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Chapter Text

Disclaimer:

I do not own any rights to Star Wars. This is merely fan fiction by a fan and not someone even remotely involved in any Marvel or Lucas Film property. That being said I do hope you enjoy it.

A/N:

So hello. This story is kind of new I haven't really planned out the whole story which is what I usually do before I start typing, but the urge to start writing got a little too impatient. This story idea does take inspiration from Star Wars and another fanfiction called 'Not this time Fate' from Coeur Al'Aran which also features a depressed time traveller who gives up. Of course, that is RWBY fanfiction and this is Star Wars but it's only fair I give credit to where this originated. Hope you.

Anakin's hands burned as if a red hot poker had been repeatedly stabbed into his forearms, ironic as they had been long been removed by the red hot edge of a lightsaber. He honestly would have been more alarmed if it wasn't for the fact that whatever Force entity or God that watched over him seemed to hate him having hands. In every loop, he would lose some sort of limb whether it be a hand by Dooku or Sidious taking his sweet time cutting his body to bits taking sweet pleasure in watching his mind break again and again. One time he lost his left leg to Grievous because he wasn't paying attention, that was an embarrassing loop.

The phantom pain didn't bother Anakin though; it hurt, and obviously, it did. Though when you've been tortured as much as he had, it really put things into perspective, Anikin merely looked down at his stubs that were still cauterizing with mild annoyance. Really losing a couple of arms wasn't that big of a deal anymore to him. 

"Well well well. Father, it looks like you… need a hand." The man before him burst out laughing. A man was a bit of an overstatement, though; he was a boy. He just barely had the signs of a small beard growing on his lip, his clothes still a little too tight from a recent growth spurt. Anakin didn't hate the boy, he couldn't. How could he hate someone he loved so much?  He knew some part should have hated him for the betrayal, Anakin almost hoped he felt something akin to hatred, some passion. Yet all he could feel when looking at the boy that he loved so very dearly was pity. He truly was his Father's son, the good and unfortunately the bad. Did Skywalkers have a gene that seemed to let them be manipulated so easily by darkside users, or were they just stupid? Most likely the latter.

"Luke, stop wasting your breath on the dead. Ugh, just look at him, a broken shell of a man. Really killing you is a favour." This voice was similar to the boy's but more feminine.

Anakin looked up to see the duo looking down on him. The boy looking at his pathetic form with sheer delight. Anakin couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking? Seeing his father knelt over in the ashes of his failed Jedi Academy. A man without any arms to pick himself up would have been a sad sight to see for anyone. Yet, to the boy, he was almost bouncing gleefully, like it wasas if he had won the lottery. The grand prize being his father's death. Luke looked Anakin up and down, savouring the victory of defeating a tired old man.

Personally, he didn't see the accomplishment, but the boy relished in mocking him.

The other person was a girl. She had brown hair like her mother and even had her mother's eyes. She had such disdain in those beautiful eyes, a bitter-sweet reminder of his failure. The disgust in her eyes shone, as if him dying was some sort of inconvenience for her, that his life was a waste of her time.

"Luke, Leia. I have failed you." He managed to whisper. Anakin's voice was coarse from all the smoke he had inhaled, he was in the library when they had attacked. What did Palpatine call this one? The Empire? The Dark Empire? Was he leading the rebels this time? Honestly, his head was a mess, and he was in far too much pain right now to remember all of Palpatine's different Empires. There were so many. To give credit where credit was due, the Sith lord was a magician, if instead of pulling rabbits out of hats he pulled planet destroy death weapons out of his ass.

"Look at you, Father. Look at what has become of your new order. I thought this was supposed to replace the Jedi! To bring the galaxy to that balance you love so much! Well! How does it feel to have everything you worked so hard to save burn? Maybe you should have put more love into your children then this stupid fucking temple. What would mother say If she saw you? I don't know why mother ever loved a weak pathetic man like you." Luke held the red edge of his lightsaber to his throat. His burning yellow eyes of the Sith glared at Anakin's own blue.

He wanted to say how he was wrong. That he loved them, that while he had lost his love for Padme many many many repeats ago her death was orchestrated by their new master, Sidious. Though the ash in his lungs stopped him from saying a word. It wouldn't matter anyway, Palpatine had gotten his hands on his children and turned them against him. Against his new Jedi order and the light side. Palpatine was good at turning what you loved against you and if he couldn't then he would kill it like he did with Padme.

"Goodbye, father."

The last thing Anakin heard was the hiss of the lightsaber.

The next time Anakin opened his eyes, well, not his eyes per se but more like a force-made copy of his eyes. He was in an incomprehendable void. It was hard to comprehend nothing, yet, here he was surrounded by it. No air, no space, no existence. The colour wasn't black nor was it white, it was nothing. He also seemed to lack a body, rather a crude creation of his body made through the Force itself. Like a poorly done attempt at a Force ghost, his body pulsated blue, threatening to wink out of existence.

"Really, didn't take your time creating this body did you?" Anakin telepathically spoke to the five beings that surrounded his force-created body. Anakin pushed with his mind, welding his body together giving it shape and creating a fully complete force ghost.

The five beings wore all black with different emotive masks. One for serenity, one for joy, one for anger, one for confusion and one for sadness.

"You failed again!" The one of anger hissed at him, getting uncomfortably close to his face.

"Yeah, no shit." Anakin hissed back taking a step away from the omnipotent being. Though taking a step back in nothing was the same as not taking a step back at all. This place was confusing even to Anakin. Only 4th demsional creatures really could comprehend such a reality such as the strange shapes before him.

The five shapes were The Force Priestesses, they were basically the connection between the Living Force and the Cosmic Force and were, much to Anakin's displeasure, the strongest things in the universe. Maybe even stronger than The Ones. Who was he kidding, of course, these bastards were.

"I'd like to see your head get cut off with a lightsaber, let me tell you it's not as instantaneous as you think!"

"You could have won that fight, at the very least survived it. Why did you lose intentionally?" It was the confused-faced one who spoke next.

"They were my kids. Fuck you if you think I'm murdering my children. Besides, that loop was already screwed. Palpatine destroyed my new Jedi Order, and without some sort of army, it doesn't take long for him to take over the galaxy in one way or another."

"You failed!" The anger one roared again. The force rippled with its voice. If it wasn't for the fact that Anakin could never be able to kill that one, he would have done it long long ago.

"Failed?" Anakin scoffed. "I stopped the clone wars, I kept the Jedi alive and I prevented the rise of the Empire. Yet Palpatine had managed to survive as he usually does, or he must have come back as some sort of clone or just straight up didn't die despite having a thousand stab wounds." The dark side was stupid.

"And yet you failed. You let Palpatine turn your children to the Darkside, turn them against you. Destroy you!" The angry priest hissed at him.

"That's your failure. Why in your own fucking name create Palpatine! Why create a mortal who will ruin and destroy the galaxy? I thought you were everything living, all-powerful beings. You do something about him!"

"You do not understand our powers nor our limits boy!"

"I am no boy." Anakin argued back. To be called a boy when he was probably the oldest mortal known to exist was a joke.

"You are the chosen one. You are the strongest mortal yet how many centuries have we wasted on you? Sidious is one Sith, yet consistently you fail to beat a frail old mortal, perhaps another being should take your gift."

Anakin had to hold in his laugh. Palpatine wasn't some frail old man. In his many resets, Anakin had killed him quite a few times, but the bastard was like a cockroach. It wasn't that he was unable to kill Palps, but rather he couldn't keep him dead. He would come back. He would always come back EVERY. FUCKING. TIME.

"Anger enough. The chosen one cannot be blamed for the shrewdness of the Sith. If that was true then our interference would not be necessary. We have observed your trials and while you have disappointed us many times you have shown the strength to aways return to us with time." It was serenity that spoke next, although, Anakin looked away, unable to meet their eyes in his embarrassment. In his infinite loops there were many times that he had fallen to the dark side, many times when giving up was the best option.

"You are our chosen one. You are the only one capable of defeating Sidious." Anakin scoffed. He remembered when these all-powerful beings told him he had to defeat the Sith. For the last couple loops, though they had started referring to the Sith as Sidious. Maybe it was them being tired of waiting and lowering the bar for him, or maybe they had finally realised that Sidious was not like any Sith. He was the Sith.

"We believe that with time, you will succeed, so time you should have. We shall send you back again. We hope this attempt will be better than the last."

Of course they were. Another loop, another attempt. Maybe he would make a clone army of Yoda this time, it would piss off the frog enough to be entertaining. Or perhaps he could ride a giant space worm into battle, that had been close to fun. God... he really was running out of ideas. He was so tired. So very tired.

He needed a break.

"Master Yoda. I am concerned about my Padawan."

"Concerned about Anakin, you are? Hrmmm yes. Darkness the boy has inside him he has, time from his slavery. A byproduct I believe."

Obi-Wan knelt before his great grandmaster. The master to the master of his master. The most powerful Lightside user was meditating in his chambers, breathing in the force as if it was air. Master Yoda truly was a Jedi like no other and while it was a popular debate within the padawans of whether Master Mace Windu or Master Yoda was stronger in combat, it was clear that the small green alien was far more connected to the force in ways Obi-Wan could only hope to understand one day.

"No master. It is rather his lack of emotion that concerns me. When Anakin first came to the temple, he was so emotive, he was never taught to control his emotions."

"The infirmary, busy it has been since his arrival." Obi-Wan's cheeks blushed at Yoda's words. He had tried to limit Anakin's… physical habits. Try to get him to show a bit more humility and less, destroy your opponents through any means necessary.

"Exactly. But since a few weeks ago that boy who always tried to prove himself has vanished. My bond with the boy was still weak and forming, but one day it disappeared completely and utterly; ever since then, Anakin has refused training and hides in his quarters all day every day."

"Many times avoid training Anakin has. Obedience the boy has not shown." Yoda did have a point. Getting Anakin to train was a feat within itself, getting to get the boy to visit the library was near impossible. Yet for Anakin to miss combat training was rare, the boy loved to show off. Demonstrate he was better than everyone else in an attempt to show he deserved to be here. It was a common fallacy of the Padawans.

They were taught never to boast or let arrogance blind them but Padawans were a competitive bunch, he should know he was one up until recently. With hormones running wild and the constant pressure to impress their master, a little showboating was common among the padawans, especially when standing out was important to get picked by a Jedi as a youngling. It was often in good nature and with time it would fade once they realised that the bond between master and apprentice was not something that needed constant boasting, but Anakin was a different case. The boy relished in attention, and he loved it. Worse, he was good at it.

"This is different, Master. Anakin has always been one to avoid the important work of the Jedi," Well anything that didn't require a lightsaber. "But this is different, I know my Padawan despite the little time we have shared, and he is different. He no longer cares about the attention of others, he no longer proves himself. He has changed, in an unnatural way."

Yoda hummed, stroking his chin as if in thought.

"If the boy has been tempted by the Darkside, explained his behaviour. Problem this could be." Obi-Wan felt panicked and immediately raised his arms, trying his best to stop Yoda from making the wrong assumption. If Anakin fell to the Darkside Obi-Wan was confident that the galaxy would perish. A Sith of his potential would be devastating, and as much Obi-Wan had been rewarded for killing a newly discovered Sith, he was not too keen on fighting another.

"No, please master, you misunderstand my fears. He is different, but I do not believe he has fallen, far from it. When I met with him in his chambers... He was meditating." He was sleeping, but Obi-Wan felt that with Anakin's strange behaviour, it would be better to give him the benefit of the doubt. "And I could feel him, if the Darkside has touched him, he has hidden it well. Anakin felt like a storm before, in constant turmoil and ready to destroy anything in his path but now he feels like nothing. Like the force flows around him, similar to you."

Yoda raised a brow at the comparison. The Grandmaster tried his best to be humble, and he of all people knew his faults, but rarely was anyone compared to him, for it was Yoda's humility that allowed him to admit he had very few equals in the force.

"It's different, though." Obi-Wan continued. "While the force dances around you, it tiptoes around him..." Obi-Wan struggled to put his thoughts into words. While Yoda's presence was one of nurturing and kindness, Anakin's was one of apathy. It was The Force. Simple as that.

"Concerning Anakin is. Special treatment or not should be given. Not a normal Jedi he is, bring him to me you shall."

"Of course, Master."

Anakin watched with mild interest as the group of younglings wore their large domes over their eyes, deflecting weak energy bolts with their practice lightsabers. Plo Koon was currently teaching the class as Yoda was busy having a conversation with Obi-Wan. They probably realised something was different about him as they always do at the start of these time loops. Obi-Wan was always so protective of him. 

There was a time when Anakin considered Obi-Wan his brother and master, but now he just couldn't; they were too different. Time had dulled Anakin's edge and sharpened his apathy. When fighting a space war with an opponent whose hobby was creating planet-destroying weapons, the big picture was all that mattered and unfortunately, Obi-Wan was never part of that big picture. He was almost always was destined to die in one way or another. Sometimes it was Maul, sometimes it was Palpatine and more than Anakin would like to admit, sometimes it was him. It had gotten to the point where Obi-Wan dying was one of the few certainties of that loop, and it was better just not to engage with the future Jedi master; it was just wasting time on a dead man.

"Anakin, it is a pleasure to see you out of your room." Plo Koon mused. The Kel Dor walked over to Anakin, allowing the younglings to learn for themselves to deflect without using their eyes, a skill that would be meaningless in a couple of years as most knights were incapable of dealing with the deadly accuracy and, more importantly, the teamwork of the clones.

"I suppose it was time to step out for a bit, Master. I could hear the whispers in the halls of rumours that I was practising Sith alchemy." The truth was much more mundane. He was sleeping. A lot, but to the children of the temple that was a far more boring story than the truth.

"You'll have to forgive your peers. They worry for you and they show it in complicated ways." Anakin held in a laugh. The Jedi were kind and they did try their best to help the galaxy, but they were not accepting. Something that went against their strict doctrine was a potential Darkside threat. The Jedi would rather five good men die if it meant the death of one bad. They were just martyrs, but to Anakin it felt more like livestock.

"Please do not waste your breath on excuses, Master. I know the opinions of my peers better than anyone. I have tried more than you will ever know to appease the Jedi and become one of them. The Jedi will protect someone out of duty, but they will not accept them out of kindness. These walls aren’t as thin as some people think, even I hear whispers of what the other newly accepted padawans say about me in my room. ‘He’s not normal, something is wrong with him’. They phrase it like they are concerned but they are not. They use the pretense of worry in order to gossip and spread hate."

"You speak as if you are not Jedi yourself young Padawan, you weren’t raised in the order like your peers, but you still have plenty of time. With time, all will work out."

Anakin couldn't help but laugh at his words. The unintentional pain that his words brought. With time, everything will be okay? What a joke. Anakin had more time than anyone, and all it had led to was his suffering.

"With all due respect, Master, I am no Jedi." Such words would have been a risk to say, especially to a Jedi. If you were a Force user that didn't follow the Jedi then you were a risk, a potential Sith. As if most of the strongest Sith didn't come from the order itself. Master Plo Koon was different, though, he was one of the few people Anakin still referred to as Master out of respect. This was what a Jedi should be. He didn't play with politics, he never saw any form of life as inferior even those born in a vat like the clones. He was a Jedi.

"And yet in the recent weeks, when you aren't in your room, you are here. You visit the younglings a lot, Anakin, more than you have for quite some time. I believe Obi-Wan literally had to drag you through the halls by your braid to get you to observe their training. I know because I heard your screaming echo through the halls."

Anakin's cheeks burned red with embarrassment. When he was younger, he believed he didn't have time to waste on children. He didn't remember that memory, but he has lost many memories in his long long life.

"Yes. Well, I have come to realise the importance of raising the next generation. We will not always be here to protect the galaxy. I am aware of my power but I am also aware that sometimes allies can be stronger than any lightsabre form or technique."

"Quite right. You are wise beyond your years."

The two sat in silence for quite some time after that watching the younglings train. Truthfully, Anakin hated being here, seeing their small frames holding a lightsaber. It was disgusting. It brought back memories of children swinging their blades around in a weak attempt to stop Darth Vader from killing them. From him killing them. He still heard their screams, the way they begged. He deserved it though, he deserved everything.

"You seem quite interested in one individual in particular." Plo Koon interrupted his thoughts. "Her name is Ashoka Tano if you are wondering. She is progressing quite fast, I believe she'll be one of the early graduates of the younglings."

Anakin wasn't, he knew her name. He knew her favourite colour, her favourite food. He knew that she was prone to picking up bad habits from her mentors and he could probably point to the exact places her face wrinkled when she smiled. He knew the things she wouldn't even know in a few year's time.

"Yes. She is different from the rest." Anakin didn't bother elaborating further.

"Quite. I look quite forward to seeing her journey; she is destined for great things. A great Jedi no doubt."

"She will be far more than that."

"It's not uncommon for Jedi to watch the younglings train, to scope out future Padawans. Some Jedi frown upon it, viewing it as favouritism. I understand the sentiment, it might be wrong to scout future talent and take it for yourself but in my opinion, I think it a waste not to." Plo Koon looked over to Anakin. Did he think he was being sly? Anakin knew he was trying to push Ashoka towards him, strange as Anakin always thought Plo Koon wanted to be her master for himself. He always seemed like such a father figure yet in any loop, Anakin almost was guaranteed to teach Ashoka if he or Obi-Wan was nominated for her. Very rarely would the council give her to someone else though it did happen occasionally.

Anakin still remembered the fury he unleashed upon the temple when the council gave Ahsoka to Krell in one particularly bad loop.

"I am flattered, but I believe she will be better adjusted under a different Master, one such as yourself or Obi-Wan."

"Master Kenobi already has an apprentice,e does he not?"

"No, he does not."

The two entered silence once again. It seemed that was going to be a recurring theme of the two with Plo Koon trying to make sure he doesn't say the wrong thing and Anakin more than happy not to engage in conversation.

"You could be a great Jedi."

"I know."

"You could change the world."

"Anyone can change the world."

Anakin looked over to the Kel Dor. He looked to be deep in thought, musing on his next words.

"You have grown wise, is there some secret holocron in that room you spend all day in?"

"The only thing you will find in that room is some pictures of scantily dressed women under the mattress." That wasn't even a lie, young Anakin was not the perfect example of a Jedi. Still, Plo Koon only seemed to find his words amusing rather than perverted.

"If you plan to leave, you should do it now. I sense Obi-Wan approaching. I can stall him, but you'll have to be quick."

"You won't stop me?"

"I follow the will of The Force, to allow someone so loved by it to be chained down would be a sin that I could never forgive. However, if you ever do wish to return the order will accept you. No matter what you might think."

"Thank you, Master. But you are wrong, you love this place, and you love the friends you have found here. But it’s easy to miss all the red flags when you look upon something you love with rose-tinted glasses."

***

"Master Yoda Anakin has fled the order and we have no clue where he is."

"Hrmmmm find him we must. Too powerful he is to be left unchecked. Convince the boy to join the Jedi you shall, if not then at the very least protect the boy. Strong the boy is, an enemy we can't afford to have."

"Of course, Master, I will track him right away." Obi-Wan stood up to leave the room but before he made it through the threshold of the door he quickly made a turn.

"Oh, one more thing Master. A fire broke out recently in Ki-Adi-Mundi and Pong Krell's rooms. I don't want to suggest Anakin but… there was a rather crass letter left in both rooms explaining in rather specific detail of committing suicide through sodomy."

"Sodomy I do not know of this?"

"With all due respect, I would rather not explain it."

A/N:

Fixing all my spelling mistakes before I upload my next chapter. This is future future me writing. I probably won't edit the rest of the author notes though.

Chapter Text

"Welcome all scum of the streets to another exciting night of blood, violence and death! We've got quite the lineup for you tonight, so be sure to load up on death sticks and get those bets in tonight 'cause we’re in for a whole night of bloodshed here at Grakkus' arena!" The crowd roared in response to the voice playing over the loudspeaker. Honestly, Anakin didn't know why they bothered putting a speaker down below in the prisoner cages, though he assumed it was used to break the will of the prisoners before they were sent off to die. Nothing like hearing a booming loud voice announce the death of your cellmate and then call you up to the roaring delight of fans.

Anakin leaned back on his hard, cold bed. It was more rock than bedding but was it really too much to ask for a more comfortable bed? It was the least they could do before trying to kill him. Would this be a new record for one of his fastest deaths? No, it couldn't be. It must have been when Anakin first got stuck in the loop, and Anakin, for some reason, thought it was a good idea to challenge Palpatine directly. Man, that was not a good idea. Lots of lightning, he could still distantly remember the smell of burnt flesh and popped eyeballs.

Lesson learnt though. It seemed whenever he got sent back in time, he kept his memories, but he lost his experience in both The Force and his lightsaber. All that muscle memory or those hours he spent mediating were worthless if he didn't succeed because it would all be removed. Right now, if Anakin were to guess his current power, he would be around Ashoka's level when he first met her. A stronger-than-average new padawan but weaker than any knight.

"This was supposed to be a break. A loop where I can just relax before Palpatine starts decides to screw over the galaxy." Anakin whispered to himself. 

"Oi keep it down in there boy! Save your breath for the screaming you're about to do." A guard said as he walked past Anakin's cell, slapping his electrically charged baton against it, causing sparks to jump when it collided with the metal. Bastard.

"Could you at least take off the cuffs? Where am I supposed to run in this cell? It's a room with four walls?" Anakin asked, showing his back to the guard. Currently, his hands were stuck behind his back, cutting so deep into Anakin's wrists that the skin would tear if he moved too much. Definitely not legal in Republic space. They were very uncomfortable, and while yes, Anakin probably could dislocate his hands to get out, he wasn't really in the mood to deal with the pain. It wouldn't work anyway because if the guards caught you without cuffs, they might just cut off your hands entirely. He really had to lose his habit of losing his hands.

"Your cuffs will be removed when it's your time to fight in the arena." Without a further word, the guard abandoned Anakin. Asshole. Anakin let out a deep exhale. This entire moon smelt of urine and smog. Every breath was like spinning a roulette wheel to see if you'd get ammonia poisoning.

He thought coming to Nar Shaddaa, the smuggler's moon, would be a good idea. The moon was sort of a guaranteed get out of jail free card from the Jedi. They were too restricted by the Republic politics to come out this far into Hutt space. It made it perfect for loops when he leaves the order early. Thankfully, Nar Shadda was also a good place to get dirty money quickly to fund whatever army or scheme he was planning to defeat Palpatine without any Jedi intervention.

