turns out my brother is too.”

Satine looks thoughtful. He can tell she’s not happy but he is serious – there’s no way to settle it through how they are now. It’s just going to blow up some time in the future, probably the worst way possible. “I’ll consider it Ben but be careful. And… whatever happens, I hope you’re able to find Anakin.”

***

Siri’s able to locate where Death Watch possibly is by tracking through reports from some criminals – who have gotten requests from some backward villages that want Death Watch out, but weren’t able to pay enough fees for a retaliation. He’s not sure he wants to know what they’re doing. But this is one of the reasons he eventually walked away from them.

Coming here is risky but he makes his way to Carlac,  The ground is covered in snow as he walks off the ramp, looking around. He’s not ready for this. But… he needs to do this.

He only has to wait a moment. There’s a sudden rush of air. Death Watch members land around him, their blasters raised.

“I’m here to speak with your leader,” he says, raising his hands.

They come to take his blasters, before they shove him forwards, leading him to some tent.

Pre is waiting, helmet off. “Back here to reveal our location again, brother?” he demands, icily.

“You know that was not my intention last time. I wouldn’t have come back again if it were.”

“What are you doing here?” Pre asks, shortly.

“It’s… about Anakin,” he explains, slowly, “And also about a potential deal with Satine, I can try to work out with you.”

Pre leans forwards, looking at least a little interested. “Satine will make no deal with us. Unless you have a plan to overthrow her. And what has happened to Anakin? I’m surprised he’s not with you.”

Obi-Wan sighs, explaining the story briefly.

Of how Anakin was taken by Palpatine and he wants Death Watch’s help to go invade the Palpatine family’s slavery place. He’d take Republic forces with him but he can’t without getting in serious trouble and he doesn’t have time to deal with a court martial.

…he also will be if he doesn’t get back to his general job soon but Rex was willing to do a bit of extra work if he needed to, if it meant letting everyone else work on a way to get Anakin back.

“So you want our help, in exchange for working out a deal with Satine?” Pre asks.

“That’s… the idea.  I know I should have dealt with this a long time ago. But I truthfully never thought of a way to work it out until now.”

“Mandalore must be freed. The people must return to their ways,” Pre responds, “That’s not something Satine will ever agree to.”

“I convinced her to agree to a split. Those who want to live without warriors will have that chance and warriors… will have theirs. I know it’s not what you want but if you keep on killing each other, who will be left to be a Mandalorian?”

Pre’s not very happy about it.

They go back and forth about it for a while but in the end, no real decision can be reached unless they hold actual talks with Satine.

And the situation with Anakin is urgent.

“I will aid you,” Pre says finally, “Your boy is one of us, too. But I expect you to consider this a debt you don’t forget again.”

“You have my word on that,” he promises and he means it.

Well, this is… something, at least. He just hopes it will work. Either way, he’s very spitefully smug that they’re going to entirely destroy this operation. And they’ll have to act at a similar time, to get Anakin out so he’s not hurt in retaliation.

***

It’s only been a few days now, but it still feels like a lifetime to Anakin. It’s the same mindless routine as before. The same… everything. He still wants to go home. He’s woken up every single night with a vison of Darra. Something is terribly wrong and he still has no idea what.

Palpatine promised him that she’s fine. He doesn’t think he’s lying. So he doesn’t understand what’s wrong. He just needs to be with her. Needs to –

But he was there in his vision and what if trying to get to her will be exactly what brings it to pass? He doesn’t know what to do. And there’s no one he can warn, who he could actually trust to do something. He’s so lost.

It’s that evening that Palpatine comes over to him, telling him they have somewhere to be.

It’s the first time Anakin’s been out of the apartment and away from constant security since this started. It’s just…. him with his master. He tries not to stare too hard at the Complex on the horizon.

He lands at the place in the Works. The hanger doesn’t look like it’s been changed much since he last left.

“Come,” Palpatine tells him, as they go deeper into the facility. He’s never gone past this door before.

He doesn’t know why he’s being taken in, except that Palpatine probably doesn’t trust him alone. He tells Anakin to wait in some large room that doesn’t seem to have much purpose and goes a bit further down the hall. He’d almost forgotten about… this. He’s still curious about it. And actually…

He was supposed to wait. But when he reaches outwards with the Force, he doesn’t sese any danger at going a little deeper and looking around. It’s a risk. He could get in trouble for it. Probably would. It’s the kind of thing he could get put in the closet for, though his master has been pretty lenient with him anyway since he came back. But… 

Anakin tiptoes down the hall Palpatine went down, as quietly as he can. The door to the room is closed but there’s a faint bluish glow in there. A hologram. He can hear voices. All this for a private call? Anakin goes up to the door, carefully pressing his ear to it. This is none of his business. None whatsoever. What is he doing what –

The other voice is familiar. It sounds like…. Dooku. It takes him a moment to place but Anakin’s certain that’s who it is.  Why is Palpatine talking to Dooku?

He can’t hear everything they’re saying but he can hear enough. They’re discussing some kind of intel exchange, something about the next battle plans.  Anakin may not be able to hear much but he can tell enough.

Palpatine and Dooku have some kind of deal. They must, for them to be calmly discussing how they want the next battle on some planet to go.

It’s not a negotiation.

It’s – it’s treason.

He can hardly blame someone for wanting to commit treason against the Republic but the Separatists are no better and he has the sudden sinking feeling that this is all a game. A game that millions are dying for and for what?

Rex and his brothers believe in the Republic. They think they’re fighting for something, even though they’re just slaves to it. But no, it’s not even real, is it? Maybe he was misunderstanding something but he doesn’t know that. He can’t even – believe this.

But all he can remember now is all the times in the past Palpatine has commented on some plan he has, something that not even his father could stop him at. Is that what this is? The political details of what his master does are never something that felt important to Anakin. It was none of his business. Politics is just a game anyway. But he didn’t know how much.

So yes, he’s… angry. Did the war have to happen at all? Did any of Rex’s brothers have to die?  He wants to demand answers. But – he can’t. He can never let Palpatine know he did this. He’s not even supposed to here and he knows that. Anakin backs away from the door hastily when he realizes the call has suddenly gone quiet.

Heart hammering, he breaks into a run down the halls silently as he can. He’s just skidding back into the room he was supposed to be in when he hears the door opening. His hands are freezing. He feels cold all over. Maybe he finally does understand why this was one thing his master hasn’t even said a word about to him. Because it’s…. he can’t believe it. He’d like to burn the Republic to the ground himself if not for all the people that would be hurt. Btu this kind of manipulation – he feels sick.

He tries not to fidget too much or look too suspicious as Palpatine comes back into the room.  B but he seems pretty distracted and eventually it’s enough for his breathing to start evening out. Probably, Palpatine doesn’t even have any cameras in that area because then it could pick up on what he’s doing. He probably doesn’t need to worry. But it doesn’t change how tense he is on the ride back home.

He needs to talk to Floria.

***

The vision of Darra comes again the next morning. He wakes up with the same dreaded helpless certainty, the same… all of it. And he still has no idea what’s happening. Why he keeps seeing it. But it’s coming closer.

And he’s so, so scared. That’s his little sister. He wants to see her again. Even if there’s still a burning well of hurt in his heart over how she lured him here in the first place. But she didn’t know and he knows that. He just –

He wants to go home. He wants everything to go back to how it used to be.  But it never will if Darra is dead.

Anakin feels half out of it as he does half the time these days as he stumbles out of his room to carry on with the day, even if he doesn’t want to do anything at all. He doesn’t mean to doze off on the couch by accident but somehow, he goes.

He jumps, waking at the feel of a hand on his shoulder.

“Master?” Anakin asks nervously, biting his lip. He’s never actually gotten in trouble for being lazy here, but some fears from Tatooine never truly die. Honestly, how did he manage to wake up at the sound of his master approaching? He didn’t even realize he was that tired.

“Are you alright?” Palpatine asks. He looks… maybe slightly worried.

He could try to say he is, but what would the point be? Anakin miserably shakes his head.

“The same dreams?”

“Yes.”

His master sights. “I asked Mara if Darra would have time for a call. She hasn’t answered me.”

Anakin looks at him tentatively. He means he’d let Anakin talk to her? He must because he doesn’t know why Palpatine would care to talk to her. He doesn’t know if what he’s saying is the truth or an excuse so he just nods a little, staying quiet.

“You can go back to sleep, if you need to.”

“I – No, it’s… I’m fine. I’d just dream anyway,” he mumbles, looking away.

His master pats his shoulder lightly, frown growing. “Alright,” is all he says, though.

Anakin just leaves it there.

***

He sees Floria every day now, standing guard. They’ll occasionally exchange a smile and it means a lot to see her, even if they never talk. She feels like a friend. She’s doing this for him, even if it’s also for money. It… means a lot. But this time, Anakin tries to hold her gaze longer. And he just hopes it’s enough to let her know that they need to talk.

He’s out in the hanger, working on the Twilight like he always is now when he hears footsteps approaching. It’s Floria. She’s pretending to be distracted as she circles around the hanger, though doing a guard check but he knows better.

“Hi,” Anakin says, as though he’s never spoken to her in his life.

“Hi,” Floria pauses. “You seem pretty ambitious at fixing up that… mess.”

“Hey, it’s in way better condition than it looks.” He looks up. “I don’t suppose you could secure the hanger so I could take it on a test flight in here?”

“What?” Floria yelps, “No way!”

Anakin laughs.

“I mean, not that I could stop you. I’m just security. But… I think the Chancellor would probably fire me.”

Anakin smothers a laugh. “Probably.” Though honestly, he thinks it’s something Palpatine would probably either find very amusing or lock him in the closet for. He doesn’t care to find know which.

Floria crosses the hanger, studying the ship curiously. “Where did you get it from?”

“Shuttle crash. It was supposed to be used for spare parts.” He shrugs. “But I didn’t have the heart to ruin it.”

“Does it have a name?”

“The Twilight.”

“Nice name,” she agrees, casually, “But I have to say I think a ride in it might end in night fall very fast.”

“Hey, the inside is perfectly stable now. I’m practically done fixing it. Want to have a look?”

“Sure,” she agrees.

Finally.

Anakin’s checked for monitoring on the ship. It’s the one place he’s certain is safe and now he has the perfect reason to take her on board. Hopefully, without looking too suspicious.

“It is a nice ship,” Floria says, smiling a little mischievously at him, “But what is this really about?”

“I think I found… something,” Anakin explains in a rush, “I think Palpatine has a deal with Dooku.”

Her eyes widen. “You’re sure?”