What better place to earn enough quick and easy money to fund his life-long holiday? It had been such a good idea that not even alcohol could have ruined it. Well... it did. It seemed that Anakin's old habit of showboating came out while drunk and he just happened to win a little too much on the roulette wheel.

Was it cheating to use the Force? Maybe. Was it fair because they were also cheating? Definitely. Unfortunately, the house didn’t like that agreement and put him in chains.

"How'd you end up in here?" a voice called from the other side of his cell. He couldn't see the person, but he assumed it was an alien male but a weird accent and deep voice.

"Got caught cheating at the casinos." While most people would get kicked out and potentially banned on most planets. On Nah Shaddah, if you cheated at the Hutt's casinos the price is a little more severe. Anakin was put in handcuffs and sent to Grakkus' arena to supposedly pay for his crime. Earn your freedom through paying in blood. However, when you place card counters against trained gladiators, more often than not it was your blood.

The alien on the other side laughed at his reason, much to Anakin's displeasure.

"Yeah, that will get ya. I myself am a death-stick dealer. You'd think you wouldn't get in trouble for selling in this shithole but turns out the Hutts hate drug dealers if the profit doesn't end up in their slimy pockets." Anakin held back the urge to say that the Hutts didn't have any pockets, but he understood what he was saying. To say planets in Hutt space are lawless was wrong. Sure, it was crime-ridden and filthy, but not lawless. The Hutts made sure to uphold the one rule they held the dearest. Do whatever you want as long as it benefits them.

"What's your name, boy?" Anakin's roommate called over to him. He was probably older than him so being called a boy made Anakin’s eye twitch.

"Vader." An old name he used from time to time.

"Vader huh? I hope to see you back here after the first round. Let's hope that our fights aren't to rigged against us."

“I doubt it.”

***

"Master, I come bearing unfortunate news." Dooku knelt before his master's hologram. Dooku was currently in his quarters on his home planet of Serenno. It had been so long since he had visited his home world after being given to the Jedi by his parents. Dooku saw a little irony in him leaving his home to be a Jedi only to return as something far more powerful.

He supposed he was technically a Sith now, after accepting the apprenticeship of his Master Sidious, he really had no choice. The Jedi had forced his hand, those corrupt morons were letting the Republic lead the galaxy into ruin. It was not that he had hated the Jedi but they had become unable to see the poison that had affected the Republic. Worse, they had let themselves become a symptom of its injustice.

Peacekeepers, they called themselves. A foolhardy lie that only those morons could believe so much that they let countless plants suffer due to the Republic's corruption and still can pat themselves on the back and say they did the right thing.

"I am busy Dooku. The board, is still yet to be set up and I do not have yet all my pieces. You are aware that the result of this game decides who will lead the Galaxy to salvation." His Master scowled. The habit of his as referring to life in the Galaxy as a game often irked Dooku, but he would have to shut his mouth less he be removed from the board as well.

"I have been informed that the young Anakin Skywalker has abandoned the Jedi. Despite his inexperience, the Jedi are struggling to pinpoint his location. They suspect he has hidden in the outer rim.  Perhaps this is our chance to recruit the young man, I believe the Jedi will do what they always do and talk about change while proceeding to do nothing." Dooku didn't particularly care for Skywalker, but he did care for Qui-Gon. Honestly, Dooku would have liked to recruit his padawan to join him, though it seemed his apprentice met an unfortunate end to his current master's now deceased apprentice. 

Dooku repressed a scowl at the thought of Qui-Gon's death. It was no secret that Sidious did not want Qui-Gon to join Dooku. When he had tried to suggest bringing him into their planning he was met with strong resistance. Had Sidious orchestrated his apprentice's death? Dooku didn't want to suggest that, but he was no fool. The weakness of the Jedi was their adherence to their code, which soon became adherence to the Republic. A Jedi like Qui-Gon who followed the will of the Force and the Force alone couldn't exist as he was too unpredictable in his Master's eye.

Still... Qui-Gon died for the boy. Qui-Gon was many things, stupid, brash, overly-kind. But he was not a poor judge of character. A small part of him couldn't help the curiosity that boiled inside him when he wondered just what was so worth the life of his apprentice? Was the Skywalker truly worth it, or was it just Qui-Gon's inability to let the weak die?

"Do not give long-winded explanations to me, my dear apprentice. I have long known of the boy's situation." Sidious glared at Dooku's bowed head. It must be so easy to look down on someone when your ego was so high.

"The boy is none of your concern Dooku. If he wishes to hide from the Galaxy, then let him. Don't waste your and more importantly, my time for a child who does not want to be found. Concern yourself with the clone army and ensuring the allies for the Confederacy of Independent Systems."

"Qui-Gon considered the boy the Chosen One. He saw something inside the child and clearly, the boy does not trust the Jedi as I did. To waste this opportunity wo-"

"Quiet." Sidious did not yell, no, someone as powerful as him would never have to raise his voice to anyone lesser than them. That being everyone. But his voice, even from beyond the hologram, was saturated in the Darkside. It reeked of the cold stench that was so pungent that Dooku felt it prod at his Force shields, promising pain if it ever reached his core.

"You forget who is the master and who is the apprentice Dooku. Do not lecture me on the prophecy of the Chosen One when you know nothing of its true origin. I have given you the knowledge of the Dark Side, but do not think I have taught you all there is to know."

Dooku did not dare speak. For if he did and his master was not finished, he would remember the consequences. To a man of Sidious' calibre, even Dooku had to admit that taking a knee before him was not a sign of weakness but rather self-preservation.

"Dooku, I sought you because you are not blinded by the way of Jedi thinking. You are sly, you are powerful, and most importantly, you are capable. I replaced my apprentice, Maul for you because I believed you were worth it. Do not fail me by worrying about some a piece that isn't even on the board, instead of following your instructions. I'll concern myself with the Chosen One, you do as I command." Did he think Dooku was an idiot? He did not replace Maul. Maul died like the dog he was because he tried to fight a man that was far greater than him, Qui-Gon didn't deserve the fate he got.

"Of course, Master," Dooku said. 

Without a word, Palpatine's hologram disappeared, taking the blue illumination with him, leaving Dooku in the dark. The Sith let out a sigh that had been building in his throat, raising a shaking hand to his chest. His heart was beating faster than usual, too fast. At this rate he would die of a heart attack before the war he was planning would even finish. Next time he would up the beta-blockers he takes before answering another holo, it was just too much for his aging body.

Standing up,  Dooku brushed off his pants. A man like him having to bow was a joke, a joke he would have recited till he found his own apprentice. The rule of two, he knew of it as a Jedi, but using the knowledge Sidious provided on the Dark Side and the history of the Sith he came to truly understand it. 'Two there should be. No more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it.'

Despite what Sidious thought, Dooku already knew what he needed. He knew his Master's plan to eradicate the Jedi, he knew that his Master would become the ruler of the galaxy, and he knew the Jedi who were so blinded by their love of the Republic that they would suffer for it. Plapatine's plan was... annoying perfect. Yet it did have one flaw. Him. To truly make the Galaxy a better place he would have to make one adjustment to it.

Dooku activated his holoprojector, entering a number that he knew by heart at this point. The holoprojector once again sparked to life, but it wasn't the dark robe of his Master, but rather the shine of durasteel.

"Jango Fett. A pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine, Count. Especially with my accounts filled with credits." Typical. A bounty hunter only thinking with his wallet. Jango Fett was different to the usual filth of their kind. He was an unparalleled killer whom Dooku himself had danced with on the battlefield while he himself was a Jedi. Jango could fight with the grace of a dancer and the viciousness of a womp rat. It was precisely why Dooku believed that a clone of Jango would be the perfect candidate for the republics secret clone army. He just wished it wasn't so pricey.

"I need a favour of you Fett. A favour of which you will be paid generously for." As always. 

"I would never say no to a few credits, though my clones still need to be trained in the ways of a Mandalorian. I don't think I have the time to just leave."

"Your precious Cuy'val Dar can continue to train them in your absence. Why am I paying for those mercenaries if not for that exact reason? If I am wasting my credits perhaps then they are better off in the pockets of another." Dooku watched as Jango Fett eye him. For a non-Force user, he was impressively hard to read. Yet a small hint of curiosity made it through his hard exterior, the Mandalorian couldn't help but be curious as to what could be more important the training an army of yourself for an upcoming war.

"There is a boy in Hutt territory. His name is Anakin Skywalker, though I wouldn't be surprised if he went under another alias. I would like him brought to me. Alive and preferably unscathed, no permanent damage." Dooku continued.

"I can find your man, though keeping my target alive is something I'm not accustomed to; I cannot be blamed if my prey does not want to be captured."

"I do not care how you do it just that you do. Be wary, though the boy is Force sensitive."

"You of all people should know that does not frighten me." Jango confidently boasted. Dooku of course knew, they had met a few times on the battlefield back when Dooku was still a Jedi.

"You might find he is different to the average Jedi, do not underestimate the boy."

"I am no amateur. I'm aware of the consequences of overconfidence, especially with those who can lift rocks with their mind. Consider it done."

"See to it that you do not fail me." With that Dooku hung up the call. He trusted in Fett's ability to get results. He hadn't failed him yet. For now, Dooku needed to continue to proceed with his Master's plan. He had to seem loyal to Sidious. For the good of the Galaxy, he could last a few more years as the jester. He had sacrificed his life, his Padawan, Master Yadle, everything for the sake of the Galaxy. He would sacrifice Palpatine for it too.

Originally, Dooku thought of searching for the witches of Dathomir to find an apprentice to help defeat his Master, though perhaps that would not be needed. Qui-Gon it seemed, would help his old master one last time in finding his replacement. Together, while Anakin hid in the shadows under his tutelage, he would grow in strength till the time came. After Sidious has removed the Jedi, the senate and any chance the Republic has at winning the war, Palpatine would be open to defeat at the hands of Anakin and Dooku.

He almost could feel a smile forming on his lips.

***

"With odds a hundred to one, our challenger a small-time casino cheater, the human, Vader! This scrawny little boy only 17 years old, is up against our local champion, the bloodthirsty, the bone-cracking one and only, you all know his name BLOOD DRINKER!" The crowd roared and started chanting blood drinking over and over.

Yup, this officially sucked. Maybe he should just kill himself and do another restart, this run was already so messed up. No, this was supposed to be his break. He needed to have at least one loop where he wasn't dealing with any Sith, Jedi or Galaxy-altering war. Besides, it didn't really matter much as he was pretty screwed as it was. Death would come soon regardless.

That realisation was abundantly clear as Anakin stood in the middle of the arena, beneath his bare feet was red-stained sand. Ugh, Anakin hoped he wouldn't contract any diseases with just his feet touching the blood-clotted sand. Anakin was still currently wearing the rags he was given by the 'gracious' hosts. They were oversized, itchy and still had blood stains he assumed were from the previous owner. When he was arrested, they took his clothes and his lightsaber, though Anakin doubted anyone this far out in the outer rim had ever seen a Jedi or Sith and wouldn't be able to know what a lightsaber is with just a look. If anything, it probably just looks like an expensive plasma cutter, nothing worth more than a brief look.

Besides, Anakin had more pressing issues with the Trandoshan before him. The reptilian alien, apparently named Blood Drinker, was currently banging on his muscular chest to the roar of the crowd. The reptilian didn't wear armour, only a piece of fur. Wookie fur probably which if the Trandoshan earned in fair combat, then was quite a testament to his opponent's strength.

"May both the challengers step forward and choose their weapon." The announcer called over the loudspeaker.

Anakin rather begrudgingly obeyed the loudspeaker, dragging his feet through the sand and taking as long as possible to make his way to the weapon's rack that was in the middle of the arena, not wanting to be drenched in alcohol from the crowd, who were getting a little too antsy. 

The weapon's rack in the middle had a wide assortment of weapons though they all had the same theme. They were primitive. There were spears, large two-handed axes and swords, but no vibroswords. Bastards. Anakin knew this fight was rigged from the start, but this was ridiculous. None of these weapons would be able to get more than a shallow cut through the Trandoshan's thick skin. Gladiators are expensive,  couldn't let them get too seriously injured and lose their investment against unknown fighters who existed solely to satisfy the crowd's blood lust. Better to lose some random than their little celebrity. 

And they were mad at him for being a cheater. The hypocrisy. 

"You look delicious boy." Blood Drinker hissed at him his tongue flicking through the air. Anakin didn't bother giving the alien more than a half stare. This was such a waste of his unlimited time.

"You put that tongue anywhere near me and you'll lose it." The Trandoshan only laughed, causing spittle to fly everywhere,e including Anakin's cheek. Gross. Yup, he was going to kill him, or at least maim him.

Over his years in the loops, he had tried experimenting with different weapons, of course, none of that really mattered, none of his experience with any weapons transferred over his restarts. However, he did remember one loop where he tried to rule Mandalore. Those Mandalorians are a violent bunch, that run got really bloody really quick. 

Anakin decided to stick with what worked. There were plenty of different types of weapons, but he decided to pick up a thin sword with a large hand guard. He forgot what it was called as he cared little for any weapon besides a lightsaber, but this was close enough to one for his current body to wield it without making a complete fool of himself. The second weapon he chose was a larger dagger that would help him in parrying any attacks his opponent threw at him as his thin blade was clearly made for thrusting and would shatter if hit by a strong attack.

Predictably, Blood Drinker picked up the large two-handed hammer. A little unnecessary, as Anakin had full faith that the alien probably had the grip strength and the claws to rip him apart and using a hammer would just slow him down, but he wasn't going to help the reptilian as this fight was already fairly stacked against him.

"Any last words?"

"When I kill you, I'm making you into a belt." The lizard only laughed at him. Honestly, he couldn't blame him. The sight of a seventeen-year-old him wearing bloodied rags would have made even Jar-Jar consider him not a threat. 

"It looks like our combatants have chosen their weapons. Let the battle commence!" The commentator yelled, causing the crowd to scream even louder than before. At this rate, he was going to go deaf before he could even kill the alien.

Blood Drinker swung his heavy hammer from the hip, his raw strength compensating for his lack of any grace or form. Anakin didn't even need The Force, instead he just leaned back and let the hammer fall a few centimetres short. The hammer collided with the blood-soaked sand causing it to fly into the air from the sheer force of the blow. Force users may be durable but a few hits from that and Anakin would be gone for.

Well, it would be an issue if the Trandoshan could manage to land a hit. Swing after swing, the hammer either flew too high too low or too short on every attempt only managing to hit the open air or sand. At first, the audience roared with excitement every time Anakin dodged, seeing him dancing with death was something they probably hadn't seen, as most victims who weren't force-sensitive couldn't keep up with Blood Drinker's ferocity. Yet, after the eighth minute of nothing interesting happening the roar of the crowd had died down significantly. Some had even started to give their opinions on the fight, quite loudly.

"Hit him!"

"Aim you lizard!"

"Stop dodging!" Anakin held back a scoff at this one. Why didn't he just stop breathing while he was at it? He ducked low under another swing. This one was significantly slower than the swing at the start and the puffing of Blood Drinker was a fairly certain sign that he couldn't keep this up for too much longer. The poor alien had been forced to run in the sand swinging a heavy two-handed hammer, only to be met with failure time and time again. Anakin would have felt bad if one, he actually cared. Which he doesn't. And two if his name wasn't Blood Drinker.

"Looking a bit worse for wear, their buddy. Need five minutes?"

"Go fuc- fuck yourself." Blood drinker heaved.

Anakin shrugged, walking up to the reptilian lizard, getting close enough to his face that he could smell the lack of dental hygiene. Blood Drinker didn't move, though. Despite Anakin basically being so close he could hug him, he didn't dare move. For the last eight minutes, he had been close to him he needed to wait for the perfect opportunity.

The audience was silent, mostly from boredom but still, not a sound was heard. Even the commentator who had been screaming his head off moments ago didn't speak. It was just him and Anakin.

"I'll tell you what, kid, you're the longest newbie to last against me." The lizard huffed, his strained breath betraying any sense of intimidation. 

"I don't ca-" Before Anakin could even finish his sentence, Blood Drinker dropped his weapon and tried to wrap his arms around him, hoping to catch him in a hold and most likely try to snap any bones he could get a hold of.

Yet he was in for a painful reminder that the best way to kill a Jedi isn't through combat. Precognition is a real bitch and a half to deal with if you don’t have it yourself. Anakin almost effortlessly flipped himself up and over his opponent when he went for the death hug and remained in the air using one arm to balance himself on the scaly head of Blood Drinker.

As you could imagine, having a seventeen-year-old male do a handstand on your head isn't exactly easy to handle if not prepared for it, and the sudden weight brought the Trandoshan down face-first into the sand that he had spent so long tenderising with a hammer.

Spitting out the sand, he looked up only to be met with the tip of Anakin's blade, the cold metal like a syringe being deeply injected through his right eye deep into his brain. His reptilian skin was too difficult to cut or pierce through. Thankfully eyes tended to be an exception to this rule that Anakin was fully willing to exploit to its fullest.

"Well… I guess that's that. Um… next round?" Even the commentator didn't know what to say. The crowd was stunned, a Tandoshan losing to a human in melee combat was unheard of unless they were Mandalorian. Even then, the sheer genetic power difference was obscene, and this was a boy who was just finishing off puberty; how he had killed a top-tier gladiator was beyond them.

***

"The master will be with you shortly, Please make yourself comfortable." The protocol droid bowed. Well, did the droid version of a bow, as it was too clunky to move any further down than an inch or else it threatened to topple over.

"Whatever." Anakin dismissed taking a seat on the couch. Thankfully, no longer wore the filthy rags he was forced to put on his flawless body, and now fitted out with… well, they weren't nice clothes but they were better than the SDT festival that was his rags before. It was something that you'd expect a drug dealer to wear but at least they were warm and comfortable.

The room he was in was a vast improvement to the cell he was in before. The room was well-furnished with expensive tables, couches and even a chandelier hanging from the roof. Clearly, whoever's room he was invited into had a wealth of some sort. He was just surprised he was even invited in the first place. Then again, it wasn't uncommon for gladiators to be invited into the rooms of the upper class, although they were treated more as prostitutes than celebrities.

"Oh fuck." A moment of realisation hit Anakin.

Nope nope nope he was getting out of here. Anakin has had his fun through his loops, but he had standards and he was not keen on meeting the wealthy benefactor who intentionally invited a seventeen-year-old to their room. Anakin stormed his way to the door, keen on leaving this awful place. Screw this planet. Maybe he should go back and hide on Tatooine. It worked for Obi-Wan. Then again, he would rather kill himself than deal with that annoying feeling of having sand in his shoes.

Before Anakin could even reach the door handle, the doors exploded to the side as a large alien pushed his way through. The alien was clearly a Hutt demonstrated by his slug-like appearance although unlike his old slave master on Tatooine, this Hutt had metal leg prosthetics now making the alien look like the weird love child of a large slug and a metal spider.

"Yeah no. There aren't enough credits in the world for me to sleep with you."

"Excuse me?" The Hutt said confused. It was a weird expression to see on such a large and quite honestly, ugly face.

"Master, this is young Vader. The gladiator you asked to be sent to your room. Personally, I find his attitude fairly lacklustre." The protocol gave a sideways glace to him. 

"Thank you, droid. You are dismissed. I would like to speak to the boy alone." The Hutt spoke. His voice was deep and gutteral, his throat was more fat then anything else and Anakin heard his thaot giggle with every word. Anakin had always considered himself quite tolerant but the Hutts had always disgusted him. If this Hutt was here for what Anakin thinks he is, then he is either going to be surprised when a glass of shard ends up in his or Anakin's own throat.

"Of course master." The droid left the room, leaving Anakin and the large Hutt alone. The mere thought sent shivers down Anakin's spine.

The Hutt strutted around the room, easily finding himself at the installed bar where row upon row of expensive alcohol sat.

"Do you fancy a drink? I have quite the collection. I particularly enjoy this brand from the highlands of Naboo. It's rich and fruity which I know might seem like a strange taste for someone of my appearance, but this brand of wine is a particularly guilty pleasure of mine. I'm something of a black sheep in my family, though I suppose you wouldn't know anything about family would you Jedi?"

"Jedi? What's that?" Anakin asked confused. In his many loops, he loses all muscle memory and force control, but he kept learned mental skills such as hacking or more preferably lying. He was capable enough that with a little force influence he could slow his heart rate and prevent perspiration. He was good enough to fool most lie detectors.

"Why lie? Not even the scum of this crappy moon pretends to not know what a Jedi is, you underestimate our intelligence or maybe you underestimate the Jedi's influence." Shit. Perhaps this slug is smarter than he gave credit.

"You see, Vader if that's your real name. It's not common for a street rat to win in the arena. In all honesty, you were supposed to be a warm-up for my real fighters. Yet, you, a child, won despite everything against you. Not to be racist but Trandoshans and Humans can't really be compared in combat. They are genetically superior, physically speaking of course. Yet here you stand unharmed after several minutes of not only boring your opponent to death but, quite frankly also the crowd."

"And what do you expect me to do? Apologise?"

"No, far from it. As I was saying before I am quite different from my family. As I'm sure you are aware, or maybe not due to being locked in a temple your whole childhood, the Hutts aren't exactly known for their heroism. When faced with a problem, we tend to throw around enough credits and bounty hunters till the problem goes away or tortured to death. I, however, admire the Jedi, their capabilities, their powers." Anakin saw the hum of pleasure in the Hutt's eyes. Disgusting. "Their ability to sense danger before it can even hit them or their enhanced agility. The Force."

"Look I really don't care for your Jedi fetis-" Before Anakin could finish talking, an electronic shock shot through his system,m forcing his muscles to clench against his will. The boy collapsed to the ground, slamming through a glass table, sending shards of glass flying and several small cuts to cover Anakin's skin. Anakin tried to scream but his the electrical currents locked his jaw and emarrisingly his bladder to loosen. He HATED electrocution. 

Aakin with hate-filled eyes looked up at Grakkus who stood before him, wine in one hand, his other on some sort of remote.

"Sorry, but only a moron would think they could beat a Jedi in combat. Jedi can only be defeated through trickery, for example, sewing electronic charges into conductive clothing. You're welcome to rip off your clothes, but I think pressing this button is a little faster than even you are Vader." Grakkus released Anakin from his own muscles by ending the electricity flow. His finger danced over the remote threatening to press it again much to Grakkus' delight.

"Kiss my ass slug."

Grakkus pressed the button again, but Anakin didn't flinch. His muscles clenched, but he didn't move an inch staring down the Hutt. Anakin had experienced far worse pain by far worse people. This was a joke.

"Well, just look at those dead eyes. You really are something, I guess this is useless. You Jedi are a different breed. I truly am fascinated by you."