“No,” he admits, “But he has a secret place where he has me take him sometimes. I overheard part of a call. I didn’t see it but I don’t know what else it could mean.”

“Wow,” Floria says, eyes still wide, “That’s a lot. I think it would help our case quite a bit, if we could get real proof.”

“I don’t know what kind of security measures he has there,” Anakin says.

“Maybe Dane and I could do some scouting out,” she suggests.

“I’m sure he has measures to be alerted immediately if someone tampered,” Anakin objects, biting his lip, “We’d have to be discreet.”

“Well you’ve been inside before,” she says, thoughtfully, “Do you know of anything?”

“I – I could try to get access,” he blurts, “But I don’t know how I ever would. I can only be there now when he is. I mean, I… I could try to come up with an excuse but I don’t know if he’d buy it.”

“I could get you a device to download information onto,” Floria suggests, “But only do this if you won’t get in trouble. This is my and Dane’s mission. It’s not fair to make you do the work.”

He smiles faintly. “I don’t know if it will work but why don’t I try first?”

Even if he’s never been more terrified to suggest that in his life. He doesn’t know what could happen to him for this. But then he remembers Rex’s face after a hard battle, and even worse, the times he tried to just keep moving as though nothing was wrong and… Anakin can’t just forget that.

***

Floria slips Anakin the tool to copy data onto that night. He hides it in his ‘fresher – probably the only safe place. He’s been thinking about this constantly and he’s beginning to feel queasy from sheer nervousness.

“Master?” Anakin asks finally, trying to ignore his fear. He knows how terribly this could end.  Or – he doesn’t, actually, because he’s never even thought of misbehaving this badly before.

He wouldn’t even be contemplating it if he didn’t know he has something to go back for. A reason to resist. But even so, he’s terrified. And he needs to not let that show right now.

“Yes?”

“When we were last in the Works, I was thinking.” He hesitates, trying to keep his tongue. He wishes he hadn’t brought this up. Palpatine’s looking at him now and he can’t back out. Then again, tripping over his own words when he’s trying to ask for something isn’t really unusual. “About the other ships that are still there. I think I could use parts of them to finish the Twilight. Without running those.”

Palpatine studies him in silence for what feels like far too long.

Anakin just tries to breathe. He can guess why his master hasn’t let him go alone. So asking at all is definitely out of line.

“We’ll see,” he says finally.

“It’s just, I – ” He should shut up. He doesn’t get to argue these things. “It won’t take me long,” he mumbles finally.

“Alright,” his master agrees, “But you won’t have long. There’s only so long one of the security will be able to take off duty.”

He’s not going to get to go alone. His gut sinks instantly. Is – is there any way t’s going to work? He has to still try, though. Somehow. Maybe? He doesn’t know if the knowledge that he’s about to go there is more relieving or terrifying.

***

It’s one of the Coruscant guard who ends up going with him. For his own safety. Anakin knows better. Does he have the chip, though?  Because if he dd, why is Palpatine trying so hard to make sure he can never be alone? He’s too tense to really talk to the clone and when they get to the Works, the clone says he’s waiting outside, and to tell him if something goes wrong.

He’s also only allowed to be here for half an hour. He’ll have to move. Anakin tries to discreetly scan the hangar for cameras when he enters. He doesn’t see any but he still doesn’t know. He goes on board one of the ships quickly, pulling out a part he could use for the Twilight and pocketing it before taking the ship on a short test flight and deliberately landing it right near the door to the rest of the Complex. No cameras should see he’s not still on board now.

He creeps down the ramp carefully anyway, darting though the door that leads into the hall, deeper in the complex. His heart is pounding hard enough he can hardly breathe at all. And he’s freezing. And shaking. This is a terrible idea. Hopefully it’s worth something in the end.

If his master finds out he came here unauthorized, well… it’ll be bad. Especially because he can’t even think of a good excuse. All he can do is hope desperately to the Force that no one will ever know. He runs the rest of the way down the hall to the transmission room.

The door’s locked but he saw another way before – there’s a vent and he clammers up into it, clamoring through until he gets a view of the room. He barely manages to fit, dropping down into the room. It’s dark, with no opening to the outside other than that. And there‘s a holotable at the center. He goes over to it.

All the transmissions are deleted, except for a bit of the last one. And most of the words are staticky, so it’ll be hard to tell anything. He’s surprised it hasn’t been deleted. But maybe it’s only still here because he was able to break into the records to find anything. It’ll have to be enough. He copies it off, pocketing the device and then runs.

***

When Anakin gets back to the apartment, it’s to see that Palpatine’s speeder is flying back towards 500 Republica from the Senate. His heart nearly stops for a moment. What – why’s he coming back? It’s the middle of the afternoon and it does happen sometimes but he can’t help fearing it’s because of this.

It could be nothing. There’s no reason to panic. Either way, he needs to – move. Get this to Floria. Fast.

She can take it and do something with it. He’s glad she at least trusted him to do it. He doesn’t think anyone else in his family would have agreed to let him try something so potentially suicidal. He scrambles out of the speeder, trying not to look like he’s fleeing into the apartment.  He heads straight for the hanger.

Floria comes in only a moment later, wandering over to the Twilight. “It really is looking nice,” she remarks, eyes with as though fascinated. Maybe she really is. It’s frankly hard to tell.

“Thanks,” he tells her, edging a little closer.  He discreetly slips the device out into his hand, pressing it into hers.

And then the door to the hanger opens. His heart nearly stops. Anakin doesn’t have to turn around to know it’s his master.

She swiftly pockets it but standing here like this, they look so suspicious. Or at least, they’ll look a whole lot more suspicious if Floria just straight up takes off. Or if he does. But he has to think of something fast –

He sees the spark of fear in her eyes but it fades to something controlled so fast he’s frankly impressed.

“Kiss me,” Floria whispers.

Anakin freezes. “What?”

She reaches up, fingers twisting in his shirt and tugging him a bit closer.

It – well –

Okay.

Good way to explain what they’re doing holding hands because there’s no way Palpatine didn’t see that when he’s walking right towards them.

Anakin does, ducking his head down and kissing her. It’s supposed to be fake. But she actually does it back and he can’t help thinking that it actually feels…. nice.

He’s never felt like this about anyone before. Never really given it much thought, because before as a slave, he never knew another slave to feel like that about. But the idea of having to spend the rest of his life that way, of never getting to have a family the way normal people do, had bothered him. He’d once thought a relationship, marriage really, would be the only chance at a family he ever would have.

“Anakin?” Palpatine asks, sounding a bit mind-blown actually.

They jerk apart.

“Uhh,” Floria says, eyes going wide, “Umm excuse me, your excellency. If you don’t need me, I’ll… ” She slowly edges away and Palpatine doesn’t spare her much more of a glance than that, turning to Anakin instead.

“Since when?” he asks, eyebrow raised, but he actually seems… amused? Maybe?

For a moment, all Anakin can feel is relief that this is actually believable. Maybe? “It’s, - I –” he splutters, trying to think of something remotely sensible he could say, “She’s pretty,” he mutters finally, feeling his face flushing. Even if that’s actually a really dumb thing to say.

If he ever wanted something with like that with someone – and he suddenly can’t help that he is thinking about Floria – it would never be because of that. It would be for – well, a lot of other reasons. Like how he knows how caring she can be, despite what her life has made her to become.

“Well,” his master says, still a bit amused, laying a hand on his shoulder, “The hangar is quite the place for that.”

Anakin shrugs, unable to help his tiny mischievous smile. “What better place is there?”

He believes this. He’s actually buying it. And he’s relieved, yes. He also can’t help the growing well of guilt. And it’s that’s stupid so he tries to just ignore it.

 Maybe he should change the topic. In case he’s not too happy about him getting this close to someone again. If Floria was fired that would be about the end of everything they’ve worked towards. “Anyway, I think I’ve finished the Twilight.”

“Have you?” his master asks, pausing to look back at the ship, “Perhaps you can show it to me later. There’s some things I need to deal with here before going back to the Senate.”

***

Ahsoka wants to help in the attack on where Palpatine’s slaves are being kept. The operation is happening on a moon of a planet in the same sector as Naboo. Plo says she has to stay on board of a ship orbiting the planet but at least she gets to be there.

All of Death Watch shows up and she watches as they blow up the droid forces and deal with any other guards who are trying to stop them. Though, they’re trying to keep some of the security alive because something about testifying in court.

She just feels a bit smug at this.And happy to be able to help the people. But most of Lal, she just misses Anakin. She wants him to come back. And she still has no idea when they’ll see him again. Obi-Wan has some kind of plan but she’s tired of waiting.

It’s hard to do anything other than cry herself to sleep every night, because she knows when she wakes up the next morning, he’s not going to be there. Darra won’t be there either. She still can’t believe she’s the one who… did that.  And she knows she didn’t know, but… She doesn’t know what to think. She misses her too. She just wants things to be simple again.

The operation takes hours, until they finally have the place cleared out and everyone is freed. There’s hundreds of them.

“What will happen to them now?” she asks.

Plo lays a hand on her shoulder, where he stands next to her. “We’ll have to find a way to help them settle down. Senators who are involved in the refugee movement from the war may be able to help. He looks thoughtful. “And we need to take this evidence to the Senate.”

“Anakin mentioned a Senator named Padme,” Ahsoka says, perking up, “He said she used to be a friend, when he was a child.”

“Well,” he says, smiling down at her a little, “Then we can start by meeting her. She is the Senator of Naboo. If she knows nothing about any of this, I’m sure she’ll jump on the chance to deal with this kind of corruption on her own planet.”

Ahsoka really, really hopes so. Or she doesn’t know what they’re going to do.

She just wants both her siblings back.

Chapter Text

They’re just getting back to Coruscant after the attack when Obi-Wan comes to talk to Plo again, something about some recording of the Chancellor talking to Dooku?

“We must take this to the Senate,” Plo says gravely.

“I want to come,” Ahsoka declares.

The adults are hesitant but she wants to get to do something useful in getting Anakin back. Whatever bounty hunter they’ve sent to infiltrate is supposed to be getting to Anakin at the same time. She just hopes this is going to work.

They’re surprisingly granted an emergency meeting with Senator Amidala almost right away, when they explain it has to do with the future of Naboo and the Republic itself. The Senator is quiet as she looks over the information. But Ahsoka can see how shocked she’s started to look. “This is real?” she asks finally.

“You can see the records,” Plo replies, “And the recording.”

“Yes,” she agrees, shaking her head, “It’s just… hard to imagine. I’ve known Palpatine personally for years. He helped me a lot when I was the queen of Naboo. It’s just hard to imagine him doing anything like this or committing treason.”