"I am no Jedi." Anakin said. That was no lie, he had long long long ago abandoned the Jedi.

"Really? Well, you'll have to excuse my scepticism as that doesn't make much because you had one of these on you." Anakin didn't know where the slug pulled it out from, as Anakin didn't see any clothes or potential pockets on the alien, but in his slimy and rough hands was his lightsaber. If Grakkus was expecting Anakin to act all surprised, he was sorely mistaken as his mask of ignorance never dropped. Mostly because Anakin didn't care, this was just one massive waste of his infinite loops. So what if a slug had his lightsaber, he could kill just as well without it.

"You see, after watching your performance, I asked to fetch your belongings. You Jedi, despite claiming to have no attachments keep your lightsabers on you at all times, and while I wasn't expecting much, I was very happily proven wrong when I saw this." The Hutt ignited the blade.

"An elegant weapon for a more civilized age." The Hutt swung the blade around, getting a feel for the weapon. With a single swing he sliced off half of the chandelier above them causing it to fall and crash onto the group with a loud bang.

"Oops, I can see why those who aren't Jedi don't use lightsabers. They are more of a danger to the wielder than your enemy." The Hutt deactivated the lightsaber and quite surprisingly, threw it over to Anakin, letting the very dangerous weapon fall into the lap of his prisoner. A strange choice.

"Oh relax, I'm confident you won't strike me down. After all, every exchange needs a little trust don't you think? If everyone was going to betray you then everything would get so boringly predictable."

"What kind of exchange are you looking for exactly?" Anakin growled, pocketing his lightsaber. 

"As you can imagine from recent events many planets aren't exactly on good terms with the Trade Federation and are looking for resources in less respectable and cheaper means. My family suggested I take these planetary leaders on a large luxury leisure cruise ship. I would like someone of your calibre to join me if things go wrong. Normally, I wouldn't be concerned but there will be lots of animosity between planetary leaders. Having a Jedi would be a powerful deterrent from any… bloody events."

"Once again, I am not a Jedi. And this is my main point, I really don't care about politics, or in fact living for that matter. So I don't care if you kill me right now, I'm not wasting my break dealing with pretentious royalty." Anakin dismissed. He was okay with ending this loop here and now; at least this couch was comfortable. All he really needed was a blaster and bang! He was off to another loop to retry this vacation that he had already screwed up.

"I can make it worth your while."

"I have little need for credits."

"What about alcohol? Drugs? Women or men, if you prefer? It's a Hutt luxury cruise. Believe me when I say we can be very accommodating to any needs you might have. This will not be a mere diplomatic trip but rather a holiday where very occasionally I will have you step in wave your lightsabre around then you can go back and drink and fuck yourself to sleep. Not a bad deal right?"

No... no it wasn't.

Chapter Text

Anakin screamed as a dark cold presence ripped through his brain, both simultaneously freezing and burning. It felt as if hands made of fire with nails of ice were forcefully pulling apart every groove of his brain in order to peek inside, uncaring of the damage it caused along the way. The presence tried to dig deep under his brain, trying its best to drill itself into his mind. Like a parasite, it travelled deeper in an attempt to implant itself as deeply as possible through any painful means necessary.

"I can do this all day. In fact, I just might." Palpatine's voice teased as another wave of that hot freezing presence ripped into his mind. Palpatine was wearing his classic black cloak, and his eyes burned with yellow Sith fury.

Anakin would have told Palpatine to kill himself, but his mouth had been gagged to prevent him from biting his own tongue and effectively choking on his own blood. The chosen one had been placed floating in a containment force field, except he was held up by his throat rather than his arms as well… he lacked those, without his arms, his ability to use the Force was heavily handicapped. Always with the arms. Anakin would have rolled his eyes if it wasn't for the fact that they were clenched shut from the exruciating pain. Palpatine was probably stronger than he was at this point. In Anakin's defence, he hadn't been in this loop long enough to reach his full potential.

"You know you really are something, my young, or rather an old, time-traveller. Moronic mostly, but still something. I won't lie, I was a little furious when you exposed me to the Jedi, but come on, you had to realise that wouldn't work on me, right?" Anakin hissed as Palpatine sent another wave of the Darkside into his brain, the icy nails of the Force cutting deeper than they had previously.

"Getting tired? I honestly expected more from you. How much longer will it take till our Force bond snaps together, I wonder? A month of repeated torture? A year? A lifetime? Doesn't bother me too much, once we Force bond together, we'll be time travel partners for the rest of eternity where I can kidnap you at the start of every loop and torture you every single time." Palpatine laughed. Anakin would have told him that it wouldn't work, he had Force-bonded with many people, but they never joined him in the loop. Though he supposed Palpatine was desperate. That was the cold reality of the loop, the overwhelming sense of pointlessness. So what if he had conquered the Galaxy? It would all amount to nothing if it would all just reset. Palaptine probably realised nothing he did or would do would have any importance. Wasting his life trying to force himself into the loop was the only thing he could do. It was a shame how much he related to Palpatine in that regard, wasting whole lives in order not to be alone.

Anakin had made a mistake this run and would pay for it dearly. He told the Jedi about his knowledge of the future and his status as a time traveller. Of course, they didn't believe him, but the senator being a Sith Lord, while without proof, is still something the Jedi were wary of. Once Palpatine was exposed and fled, the Jedi or at least the ones that mattered, like Yoda, started to believe him. He was even able to remove Order 66 from the minds of the clones, making the Republic army and the Jedi more powerful than ever before.

Without Palpatine controlling the Clone Wars from the shadows, the war between the CIS and the Republic was bloody. Palpatine often mediated battles and forced wins and losses on both sides, but without his control, the war quickly spiralled out of control with war crimes now becoming more commonplace. It was worth it, though. Anakin thought he had won. The Republic was winning, and Palpatine was in hiding. It had only taken a few loops and yet Anakin had won. He did it. That was until Palpatine showed up. Armed with his full fury and a few Sith apprentices in the form of Maul and Savage. With the Clone Wars, Anakin hadn’t dedicated most of his time to pure training and couldn't keep up with the three Sith eventually captured and repeatedly tortured.

"I heard the rumours of the Jedi. A time traveller. Can you believe it? I didn't. That was until you outed me and my little clone scheme. You know that didn't work right? Sure, they changed the name of Order 66, but the Republic isn't nearly as trusting in the Jedi as the Jedi is in the Republic. All they did was a simple name change and hid it better. Whenever I want order 66 will occur, but I'll wait till the Republic kills my old apprentice Dooku and the CIS he stole from me. Anyway, getting sidetracked. Not one believed you at first and even now most don't believe you are a time traveller, but enough did for rumours to spread. I thought it was crazy, but you know what they say. 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"

Wave after wave the Darkside tried to bend his mind as Palpatine continued his little speech. The words flowed off his tongue confidently, dripping in arrogance and pride, completely ignoring the fact Anakin had ruined his plans. This speech was far too well rehearsed for it to be a spur-of-the-moment thing.

"What did you think was going to happen when you told the Jedi? That they would keep it secret? That something so important or comical as a time traveller wouldn't make it to the Republic's ears. The only people you can trust not to tell anyone are the ones you kill yourself. I would think a person as old as you would know this?"

Left with nothing better to do, Palpatine tortured him. Day in and day out, trying to force himself into the loops through any means necessary. Though eventually, much like Icirus, Palpatine flew too close to the sun. He just went a little too far, and one fateful day, Anakin's heart stopped. Though the decade's worth of pain had left it scars deep in Anakin's mind. Palpatine's torture had broken Anakin for the next few loops, leaving him a mumbling mess unable to form words or communicate in ways that weren't crazy. It must have been so strange for the Jedi to one day walk into Anakin's room to see him crying, weeping, unable to form any sort of cognitive thought. 

He had gone mad. Though in the infinite loops, not even madness could last forever. But a lesson had been learnt from Anakin's torture. He would never trust the Jedi or the Republic ever again with his secret.

***

Anakin turned around, letting his new outfit flow around him. With his sudden abundance of wealth, Anakin had gone to the shopping district in the more rich parts of Nar Shaddah, where he wouldn't be stabbed or robbed when trying to buy some necessities. The air here was so much better, it was cinnamon scented and had a hint of aphrodisiacs in the air whenever he chanced by a nearby brothel. 

Now Anakin comfortably stood in his own apartment, given graciously by Grakkus, along with a cooler of fine wines and cheeses. He hated the Hutts with as much hate as someone who couldn't care about anything could. Yet, even he had to admit they could be quite accommodating when they wanted to. Ever since he was recruited the Hutt to be essentially a bodyguard for his little space cruise. Anakin's pockets has been noticeably heavier from the amount of credits he carried within at all times. Although he wasn't so much a bodyguard as he was a deterrent to prevent any royalty or senators from butting heads. A royal babysitter was a more appropriate term. He could feel a pre-emptive headache coming on from the future political strife. Politics was just one massive dick-measuring contest except everyone had small dick syndrome and had to pretend they were more intimidating than they actually are.

It would be worth it though. If Grakkus was truly worth his word, which honestly Anakin didn't put a lot of faith in. Then Anakin would gladly sell his freedom in order tosample every vice the smuggler's moon had to offer.

The time-looper thumbed the slave collar around his throat. It wasn't obnoxiously large, which was pleasant. Anakin certainly had worn worse slave collars. It was beautiful, and could have been confused for a strange piece of jewellery rather than something with a miniature bomb inside it. Worst comes to worst he could always try to rip the blasted thing off him before giving Grakkus a big warm hug. 

A tiny smile came to his lips at the thought of the two of them dying in a heated explosion of plasma. Explosions were always such an oscillating way to die. On one hand, it was quick; on the other, having your eyes pop from heat and the skin of your body burnt to a crisp was extremely painful. He preferred euthanasia, quick and painless. It was just unfortunate that not a single person Anakin went up against cared much for making his death as painless as possible.

Anakin was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of his doorbell ringing. Grakkus? Either that slug was slimmer than he thought or Anakin had greatly underestimated the corridors of his apartment building. He could just ignore the person, but if it was Grakkus, then that would certainly complicate his new wealth.

Letting out a deep sigh, Anakin opened the door to his apartment, fully expecting a grotest fat Hutt to greet him. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of a fairly young woman. She couldn't have been more than a few years older than him. twenty-four? Though the way she dressed certainly made It seems that way. She wasn't dressed so much as a business woman but rather what someone would think a businesswoman would look like as some sort of fetish, as she wore a tight blouse and short black skirt that covered her black leggings.

A Zeltron. A race of people that are stereotypically prostitutes. They produce pheromones that make them seem more attractive to people and thus easier to manipulate. Strange, Anakin didn't recall ordering 'room service' but he had also been rather drunk last night. Perhaps a gift from a drunk him?

Unfortunately for her, Anakin didn't care.

"Fuck off, I'm not interested in your God. They are all as shit as each other." Before Anakin could slam the door in her face, she blocked it with her foot. Annoying.

"I'm here on behalf of The Hutts." Anakin held back a scoff. So Grakkus sent her, what for? Nothing good.

Wordlessly, the woman barged into his apartment, having the gall of all things to scowl at every unclean plate or out of place pillow. Dragging her finger along a glass table, picking up a line of powered flavoured nicotine between her nails. When he was much much younger the glare she gave him would have made him feel some sort of guilt, but only know it was like she was a four year old girl upset her father had been drinking again. 

"This place reeks of drugs and sex." She said, her dagger-like eyes eating away at Anakin, to whom he merely smirked back. Scoffing the woman took a seat on the only part of the couch that didn't look stained or was a mess of pillows.

"Why are you interested?" Anakin asked sitting on a glass table that had become foggy with nicotine powder. The women didn't even bother to respond to Anakin's half-jokingly, half-serious question. Zeltron pheromones were strong, given a whole hour in the same room with her, no doubt he would be wrapped around her soft delicate finger. He had to give Grakkus more credit.

"Grakkus wants all personnel at the docks early before any politicians show up at the luxury cruiser. That was three hours ago, and yet Grakkus' little Jedi hasn't shown up. As you can imagine, he isn't pleased with your behaviour, and neither am I." She continued.

"I believe I told Grakkus to keep the fact I am an ex-Jedi a secret."

"I believe you promised you would arrive on time. Respect only goes as far as you are willing to allow it."

Fair enough but Anakin still wasn't impressed. The Jedi wouldn't risk searching around Hutt territory and only Sith assassin or apprentices would waste their time hunting him down. However, if they knew he was on Nar Shaddah then that little time wasted looking for him a lot more worth it. He would have to find a new planet after this. Damn slug.

"I said I would show up. Never on time. Though I suppose I am cutting it close."

"More than close. You are the reason the cruiser hasn't left yet."

"And you," Anakin smirked. She didn't seem to find it as entertaining, judging by her scowl. He would have to find a way to ditch her.

***

"You're late, Vader. Also, your arm is bleeding." Grakkus hissed. The metal-legged Hutt stood on the metal walkway of the large luxury Cruiser. He looked very unhappy with Anakin.

"Late? Or fashionably on time?"

"Late."

Anakin shrugged. What was the slug going to do? Kill him? Ha! Kill him, maybe but no one can keep Anakin dead. Maybe in the next loop, he'll dedicate it to killing him and ruining his empire. Not the first time Anakin had been petty enough to dedicate his loops to ruining someone's life.

"I'm sorry." He wasn't. "I'd love to get on the stupid ship, but you're kind of blocking me."

"Do not give me lip Jedi."

"Do not call me Jedi. That was our deal."

"Our deal was you arrive on time."

"Yeah, I know. Your little secretary already gave me the speech." Grakkus looked at Anakin questioningly.

"Where is she?" Grakkus narrowed his eyes, noticing the lack of a red skinned woman in a far too short skirt.

"A victim of a carjacking. The poor woman got thrown out of the hover car before the engine even started." Hutts didn't have any eyebrows but if they did Grakkus would have raised his questionably.

"I need those Zeltrons, their pheromones are important. There are going to be lots of political heads and a lot of them don't like each other, so I'd like to keep them all happy, or horny. Whatever is easier. In the situation where they aren't happy, I need you. Do you understand?" Obviously, Anakin did. He doubted there would be too many problems, though. Knowing the Hutts, this cruiser will be filled with alcohol, drugs and prostitutes and while no politician would ever indulge in such activities, behind closed doors, who knows? Either way, Anakin has rarely seen two high people have an argument whilst high as a kite. Chances are, most politicians don't actually care about the trade deal with the Hutts and are just treating this as a holiday under the guise of a political meeting.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. If the politicians start to get rowdy, wave my lightsaber around. I get the gist of it."

"See that you do. We'll be leaving the moon in an hour. Find yourself in your room then find me. We have guests to greet."

"Of course." He just wouldn't be sober enough to remember it.

***

Padme hated being here. She hated the people she had to talk to, she hated how she had to pretend to like these people, and most of all, she hated the politics. She was a senator and thus had to act accordingly. Though she wished she had better company, for all those old fat bastards did was laugh at how unprofessional and undignified the Hutts were, saying that he would never allow sex workers near any event they held. It tended to be the ones that insulted or mocked the drugs and sex workers who reeked the most of them.

She had been invited as an ambassador of Naboo to accept the company of the Hutts and hear them out on their trade deal ever since the incident a few years ago with the Trade Federation. She wasn't the only one, as she saw several senators from Republic space here, though the way they enjoyed the bar suggested they weren't here to actually consider the trade deals.

"Unfortunately, I lost almost a whole brigade of men against those savages. Can you believe it? I understand taking land away from the indigenous people is wrong but It's the mining that keeps our planet running. Without the mines, we all go poor. I offered to move them to a better location and give them more resources I was going to pay them well and fairly but they refused to move and dared to attack my men. We acted in self-defence!" The irritating voice came from an obese human male with a pretentious moustache. Padme forgot his name and whatever planet. The only thing she did know was that he was part of the Republic, as all the other Republic senators huddled around. It wasn't safe for them to be out on this ship alone.

Being in the Outer Rim she found out just how much other planets hated them in the Republic. The Outer Rim thought of them like they were selfish rich capitalists, while the Mid-Rim planets thought of them as savages. Almost everyone on this ship hated them, and that much was obvious by the number of glares and snide comments thrown around the room just conveniently in earshot. This was going to be a long trip.

"But enough about me. If I'm not mistaken dear Padme, you're in your sixth year as senator. Quite an accomplishment for someone so young. Though I suppose Naboo is one of the better planets to rule, I wish I was born a royalty so the people would just give me my senatorship." Even among the Republic senators, she found something to hate.

"Why, thank you." Bastard. "Though I wouldn't call it so beginner-friendly, it took quite some time for an understanding to occur between Nabooians and the Gungans. Unfortunately, we had to make a few sacrifices and diplomatic deals, we couldn't just use our weapons to force the original owners of the planet out of the way. That would be not only immoral, but I would be embarrassed to call myself a senator if I did that." She hissed throwing back in his face the fact that he was nothing more then a murder. The man only laughed, he had the fucking audacity to laugh. What a scumbag.

"You're still young. Quite a tongue on you though, it will serve you well in your later years. One day you'll have to understand why we do what we do." She already did know what they did and why. It was money and cowardice.

"Enough you two. Why ruin such a joyful atmosphere with such animosity? We Republic Senators, have to stick together." It was another senator at the table that spoke this time. He looked well-dressed and fairly attractive though that much was obvious. Most senators weren't ugly, people just liked people who looked good. Unfortunately, the man who spoke up also had tried hiding a pollution fiasco that killed off a reef when an offshore drilling rig collapsed due to corners being cut.

This whole place was the worst.

"And then my buddy Obi-Wan. He said he never banged her, but Satine's 'nephew' seemed to look a lot like him!" What was that loud voice? Padme could hear a voice; it sounded young from a table nearby. Whomever it was the people around the voice found what he was saying hilarious as the group of Rodians around him laughed.

"I wish those annoying Rodians would shut up." One of the Republic senators whispered in a hushed tone. Padme had a strong feeling it wasn't the noise that annoyed him. Unfortunately, some senators agreed. Some were generally annoyed by the noise, which was valid and fair enough, others who looked angrier were bothered by something else. The fact they weren’t human no doubt.

Still, she couldn't help but envy the group of aliens. Their table seemed a lot more lively. People actually enjoying themselves rather then throwing around back-handed compliments and pretending corporate greed was somehow moral.

"I will go speak to them." Padme volunteered, trying her best to hide the desire in her voice. Most didn't care, but some nodded in approval, agreeing from a place that was no doubt born of racism. 

Padme didn't know what to expect as she walked over to the group of laughing aliens. What she saw was unimpressive. A boy.

His hair was a mess and he had bruises on his neck. Hickies, gross. Everything about him was disgusting, his shirt was half out of his pants, he clearly had spilt whatever drink he was drinking all over himself, and if you actually looked at his blissfully unaware face, it was clear he was high. Padme had never seen redder eyes before.

"What's going on here?" She asked, drawing the attention of the group.

"I'M THE CHOSEN ONE!" He yelled shocking Padme and caen royalty.

"Is he a senator?” She ignored the drunk boy instead turning her focus to the Rodians. What caused the Rodians to laugh even more. This was the most unprofessional senator she had ever seen. No, he couldn't be a senator, he was too young. Then again, she had become a senator at eighteen. He couldn't be the same as her though right? She got her position through rigorous education and training, she highly doubted this boy did the same.

"Booooooooooo! Senators are dumb. I hate politics. I hate Palpatine. Boooooo! Lightning sucks, it huuuuuuuurts." What was he even talking about?

"He said he's part of the security." One of the Rodians said. The alien knew basic well which was probably because he was most likely involved with his planet's politics. Almost every politician knew Galatic basic.

"Security?" Last time she checked, security doesn't hammer themselves full of drugs and alcohol.

"Yeah, I mean… I don't know why he'd lie about that, but you got to admit he's pretty fun."

"He needs water." She scowled at the irresponsibility of the Rodians. This boy clearly needed help.

"Eh. Dying by thirst isn't that bad. Worse than drowning, though. Speaking of dying. Wanna see me stab this fork through my hand?" The boy was a little too eager to pick up the nearest fork and wave it around like a sword. Padme didn't know if he was more of a danger to himself or the people around him.

"Drop that idiot. Why is your arm bleeding?! You shouldn't drink if you're bleeding!"

"CAR JACKER! Shhhhh it was meeeeeee. Promise you won't tell anyone?"

Padme didn't bother answering. Instead she chose to grab his fork waving wrist and pull him up from off the table. This moron needed to sober up, but first, he needed water. If his breath was any indication, he had only been drinking alcohol since they took off from Nar Shaddah.

She, with an idiot swaying in hand behind her, had to weave through the crowd of royalty and senators, attracting many looks. God, this was going to ruin her reputation. She was not looking forward to this ever being brought up again next year as some sort of political scandal. She could imagine it now. Senator mucks around with drunk scum. This boy she had only known for a few seconds, and he was already a problem. Eventually, they did make it to the bar where the Zeltron behind it was busy flirting with Senators and pouring drinks.

"Excuse me could I get some water please," Padme asked drawing the attention of the red-skinned girl. The Senator who she was busy stroking the arm of didn't look too pleased with her interruption but the boy she was with was going to overdose any second now. The woman looked at the pair slightly annoyed that Padme got in the way of a very large tip but made her way over.

"It's you again." The woman hissed, narrowing her eyes at Padme.

"I haven't met you." Padme hissed back. She was trying to do a good thing, yet now she was starting to regret it.

"Not you, the junkie."

"I'll take ten body shots!"

"Ten will kill you." The bartender's eye twitched.

"TWELVE!"

The Zeltron sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Clearly this isn't their first meeting between the two. Regardless, she grabbed a glass from behind the counter and poured water from the sink nearby slamming the glass hard in front of Padme.

"Sober him up and keep him away from me. I've been told to give as much as he wants as long as it doesn't kill him."

"You think I want to deal with this?"

"I'm not going too, and you won't find a whore on this ship who has low enough standards to do it either." Wonderful. Just wonderful. They had only been on this ship for a day. It was the first night! How had he already built a reputation among the staff so low that no one cared if he drank himself to death?

"Are you, my mommy? I haven't seen her for centuries. She dies a lot. Palps never let her live, so I stopped caring." What kind of drugged-up dreams was this guy seeing? If this is what drugs did to you? If so she was never going to do them. This is what being scared straight must be like.

She needed to get the crazed boy to a bathroom and make him vomit everything out of his system. It wouldn't look great for her publically dragging a boy off to the bathroom but if it was a choice between her pride and the boy over dosing, it was a sacrifice she would have to make. 

Before Padme could drag him away and get him sobered up, a yell echoed through the ballroom. It was a loud one as it drowned out the sound of chattering and music, killing both the sound and the mood. The large crowd was parted aside as everyone tried to get away from the epicentre of the yell.

Thankfully as the crowd pushed away Padme was able to get a look at the cause of the noise. A man wearing a fine cloak wrapped around his shoulders had one hand raised towards another man. Though, unlike the cloaked man, he was a few feet in the air trying to grasp at invisible hands around his throat.

"Well, Vader. This is why I hired you." A voice suddenly appeared at Padme's side. She swung her head around and saw a massive slug stand before her cross-armed tapping one metallic leg against the floor. How did that sneak up on her? Clearly, the boy or rather Vader it seemed was too loud and distracting for her to notice the very large Hutt before her.

"You bastard. You knew Dooku was coming. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh! That's why you were so interested in hiring a Jedi. You've got the fourth strongest force user in the galaxy on this stupid ship! I felt him the second I stepped on board, why do you think I'm so fucked up right now?"

"I don't care. Stop him or die. I honestly don't care because I'll be happy seeing both happen."

The boy gave Grakkus a glare, or well he would have I he was sober enough to actually look straight.

"Fine, fine I'm on it."

Despite being 'on it' Vader didn't move. Rather he took a big swig of the water and looked at the cloaked man. What was he doing? He was just glaring at him which while weird to see didn't do much… Until it did. What? The cloaked man dropped his hand and the floating choking man fell to the floor. A coincidence surely. There was no way this drunk actually had anything to do with it. No, this boy was an idiot!

The cloaked man whom Padme assumed was this Dooku turned to them.

"You must be-” Padme never heard the name Dooku said, his voice was being to drowned out by the sound of Vader’s insistent whining. Whatever Dooku called him it must have not been good as she turned to Vader who looked like he was told to drag his body over shards of glass.

"Fuck." Vader whispered.

Chapter Text

"You must be Anakin." His voice was dark and rich and his eyes were a piercing dark brown, nearing black. Hadn't fallen completely to the Darkside and earned his Sith eyes, yet there was a coldness to his pupils. Dooku's very presence was suffocating. The Force loved to pick it's favourites and Dooku was by far one of them as it hung around him like an abused lover. Each force signature had its own feeling and allowed Jedi to feel individuals but Dooku had a similar stench of someone who dabbled in the Darkside to him. Anakin felt as if he was suspended in a sea of ink. Thick enough that he could barely move and slowly making its way down his throat, causing him to gag.

It seemed that even non-force users were aware of the presence of Dooku as his sheer power was causing even non-force users to break out in a sweat. The girl next to him, despite not being in tune with the force seemed to have a better connection than most people as she fell back onto her chair unable to stand. She looked familiar... where did he recognise her from? His vision was too blurred to make any connection in his head, though. Turns out there were actually some downsides to alcohol.

"Vader," Grakkus whispered to the ex-Jedi. His voice was hoarse, and he looked slightly paler green. It seemed even one of Anakin's least favourite slugs couldn't handle being near Dooku while he was like this.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it." Anakin waved off the Hutt, picking himself off his seat. The chosen one groaned, walking through the invisible sludge that Dooku was excreting with his presence in The Force. With every step, the feeling of fear, hatred, loneliness and the overwhelming sense of betrayal got stronger. It was a familiar feeling, one that seemingly embraced him. The Darkside missed him, craved him just as much as he craved it. For someone who wasn't openly a Sith Lord, yet he sure wasn't concerned about holding back his presence. 

"Okay, Dooku, chill out with The Force equivalent of overcompensation," Anakin growled, taking a drink off a nearby table. Gross, water. 

As Anakin started to approach Dooku he felt that inky flood of power slowly dispersed. A part of the looper was glad he didn't have to deal with the nauseating feeling of being drenched in the Darkside, another part missed the nostalgia the feeling brought. Though that arrogant smirk still sat on Dooku's face. Why was he was bloody happy?

"You are quite crass for a padawan."

"Do you see a braid dumbass?"

The smirk quickly disappeared, instead being replaced by confusion. Anakin had never really been close to Dooku through his loops, and if he had he had long forgotten what it was like to be his friend. The Sith lord probably expected Anakin to be some rebellious soul much like himself who found the Jedi order to be corrupt and evil. While that wasn't completely untrue, Dooku forgot one major thing. That he was born into royalty and was raised by a Jedi while Anakin was raised by slavers. 

Dooku had grown up around politicians, Jedi and royalty. He was a master of spoken combat able to swing around words just as well as a lightsaber. He was used to fencing with two-faced compliments and pretentious, overly complicated insults that politicians liked to use. Being straight-up called a dumbass was something Dooku had never experienced or knew how to counter.

"No… I guess I don't." Dooku murmured, looking over at Anakin. "I must say, I expected… more of the rumoured chosen one."

It took him two seconds to figure out his real identity. That was concerning. Dooku shouldn't even know what he looks like yet unless he had gone out of his way to find some holos of him. Leaving The Core clearly wasn't going to be enough, if he survived this miserable cruise, he would have to dye his hair or something. 

"Yeah, the reality of a situation is often disappointing. Sometimes we hope for a chill holiday with drinking and whores but we end up having to tell a grown adult not to Forcce choke people in public as if he was some kinky teenager. We don't always get what we want now do we?"

Dooku just stood there, glaring at Anakin. The boy was half sure Dooku would just ignite his lightsaber and cut off his head right then and there, but it never came. There was no searing pain or death. Maul would have never lasted this long in a conversation with him without attacking. 

"Perhaps I did act a little immaturely."

What? A Sith admitting he was wrong. Was something wrong with the loops?

"Excuse me?" Anakin asked in slight shock.

"The Force isn't some toy to play around with. You are correct, I did act immaturely." Dooku turned away from Anakin and looked over at the man he had just near stranggled to death. The poor alien was still trying to catch his breath and could barely stand, he was probably going to need therapy after this.

"You have my apologies." Dooku bowed. The alien didn't seem to have the air in his lungs to respond. Instead the alien could just let out lained coughs as tears streamed down his face. Even if Dooku apologised there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was someone to just agree with.

"Ha ha ha. Bravo!" A deep voice bellowed through the ship. It seemed Grakkus regained his confidence now that he had his prized Jedi next to him. Though it seemed Grakkus didn't fully understand just how outclassed Anakin was. The Hutt might have thought that since Anakin and Dooku were both ex-Jedi their skills should be at least comparable. He couldn't be more wrong on that fact.

"I was going to wait till later tonight for my dear audience to get a little bit more wasted, but it seems there is no point. My dear kings, queen and senators, I would like to introduce my good friend Vader." The Hutt slapped Anakin's back, not realising the sheer weight difference between the two causing Anakin to lurch forward.

Dooku raised an eyebrow at Anakin at hearing his name. 

"Vader here will be in charge of security along with my armed guards." What he meant was gangsters but Anakin didn't bother to mention that fact. "Don't let his age fool you, much like my dear Count he is an ex-Jedi himself!" Grakkus smirked widely when the crowd began to whisper. To the non-republic senators, seeing a Jedi was something they'd never seen. To the Republic senators, a Jedi leaving the order was something they have never heard of. While certainly, ex-Jedi did exist they were still a rarity.

"I thought we were keeping that a secret." Anakin hissed at the Hutt in a hushed voice.

"We were till a seventeen-year-old boy just stared down the leader of the newly formed CIS. I'm doing you a favour boy, don't think I didn't hear Dooku call you Anakin, I don't know what that means but I know you don't want people to know that." Grakkus hissed back at him.

Anakin only scowled at Grakkus' antics. As much of a pain as it was Anakin needed his real name to remain a mystery. Even if the Jedi and Palpatine did assume Vader was him, the false idenity would still buy him enough time to create a new identity and find a new planet to spend his break on.

"A Jedi? Why would a Jedi be so far away from the core systems?" A voice called out to him from the crowd. Judging from the fact that the woman wasn't one of the Republic races he assumed it was one of the royalty from the outer planets.

"Well-" Grakkus started but Anakin wasn't going to let this become a question-and-answer segment of his history.

"I'm not a Jedi." He interrupted. "I was a padawan who left the temple, never even made it to the rank of knight." However, Anakin doubted that it would mean much to the people who had never seen a Jedi.

"As my 'good friend'," Anakin continued, holding back the vomit rising in his throat calling a Hutt a 'friend'. "Grakkus had said. I am merely here to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible on this trip, ideally, you won't be seeing me at all tonight."

Anakin waited for any more questions, but none came. It seemed that was enough to satisfy their curiosity. Now they could all go back to their business and drink and bitch and most importantly leave him alone.

"What's your relationship with Count Dooku of Serenno?" Anakin whipped his head around to an annoying voice that dared to ruin him, trying to end the conversation. Of course, it was a certain Queen from Naboo. So that was who the girl was. This whole situation was starting to sober him up.

"You two seem to know each other," Padme asked, placing a hand on her hip. If it wasn't for the fact that they were technically strangers in this loop he would walk up to her and strangle her. Hell, he might do it anyway.

"Ahhh, I believe I can answer that." Surprisingly it was the Count who spoke up. "Truth be told I've never met… Vader," Dooku used his fake name. That was surprisingly not awful of him. "Though I did hear he left the temple. But his old master was something of a friend of a friend. Not many leave the order so meeting someone even with a very basic connection to the force really only meant one thing."

That he was the person Dooku was looking for. Dooku never cared for Anakin in the loops when he remained in the order. Maybe it was because Dooku didn't care for a Republic dog. But, for some reason whenever Anakin left, Dooku looked for him. Maybe the Count suspected Anakin saw the same injustice in the republic that he did or maybe it was something else, but sure enough, whenever Anakin left the order, the older ex-Jedi always sought him out.

Padme for some reason didn't look pleased with the Count's logical answer, but she knew she had nowhere to call him out on.

"Though I will not deny the fact that you do interest me greatly, young Vader. I would love to speak with you in private when given the chance. Preferably when you are less inebriated." Hah! Jokes on him, Anakin had no plans of ever being sober for this whole trip.

"Please forgive my outburst Grakkus." Dooku bowed. Which Grakkus huffed arrogantly at. He must be loving this, the idea that Dooku was bowing to him was probably going to the topic of all conversations he was going to have on this cruise, and if it wasn't he was going to bring it up reguardless.

"Do not let it happen again Count. I would hate for the CIS to enter a skirmish with the Hutts so soon after its creation, we all know how it will end after all."

Many of the Outer Rim aliens nodded with approval, as many of them were allied or rather more accurately enslaved by the Hutts. Though Anakin had tried using the Hutts against the CIS in previous loops and it just ended with Palpatine manipulating the Republic and CIS into a truce to wipe out the Outer Rim. Just another failed loop like so many before it.

Dooku narrowed his eyes at Grakkus, clearly tempted to Force lightning the slug into a crispy dessert, but it seemed he was more merciful than Anakin would be as he merely laughed alongside Grakkus.

"You are too kind." Anakin could almost hear the murderous urge in Dooku's voice but clearly, Grakkus didn't, as he beamed with pride. Moronic slug.

With apologies in order everyone went back to partying. A few senators tried to approach Anakin, thinking the boy was some sort of freelance security. Their minds were quickly changed when they realised, after ten minutes of speaking to the boy that he was more likely to protect a cheap bottle of alcohol than them if the situation ever occurred.

However, there was one senator who wasn't so unpersuaded. A certain girl from Naboo who despite her common sense decided to follow the ex-jedi boy. At least he would provide her more entertainment than her fellow Republic senators. Being stuck in a rancour cage would be more fun than spending an evening with them.

***

Padme woke up the next day with a splitting headache. Her mouth felt dry, and the lights in the room hurt her eyes. The last thing she remembered was deciding to follow the boy around all night making sure he wouldn't drink himself to death but in the end, he actually managed to convince her to take a shot with him. How she didn't remember, but all she did remember was taking a shot… and then another… and another. Shit.

Padme dug her face into her palms in embarrassment. She had gotten drunk last night trying to follow the antics of an ex-Jedi. She thought Jedi were supposed to be anti-sex and drugs, but the boy just wouldn't stop at all last night. She would turn away to discuss the economic situation of the Republic and when she looked back, she would see Vader upside down on the chandelier. Was he making up for all the years of abstinence in the Order in one night?

That boy was not worth the trouble, but at least he kept her away from politics. It was hard to discuss the future of the Republic or possible trading when you were stopping a boy from challenging every single alien to a game of beer pong. It was even worse when he kept trying to start race wars between the Rodians and the Neimoidians. She didn't even think he was racist, he just that much of an idiot.

At least she was done, and by some miracle, she had made it to her bed while drunk and passed out. She recognised her bench where plenty of drugs sat, she also saw her floor, which was littered with empty bottles. Oh, and how could she forget her lightsaber that sat in a pile of her dirty male clothes?

This wasn't her room.

This wasn't her bed!

She wasn't even alone!

She raised the blanket on top of her, noticing that she was still wearing her dress so at least she knew that nothing had happened last night. A small relief.

Next to her was a boy on his side with brown, slightly curled hair. The blanket was halfway down his abdomen so she could see his body and despite his awful diet, she saw that his past of being a Jedi had served him well. His back, while not on the level of a bodybuilder, still had noticeable muscle and definition. His body was more like that of an athlete, lean yet still defined. To any of the senators in the Republic, he would have been considered a God to men and women alike.

But what piqued her interest the most wasn't his muscles. Though she certainly couldn't complain. Not that she would ever tell him that. No, rather what drew her attention the most was the several white scars that covered his body. There were so many on his back. It was like a starry night, but instead of stars, it was small white lines. She even noticed some small burn scars.

What could have caused all these scars? Surely the Jedi weren't this rough with their own? She knew they were warrior monks, but this was too far. Scarring children like this was not something that should ever be considered okay. Was this why he had left? She would need to bring this up at the next senate if these are the kind of people who act as their police.

Padme knew she shouldn't, but she reached out, her fingertips barely brushing his skin. Still it was enough to feel his warmth.

The next second was a blur as Vader swung around his back no longer facing her as he forced his body onto her with one hand around her throat and the other held out to his side. Like magic, the lightsaber from the disgusting pile of clothes shot out and landed in his hand illuminating the room in a dark blue glow.

He looked like death.

His eyes were half glossed over, unconcentrated yet angry. Still not fully awake, but enough for his grip to feel like iron around her throat. 

Padme tried to let out a scream but his hand was too firmly pressed against her windpipe. She clawed at his wrist but he didn't seem to notice when her nails bit into his forearm even drawing the smallest droplets of blood. It took a second for his glossed over eyes to concentrate and when they did she noticed his eyes were wide, dilated to the extreme, but Padme didn't think it was drugs but rather fear.

"Va-V-Va." She gasped, tears started to prick at her eyes as her lungs begged for oxygen. It took a few seconds, but Vader shook his head out of it and unignited his lightsaber. Padme felt air rush back into her lungs as Vader flopped, despite her gasping for breath just as she did.

"W-w-what the fuck was that!" Padme yelled through her coughs. He didn't look like he was faring much better as he was clutching his starry scared chest. He looked as worried as she was.

The two lay there in silence both trying to catch their breath. Although only a few seconds must have passed it felt like it had been minutes and the awkwardness only seemed to linger.

"Soooooo. Did we have sex?" Vader finally asked.

"You tried to kill me!"

"With orgasms?"

"No, just a few seconds ago!"

"Ah, yes. I remember that." Of course, it happened only moments ago! "In my defence, though you really shouldn't wake people while they are sleeping."

"Waking someone up and attempting murder really isn't comparable." She growled at the Jedi.

Vader merely shrugged and got up to the closet where he found some trousers and a black shirt to put on, by some miracle or rather, the poor workers on the ship. The boy managed to have some clean clothes.

Padme herself got out of bed. Her dress which had cost a small fortune, had alcohol stains all over it. Just wonderful. If the paparazzi ever saw her like this they would have a field day dragging her name through the mud. She can imagine it now, 'Nabooian senator sleeps with Hutt security'. Hell, if that was the best, then she would be lucky.

She could stay here and not be seen but... that would mean spending more time with her attempted murderer. She would rather the public slander.

"You're not going to leave looking like that, are you?" Vader asked her, raising a brow at her appearance.

"Well, I'm not going to stay here." She sneered, looking around the room.

"I can't decide what is worse, if this is yours or if it isn't." The Queen said, using a nearby pen to pick up a bright pink bra with its very flimsy strap. How this was supposed to provide any back support was beyond her.

"Well, your majesty. I hate to explain how this whole thing works for you, but there is this little thing called a walk of shame. Otherwise known as a slut walk. One planet I went to called it Okur'kaur. It translates to the 'woman who should be stoned'. Wasn't very progressive, but affective."

Padme rolled his eyes at his antics. Sure she was in the upper class, but she knew what a walk of shame is … oh crap. If anyone saw her then every politician from all these different planets would think she got drunk and threw herself at the nearest person. No doubt her rivals in the republic would use it as ammunition against her.

"Well, I don't have much choice," Padme grumbled, it seemed she would have to be sneaky as possible.

"Well… you are not completely choiceless," Anakin said picking up a very very short crop top. A leftover from of one of his conquests. The smirk on his face made her want to walk up to him and break his stupid nose.

"No! I'm not wearing the clothes of your one-night stands. Who knows what STDs could be crawling on them?"

"Hah! We are way beyond caring about germs. I didn't exactly cuddle in the bed you slept in."

"Ugh, you're disgusting. When I get back to my room, I'm taking a shower with bleach."

"Well, you could wear my clothes."

"That would look just as bad!" Not to mention, she would barely fit. 

"I have one more idea. But you're not going to like it."

He was right. Padme hated this. The queen was currently stuck hiding in one of those room service trollies as Vader pushed her through the ship. It seemed that he really did have free rein on the ship as after ordering room service, the maid didn't even argue when he told her he was taking the trolley.

"Drive better you arse!" Padme banged her head on the roof of the trolley. It was far too small and cramped for a grown person to be inside. All those times she said she'd do yoga tomorrow were really coming back to bite her.

"Not my fault. It feels like I'm pushing a moon," Vader grumbled.

"How dare you!" She didn't get a response. Instead, she slammed forward, hitting the metal with her face.

"Oops. Sorry." She could tell he wasn't.

She didn't know how long she was in that trolley. She wouldn't put it past Vader to intentionally take longer than usual. He took pleasure in hearing his own voice and he enjoyed it even more hearing other people whine about him. Having Padme trapped like this was probably the highlight of his day. Padme was so annoyed she almost missed the sound of approaching footsteps.

"You, boy. You are the Jedi, correct?" That voice was so pretentious. Padme wanted to gag just hearing it, though; there was something familiar about the voice.

"Not a Jedi." She heard Vader groan.

"Ex-Jedi then. The specifics aren't really what we wished to talk to you about. Rather, we have an interesting proposition for you." It took a few seconds but Padme realised where she recognised the voice. It was her fellow Republic senators, the ones she had spent the night with before she became Vader's babysitter.

Padme waited for his answer. It never came, Vader didn't bother to answer the senators. Maybe he thought it wasn't worth his time. She felt the trolley start to move again, but she heard something kick against it, stopping it from moving any further.

"Get out of my way," Vader growled. His voice was a far cry from the usual mocking that she was so used to hearing.

"We'd just like a moment of your time."

"You're not worth that long."

"How much exactly is worth your time, mercenary?" One of the senators asked. "Let's face it I doubt an ex-Jedi would ever come to Nar Shaddaa to open their own security business. To put it bluntly, we are more than happy to pay for your time."

"What would a senator want with a mere mercenary exactly?"

"Well, because of your position, it must be easy to get into any room you want. You could hypothetically enter someone's room and-"

"Bug it. I assume you're going to want me to place the recorders in the rooms of the CIS senators." Republic Senators, that's why the voice sounded so familiar.

"Exactly. Look at you mercerenary, you're smarter then you look." The voice was sickeningly annoying.

Padme couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was beyond illegal. If the senate heard what they were proposing, they would be stripped of their position before the media could grab hold of it and tear them apart with anti-republic nonsense.

"You realise you're risking your career by trying to spy on different political heads. The tension might be rising between the Republic and the CIS but even you morons know that being caught spying on currently neutral systems will be career suicide."

"Perhaps. But that's only if the bugs were found. Even if they were there is no proof it is ours, even then we were found out, then who cares? This news will never reach The Core planets. Whom are the people going to believe? Just mentioning you're from Nar Shaddaa is enough for us to tell the media you're nothing but a liar who would do anything for some attention."

"Hah! Maybe we should let the news get out. If we could blackmail Dooku, then we'd be treated as heroes." Another senator agreed.

Disgusting. It was one thing to spy on your enemies. It was underhanded and immoral, but during the war, many lives could be saved by blackmail. Though to do it against currently neutral politicians just so they could blackmail them just when they 'potentially' pose a risk was just disgusting.

"Get out of my way before I show you just how much lenience I get as security. This is a cruiser-class ship, It's too big to have security cameras everywhere."

"We don't want any conflict, Jedi. We are just offering you credits that you can spend on all the alcohol you want. If you don't want to I'm sure we can find someone else too. The only person who loses is you."

"I'm not a Jedi." Vader hissed at the men before Padme felt the trolley start moving again.

The two remained in silent for most of the trip. The only sound were the wheels rolling against the metal floor. Vader didn't seem to be in the mood to talk which was a first and Padme was too embarrassed to say anything. Although Padme could only remain silent for so long.

"Thank you for not taking the bribe. That was surprisingly moral of you."

"I didn't do it because of morality. I did it 'cause I hate the Republic."

"We aren't all like that. We are less corrupt than the Hutts you work for."

"Justifying corruption by saying someone else is more corrupt is pathetic." Padme didn't disagree.

Chapter Text

Padme walked mindlessly through the large, extensive garden. She had to admit that while she certainly didn’t respect the Hutts for being heartless slavers and pirates. But, she certainly could appreciate the rare and endangered flora that they had access to. She supposed crime did pay as she lost herself looking over at a particular tree that had leaves that were every colour of the rainbow. 

This place was perhaps the only peaceful place on this awful ship and was probably the only place she wouldn’t be bothered by following senators. They were too busy getting high and sleeping with Grakkus’ prostitutes to appreciate the beauty of something that doesn’t have an alcohol percentage.

Being a senator wasn’t supposed to be this… awful, was it? Palpatine was the senator before her. Before he was voted into the chancellor position after the whole invasion incident of Naboo a few years ago. Maybe she should get in contact with him to find out how he dealt with the corruption. The man seemed to be rather kind and genuine, probably one of the very few Republic senators who wasn’t corrupt in some sort of way.  