“You used to know an Anakin Skywalker, didn’t you?” Ahsoka inquires, leaning forward.

Reconciliation flickers through her eyes. “I used to. Years ago.”

“He is the Chancellor’s slave right now and we’re trying to rescue him,” Ahsoka says, “And we need your help.”

“I… I wondered sometimes, what happened to him,” she replies, slowly, “It was the first time I ever saw slavery. I never imagined…” She blows out a breath. “I’ll deal with this immediately. The Senate needs to know.”

“Thank you,” she offers, “Anakin’s my – my brother. I hafta get him back.”

Padme smiles down at her. “I’ll do my best to make sure you do.”

***

Darra hates it here. She thought being with her family would mean home. But it can’t when every moment, all she can remember is what she knows they’re doing. What they are. They’re not the kind of people she wants anything to do with and she knows Anakin could be being hurt and there’s nothing she can do to stop it. Or she can, but she’s choosing not to. Even if she has no idea what to do. She’s never gotten to do anything on her own before. All she’s ever done is follow Soara’s commands and now she’s doing the same with her aunt and uncle.

And her aunt Mara is not really what she expected either. She’s usually nice but not when anyone questions what she’s saying. She hasn’t let Darra use the comm ever since that first day, either. She tried to ask her once about calling Ahsoka again, after she worked up the courage to be ready to talk to her and just say something – because Ahsoka is there all alone and this is all Darra’s fault and she has to do something to make it right – but Mara had told her a flat-out no.

And just said something about how she needs to let them go because they’re a senseless distraction from her new life and the potential of what it can give her - or something. As though that isn’t basically exactly what Soara’s always told her.

Darra’s son is… just not nice, like ever. It’s like he always has to get his way and he’s just… exhausting. It’s not like how she thought having a cousin would be.

Soara wasn’t better. But at least then Darra had Anakin and Ahsoka. At least she knew she didn’t give her brother back into slavery. And now she’s being complicit in it because she’s doing nothing about it. She can’t just keep doing nothing about it.

She’s afraid to take matters into her own hands but… she can’t not. Not anymore. If that means she has to run away to find him, then she will. But there’s a lot of security and maids around. Sneaking out of the house would be hard. She’d have to steal a ship to get back to Coruscant. It would be hard. But she has to figure something out. Even if the thought is terrifying.

And what would she even do afterwards? She’d have nowhere to go and no idea how to live on her own or even do anything and…

Mara’s checking the holonews that evening and Darra’s there, trying not to feel sorely out of place as she has all along, when something flashes on the news about revealed reports of the Palpatine family being involved in slavery and rumors of Palpatine having dealings with the Separatists.

Mara and her son go sort of rigid.

The reporter is going on about how shocked people are and they’re wanting an immediate statement to know if this is the truth.

“Oh,” her cousin drawls, “Boohoo.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Darra demands finally, “How can you act like this doesn’t matter?” It certainly feels like she is too. She just has no idea what to do.

“We’ve talked about this enough times, Darra,” Mara replies.

“That doesn’t make it right. That doesn’t make any of this right.”

“Why do you just constantly whine about the rights of servants?” the boy asks, making a face, “Unless it’s just because you’re so used to being one.”

“That’s not – “

“Darra,” Mara says, “Enough. We have more important things to deal with right now.”

“Like covering this up?  She wants to yell, to scream. Nothing comes out.  She wants to cry most of all.

“And I need to find out if there’s any truth to this treason claim about my brother,” she adds, going to find her to pick up her comm, leaving the room.

Darra watches her go, a certain numbness settling over her. She needs to get out of here.

***

Anakin is in the hangar like usual when Floria comes to find him. A weird rush of emotion rises in him that he doesn’t quite know what to do with, seeing her again. But one look at the eagerness in her eyes, and he knows what this is about. The information must have been dumped. And that means… everything’s about to explode. It’s probably suspicious that she keeps coming but maybe it doesn’t matter if this is the last time. But something is wrong. Something feels off.  They need to hurry. They go on board the Twilight wordlessly.

“Ready?” Floria asks.

Anakin nods.

She slips the same device they used last time out of her clothes, holding it up to him. The scanner does its scan and then beeps negative. There’s… nothing. He doesn’t have a slave chip.

“You mean I don’t… have one?” He thought he did. He was so certain but it was just an assumption. That would explain the extra security. Because there’s been a way for him to escape all this time, if he could do it without someone stopping him.

“Wow,” Floria breathes, “That’s… good. It means we can go.”

“Right now?” Anakin’s heart is suddenly pounding with excitement. But also fear. This feels too easy. To just get to walk right out the door.

She nods.

“I need to get one thing first,” he says, and sprints back into the rest of the apartment. He goes to his room, retrieving the Force sensitive stone that he’s kept hidden in the closet the last few days and then comes back out to meet her, in the living room area. There are other security officers in the apartment and he can feel their eyes on him. They definitely know something’s up.

Floria opens the back door of the apartment and they step out onto the landing platform together. There’s two clone guards right outside.

“You’re not authorized to leave,” one of them says.  Seriously? They were given actual instructions about him?

“He’s with me,” Floria says evenly.

“You don’t have that authorization either.”

“I got the order form the Chancellor to accompany him,” she objects.

The clones exchange a glance. “We’re not authorized to allow this without explicit orders form the Chancellor himself.” They don’t know what they’re being forced to allow. Anakin could try to reason with them but they don’t have time for this.