Letting out a tired sigh she continued her journey through the garden, she shouldn’t complain too much. She, after all did volunteer for this opportunity. The thought of making alliances with some of the outer rim planets which had yet to officially join the Republic, was too appealing. Naboo, being a planet near the border of the outer rim would mean if she could start issuing trade deals from the Core to the Outer Rim then she would cement herself into the Republic. Others had told her to wait, that she was still young and had time to make big changes, but now she couldn’t help but think that maybe she should have slowed down a little.

“You look like you could use an aspirin.” A rather smooth voice spoke behind her. She could melt into a voice like that.

Turning around, Padme was greeted by the sight of an older gentleman dressed in exquisitely black clothing. Senators often wore long garments reminiscent of their past, back when men wore white gowns before the ages of interspace travel, except now they were often bejeweled and were a sign of wealth rather then intelligence. 

Dooku never looked like one to wear such garments, though, despite being royalty like herself, he looked more like a bachelor than some politician. He wore high-quality brands of clothing and had accessories that shone in the fake sunlight of the garden.

If Padme was being honest she thought he looked rather attractive, the definition of a silver fox. Now that he wasn’t using some sort of space magic to choke someone, he seemed rather pleasant and calm. Although after last night’s demonstration that was clearly a farse that she wouldn’t believe.

“Dooku,” Padme openly scowled.

“Please, Miss Amidala, let’s not start this conversation with insults and petty jabs. If I had wanted to be insulted I would seek worse company than yourself. Which, unfortunately, is easier than it seems on this ship.”

Padme couldn’t help but agree, this whole ship was filled with Hutt, independent and Republic figureheads. This ship was big but even the whole galaxy isn’t large enough to fit the ego of pretentious rich arseholes who just want power. 

“And how would I know you wouldn’t use your space magic on me?” Padme glared, the image of the alien choking to near death by invisible hands had burned into her mind. How does one even stop that?

“Magic,” Dooku scoffed. “The Force is not magic, the same way gravity isn’t. A fact of life you don’t understand isn’t magic, just ignorance.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t feel safe in your presence, Dooku.”

“Ah, but I have something that might change your mind.” The Count reached into his pocket and fished out a small container of Aspirin, which he offered to Padme who rather begrudgingly took it. If he wanted to kill her, he wouldn’t need to poison her. 

“If it wasn’t for the threat of overdosing, I would be eating these like sweets. I believe I’m the sole reason that the pharmacy near my castle is able to afford a yacht.” Damnit, how could someone so violent be so charming at the same time?

“Thank you, my head is killing me. I’m starting to see the upside in lobotomy with how much my head is hurting.”

“Yes, alcohol can be quite the alluring poison. Unfortunately, with the company we keep, I find myself drinking more and more. ” Once again Padme found herself agreeing with Dooku, he certainly liked to hear himself talk. He wasn't wrong, though, after becoming Senator, she often found more and more alcohol in her hand. 

“Speaking of which, you and Vader? You two were quite inseparable from what I recall last night.”

Padme looked away as her cheeks burned from embarrassment. She couldn’t remember the night but she did remember the morning with Vader’s rather shirtless form sleeping beside her. She was so screwed, the rumour mill will go wild with talk despite the fact she didn’t even do anything with the alcohol ex-Jedi.

“Please don’t remind me. I thought the Jedi were supposed to abstain from any sort of vices like alcohol, drugs and sex. Clearly, he didn’t get the memo.”

“No, Jedi can drink and take any drugs as long as it’s legal. They can even have sex despite most people thinking that they are an order of celibate monks. The doctrine states that attachment is forbidden so long as it influences their judgment. Meaningless sex, while looked down upon in the order is not forbidden. Just don’t flaunt your ‘conquests’ and no one will really mind.” 

That was kind of disappointing. The Jedi stood for righteous purity, yet nothing they indulged in the same vices in she did made them seem just as awful as her.

“Truthfully, I suppose I don’t know much about the Jedi. Besides them being peacekeepers of the galaxy, I truthfully don’t know much about the order.” Dooku gave a disapproving hum at her answer as if what she said was some sort of insult directed at him.

“Peacekeepers,” Dooku rolled his eyes. “The Jedi are no longer what they used to be. What they are now is the whole reason I left the order. They forbid attachment for fear of unjust influence, yet sit idly by as the government they love abuses its citizens. They have become dogs of the Republic.”

“Careful, Dooku, I am part of the Republic.”

“Then you know what I am talking about.” Right again. 

The two walked in silence after that through the garden. Dooku no doubt wanted her to think about the sins of the Republic, yet despite that her thoughts never strayed far from the Jedi… no that wasn’t quite right, rather she couldn’t get Vader out of her head. The annoying ex-Jedi had cemented himself in her mind, and the sight of her waking up next to him appeared more and more in her head. The way his chest heaved up and down, and more so how his back was more scarred than normal flesh.

“The Jedi. You left cause of their affiliation with the Republic, was there any other reason?”

“The Jedi have many flaws, to go through them all would take more time than I have left in my life.”

“What about the way they treat children? You are indoctrinated as kids, right? Warrior monks must treat the kids quite roughly.” The thought of Vader’s first reaction to being awoken was to murder her came to mind.

Vader was quite young, but he seemed to be on the cusp of adulthood. Padme had never really seen any of the children, the Jedi Order had no doubt keeping the kids out of the public view similar to Padme’s own childhood. But if they were sheltered inside their order then Vader having so many scars while he was so young meant it must have come from the Order itself. Sick bastards. Vader was a scumbag but if he was abused then it made sense for his unsurprising reliance on drugs and alcohol. 

“The rumours of how the Jedi treat the younglings are unfounded. I hate the Jedi, but the tales of them stealing kids is a lie. Parents are quite eager for their kids to be Jedi, it guarantees them a future and while Jedi aren’t so much paid, they are often treated to a life of respect and high-class activities from wealthy benefactors who seek Jedi approval.” Dooku actually seemed offended at her line of questioning. Padme knew she should stop but she couldn’t stop thinking about the canvas of scars that Vader had on his back. 

“Do they hit the kids a lot?”

Dooku actually stopped walking. For the second time on this ship, she had seen the Count with a look of actual rage, for a split second she could have sworn his eyes actually turned yellow. 

“I am no fan of the Jedi but I myself was one. To accuse me of ever hitting a child is beyond disgusting, and I will not tolerate such a foul insult.”

“No! Please wait… It’s just that, Vader. I noticed he has quite a bit of scars on his body, I was just concerned that it was the reason he left the order. As a senator of the Republic, to have an Order that abuses children would be something I couldn’t let stand.” She never got the chance to further elaborate before Dooku walked up to her with actual fury in his eyes.

“The Jedi train the younglings for combat, yes, do they get scars? Also, yes, that much is inevitable. However, the order is not some abusive orphanage, and even the Jedi would not stoop so low as child abuse.” With that Dooku turned on a dime walking off in a controlled angered march towards whatever victim would be unlucky to get in his way as he made his way through the ship.

Padme was stunned. She was such an idiot! Why did she think it was a smart idea to accuse an ex-Jedi of child abuse?! But… she knew what she saw, those scars on the back weren’t from some training exercise. There were too many, and there was such a large concentration on certain parts of his body. Someone scared Vader, and while the Order isn’t responsible, it may still have been a Jedi.

ARGH! Why did she even care? Vader sucked! He was the worst person on this ship! She should have just ignored the stupid boy and focused on keeping to politics, maybe then she could have befriended Count Dooku and maybe earned an alliance. Now that Serreno has left the Republic under Dooku’s orders she could have still negotiated some trade deals! Damnit Vader! This was all his fault. Him and his stupid shirtless body that she couldn’t stop thinking about. 

***

Anakin prayed to the Whills he hated so very much for putting him in this time loop for some sort of relief. More and more vomit was expelled from the mouth in a rather acidic-tasting wave of liquid. Thankfully, he hadn’t been eating much so it was quite easy to throw up.

“Okay… it’s official, I need to put some effort this run into learning some toxin resistance techniques.” Jedi using the force were capable of some remarkable feats, they could enhance their own healing, physical abilities and more importantly to Anakin, resistance to harmful substances. He couldn’t end his holiday loop early due to his organs shutting down.

He gave one last solitary spit before getting up from his knees. Anakin had tons of drugs in his bathroom, but nothing that would cure a headache. Sis only real saving grace was the strawberry-flavoured mouthwash he rinsed over and over again to try to get the taste of his stomach out of his mouth. 

Squinting his eyes, he made out that he had slept through a good amount of the day. Since spaceships didn’t rotate like planets, there was no concept of day or night so ships would often run on an individual twenty-four-hour time so they had some concept of time. 

“Shit, it’s already two in the afternoon,” Anakin swore. The Hutt wouldn’t be happy with him, he could probably come up with some elaborate lie. Surely there was some scummy politician he could get to vouche for him protecting them the whole day rather than actually do his security duties.

Anakin threw on some clothes that didn’t have his vomit currently on them and ran outside only to collapse against the wall opposite his room. Okay, that was too much movement at once for a very hungover Anakin. This might take a while.

***

“You’re late. I called you to the bridge at eight o’clock, yet only now you only show up at three. That’s a seven-hour difference. I would have sent a droid but I feared what diseases it would be contaminated by.” Grakkus sneered looking over Anakin in his hung-over state.

Anakin collapsed in one of the chairs on the bridge immediately letting his head fall into his hands to nurse his killer headache. 

“Droids can’t get STDs.” Besides he didn’t have any STDs, he was clean. Anakin always used correct protection, you can’t have too many extremely powerful force-sensitive kiddos running around for Palpatine to recruit and use against him. Would it have been smarter just to give up sex entirely? Probably, but why even waste time considering the impossible? 

“I’m sure you’d find a way.” Grakkus narrowed his eyes. “You’re lucky I have rather pressing concerns or you’d be out of a job and ejected out of the airlock.”

“Aw, have I not been annoying enough,” Anakin smirked, though that small bit of entertainment quickly turned to pain as Grakkus pressed down on the shock collar remote sending electric shocks through his whole body.

“Do not push me boy.” The Hutt looked down on Anakin, his towering mass could crush the young Jedi if the slug simply fell down on top of him. “There was a murder done today, I want you to use your magic to figure it out. Padme has been kind enough to offer her services.”

“Padme? No thanks, having a potential suspect would ruin the investigation. Why else would a senator offer help for a murder case? She probably did it. Besides, I don’t like her.”

“I know. That’s why I’m doing it e chu ta. ” Grakkus sneered, ‘ e chu ta’ a Huttese insult, usually it was rather pointless to insult someone in a language they didn’t understand, but the way he venomously spat the word made it clear what it meant. 

The Hutt turned to Padme, taking his eyes off Anakin who stuck up a certain finger behind his back. “I hope you know what you are doing Miss Armidala, and If I do find out you are the murderer… well, just hope I don’t.”

“I want what’s best for everyone, you think I want a murder on board with me?” She gave a bow to the slug, giving him more respect then he deserved.

“I ‘think’ you have a poor sense of judgement given your choice of company.” Grakkus eyes flicked to Anakin. Rude. “But alas my personal Jedi is a drunk and I won’t say no to a nurse I don’t have to pay.”

With a wave of his hand, Grakkus dismissed the two of us. “Go get the boy out of my sight. His presence alone is raising the blood alcohol of everyone in the room.”

“We’ll get out of your… um, hair.” Padme said, staring a little too long at Grakkus’ baldness. Anakin would have laughed but every time he opened his mouth he felt like he was risking emptying his stomach. Yup, he officially had too much. 

“Bye Grakkus! Won’t disappoint you.” Anakin waved.

“I doubt that.”

Padme grabbed Anakin’s hand and pulled him out of the bridge. Oh, Whills, he felt awful, her rapid pace, which in reality was just a brisk walk felt like he was being thrown around by a rancor. 

Eventually, they did make it to their destination. It was remarkably not bloody for murder, in fact the first thing Anakin noticed was that, despite being a murder scene, there was nobody at all. They were in some sort of engineering bay, most likely a place to fix the droid servants of the ship. For a murder this place was had an extreme lack of blood. 

Anakin tried to open his mouth to ask why they were here but he was ushered into a chair by Padme, rather forcefully. 

“So, where is the dead body?” Anakin finally asked a little confused by the situation. The Senator walked behind him and as confused he let her sit down on the table behind him as she picked up several different tools. 

Padme didn’t answer him, instead, she grabbed his collar and pulled it further down as she tried to get a better look at the collar around his neck. Anakin didn’t bother speaking as Padme rearranged his head as she tried her best to look at the collar, it felt nice to feel her touch him. Her hands worked their way around his jaw as she tried looking at the collar at different angles with very little success.

It was only when Anakin grabbed her hands did she stopped. He leaned back in his chair so the back of it hit the table between her legs, allowing the boy to look up at the Senator. She looked frustrated, annoyed and worst of all she looked at him with something he had seen over and over again. Pity. 

“What are you doing Padme?” He asked tiredly. He was so sick of pity, why couldn’t she go back to that look of hatred she had before when she saw him?

“Getting this stupid collar off.” She huffed, pulling her hands out of his. He missed their warmth but once again her hands were on his face as she tried to yank his head out of the way as so she could get a better look at his slave collar. 

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why? Isn’t there more pressing concerns at the moment? Or was this 'murder' just so you could shake my head like a rattle?”

“Of course not!” She hissed, despite her venomous attitude there was some small part of Anakin that felt a little relieved. “The dead body isn’t going anywhere, we can investigate after I get this stupid thing off.”

“It’s not coming off.”

“Of course it is! Grakkus the arsehole can just put up with it, I’m not going to have-”

“Padme,” Anakin sighed. “It’s not coming off.”

She didn’t listen, instead, she started to just jam tools into the collar, miserably failing to break open the latch. Padme was amazing at many things but she was never quite so gifted in electronics. 

Anakin leaned forward causing him to fall out of Padme’s hands. She tried to pull him back, but she found her hands stopped by an invisible wall. Anakin reached out into the force, using it to grab a small mirror and the tools from Padme’s hands. 

It was rather difficult. Anakin had always had problems with the controlled use of the Force especially so early on in the loops. He was loved by The Force, and as such, he could progress at a rate unmatched by any other. What would take a decade for an average Jedi he could achieve in a year was certainly a helpful ability in his war against Palpatine, allowing him to match the Sith lord in power in a decade. But it meant that while he could learn powerful aspects of the force quickly, he often skipped out on the small stuff.

A youngling must be chosen to become a padawan by the age of thirteen or else they are put into the Service Corp. From thirteen to mid-twenties they are padawans till they eventually become knighted. Yet, despite being only seventeen, Anakin was definitely in the upper echelons of padawans in terms of combat. A small mercy of being sent back to his seventeen-year-old body rather than his birth, he couldn’t stand repeating breastfeeding over and over again.

The point was Anakin was quite capable combat-wise, being considered a powerful padawan at such a young age. Yet, he had such little time to learn the finer aspects of The Force which meant he struggled to maneuver the small tools and mirror around him. Still, he noticed in the reflection of the mirror Padme was watching in awe, as seemingly the very universe was bending to his will.

It would have been cute if Anakin wasn’t dealing with a migraine right now, trying to use the delicate tools on his collar whilst trying to recover from a hangover.

“Look here, these slave collars are made with a powerful battery to shock the user. The collar actually acts as an insulator for the battery, as the sheer output would shock a slave into unconsciousness instantly from pain.” Anakin explains as he carefully worked the tools to expose the wiring of the collar.

“This was intentional as the remote controls how much insulation is being used. This means that if a slave ever broke the collar or tried to someone unarm it, which I am being very careful not to do. It would allow the full output of the battery to be unleashed immediately. Trying to disarm it would just make it go off automatically at full output.”

“That’s horrible.” 

“Yeah, well. Slave collars aren’t built to be taken off. I should be glad Grakkus gave me a fresh one, I’ve seen one of these malfunction. It’s not fatal, not even a slaver wants a dead slave. It’s not pretty though. Flesh melts, clothing catches fire, muscles completely paralysed.”

Anakin willed the tools and the mirror back on the desk, putting the collar back together so Grakkus wouldn’t know he was playing with it. That wouldn’t be pretty. Anakin once again leaned back letting his chair his the table Padme sat on so he could look at her once again.

“Besides, even if I did disable the collar, Grakkus tests the thing when he feels bored. When he realises it’s not working then he would just fetch a new one.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Eh. It’s business.” It certainly wasn’t the worst thing a Hutt had done to him, and at least he was being compensated. 

“It’s slavery.”

“So?” Anakin raised a brow. “Look at every civilisation, they are all made on top of the graves of slaves. The Republic does it, the Hutts does it, and so far the only people that haven’t yet is the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems. Even then, they will do it eventually. That’s the thing with slavery, it’s easy.”

“The Republic grew out of it.”

“You got better at hiding it, calling it different names and giving some benefits. By the laws you create, it’s technically not slavery. There are still a few planets that believe in forced marriage, and there are several Republic companies that use debt bondage or unfair working agreements in order to have cheap labour.”

Padme scowled and pushed Anakin’s seat away from her. He knew it was coming, that tug from The Force warned him, but he would let her have this. As much as he wanted her hands on him, it was still too early. A few lifetimes too early again.

“I’m working on it. Why do you think I became a Senator? Naboo was exploited by the Trade Federation to try to gain plasma as so they could win over more planets when they finally broke away from the Republic and made the CIS. The Republic is pretending to be sympathetic to Naboo, as we were left alone to deal with the Trade Federation, but beyond closed doors, they blame the creation of the CIS on us. As If us fighting back was the reason the CIS was created.”

It made sense. The loss of the Banking Clans was a huge loss to the Republic's economy. The reality of the situation was that Naboo promoted Palpatine to chancellor somewhat out of pity and also because Palpatine promised a more aggressive Republic to stand against the CIS threat. If the Trade Federation won the Naboo situation, then Palpatine would have been made chancellor, and the CIS would have a large amount of plasma. If Naboo won, then he would still be made chancellor. Either way Palpatine won the Naboo situation. A product of his own chaos.

“So you want to look good so people don’t hate Naboo. How heroic.” Anakin rolled his eyes.

“I don’t want what happened to Naboo to happen to anyone else. Not all of us are selfish bastards only looking out for ourselves.” With that, she stood up and marched away.

He knew the, he even had enough shame to look down at the ground. But he had seen her march off before calling him far worse than a bastard before proceeding to die by Palpatine. This loop wouldn’t be the last time she died and she would probably die in the loops to come. Anakin will be the one to free the Galaxy, the certainty of immortality assured that. He would free the Galaxy from Palpatine. Just… not now, not this loop. He was a selfish bastard, and he was tired. He was exhausted.

Chapter Text

“So we can all agree the murderer is Dooku right?” Anakin said looking over the corpse.

“How could you possibly know that?”

Anakin looked over the dead body of the Senator, the body had no signs of energy weapon or physical weapon harm. His clothes were torn, but it looked like they were ripped by the victim, judging by the fact the corpse had threads of fabric between the nails.

“This looks like Force drain.”

“Force drain? That’s… technically a name.” Anakin noticed Padme’s sideways look, she clearly didn’t believe him, but she didn’t openly laugh at him. Talking about The Force to nonsensitives was always a bit trying, they always looked at like you were some religious nutcase. Even if they did believe in it it was always something they wouldn't understand. Sort of like sight to a blind person.

“It’s a Darkside ability. It literally rips out someone’s life force to either use it for yourself or just to purely remove it from someone. Look, the muscles have pruned from a lack of moisture and his skin is decaying. His nutrients have literally ripped away from him.” However, force drain was never Dooku’s strong point. Anakin didn’t even think Dooku had the ability, and if he did, he could probably only kill small insects. Dooku always preferred to rely on Sith lightning.

Why would he do this? To hide it was his doing? There was no point, Dooku should be the only Darkside user on the ship. Ventress? No, it was too early for her. Ventress only joined Dooku when he was eighteen next year, a bit before Genosis. Besides she was never good at Sith techniques like drain or lightning, she was always a physical fighter.

“Dark side?”

“It’s a way to use the Force. It’s not so much of a side of the Force as it is a perversion of it. If the Force is nature, something alive to be guided towards growth, then the Dark side is a cancer. An ultimately corrupt use of the Force that can be used to achieve unnatural feats. For example, ripping the life out of someone.” It was a common misconception that the Light was meant to be balanced with the Dark. Balance in the Force is its natural state. The Darkside is a invasive species in the Galaxy, something that was never meant to be.

“I’ve seen you do the same, though. I suppose, ripping the life out of someone is unnatural but moving things with your mind isn’t?” Padme sarcastically said looking around the torn-up room so she could no doubt come to her own conclusions about the case. 

“Moving things with your mind can create infrastructure, defend yourself and is just a manipulation of gravity. Life stealing is parasitic, only meant to harm in an extremely painful way. This is not the face of someone who died peacefully.” Anakin looked over at the dead senator’s face. He had died screaming, his nails were bloodied as well, he was literally clawing at his chest, ripping his clothes apart trying desperately to keep whatever was inside him still there.

“This is one of the Hutt planet senators,” Padme observed. Well, not really a senator if it was from a Hutt planet, warlord or pirate king was probably more accurate. “If Dooku really did do this it would be an interplanetary scandal.”

“Careful you actually sound excited at this man’s death.”

“Ah, who cares he’s probably a slaver.” Padme waved off, she was cute when she disregarded life. “He’s better off dead. But if it got out that Dooku did this, then the CIS might not associate with him. He and the banking guilds are the two main contributors to the CIS. Without him, some of the independent planets the Republic lost might reconsider and join the Republic again. Not to mention it will all be thanks to me!” For something that wasn't meant to be mentioned, she sure was happy.

“All thanks to you?” Anakin raised a questioning brow, “Last time I checked all you did was open the door for me.”

“And you are so welcome for that.” Padme gave a mocking bow to him. Her smirk spread widely across her face. Had he been one of her fellow senators, she would have never acted so freely teasing or unprofessional. Anakin just threw a pillow at her head which she narrowly avoided.

***

“That sounds circumstantial at best.” 

The Republic senators were all sitting around a table. Many of them looked displeased to be here and they also just happened to be the ones who clearly hastily put on make-up to miserably cover the signs of their late-night escapades. 

“Look we all hate Dooku, we can all agree on that.” The senator continued receiving nods of agreement at his words. “But, let’s not forget. Our accusations carry consequences. If we are wrong that will just allow Dooku to rake us over the coals even more. Can we really put our faith in, and let us speak plainly? A junkie? No offence but we all saw him out of his mind last night and that’s not even mentioning this whole accusation is based on ‘space magic’.”

Padme looked around the table noticing that more and more people were starting to be swayed against her. Sure, it wasn’t that big of a deal if they didn’t accuse Dooku, but if they all thought she was crazy or prone to accusation then when this cruise was over, rumours would spread throughout the Republic about her being unreliable.

“You are not from the core are you?” Another senator spoke up. “That ‘space magic’ isn’t a joke. I myself have seen it first hand after an assassination attempt, those are no mere rumours. The Jedi are a powerful group capable of things we cannot even understand. If the Jedi says it's The Force then it's The Force.”

“Oh please. Don’t get me wrong the Jedi are definitely well-trained soldiers, I’ll give them that. But that’s all they are. If you were trained since birth to swing around a laser sword I bet you could run fast or dodge a couple of blaster bolts. None of you really believe the garbage about how they can leap over skyscrapers or carry things without even their hands.”

“You haven’t met a Jedi. Do not pretend to be knowledgable when you are just ignorant." The other senator continued. He was so sure of himself that Padme could tell he was from The Core. No wonder a Core Senator believed in the Jedi. "How many poisons do you know that leave a body a soulless husk?”

“There are plenty of poisons that act as a dehydrator or prevent enzymes from breaking down nutrients. You worship those monks too much, old man.” 

The older senator, the one who was actually on Padme’s side looked furious. Not so much at the other man giving good points, which admittedly he was, but rather that his idolisation of the Jedi was being mocked. 

“It doesn’t hurt to have both plans in the back pocket.” A female senator stood up trying to be a peacekeeper. “I myself visited the temple on Coruscant and the rumours of the Jedi’s capabilities are no lie.”

The senator who was sceptical of the Jedi scoffed along with quite a few others. Padme couldn’t blame them though, had it not been for Vader or the two Jedi that escorted her a few years ago she two would not have believed in space mag- the Force. To anyone who personally hadn’t met the Jedi or seen them in action, then just believing they were a bunch of battle-trained monks with some exaggerated stories just made sense. Certainly more sense then some of the rumours that she heard.

Not only that but admitting the Jedi did have magic powers meant that you admit their God, The Force. Was real. Vader certainly didn’t seem to worship the Force as some religious zealots would, but to other religions admitting that it was the Force rather than their own God would be blasphemy.

“If the ex-Jedi says it’s magic then it could be. It could also just be poison. Let’s get a medical droid to check for any foul play and if the results come up unsatisfactory then I see why we couldn’t pursue the thought that Dooku did it.” The woman continued. 

As much as it did irritate Padme, it wasn’t a bad idea. Truthfully Vader could be wrong, he seemed remarkably hungover when she met him. But when Padme looked at the woman closer she noticed how her pupils were dilated and how glossy her eyes looked. The woman looked like she had been up all night. The woman was coming off a high. This woman was no better than the other two, the only difference was her answers were far more centralist, more afraid to choose sides. She really was a senator.

“Republic swine!” A voice called out from far away, the group of Republic senators all turned towards to see a large group of a varying amount of aliens approach them. 

“What’s a swine?” One of her fellow Republic senators whispered to her, he was a Mon Calamari.

While there was a large difference in races compared to the Republic senators who were mostly human Padme did notice one thing that the approaching group had in common. They were all from the CIS. With the leader that called them out being a Skakoan clearly demonstrated by the atmospheric pressure suit.

“What do you want Wat Tambor?” One of the Republic senators sneered. Tambor? They were the heads of the Techno Union, responsible for making starships and had their own droid army. Technically they were still part of the Republic but considering he was surrounded by CIS senators Padme could make a pretty strong assumption that wouldn’t last.

“Grakkus is holding a court. Turns out the senator who died was in charge of all the spice farms on Ylesia.”

“All of them?” 

“All of them.” Wat confirmed. “Some Hutt clan head is furious and is taking it out on Grakkus who now in turn is going to take it out on us. I hope whatever reason you imbeciles thought that this would be a good time for an assassination was worth it cause now we are all screwed.”

***

“I must admit… I didn’t expect you to be so good at holo chess.”

“Obi-Wan taught me, told me it would make me a better general and leader but truthfully, it was just because he liked winning. That is until I started to win.”

“Obi-Wan.” The name brought a smile to Dooku’s face. “I never really met the boy too much. Qui-Gon was always so eager to show off his little Padawan to me, but at the time I was a bit busy betraying the Order. Clearly, some of Qui-Gon may have rubbed off on the boy. I myself was the one who taught Qui-Gon to play.”

“Chess is just a game, in a real war, the opponent doesn’t wait for you to move. The pieces also don’t torture each other or strap civilians to buildings in order to prevent bombing runs. Just a heads up for the future, the Republic doesn’t care, how many civilians you kill. It just makes them look better when they hang you up in chains.”

“No, I suppose you're right.” Dooku agreed, both to the chess not being the same as real war and that the Republic doesn’t care. “But please, such topics are unbefiting of a child such as yourself, lets talk about something a bit lighter, please how is my grand-padawan Obi-Wan?” He joked.

“Being hailed as a hero, the first Jedi in a thousand years to kill a Sith is quite the accomplishment. There was even talk about making him a Master, though that was just padawan rumours.” Obi-Wan only ever became a Master after Anakin became a knight. Now that Anakin had fled the Order Obi-Wan would probably train Asohka instead. Good. She would thrive under a Master like him. Every loop was different but more things were common than others, for example, Asohka usually ended up as either Plo Koon or Obi-Wan’s padawan if Anakin ever left the order.

“Maul.” Anakin felt the dark side rise from Dooku as the Sith lord sat in thought, Dooku spat the name like it was poison. The dark side had a distinct feel to it, every Sith was different but they were all awful. Maul felt like fire, Sidious felt like ice, but Dooku never really felt anything, he was better trained and could keep his power on a leash usually. But, at the thought of the Dathomirian Anakin felt Dooku’s grasp slip.

“Maul is hardly a Sith, an unhinged mutt that got lucky.” Dooku and Maul never really got along in the loops. There was a few rare ones where they worked together to kill Palpatine, Anakin even joined in for some attempts, but usually, the death of Qui-Gon meant those two were always at eachother’s throats. Dooku hated the Jedi but he had loved Qui-Gon.

Whilst in his thoughts of hatred, Anakin shrugged and moved his final piece, capturing the king. Was it a poor idea to win while Dooku was currently channeling the dark side? Maybe, but Anakin was sick of losing to Sith. “Checkmate.”

“My, you are quite a good player. Did you ever play Windu? Him and his shatterpoint was just unfair, he claimed to never use it to cheat, but for all his rules and he never liked to lose. You know people actually believed he was the chosen one. Are you familiar with the story of the chosen one?”

Great, Anakin rolled his eyes. Here comes the pitch, the ‘you may be the chosen one but only I can teach you. Join me and together we will protect/rule the galaxy’. 

“Yes, I am quite personally familiar.” Anakin sighed.

“So you are aware that you are a possible candidate for the prophecy? That’s good saves me time explaining it.”

“Look, Dooku, I came here because I know you keep headache medication on you, not because I want to hear your sales pitch about how totally ‘not evil’ you are.”

“The Jedi are-”

“Awful. Yes, I know. They pride themselves on outdated and honestly rather elitist traditions yet ignore their most important one. That the Jedi do not show bias. Yet for all my displeasure about the Jedi at least they try to make the universe better, they fail, but they try at the very least. I would rather have the Jedi then the Sith rule the galaxy.”

“You don’t understand the Darkside. They have hidden what it means. It’s not something to be feared.”

“I do not fear the Darkside.” Anakin sneered, “I pity it. I pity you, you’re just an addict who won’t realise who he will hurt while chasing his high.”

“You’re one to talk about being an addict.”

“I inject chemicals into my body, the difference is I’ll see hallucinations in my bed while you watch planets burn from a throne.”

“I am trying to save the Galaxy, you are a powerful force user who sits in self-pity. You claim I am selfish for using the dark side, then what do you call what you are doing with the light?” Dooku stood up from his seat, clearing the holo-chess board.

“If you ever want to actually use your power for the good of the universe my offer still stands. Despite your foul attitude, I actually do believe you are capable of great things. Qui-Gon sees it and so do I. All you have to do is take my hand.” 

Dooku extended his hand and Anakin felt a strong urge to reach out and take it. He was making sense after all, and maybe this time would be different. Anakin had joined Dooku multiple times, sometimes Anakin became a Sith along side Dooku others he returned Dooku to the light. This time could be different, the CIS afterall right now were the morally good side. Until they start commiting war crimes but that hadn’t happened yet, under Anakin’s rule he could change them. Save the galaxy.

Anakin quickly slapped Dooku’s hand away.

“You try lacing your words with the Darkside again and I’ll show you just how much I am the Chosen One.”

“It was worth a try.” Dooku shrugged as if he didn’t just try to do the Force equivalent of drugging someone. “Can’t blame a Sith for trying. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting you to be this difficult. You didn’t seriously come talk to me just to argue philosophy and play chess right?”

“I came for aspirin.” Anakin crossed his arms. “And I guess so, Grakkus doesn’t get on my back, technically I also came to ‘question’ you about the guy you killed.”

“The guy I killed?”

“Come on Dooku it’s me. I don’t care, it’s fine. Murder all the senators you like, they mean nothing to me, but come on. You know you killed him, I know you killed him. Why lie when neither of us cares?”

“I haven’t killed anyone since getting on this ship, not that my patience hasn’t been tested.” Dooku narrowed his eyes.

“Seriously?” Anakin glared, Dooku lying to him wasn’t so much coy as it was just down-right annoying. “Who else can use Force drain on this ship? So unless you’ve snuck an apprentice I haven’t ever met It has to be you.”

“Like I said I haven’t killed anyone.” Dooku's narrowed eyes matched Anakin’s glare.

Anakin reached out into the Force, while a Jedi can’t so much know if someone is lying to them they could read the emotions of someone. It wasn’t a perfect system as people can train themselves to feel certain ways while lying but usually most people who lie feel anxiety. Dooku had no anxiety, all he felt was insulted that his emotions were being read, and the moment Dooku felt Anakin, which was almost instantly, he ripped his emotions away.

“You really didn’t, did you?”

“Yes.” He sounded offended, more offended at being accused as a liar rather than a murderer.

Anakin and Dooku’s eyes widened at the same time because If Dooku truly wasn’t the murderer then that meant there was another dark-side user on the ship. One that Dooku didn’t know existed and one that was probably stronger than Anakin could stop.

Anakin quickly grabbed his communicator from his pocket, he needed to call Grakkus now or else this new loop would restart sooner than expected but unsurprisingly, he didn’t pick up. Seriously? Was Grakkus so petty that he wouldn’t pick up his calls just cause he wouldn’t pick up his? Yes, of course, the miserable Hutt would. 

“There shouldn’t be another dark side on the ship.” Dooku brought a hand up to his chin, deep in thought. Palpatine was currently on Coruscant trying to push the Republic to war with the CIS, Maul was assumed dead and night brothers/sisters shouldn’t be active yet. He was probably wondering if his master had other apprentices besides him that Palpatine hadn’t told him about. 

“Oh you idiot, it’s not a user, it is the Darkside.” Anakin scowled putting away his communicator. That stupid Hutt making Anakin actually do his job, if it wasn’t for the fact he was going to die along with the bastard he wouldn’t be putting this much effort into thing.

“What?"

***

“Tell me? Do you consider yourself much of an ambitious woman miss Amidala?” 

“This is stupid.”

“Answer the question Amidala.” Grakkus sighed rubbing his temples.

The ballroom had all the tables rearranged with all the seats facing towards the centre, were there was a large seat for Grakkus and another smaller seat for anyone unfortunately to be caught in the ridiculousness that was this sham of a courtroom. 

“Yes, I do.”

“Wonderful. And tell me Amidala ever since you were elected senator, you run a strong anti-drug campaign?” The CIS senator continued.

Since there were no lawyers aboard what had happened was a random senator would be called in front of everyone while some other random person started attacking them for two hours only for it to go nowhere since the only evidence we had was other people as Grakkus had rushed this so much that no proof had been collected.

“Yes. Spice trade is illegal in the Republic and since Naboo has an alternative hyperspace line from Naboo into the core it’s not uncommon to have Spice smugglers to try sneak in from Tattooine into the core through this hyperspace lane as the Coreillian Run is too well patrolled for smugglers to sneak in.”

“You must have hated to see such a prominent figure in the spice trade on board.”

“Didn’t even know he was on here.”

“But when you did!”

“He was already dead.”

“You went into a rage! A bloodthirsty fury, that couldn’t be quenched till you finally saw him bleed red.”

“Bleed? He wasn’t even stabbed to death.”

“So you know how he died. How convenient.” 

Padme gave an annoyed look towards Grakkus whose head was firmly in his hands. Padme would have felt bad for the Hutt, she certainly knew how awful it felt to have superiors be angry at her and be worried for her job. Then again it was Grakkus’ fault she was here in the first place so he could go die for all she cared.

“Can I go now?”

“Just,” Grakkus wiped his eyes before taking a deep breath. “Sure whatever, I don’t care. There are so many fucking people on this ship, I’m so screwed.” 

“But I’m not done with my interrogation!” The CIS senator whined like a child.

“You get one more question.” Grakkus waved off.

“Fine,” Padme growled.

“Where were you on the night of the murder?”

Padme gave another annoyed look to Grakkus who shrugged. “It’s a fair question.”

“I was at the party, like everyone else on this stupid ship.”

“Watch it.” Grakkus huffed.

“‘Wonderful’ ship.” She ‘corrected’ with a roll of her eyes.

“And after?”

“Come on this is ridiculous.” 

“Answer it Padme. Your hesitance while not an admission of guilt certainly doesn’t look good.”

“I was in my room recovering. I admittedly had been drinking a bit much and had to retire to my room.” She blushed embarrassed. Thankfully, enough people had seen her last night in her inebriated state, was she being truthfully about retiring to her room? No, but she wasn’t the murder and who she spent the night with was none of their business.

“What about the boy you were with? The Jedi.”

“He’s not a Jedi.” Padme’s nails dug against her skin. What did this scumbag want now, especially with Vader. 

“The cause of the death is unknown and the Jedi are rumored to have mystical abilities. What if he cursed the senator with a magic spell at your request? The two of you seemed real close last night.”

“He didn’t.”

“How would you know? You retired to your room. While you were making yourself an alibi, he could have used his spell book to cast a murder curse whilst we were all sleeping.”

“Spell book? You don’t know anything about the Jedi or their powers.”

“Do you? Does anyone here? Who actually knows what the Jedi are capable of? They keep to their temples and hide behind their secrets from the Galaxy. I’ve heard the rumours as I’m sure many of you, with just a wave of their hand objects move. Is it so far fetched that this ex-Jedi could kill using his cursed abilities.”

“Yes! Yes it is,” she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Worse people were actually nodding in the crowd. They didn’t actually believe Vader did it, they just wanted someone to blame. How can you disprove space magic, you can’t. In a guilty till proven innocent cause there was no defence against using magic cause it couldn’t be disproven isproven.

“Grakkus, you must realise this is insanity.” Padme begged. “You hired him for security.”

“Mmm yes. A Jedi…” Grakkus stroked his chin. “A Jedi, who, perhaps pretended to leave the Order as a way to infiltrate Hutt space as to not cause a scandal between the Hutts and the Republic. In doing so he was able to use his Jedi magic to get himself hired into security and assassinate the head of the Ylesia spice farms. If that was the case then all the blame would fall onto the Jedi and I would get my very own lightsaber, after the execution of course.”

What was he doing? He was dooming Vader, why was he-

“Oh you bloody coward.” Padme’s eyes flared with anger. 

Grakkus was fully prepared to throw Vader under he bus in order for the Hutts not to be angry at him. He was okay with letting an actual murderer go if it meant he wasn’t going to get in trouble for letting some drug dealer die. A murderer on board is a lack of security but a Jedi? That was no ones fault, they can’t be stopped. Especially since the Hutts, while they don’t despise the Jedi they still certainly don’t like them.

“It wasn’t Vader, and you know it!” 

“Ah, but the Jedi are a crafty bunch. We can’t rule out the possibility just cause we don’t understand their mystical abilities.”

Padme looked over to her fellow Republic senators who just sat in silence even the one who was previously worshipping the Jedi. None spoke up, and why would they? This didn’t concern them, especially since the Republic senators were currently being scrutinised by the CIS and Hutt senators. If a murderer got caught it would mean they are no longer under investigation. 

“I know it wasn’t Vader.”

“Oh really? How could you possibly know?” The CIS senator asked. This one last question was becoming a lot worse than she thought it would. 

“B-because… um,”

“See, she has no idea!”

“Because he accompanied me that night!” She screamed, her face was bright red and her eyes were heated. She must have looked like a schoolgirl confessing her crush but this was just too embarrassing for her. Vader the arsehole better treat her like a goddess the rest of this stupid trip, for this. Saving him defitinely wouldn’t be worth it.

“Not for sex!” Padme quickly added. “We were just both drunk and collapsed in the room together.”

It was too late. Through her fingers, she could see whispers go around. Even though most of the people here slept with many of Grakkus’ escorts they at least never admitted to it, never screamed it out loud surrounded by everyone else. 

Her ears burned and she could hear the words they whispered around. ‘Whore’, ‘slut’, and many more in languages she didn’t understand but she definitely they were all some different way of insulting her. 

“Well… um,” The CIS senator was at a loss of words. “I suppose we can’t rule anything out.” 

No one listened to him, instead they were too busy spreading rumours of what Vader did to her last night or what she commanded Vader to do to her. Some painted Vader as some sort of unspeakable monster who intentionally got her drunk while others depicted her as the disgusting person who threatened Vader with her political power to do what she wanted or she would get him fired.

None of it was true, but in what was only a minute, hundreds of stories were spread. None of which was positive or painted her in a good light. 

Oh god, she wanted to die. She should have just let Vader take the blame, this would definitely be used against her in the future. To whatever divine being is out there, just strike her down now. Her life was over anyway. 

Almost hearing her prayers one of the large lights exploded outwards in a display of shattered glass. Senators screamed as tiny bits of glass fell upon them but their screams were soon drowned out by the sound of another life exploding, then another. One by one everyone was screaming as each light was individually exploding, covering the whole room in pieces of glass while some people complained that they had been cut, most people were in shock as the whole room was soon swallowed by darkness.

“Okay, divine being. Maybe turn it down a bit.” Padme whispered to herself.

“Everyone relax. No one move, there is glass everywhere. Clearly, the lights are a bit too old, but everything will be fi-” Grakkus never could finish his sentence as the emergency lights blared covering the room in a red glow and sirens began to scream, causing the senators, Padme included, to cover their ears from the blaring noise. 

The emergency system of the ship was activating, what was going on? A few shattered light bulbs shouldn’t cause this.

The loud alarm noise didn’t last long at the very least as with a pained scratch like someone dragging their nails across a chalkboard, the sirens died with one last final scream.

“I-Is it finally over?” Someone dared ask now that they were finally in silence. Everyone was still covered in little bits of glass and the room still had it’s red glow but without the alarm scaring everyone even more than they had to be soon everyone started to compose themselves. 

People looked around trying to figure out if there was one person responsible or if this was all just an awful accident. Padme herself couldn’t help but wonder if this was just a demonstration of poor engineering. Had the whole ship short-circuited? She had always been bad with technology, instead, she was better at manipulating people than TV remote. However, that made sense right? It should explain why all the tech was being weird.

Padme let out the deep breath she had been holding, shocked to realise that she could actually see her breath. The temperature had dropped substantially, during the panic. Whatever had caused all the technology to act up had also messed up the thermometer.

She brought her fingers to her mouth using her own breathing to warm them. She wasn’t dressed for this temperature, It had to be below freezing now. She tried to look around for the thermometer controls, but when her eyes scanned the room a shadow darted past her vision.

“What the?” She murmured looking around for whatever could be flying around. Just a trick of the light? They certainly hadn’t been working as they should.

It wasn’t, though as Padme once again saw a quick shadow dart through the red light that illuminated the room. She wasn’t the only one, as the shadow flew around the room drawing more and more attention from everyone. 

Round and round it went till everyone was following the shadow around. Eventually, whatever it was found itself settling in the middle of the room. Not the middle of the floor but the actual middle of the room being suspended halfway in the air.

“We are fucked.”

Padme couldn’t help but agree with whoever said that. She didn’t know what it was or what it might do, but what she did know was that this thing, it prided itself on murder. On a deep instinctual level, something in Padme was screaming at her to run but her legs were frozen solid in fear.

In the middle of the room, floating was a tall skeleton-like creature wearing almost completely transparent cloth. Despite it looking like a skeleton Padme noted it had long flowing white hair that danced in the air as if the artificial gravity didn’t affect it. What was truly freighting, though was the long sharp black talons and it’s disgusting sicky yellow eyes that for some reason reminded her of that time Dooku’s eyes flashed yellow.

The thing opened its jaw wide exposing its toothful grin with teeth jutting out in random ways and in varying sizes as if someone had thrown nails randomly into its jaw. Its chest expanded and it smiled as it took a deep agonising breath in.

If it wasn’t for Padme noticing Grakkus quickly covered his ears she never would have done it herself, too caught in her own fear. Her hands slapped into the side of her head with no real care for herself, she just needed to protect her ears before-

It screamed.

It screamed so loud that glasses shattered and while she couldn’t hear them she saw the senators who weren’t quick enough to cover their ears with something howl in pain, blood dripping from their ears. The pain that they must have felt from having their ears directly exposed to the scream must have been so bad they ignored the fact they were rolling around in shards of glass. 

The monster didn’t care though, no, that was wrong. Padme could see it did care that people were hurt. It cared a lot, it had a large smile on its face like it was savouring every bit of pain it could be observed. It was enjoying their suffering like it was an exquisite wine, something Padme was quite envious of.

She could really use a drink right now.

Chapter Text

Anakin knocked open the door to the ballroom. Why everyone had been congregated to one room was beyond him. If there was a murder out on the loose didn’t it make more sense for everyone to be in lockdown mode? Why was everyone still walking around freely? What was security doing?

Oh, right. He was technically security and the others would just be pirates. Not even capable pirates, Jabba wouldn’t let any remotely capable be wasted on Grakkus.

When the large doors were busted open by Anakin he felt the thick stench of the dark side come over him like a wave. Thick and inky Anakin resisted the urge to gag, instead he alongside Dooku marched through running over broken glass. Poor Dooku actually hesitated to follow him in, not so much that he was scared but rather cause he was wearing designer shoes. Anakin rolled his eyes, he was a ruler of a planet he could afford another pair of shoes.