A stun shot rings out, hitting one of them. Anakin looks up sharply, Dane’s dropping down from the top of one of the ships. Floria whips out her own blaster, firing another stun blast. But there’s other security across the platform, instantly whirling towards them.

Anakin scrambles for a fallen blaster to join the fight, stunning the guards, but then a bunch more round the corner. They were prepared for something like this, he realizes with sudden growing dread.

Danger flares from behind him and Anakin ducks but the stun bolt has expanded too much for him to avoid it and the shock runs through him as he blacks out.

***

Anakin wakes slowly, blinking up at the ceiling above. He’s on something soft and he turns his head to realize he’s on the couch in the living room of Palpatine’s apartment. And there’s a couple clone guards in the room, though they’re a distance away from him.

And he doesn’t see Floria or Dane anywhere –

And he’s still – still –

Oh.

Kriff.

Anakin jerks upright, heart pounding. He was supposed to get away. They were supposed to make it and what happened and where is Floria and –

He can hear voices in the next room, form somewhere down the hall.

His master.

He’s back at the apartment and all Anakin knows is that this is about to end very badly.

The clone guards are watching him. Keeping him here. They have no idea what they’re being forced to do and he doesn’t have the time to try to persuade them otherwise. He’s about to try anyway because he has to get out of here but then he hears the door open to what must be his office and moments later, Palpatine’s walking into the room.

His gaze locks with Anakin’s for a long moment and all he can see is a cold fury. He knows, doesn’t he? But it’s not as if it’s hard to figure out when no one knows about that place in the Works but him.

“You can go,” Palpatine tells the guards, and his tone way, way too level.

They offer a “yes, sir” before disappearing off to wherever their usual positions are.

Anakin just thinks he’s going to throw up.

“Anakin, with me,” he orders, moving for the hallway.

He stumbles to his feet shakily. He wants to run. Not like he’d get far. Where’s Floria? Did she have to run or did they hurt her?

He’s hardly sure how he makes it down the hall to his master’s room. He hates being in here. He nearly only ever is when it’s about to mean something bad. The door clicking closed behind him sort of sounds like sealing his death sentence. Not that his master would actually kill him. Right? For this, he’s not actually sure.

Palpatine turns to face him. “That was you, wasn’t it?” he asks coolly.

Playing stupid’s not gonna help but he can’t think fast enough for anything else. “What – ”

His master slaps him.

“Do not,” he says icily, “Pretend as though you do not know. You pressed to go back to the Works for that recording, didn’t you?”

There’s no way he can deny it. Can’t quite bring himself to nod either. His gaze drops to the floor instead as he struggles to breathe past the icy fear clawing at him.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve caused?” he demands, “What you’ve done?”

No?

Other than that Palpatine probably looks very bad to the public now but – but – if he’s betraying the Republic then the people deserve to know. Not that he dares breathe a word of any of that.

“What,” he demands, taking a step closer, “Did you think you would accomplish with this?”

What is he even supposed to –

“You – you’re betraying the Republic,” Anakin blurts, bracing himself. That he could almost understand for how little care he has for the Republic if not for how it sounded like the entire war was a plan with him and Dooku.

He’s expecting to get slapped again. It frankly just scares him more when he’s not.

“You’re dealing with things you do not understand in the slightest,” he replies icily, “You never learn anything. But this time, I should hope it will be a lesson you don’t forget.” He turns away, going to the closet.

Anakin clenches his hands to try and make them stop shaking. Tries to breathe. It’s near impossible to make his lungs work at all.

He’s truthfully expecting the muzzle.

It was awful and it makes him sick to even remember the thing but it – well – it would be something he knows what to expect for.

He’s not expecting the narrow cylindrical object his master is holding instead. He’d recognize the handle of an electrowhip anywhere.

He – he has one of those here?

“Take your shirt off. And kneel.”

He doesn’t know why he thought this was one thing his master wouldn’t do. It’s stupid to feel a gutted betrayal. He still does.

He really really messed this up, didn’t he?  But really what did he expect? If Palpatine is committing treason he could be executed and that would be Anakin’s fault and he never thought about that. He never thought near enough about what would happen when this inevitably blew up in his face –

“Master – ”

“Now.”

His jaw clamps closed and he moves to comply shakily, depositing his shirt on the floor as he slowly kneels. And braces himself, if that’s even possible.

He hears the electrowhip activate.

Still doesn’t quite prepare him for when the burning stinging pain hits his back.

He’s had worse. Broken legs from a pod race was… –worse.

He can endure.

Try to.

***

He loses count somewhere in the middle. Not that he was really trying. All he knows is his back is burning and the electric currents are still running through him because his limbs are spasming every time he so much as twitches them. His eyes are burning with tears as he tries to breathe when he hears the whip deactivate.  He hears his master going to put it away.

Should he say – something?

He can’t – think.

His head is pounding. Probably electricity.

His master is standing over him and he has no idea if he’s waiting for something or if he doesn’t want him to talk at all which is most likely or –

“Sorry,” he whispers finally.

He hears his master sigh and then he’s crouching in front of him. Anakin lowers his gaze. He can’t – look at him.

He whipped him.

He – that ‘s – what happens to bad slaves.

He asked – for this. He knows that.

Doesn’t change that – that- his master still did it.