The two leapt over the bodies of bloodied senators making their way to the centre where the being was beginning to slowly drift it’s way down towards its victims. Worse, it was making its way towards Padme. The poor girl looked like a deer in headlights, bewitched by the horror she was feeling.

Padme was more connected to The Force than most but not enough to be considered a Jedi candidate. She could feel it couldn’t she? The dark side’s horrific glee. What Padme was going through was basically a contact high of the dark side, the Starweird was such a potent dark side aberration that it was acting as a beacon of everything that was awful in the universe. Fear, anger, hatred, loss, pain, Padme was caught in the torrent of negativity that she had been rendered into a state of near comatose.  

“Get away from her!” Anakin roared not so much through the air but rather through the Force. Something that would actually affect the creature.

The Starweird took its eyes off Padme, its yellow Sith eyes glaring daggers at Anakin for daring to interrupt its meal. Anakin matched its glare for the first time in this loop letting go completely of the grip he had on his Force presence. Like a magnesium torch, Anakin acted as an epicentre of the light side, illuminating the unseen layer of the Galaxy that only Force-sensitive could feel.

Unfortunately, his meagre control of the Force right now paled in comparison to both Dooku and the Starweird. The small torch was drowned in a sea of ink that was the dark side, but Anakin was used to facing opponents with such overwhelming power so it didn’t have any real effect on him as it would a normal padawan or as Padme was experiencing a slightly force-sensitive civilian. 

The Starweird pointed one of its long black talons at Anakin, and blue met blue in a shower of sparks and heat as Anakin’s lightsaber ignited clashing with the lightning of the Starweird. The force of the blow sent the chosen one flying back, rolling Anakin through several small shards of glass. 

Dooku, however, continued moving forward using its attack on Anakin to close the distance between the two. Dooku moved swiftly, and despite his age of seventy-eight, long past the prime age of a human, his prowess with force enhancement allowed the Sith to leap up at the Starweird.

In a display of impressive aerial acrobatics, Dooku sliced off both arms of the creature before eventually landing gracefully back down. The Starweird gave a pained scream, thankfully, it hadn’t been enhanced by The Fear so the scream was just annoying rather than ear-bursting.

Anakin couldn’t help the small smile that made it to his lips, this was actually going great. Dooku will kill the Starweird, everyone would blame the crazy space monster and he could go back to drinking till this stupid cruise was over. Grakkus would most likely ship him off to some slave colony where he would escape. Where should he go though? The unknown regions? The unknown regions would guarantee him time away from the Jedi and the Sith but the danger was a lot more frequent there, he’d have to train for a few years before he felt comfortable exploring the unknown regions. Maybe it wasn’t worth it, then. This was supposed to be his break.

He would figure it out after Dooku kills the Starweird, which was taking a weirdly long time. The Sith lord stalked his prey, slowly approaching the ethereal monster slowly but surely making his way.

What was he doing? No…he couldn’t be.”

“Dooku kill it!” 

“Not yet.” Dooku brought the heated plasma to the creature’s throat, only inches from killing it. Of course, the one time Anakin wanted a Sith to kill, they wouldn’t. The count tilted his head in confusion unsure about what he was actually looking at, “What are you?”

The Starweird only gave Dooku a twisted smirk, the Starweirds weren’t like us. They were more Force than flesh and before Dooku could behead the creature, it disappeared through the floor as if it wasn’t even there. The shock and probably quite a bit of embarrassment was present on Dooku’s face as he had left the creature flee, that embarrassment was quickly covered by his usual stone-cold usual sneer.

“Well, that’s not good but, I didn’t know they could do that, so not my fault.” 

“That is completely your fault.” Anakin groaned sweeping the glass off his skin. He was covered in red little marks but none of the glass shards had been large enough to deal with anything that would require him to visit the med bay. Well, he didn’t. One sideward glance towards the senators who had been rolling around probably would need a few stitches.

They didn’t matter though. Anakin casually walked over a prince of a rather wealthy planet from the colonies who was busy screaming in pain from his ruptured eardrums. 

Anakin leaned over examining Padme who was busy coming off what was basically a force high. Her senses had been overstimulated, she and a few other people in the room who were a little more sensitive to the Force looked pale and ready too-

“Eugh!” Padme retched, her stomach expelled out causing whatever caviar and space lobster she had been eating on this luxury cruise to cover his shoes. 

The girl flinched when she felt the boy’s hand reach down and touch her neck. Though a quick glance up she saw Anakin run his hands up her neck, collecting as much hair as he could while she continued to vomit over the floor.

“Come on kiddo let’s get you to a bathroom.”

As he had done a hundred times before, Anakin slowly cupped Padme’s hands, being sure not to overstep. She was sick right now, to have some man she didn’t respect man-handle her would just make the situation worse. When she didn’t flinch at his touch, he continued to slowly move in closer to her wrapping her arm around him as so he could help her walk to her room. 

He felt Padme’s weight crash against him, her legs barely able to carry her own weight. For all his jokes she was remarkably light, her diet probably being something meticulously worked out for her since birth, being part of royalty. Something she would grow out of later in her life once her position as a senator was more secure, but as of now, Anakin was surprised with how much she could throw up with how little the girl ate.

“Vader.” Anakin didn’t even need to turn around to know it was a certain Hutt who called his name. “What was that?”

“That.” Anakin turned his head slightly behind him, careful as to not move Padme too suddenly. “Was your murderer, you’re welcome by the way.”

“Welcome?” Grakkus looked furious. “I have a bunch of injured Senators and a FUCKING GHOST on my ship.”

“Not my fault,  Dooku let it get away. I told him to kill it.” 

“You are my security! My protection, but look around! Does this look safe?” Grakkus roared.

Anakin’s eyes flicked to Dooku who stood silently watching. His arms were crossed and he had a satisfied smirk on his face. The Sith would be of little help despite Dooku’s interest in him. If anything Grakkus and Anakin fighting would only benefit Dooku. Without the threat of the Hutts looming over the Count, he could really do anything he wanted. 

“It looked a lot worse before I showed up.” Anakin narrowed his eyes. “You act like I’m the only guard on this ship, I didn’t see your pirates do anything besides hide.”

“You got hit by a lightning bolt, Dooku defeated the creature. Not you.”

“Ah, but who led Dooku here in the first place?”

“You put the CIS leader in jeopardy. He is the person who you should be protecting, not the other way around. What do you think would have happened if he had died? I would be blamed for the assassination.” Anakin rolled his eyes, cause that would just be so ‘terrible’. “And, I would have you taxidermied as a gift for Jabba.”

“Yes ‘Sir’,” Anakin spat. “Won’t happen again.”

“See to it that it doesn’t.” 

Anakin sneered behind the Hutt’s back, he would have to get Padme to bed first and then he would abandone this ship and let everyone die to the Starweirds. Padme had died thousands of times before she could do it again, the only time Padme didn’t die before he did was when he challenged Palpatine right away.

Still Anakin gladly took his chance to escape the room filled with senators. Anakin always had felt more comfortable on a battle field rather then a court room. At least their if you didn’t like someone you could end their insistent whining with a swing of your lightsabre.

Though, it seemd he couldn’t get away from politics no matter how much he tried, as a certain Count from Serreno was standing in the way of the door.

“You knew? You knew what it was when I told you that I didn’t do the murder. How, not even I knew such a creature existed and I have been studying Sith holocrons?” Dooku said in realisation.

Anakin wasn’t surprised at his lack of knowledge. It wasn’t so much that Starwerids were some massive secret just that they weren’t well known. They were creatures that hid away in deep space and prayed upon sailors whose ships stranded them. 

The Jedi would never meet them until the near end of the Clone Wars where the front lines expanded all the way out to the rim of the Galaxy. The Sith have met the Starweirds, but they were just a novelty of some of the Sith, any information of them would be buried by Sith force techniques along with Darth Zannah’s sour bread recipe. 

“Get out of the way Dooku.”

“The Jedi destroy or hide any knowledge of the darkside, too afraid to learn for fear of falling to it. So why did you know?”

Dooku never got his answer as Anakin pushed past the Sith with Padme in hand, if Dooku wanted to interrogate him, he could do it like he had before. Torture. But unless Dooku was willing to do that in front of all these people he could wait till later.

***

Padme felt as if her skin was on fire and smothered in ice at the same time. She knelt over the toilet as Vader held her hair back despite she didn’t think she had anything left to give. At this point, she was just spitting out a mix of stomach acid and spit. 

How long had she spent kneeling against the tiles, her knees hurt but her body hurt so much more. The thought of moving was unbearable.

“We have to get out there.” Padme groaned.

“Grakkus has the whole ship on lockdown, there is nowhere for you to go. Besides ‘I’, will deal with it. ‘You’ will stay here and recover.”

“You don’t understand,” Padme groaned. Vader didn’t understand what she felt, what that thing was. It was wrong, it shouldn’t exist. It was horrid, even death existed for a reason. Whatever that was… It wanted nothing more than to hurt for the sake of hurting. 

“I am one of the very few people who do. Not even many Jedi alive now have experienced the dark side in such concentrated amounts.”

“That was the dark side? I thought you said it was supposed to feel like a drug, that just felt like injecting ice and lava into my veins.” 

“It’s a drug when you’re on it, you were on the receiving end of a mental attack. Considering you have zero training against the Force it was like bringing a stick to fight a tank. A little humorous to me, but you might need some therapy.”

Padme was about to retort that she was fine before another wave of vomit came out of her mouth. She had nothing left to give, but she wished her body knew that. It was trying to expel something that wasn’t even in her anymore. 

“We have to find it and kill it, something… something like that can’t exist. It will just slaughter more and more people.”

Padme noticed Vader’s eyes dart to the side as if he found particular interest in the wall plain white of the wall. Why was he trying to avoid her eyes? Something had happened, it had been hours since the incident. Something Vader didn't want her knowing.

“No.” She said, realisation hitting her like a wave.

“Some people thought it would be a good idea to try escape pods. It wasn’t, just made it easier for the Starweirds to hunt them down. Locking yourself in a small metal shell kind of doesn’t work against something that can phase through solid material.”

“Starweirds? Plural?”

Vader nodded to the window. Padme stood up from the bathroom floor, her legs threatening to buckle under her weight, but before she fell, Vader pointed a finger at her. Suddenly, the weight she felt disappeared like magic. Like millions of invisible tiny hands kept her upright.

It certainly wasn’t quick but with Vader she managed to walk over towards one of the windows that looked out into space. She almost wished she didn't. There they were, dozens of them. Those strange ghost-like creatures justing sitting there out in the open space hanging around the ship. Waiting.

“There are so many of them.”

“They are hunting prey that they are hesitant to attack. They won’t attack till every Starweird in the surrounding systems has arrived.”

“Prey, they are hunting you?”

“No, they don’t need this many to kill me.” It took a few moments for Padme to run through all the possible people that it could be.

“I thought Dooku used the Darkside. Why would they hunt him down?”

“The Darkside is self-destructive by nature. The only thing these creatures hate more than normal life is force-sensitives. Sith, Jedi, light or dark it doesn’t matter.”

“We can kill them right?”

“Eh.” Vader gave a so so gesture with his hand. “Blasters don’t really work on them, it would take plenty of concentrated fire, and they can phase through physical objects easily so it’s not like we can use prehistoric weapons instead. They are susceptible to energy shields and lightsabers though, that and the Force but… well.” 

Only two people on this ship were capable of using the Force in offensive ways. One of which being Vader and the other Dooku. Neither were two people Padme would put her trust in, Vader was too fickle. If these creatures offered Vader a bottle of rum she was unsure if he would actually step in and save anyone. Dooku on the other hand, she struggled to understand the Count. 

He seemed like such a gentleman. A kind caring old man that would hand out sweets to young children. Though when she accused him and the Jedi of child abuse she had see him angry, rightfully mad but still. Dooku hated the Republic and if she asked for the man’s help, she wasn’t sure if he would save her. 

“So we are just waiting to die then?”

“Potentially.”

“How are you so nonchalant right now?! You should be the most worried of all of us.”

“I’m not though, funny how things work out.” Vader shrugged, instead taking the opportunity to look into her fridge, most likely for any alcohol she had in her room. He could see his frown when he realised that there wasn’t a drop anywhere to be found in this room. 

“We can’t just let everyone on board die!” Vader didn’t seem to be listening to her, taking the opportunity to instead lie down on the bed.

She could have sworn she heard him whisper to himself that ‘this was no longer fun’ and ‘maybe he should just restart early’. Not only was he an arse he also was talking nonsense to himself, woderful.

“If you won’t help me I’ll find someone who will!”

“Goodluck with that.”

***

“I would love to help.”

“Really, thank you Count. I know we’ve had some… arguments. But, you truly are a wonderful man."

“If Naboo is willing to join the CIS or at the very least prioritise CIS over Republic planets in regard to trading plasma, both in quality and quantity.”

“Excuse me?”

“Naboo is a planet rich in plasma. I would like it, it’s quite simple really.”

“I can’t prioritise a CIS planets, Naboo is already in enough trouble as it is after being seen as the reason all the banking clans left. If I give preferential treatment to the CIS then I’ll be lucky to keep my senator position."

“I think I am being remarkably fair, Naboo borders the southern CIS space anyway. Shipping plasma to the CIS will be cheaper than shipping it all the way to The Core. Economically, this deal would benefit Naboo.”

“But it would ruin us politically. What will the Republic think of us?”

Dooku rubbed his chin in fake thought, he was enjoying her being at his mercy.

“I suppose that is quite the dilemma, this could all be avoided if you just join the CIS. Join your neighbours Enarc with the separatists. It’s a good path for mid-rim planets to reach the Hydian Way and the Corellian Run, it’s one of the Trade Federation’s regional headquarters and allied with Naboo could bolster trade.”

“Enarc was the whole reason Naboo got blockaded!” 

“Enemies to lovers, I suppose.” Dooku shrugged clearly not caring much. Admittedly, it was a little concerning how much he knew about Naboo’s situation. 

All his points were infuriatingly well-made and made plenty of sense. As painfully as it would be to admit, it made more sense to join the CIS ‘rebellion’ as some core planets were saying. Naboo was such a far planet from the core that it was much closer to the southern CIS space than it was to The Core Republican space. 

“I can’t turn my back on the Republic.”

“I suppose that’s admirable, loyalty is a trait I do find myself surrounded by less and less.” Padme wanted to say that’s because he is disloyal, someone who left the Jedi and the Republic for his own benefit, but, she held her tongue. A testament to her patience, really.

“No matter, please though Padme, I do urge you to reconsider. I find that good intentions make for a rather defence against blaster fire.”

“You say that like you expect a war between the CIS and Republic.”

“Do you not?”

“No! We can live in peace, not everything has to be a competition. We can just coexist.” 

“A noble intention, but not one that is reasonable." One that would never be while people like him ruled. "Do you know why people share?”

“Yes, but I have a feeling you are going to tell me anyway.”

“Because eons ago, the weak who didn’t share were eaten by something larger. Sharing is not something that came from the good of people’s hearts. It came out of a necessity to survive a common opponent. Sharing, treating others with kindness and even love is nothing more than a defence mechanism as the weak are only capable of competing with the strong if the quantity can outnumber the quality.”

“Are you getting to a point?”

“Of course I am,” Dooku sneered. “The Republic won’t share its space, it won’t open trade deals and it certainly won’t let the CIS exist because it has no reason to. The closest thing to a threat the Republic has is the Hutt Empire, which isn’t so much of a threat as it is a war the Republic doesn’t want to waste time on being so far away from The Core. The Republic is the strongest faction in the Galaxy and it has no intention of weakening itself for the sake of kindness. The only way to exist in this Galaxy with such a looming threat like the Republic is for the CIS to be its own threat.”

“You just want war.”

“I want the Republic replaced. It’s failed its duty to its people time and time again.”

“Then have Serreno join the Republic, inspire change and hope. We need more planets further away from the core, planets that want what’s best for the people and not just those in charge. What you are doing now, it won’t help. You’re just being a fear-mongering dictator.”

“You can’t put out a fire from inside the house Miss Amidala. If you truly think that the Republic is in any way capable of being saved then I wish you the best, however, I will not be wasting my time. Planets cannot change by kind words, they are changed by killing the old and bringing in the new.”

The killing of the Republic... he was going to let them all die.

Chapter Text

“What are you doing?” Anakin raised a brow at the weird tower of nonsense and furniture. What stood before him was a very sweaty Padme as she stood atop a fortress of chairs and tables she found in the ballroom. 

“Helping! Since you and Dooku won’t, I will. Welcome to Padmeland the realm of wood, blasters and a couple of detonators I found just lying around. All hail Queen Padme Amidala, and kneel before her fortress of death.”

As concerning as it was that some random woman was able to find detonators just lying around Anakin was actually impressed. Not so much at her ingenuity, this was a terrible idea. Starwerids weren’t affected by solid objects to this little castle of furniture would just act as a cage. Still, the fact that she had been able to stack these large wooden tabled upon eachother was remarkable. How had she done that?

“You realise this won’t work right?” Anakin enhanced himself with The Force to leap up as so he could reach the top of the little fortress. 

Padme looked like she hadn’t slept at all tonight. Her hair was a mess, really to call it a mess would be generous. Anakin had seen planets undergo nuclear holocausts and still maintain themselves better than Padme had. 

“You didn’t sleep.” Anakin narrowed his eyes examining the royalty. She only glared at him, her bloodshot eyes promising a fiery death reminiscent of that time Obi-Wan left him on Mustafar. 

“You slept?! There are space ghosts waiting outside to kill us! How can you sleep?” 

“Wine mostly.”

Padme gave an annoyed growl, as if his alcoholism was somehow her problem. Her real problem was exhaustion. Anakin didn’t need to probe her mind to know she hadn’t been eating and had barely been drinking any water. How long had she spent last night creating this monstrosity of wood? 

Rolling Anakin’s eyes, he pointed at a chair that thankfully wasn’t load-bearing and ripped it out of the fortress, much to Padme’s dismay.

“What are you doing?!”

“Sit,” Anakin said annoyed. Padme did struggle for a bit but in her tired state, it didn’t take a lot for the chosen one to keep her seated. “You’re going to die if you keep this up. You need food and water, and frankly, a bath.”

“What I need is for Padmeland to be complete. Dooku has already written up unfair trade deals with Republican senators who are so cowardly they would put their own lives before their own people. If they hadn’t already sold their soul then they are thinking about it, I have to finish this so that people don’t have to be blackmailed by Dooku.”

Anakin scratched his chin in thought. As much as Anakin hated Dooku he couldn’t deny he was effective. No wonder Palpatine scouted him. Dooku really had no weakness. Insanely good with a lightsaber, powerful in The Force and while there were certainly a lot of combat-capable Jedi, Dooku was one of the few who could navigate the political battlefield as well. Had Maul led the CIS The clone wars probably would have been more brutal but short-lived. Dooku had created an Empire one that could have thrived outside of war, something Maul wouldn’t have the patience for. 

“If you keep at it like this, the Starweirds won’t even bother to attack you. You’ll be so close to death they’ll just walk right over you’re husk of a corpse barely clinging to life.”

“Would… would that actually happen?”

“Would what happen?”

“Being close to death causes those thingies to not attack you?”

Anakin shrugged, despite his thousands of years of experience he actually had no clue. In his defence, the brain can only store a finite amount of information and most of it was being taken up with key details of the Galaxy over the next century. Even then, there are times when Palpatine hides for a long time or finds a way around aging, which was a bit more fair game for the annoying Sith Lord as Anakin couldn’t rely on his knowledge of the past.

Through a bit of trial and error, Anakin was able to figure out the rules of the loops.

1. Anakin would always reset back to when he was 17 in the Jedi Temple
2. Anakin’s death would cause a reset
1. If Palpatine was dead at the time of his death then the loop would not reset
3. Palpatine has to STAY dead. If Anakin dies and Palpatine has a secret clone lab then the Whills will wait and watch and if Palps returns, the loop resets.

You would think that after so many loops Anakin could just go through step by step to win constantly restarting the repeating the same thing only changing very small details. Anakin had thought that too, and had tried it but to little success.

Loops were too different, even if Anakin stayed out of certain things, they would change. He could never talk once to random individuals but on some loops, they would die in a variety of different ways. No two loops were the same. 

The point he was getting at was that there was no set loop. There were just factors that almost always happened. For example, Luke and Leia. While it wasn’t always, almost ninety per cent of the Padme and Anakin had children it would be those two. Genetically it shouldn’t be possible, the right sperm with the right egg. He would have to have sex at just the right time and had the exact same amount of… sexual experiences whether that was with someone or by himself. The Force finds a way, though. He wouldn’t be surprised if the Force was playing a part, Luke and Leia were loved by it.

“Being close to death? No clue. Every time I encounter the Starweirds I am fully conscious and it was more of a battle than a slaughter like this.”

“What did you do last time?!”

“I was surrounded by several powerful force-sensitives.” Anakin saw the small bit of life drain out of Padme’s eyes.

“Still… if the alternative is that everyone will die. Does the force improve every part of you? Like, i don’t know, your cardiovsaular and pulmonary system?”

“Yes…” Anakin raised a brow, slowly piecing together what her awful plan was. “And why exactly do you want to know that?”

“I can’t tell you, or else you’ll try and stop me.” She walked up and kissed him on the cheek, something that made him raise a brow at her.

She hadn’t developed any feelings for him, he could feel that by how forced the kiss felt. He could actually feel her heart scrunch up and her face wince as if her lips touching his cheek actually physically hurt her. But, he certainly wasn’t going to stop her from doing something that would make her miserable.

He would even be generous and pretend he didn’t feel her reaching around his waist and taking his employee ID card. 

***

Padme eagerly ran down the corridors of the ship. Vader’s presence had been awful as always, she couldn’t believe he actually forced her to sit down! Her! Did her legs feel awful, yes. Was she running on no food, yes. Had she tripped several times while running cause her muscles were aching from moving a ton of furniture building Padmeland, also yes. Still, that was no reason for ‘him’ of all people to tell her to rest. 

“Still, he was full of information.” She murmured to herself in her half-delirious state. The Starwerids force-hating beings of death, right? Vader seemed certain that they would target Force sensitives first. By that logic more Force equals more targeting, right? With Dooku being the strongest being on this ship, it would mean most Starweids would target him. Still the ship was large and many wouldn't target him. What she needed to do was either make Dooku a larger target or make the others almost invisible in the Force.

She didn’t really know how she could increase Dooku in the Force, but she could lower other people.