“I wish I could tell you that was enough in this case.” His hands lift to Anakin’s shoulders. He flinches back violently purely on instinct. Pain spasms through his back and he gasps faintly.

“I have to go deal with the mess you’ve made,” he says. It doesn’t carry quite the same steel he was using earlier but it doesn’t sound like he’s let it go yet either. He hates him now, doesn’t he? Wouldn’t have whipped him if he didn’t. It’s ridiculous how much panic floods him at the thought. “We’ll talk about this when I’m back. Wait here for me.”

His master stands.

Talk about – what?

He thought they just did that.

Palpatine leaves the room, leaving him alone.

Is – is he allowed to move? He never said he couldn’t. Just – just that he’s supposed to stay here. He slowly shifts into a seated position on the floor, too worn to do much of anything else. He’s too exhausted to do anything else. Anakin leans forwards, dropping his head into his hands. Tries to ignore how his fingers are still twitching from electric aftershocks. Slowly, he reaches down with his other hand to his pocket, fingers smoothing over the Force sensitive stone.

The last he has of his family.

Because no he has no idea if he’s ever going to see them again.

He just wants to go home. 

There’s no one here to see when he finally breaks down and cries.

***

Anakin has no idea how many hours it’s been or if it hasn’t even been one when the door to the room opening suddenly jerks him awake. He doesn’t remember falling asleep but he must’ve because he should’ve heard it sooner and his heart starts pounding instantly again.

His head feels a little clearer.

But his back is burning no less badly. And he is not ready to face his master again.

Palpatine crosses the room, kneeling in front of him again. Something in his eyes looks heavy. Haunted almost. The ice is gone which is –

Probably good.

He still can’t believe he did that which is so stupid because he should but he just – he thought he wouldn’t.

“Can you stand?” he asks finally. He seems to be in one of those weird sudden loss of words phases.

Anakin nods jerkily, trying to stumble to his feet. He feels annoyingly unsteady as he does and Palpatine catches his arm. The grip is gentle.

He still wishes he’d stop. His master helps him over to the bed and he sinks onto the edge of it, even if it’s really weird to be sitting here.

Palpatine moves off somewhere, coming back a moment later water, pushing it into his hands. Anakin takes it, gulping it down. His throat is dry and burning and it helps. A tiny bit.

His master is looking at him, expression tight. “Anakin,” he says finally. “I’m sorry.”

His brain totally freezes.

He’s –

Sorry?

What is he even –

He just whipped him. He can’t just say he’s sorry and – What does he think Anakin’s going to say to that? What is he expected to say to that? He lips part and then close again. But the hurt and betrayal even if it’s so, so stupid comes rushing back and his eyes burn with tears.

“I – I hate you.” He can’t believe he said it a moment later.

Palpatine stills.

He’s expecting to get slapped. He thinks in a horrible awful way he’d feel a lot better about having said that if his master did hit him.

“You should,” he says finally and his voice is flat and devoid of really any tone. “Here. I’ll help you to your room.” He lays hand helps him stand again and Anakin would rather just stand on his own but he’s toon worn not to lean iota the offered help. Why did he say that why did he that –

He feels awful.

Even if it’s the truth.

The walk to his room feels like it takes ages and he sinks onto his own bed the moment he can, lying down on his stomach.

Palpatine looks like he’s about to touch him again but then he doesn’t. Anakin can’t decide if he’s more relieved or disappointed. He’s mostly just confused he’s even giving him any space.

“I’ve called a medical droid,” Palpatine says, watching him, “And I’ll have Threepio stay with you if you need anything.” Now he just sounds… worn.

The gnawing guilt rises even deeper as the door slides close behind him.

Why did he say that why –

All he did was make Palpatine feel horrible for something he already apologized for and it’s not like Anakin didn’t ask for this when he could have gotten him arrested and killed and he still might because he has no idea what’s going on with that and he’s too afraid to ask but he just – no wonder he whipped him.

He – he asked for it. Really, he did.

He’s so awful. And ungrateful. His master is right. He never does learn.

He just wants to go home and stop thinking about any of this. He buries his face in his pillow, swallowing back the desperate urge to start crying again.

Threepio comes in not long later. “Oh, master Ani!” he exclaims.

“Threepio,” Anakin mumbles, twisting his head to face him.

“Oh dear, can I do anything to help?”

“May I have your hand?” Anakin asks.

Threepio wobbles over to the bed, holding it out. “Is there something wrong with it? Do you need to fix it?”

He would laugh under any other circumstances. “No, no, it’s fine.” He takes the cold metal fingers. It’s just a droid but it still helps.

“Do you know what’s happening? I mean with the news about… umm…”

“Oh, I cannot say I have heard much but I have heard a little,” Threepio replies, “The Senate is demanding immediate explanation for this recording, especially since there are now clear evidence of slave operations that were exposed. Some Mandalorian force apparently freed thousands.”

Anakin’s eyes widen. “They did?”

“That is what I overheard but I cannot tell you more, Master Ani.”

Obi-Wan.

It has to be.

He freed all of the Palpatine’s family’s slaves. It’s something Anakin always wanted a part in, always wanted to have the chance to do and now it’s done. It’s –

If him getting captured again was necessary to lead to that, it was worth it, if everyone else is freed.

“And I heard Master Palpatine’s father call. He seemed dreadfully angry.”

Anakin’s gut flips.

That – well, of course he would be.

He probably blamed Palpatine for everything, the way he always does.

…that actually explains a few things.

Not that it does anything to make him feel better about it.

Everything is such a mess and he wants to stop thinking about it at all. He’s just numbly grateful he’s not being asked to do anything but rest right now.

***

Anakin doesn’t fully wake again until late the next morning. The medical droid already treated his wounds and it feels a lot better. It’s still a constant ache but again, he’s been hurt a lot worse from pod races.

It’s more the –

Knowledge of who did this. And how. And – Ugh. He wants to stop thinking.

Threepio hasn’t left his side, except to get drink and food. The company is nice. As nice as anything could be.

“Threepio?” Anakin asks, shifting a bit onto his side, with a wince. He’s getting tired of lying in bed but he doesn’t think he could do much else anyway. “What… happened to Floria?”

“I do believe she escaped and has disappeared.”

He nods, relief flicking through him. At least she’s okay. That’s… something.

There’s a sudden noise in the hallway and Palpatine comes into his room. The look in his eyes is still weighted. The distance he keeps from the bed seems almost pointed. It’s good maybe probably so he doesn’t know why it just fills him with a sudden growing fear that it’s just that his master has finally had enough of him and – and – He’s just going to get rid of him and being with him is awful but at least he wanted him –

“Anakin,” he says evenly, “How… are you feeling?”

How does he think he’s feeling?

“Better,” he mumbles finally, “A little.”

“Theer’s somewhere I need to go and I’d rather not leave you here alone. Do… you want pain killer?”

His instinctive answer is a no because he doesn’t need to make himself look… weak – that was always a terrible idea on Tatooine – but… He doesn’t really have the energy to be stubborn right now, especially not with the messy bitterness and resentment and guilt burning all the same inside of him. “May I?” he asks hesitantly.

“Of course.” He sighs quietly, disappearing back out the door and coming back a moment later with them.

“We’re going to Naboo,” Palpatine tells him, as Anakin maneuvers himself upright, trying to smother his wince, and takes the offered pain killers, “Cosinga’s not supposed to be there but stay in your room and rest, just in case he is.”

Anakin nods mutely.

His master reaches for him, hand lightly touching his cheek, soft and fleeting, before he turns and leaves the room.

***

Ahsoka doesn’t know what it is but she can sense something wrong with Anakin. He’s being hurt. She can feel it even if she can’t really pinpoint more than that or what it means.

Ugh.

She hates this.

She doesn’t want to just sit around when her brother is being hurt. She doesn’t even care if she gets arrested. She wants to do something about it now. She’s tired of waiting.

She’s going to tell Plo as much when she walks into the room to see him and Obi-Wan whispering.

It’s like very very annoying when adults do that. She’s right here and she’d like to know what’s happening, thank you very much. Anakin’s her brother. “Is something wrong?” Ahsoka demands.

The way their expressions’ twitch has her even more on edge.

“The bounty hunters I tasked with getting Anakin out… failed,” Obi-Wan says tightly.

Ahsoka freezes. “What?” she breathes.

“They tried but they were being overwhelmed so they had to take off before they were recaptured.”

“And they left him behind?”

Obi-Wan nods.

She wants to throw something. Or just straight up start crying. “We have to go find him. Now. Why can’t we just break in?”

“I’m thinking,” Obi-Wan says, voice tight, “That perhaps that is what we should do.”

“Wait,” Plo objects, “Have you heard the recent news?”

“No and I don’t care,” Ahsoka says sullenly.

“Palpatine is evidently going to attend some kind of… immediate hearing with the Nubian queen right now. The entire Palpatine family falls under her jurisdiction and Naboo is taking action against them immediately. So we don’t know if he’s still on Coruscant or if he’s on Naboo,” Plo explains.

Uggggh. “This is why we should’ve done it while we still knew where he was,” Ahsoka bursts out.

“I’m inclined to agree,” Obi-Wan replies, arms crossed, “But this means there’s a high chance he’s about to be arrested.” Which happens to be the very moment Obi-Wan’s comm starts beeping. “Yes, Rex?” he asks.

Ahsoka perks up.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen the word, sir, but the Senate is demanding that Palpatine step down as Chancellor. And they’re presently voting on whether or not to arrest him immediately for these… charges of treason.” Rex sounds a bit mind-blown.

It’s about all Ahsoka can do not to squeal. “So that means it’s not gonna be illegal if we can finally go after him?”

“Not for much longer,” Obi-Wan agrees, a bit smugly, “I may have General matters to be attending to but I’d say we should get ready to head to Naboo.”

***

It’s the middle of the night when Darra packs the bag of her few possessions and slips out, running for the hangar. She knows she could be in so much trouble for this. She probably will be.

And truthfully, she’s terrified. Because for all she knows, after this, she’s going to have no one to go back to and nowhere to go. She’ll just be left on the street with nothing most likely.

But she’s not going to leave Anakin stuck as a slave any longer. The family she has here isn’t her family. The only ones who truly ever were are Anakin and Ahsoka. She knows Anakin will help her but… She doesn’t want to think about that right now. First, she just needs to find him.

He’s supposed to be on Naboo right now – something she overheard Mara saying with a bunch of unnecessary grumbling – and she’s got the address of where. But how to get inside is something else entirely.

She’s never done anything on her own before. She hardly even knows how. She’s never felt this lost in her life. But she has to try. Somehow.