“Miss Amidala, all guests are to retire to their rooms. I have to ask you to vacate the premises.” The IG-88 droid said.

Padme was a little disgusted by the droid. Not because she had any prejudice against them but rather because of this droid-specific function. The IG-88 model was banned in the Republic, that was because they were more commonly referred to as assassin droids. They had thin but a tall build. Designed to be as little as a target as possible, the sole purpose of this droid was to kill. To have such a droid be in charge of Padme’s protection made her almost wish Vader was back. Then again this murder droid probably had better manners and treated people with more respect than Vader ever could. 

“I have clearance.” Padme proudly puffed out her chest holding up the ID she stole from Vader.

“That is staff member Vader’s ID. The probability of it being stolen is 89 percent.”

“Vader gave it to me.”

“98 percent.” Oh come on! 

“I just really need to get through,”

“Please vacate the premises miss Amidala. If you do not remove yourself I will be authorised henceforth to use level one force. This includes obstruction, mild pushing and if required, physical restriction.”

“Well, I guess you are politer than Vader… but can you do this.” Padme tried to side step the droid but almost instantly it held up it’s arm stopping her. “Okay I guess you can.”

“Approaching level 2.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s level 2?”

“Authorisation of shock weapons.”

“Oh… that sounds painful.”

“From the reports, it does.”

“Welp. It’s been wonderful but I’m just going to sneak through that door.” 

“Auth-A-A-Au-” Sparks shot from the droid, spewing over Padme. 

“Are you okay? Are you having a stroke? I didn’t know droids could do that.” 

The few sparks erupted from the IG-88 droid, showering Padme, she did her best to cover herself as the droid twitched, it’s metal scraped against itself as he droid moved unnaturally till it eventuall fell to the floor.

“Well… that’s convenient.” 

“Do not p-p-proceed further miss A-A-Amidala, you are entering a r-r-restricted area.” It scrieked in a broken voice.

Padme ignored the droid. At least it hadn’t died, but it seemed whatever glitch it had stopped it from being able to move. She supposed a Hutt cutting corners to save money wasn’t really a surprise, that was the problem with droid security. If you weren’t willing to put in the money for porper mainance then these kind of incidents would happen.

***

“All you have to do is sign right here and you my dear friend have guaranteed you’ll see your family by the end of this remarkibly.” Dooku tapped the contract expectingly. This had been a wonderful evening of political exploitation.

“This is extortion,” The prince narrowed his eyes. He was some sort of Royalty from some random planet in independent space that wanted to keep his neutrality. 

“Yes, but not only is that not provable, there is no court for planets. If you were to join the Confederacy, we are working on a supreme court that handles planetary legal issues.”

“I already said no to joining your little rebellion. I might be weak Dooku but I didn’t get where I am by picking fights I couldn’t win. You of all people should know. My planet was targeted by the Mandoloarians, I myself heard of your ‘accomplishments’. Surely you know the Republic and more importantly the Jedi won’t allow this.” A small bit of pride warmed his chest. His battles against the Mandalorians had been some of his finest. The fact that people still spoke of it now was just a testament to his achievements during that war.

“Come now, why the hostilities. We came to this compromise of you closing your borders to the Republic for both tourism, trade and occupation. Which you are taking a remarkably long time to sign. It’s your signature, children can do it, probably faster too.”

“I just don’t like it. It’s… It’s, It’s hard to breathe.” 

“No, it’s a contract. I thought we’ve been over this.” Dooku sighed. Anakin was a pain to deal with, but at least the boy seemed to be intelligent, Padme would have also not been awful company. She did accuse him of being a child abuser, but Dooku was a man of taste. He was a higher quality, cut from a finer cloth. As such he was not only a man that required the finest food, the finest wine but also the finest company. Something he was being starved for. 

“No, it’s getting really hard to breathe.”

“Just sign the paper, the contract has multiple pages. We can’t struggle this much on the first page.” 

“I-I can’t. We need to get out of this room. The air- the air is so thin.”

Dooku rolled his eyes and took a deep breathe in. The prince wasn’t wrong, the was remarkably thin. Nothing a trained Jedi couldn’t handle, even before learning the Force the younglings at the temple are taught to control their breath. With a bit of meditation and channeling the Force a Jedi could lower the amount of oxygen their body they used and still function.

“I’m sure we can figure it out, after you sign the-” The prince collapsed onto the floor, his breath tried and ragged. Not dead, just unconscious. The air was too low for a regular person to stay conscious but for Dooku all he needed was a bit of concentration and he’d be fine. “Contract. Wonderful, just wonderful.”

It wasn’t just the prince who fainted, Dooku felt it, sudden drops in The Force signatures as senators throughout the ship fainted. 

Those ghost-creatures perhaps? Had they struck? Dooku had noticed that more and more of them had slowly built up outside the ship, waiting to go in for the kill. Annoyingly Dooku had kept a close eye on Anakin, occasionally probing his mind to see if the annoying brat persona had finally broken and he was just a scared, exploitable child like these Senators were.

He annoyingly wasn’t, the boy was brave, Dooku would give him that. Yet, as always the boy seemed to do what inconvenienced Dooku the most, shame. Dooku was hoping to use this as a way of forcing the Chosen One to become his apprentice. Then again, even if Anakin did promise him an apprenticeship, Dooku had a very strong feeling that the teenager would never actually honour their deal. 

“No, they wouldn’t attack like this. They eat fear and hatred. They kill for pleasure, not for sustenance.” Dooku murmured to himself. There would be no point in knocking out their prey when it was the hunt they enjoyed. “Which means, someone on the ship did this.” 

Who would possibly do it though? This would just put everyone at risk, well, besides himself and potentially Anakin. No… it wouldn’t put everyone at risk, would it? They enjoy the hunt. These creatures would sooner walk over bodies of easy prey if it meant they could torture someone to death. Someone conscious. 

“Well, you certainly have put me in a difficult position, haven’t you?” Dooku sneered at the unknown entity behind this. “Become the sole target of the creatures or allow myself to faint too and join in the slaughter.”

Just cause the Starweirds hunted for pleasure didn’t mean they were above killing knocked-out opponents if there was nothing else.

 Had Anakin planned this? No, Anakin is too selfish. The boy really didn’t seem like the person who would trust his life to another. Grakkus? The Hutt certainly did have a fetish with the Jedi and by extension Dooku, he had on multiple occasions had to shoot the slug several warning glances when Grakkus had tried to reach for his lightsaber on many occasions. Grakkus was definitely a real possibility, not to mention also extremely desperate as so the Hutt clans wouldn’t be angry with him. He also had clearance to get to the life support of the ship which no doubt was restricted behind some sort of security. 

Dooku took a tired breath and took off his lightsaber. “Very well Grakkus, it was a clever move, I’ll give you that. Clever but not well thought out. What’s one more death on this ship?”

However, before Dooku could leave to slaughter the Hutt he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. His breathe became visible as the things that were preparing to hunt him were trying their best to scare him. 

Wonderful.

Dooku rolled out of the way as hands tried to grab his legs from beneath him. The ceiling, the walls and the floor, there was no surface that the ghost like creatures didn’t come out of. 

It seemed that with Dooku one of the very few conscious creatures on the ship the monsters decided they were done with waiting. They only had to kill one person and then they wouldn’t have to worry about anything else.

“Shame, I would have loved to study you.” Dooku scowled.

If Dooku had to guess how powerful these things were in the Force then he’d put them around a Jedi knight. For beings with no formal training these things were able to compensate through saturating themselves in the darkside. 

Maybe if there were all Jedi knights they would be able to overwelm him. Dooku was a talented duellist, but he could only defend so many attacks at once with one lightsaber, but these things didn’t use lightsabers.

Before more could show up Dooku launched himself into two of them. One tried to shatter his force shield with telekinesis while the other tried to float away whilst shooting Sith lightning.

Almost effortlessly he both dodged the lightning and swung his lightsaberdecapitating the first monster which hadn’t been nearly trained enough to destroy Dooku’s well crafted Force shield. In a fluid movement Dooku continued his swing, spinning his body around letting his momentum carry him as so his next strike bisected the one that had tried to run away.   

If the monsters were bothered by the fact Dooku had just slughted two of them with relative ease then they certainly didn’t show it as almost immediately three more descended upon him. Okay, maybe this was going to be a bit more difficult then he previously thought. 

***

Padme was freezing. Those Starweirds loved to mess with the temperature and lights as once again the senator was illuminated in the red of emergency lights. She once again reached up and took a deep breathe of the oxygen mask she had brought with her. It was one of those tankless breathing masks that had so little oxygen that it wouldn’t last long so she was praying that Dooku would be quick.

She had no idea how many Starwerids there were, or if Dooku had survived. She would have to guess when to turn the lifesupport back on, but as for now, she was running under the plan to last as long as possible as she could. The plan had seemed so smart back when she came up with it in Padmeland but now that she had to remind herself to breath slowly she was beginning to see the flaws. 

The plan was to lower the lifesupport making everyone faint from a lack of oxygen. If what she understood about the Force was right, then being close to death should lower one’s prescence in it. Everyone but her, someone had to stay awake and turn the lifesupport back on. After all Dooku was probably going to make his way here after killing all the monsters and then maybe leave the lifesupport off as to kidnap everyone. 

Only one main problem, if she was still conscious, her force signature was still normal. Unlike Vader, these ghosts and Dooku, she didn’t have the ability to apparently sense people, she had to just have faith Dooku was still alive and would have to hold off on turning back the life support. 

Padme was submerged in darkness as now even the emergency lights were being messed with before they turned back on. They were preparing her, as creatures that feed on fear their idea of adding spices to a meal was to maximise her fear.

It was working, Padme had always considered herself brave. Senators getting assassinated certainly wasn’t uncommon and even as a princess, she had a target on her back as a child. The way she dealt with it was statistics, yes some senators get assassinated but most don’t. With good security and proper protocol she would be fine. That was a comforting fact back when she had armed guards patrolling her castle, something she was noticing a distinct lack of.

To put it plainly, she was terrified, her eyes had teared up, her legs where shaking and her heart was beating at what felt a hundred beats a second. Everything hurt, she was overstimulated and she knew it. But knowing you were overstimulated didn’t help much when you murder ghosts after you. This was means a proud moment for her and she’d have been lying if the thought of turning back on the life support didn’t occur to her a few times. Anything for her to get out of this hell.

“Failure.”

“Freak.”

“Spoilt bitch.”

She was unsure if that was just her thoughts being so loud in her last moments or it was the actual ghosts in the walls but it didn’t really matter. No matter how hard she tried to over her ears she heard the words she told herself a hundred times a day.

With a strong shake of her head, she forcefully shook the words out of her head. She couldn’t be distracted, she had to stay focused. Remember why she was here. 

The lights flicked off once more. That’s right, she was here to die.

Back when the lights flicked on she was no longer alone. There in the distance of the long corridor illuminated in the red lights was a familiar form. A long floating skeleton with long talons and flowing white hair seemed to completely ignore the artificial gravity. 

It didn’t rush down the corridor, it didn’t even move. It just floated there with a big, toothy grin. Then the lights went out and by the time they returned, the Starweird was a few meters closer. So that was the game it wanted to play. What a fucking cliche. 

“If you're going to kill me just do it.” Padme tried to scream, but her lungs were tired and the air was thin.

The lights went off again, but this time Padme didn’t wait for the monster to stalk its way to her. She shot blaster bolt after blaster bolt at the monster. Most did miss, but Padme chose to blame the fact she didn’t have much oxygen rather than her lack of training. Yet, the corridor was narrow, and a few blue blaster bolts sped through the dark and connected against the Starweird. 

Vader had said that blaster bolts were ineffective but when she saw the blue knock the head back of the ghost she felt a small smile make it’s way onto her lips… until the ghost flung it’s head back forward with it’s classic big toothy smile. 

“Just fucking kill me!” 

The Starweird didn’t though, instead it waited. It waited until they were once again submerged by dark before it crept further. The monster was set on dragging this out, taking as much fear as it could from her before eventually torturing her to death.

Padme’s tears openly fell as she shot again and again, each blaster bolt somehow doing less and less against the monster. With a hopeless sigh Padme lowered her blaster and looked towards the life support. Should she turn it back on now? How many had Dooku killed? It couldn’t have been that long, less than an hour definitely. Turning it back on now would still be a death sentence to everyone on this ship but leaving it off would leave them all at Dooku’s mercy.

No, she could last a little longer.

“No, you can’t.” Her own voice repeated back at her in her own head. Padme quickly turned around, her heart in her chest as she turned to come face to face with the Starweird.

She tried to get the blaster up but the long talons of the monster bit into her flesh making her scream. The ghost looked to relish in her pain, feeling her suffering through a mental connection forced upon her by the Starweird. While it could feel her pain she could feel it’s enjoyment. Her suffering made the thing feel… orgasmic, undeniable pleasure. 

The other talon came up, not to cut into her flesh but so it could use that invisible power Dooku and Vader had. Something reached into her mind trying to force every terrible memory she had ever in her life to the surface of her mind. The time she cried when she found text messages of her friends only being with her for her wealth. When she burst into her father’s throne room in the middle of an important meeting claiming she had been assassinated when in reality she had just had her first period. When she had admitted in front of everyone Vader and her had shared a bed.

She was thankfully ripped from her thoughts as she heard the familiar hum of a lightsaber. Had Vader come to save her? A bright red light superheated the metal above them, dropping liquid hot metal thankfully a few feet away from her, not scarring her for life. 

A figure Padme recognised dropped down from the ceiling, lightsaber in hand and looking furious as always. With a quick slice, the Starweird’s head split from its neck and dropped to the ground.

“Oh, you're not Vader.” Padme said to her saviour, she imagined that might be the first time someone ever said that, disappointed.

“No. No, I am not.” Dooku growled. “And you are not Grakkus.”

“What gave it away?” Padme giggled to herself. She was so light-headed right now that she hadn’t even come to terms with her soon-to-be death. 

“You are responsible for this? Perhaps I misjudged you Amidala, you aren’t smart. You’re an idiot who does stupid things under the guise of bravery when in reality you are a simple-minded fool. Look at yourself, barely breathing and freezing to death.”

“Yeah well… you wear a cape. That’s so lame.” Padme gave a defiant middle finger to the Count. 

“Charming as always. Well, you’ve caused me a great deal of annoyance. You know how many of those things attacked me? I’ll give you a hint, I stopped counting after I hit the twenties.”

“I didn’t know you could count that high.” Padme flinched as Dooku’s lightsaber cut the metal next to her head showering her in sparks and heat.

“I’m going to kill you now. I will blame the deaths of you and your Republic idiots on this incident, of course killing some CIS and Hutt representatives so as to not make it too obvious. I would have much rather trade deals, senators can be replaced after all. However, I won’t lie. A part of me is going to enjoy this very much.”

He raised his lightsaber.

“Stop!” A voice roared from down the corridor. The voice was hoarse and pained, the thin air and stressed breathing causing damage to the voice. “Dooku, you arse. Touch her and you die.”

Dooku and Padme turned to face the corridor seeing Vader illuminated in the blue light of his lightsabre. He looked awful. His shirt had been half burned off, his hair was covered in soot and he was bleeding an alarming amount. He looked like he had been run over by a hover car which had then exploded. 

“And the Chosen Brat arrives just in at the right time. I would call it fate but at this point, I think it’s more of a divine punishment rather than prophecy. I’m sorry Vader but I don’t have any drugs on me. Maybe find one of your one-night stands, you know. Besides this one of course.” Dooku gestured towards Padme. Rude. Clearly the low oxygen hadn’t affected the Count’s quick wit. 

“Come on Dooku. This is beneath even someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” Dooku raised a brow. “As flattering as you are being I really want to kill her. Those things aren’t exactly easy to deal with.”

“I’m aware,” Anakin raised his left hand. Padme winced seeing it, his fingers were bent at unnatural angles and there were plenty of electric burns running down his flesh. He must be in extraordinary amounts of pain right now but he looked completely unbothered. If anything he looked more bothered by the presence of Dooku than anything. “But killing Padme is pointless, she’s barely even liked in the Republic-”

“Hey!”

“Killing her will probably just replace her with someone the Republic actually likes.”

“That isn’t… untrue, I suppose.” Dooku mused. “But I need something out of all this.”

“Anything you want, I don’t care about these Senators.”

“I want you. Six months, you’ll be under house arrest back in my estate in Serrano house at any time I want.” Wait what? Padme couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Dooku was negotiating for him of all people.

“You think you can get me to join you in six months?”

“I think I can get you in two. The other four is to fix your manners which I assume is going to take a lot more work.”

“Okay.” Vader shrugged.

No! Vader you stupid idiot don’t make deals with Dooku.

“Really? I expected more resistance. You realise I’m not bluffing. Legally you are a slave, I’ll get a contract up with Grakkus giving me full control over you. You could try fleeing to Republic space but even then it isn’t uncommon for them to just give up slave refuges to avoid conflict with high-ranking Hutt members.”

“I’m familiar, I’ll honour the deal. You have my word.”

“That really isn’t worth much to me, your word is as solid as the air it’s uttered upon.”

“Well if you are so confident that it isn’t up to me then it shouldn’t matter, should it?”

“No, I suppose not. Very well,” Dooku gave a sideways glance to Padme. “Vader. You have yourself a deal, I look forward to your visit.”

Dooku glared at Pamde.

“I killed them all, you can turn back on the life support, idiot.”

***

Padme walked out the door with some guilt, stepping over the body of the IG-88 unit who cursed her venomously.

Then she saw it… the whole corridor was covered in lightsaber marks and the walls had literally been stripped off and were thrown around the floor. 

But Dooku had come from the floor above, he had cut through the floor. The Count never would have come through this way, the only person who had come this way had been Vader.

"Vader fought to get to me?” That would explain the state he had been in. His arm was a mess, he was bleeding from several places and looked like he walked through a lightning storm. But would Vader really do that? No, he wouldn’t fight his way through tons of death ghosts just for her.

“Incorrect.” The IG-88 unit hissed.  Droids were often like that, they were more logic-focused than emotion, you could count on a droid to correct you if you said something that wasn’t factual. At least she was right about Vader.

“Vader was already outside the door before you had even turned off life support. After you disposed of me he waited out here, ignoring the protocol of helping damaged droids."

“What? Then why didn’t he stop me?” Padme ignored the list the IG-88 unit was spouting. All of which were just insults towards Vader. The words lazy, unprofessional and intentionally destructive came up more then once. Was that really it though? Vader being bad at his job? Why would he follow her, then stop right at the end?

He had known hadn’t he? Back when she stole his ID. He’d followed her and waited outside using himself to bait and guard her from the Starweirds. The corridor was long towards the life support and he had been quite heavily injured. Yet despite that, when a Starweird had found its way to Padme he was only a few seconds away. Before Dooku had shown up he must have been already running down the corridor.

Vader had protected her.

Chapter Text

“Please, Anakin. Why are you doing this?! There is good in you.” Padme screamed at him, her screams being gurgled from her blood. Her nose had been shattered and her forehead cut leaving a bleeding mess all over the bridge of his ship. Wonderful, now they would need to call up a janitor droid to clean up the stains. 

“Leia, why did you bring her here?” Anakin sighed, turning his back too the viewing deck of his capital ship to instead face his daughter. His sweet little Leia, was just now beginning to become her own woman, just barely being an adult. She was getting to the point where she would start making her own decision, he just wished it didn't involve holding her mother by the hair as she dragged her through his ship. 

“The bitch should see her precious Republic burn.” She sneered, an malicious gleam sparkling in her eye. 

Anakin rolled his eyes at his daughter’s antics and turned his attention away from his ex-wife and daughter. He found less disgust in the planetary view before him. Coruscant was burning, their ships were nothing more than scrap metal floating by his own. What remained of the Republic's main fleet was as ruined as Courscant as what was once a prized jewel was now rubble and scorched earth. The siege had been going… acceptable. It wouldn't be long till the Planet finally fell, at most a year and depending on Luke's recovery, it would only be a couple of months.

Palpatine had no doubt fled the planet by now, the Sith had hundreds of methods of escaping Coruscant, and no matter how hard Anakin tried he would not be able to shut them all down at once even if he did know all of them. Still, this would be chalked up to a success even if Palpatine did survive. This would ensure the end of the Jedi order, and maybe even the Republic as a whole. Palpatine would no longer have the strongest military in the world backing him. He would either have to flee to Hutt space or deep into the unknown regions. 

Would Palps give up this century? That would certainly be a nice thought, to have a couple of decades just so Anakin could wipe out the rest of the Galaxy’s resistance and the remains of the Republic. When Anakin usually destroyed the Republic Palps would either create a brand new empire in the unknown regions or create his own version of the Rebels. The new empire would be difficult, but Anakin had grown used to war, he probably had spent more of his life in war than out of it. Walking into a battlefield has become second nature to him, like going for a brisk jog in the morning to normal people. 

“I do hope he doesn’t do the rebel thing. Guerilla tactics are so tedious, not to mention the irony is not lost on me.” Anakin sighed to himself. He was getting tired. The Chosen One looked at himself in the reflection of the window of his battleship. How many more loops could he handle before he broke again? 

He didn’t look ugly, in fact, he had gotten many many many marriage offers from planets asking him to be the king of their planet, even though he was known throughout the galaxy as ‘Death’. Just Death. No more no less. It was a fitting name considering Anakin had essentially crippled the core of the Galaxy. Many planets are left beyond repair, no longer capable of housing anything besides ash. Children, Planets nor any being was safe from Death. Anakin had not fought against the title, it was just so much less hassle to admit being a Dictator then not too. 

Still, the Darkside had done a number on his appearance. His hair had whitened, his eyes bright yellow, and the only reason why he hadn’t ended up a wrinkly disgusting mess like Palpatine was simply his age. Though with him being so deep in the Dark this loop it wouldn’t be long till he started looking like a raisin, like his Master often did. Perhaps he should consider creating the cloning vats early to prepare for transferring his essence. This eternal war with Palpatine will last longer then a lifetime and this body will only slow him down eventually.

“Please Leia, you can’t do this. My beautiful daughter, can’t you see this is wrong?” Padme begged, her pleads being slured by her broken nose.

Leia made a loud annoyed groan. Poor Padme, she just didn't understand her daughter this loop. Leia was many things, evil, tyrannical, slaver, and planet ender. What she wasn’t was sentimental. 

Anakin closed his eyes as he felt the familiar hum of a lightsaber and the even more familiar sound of a dead body hitting the cold ground.

“I wanted ‘mother dearest’ to suffer but fuck that she can whine. Sorry Daddy, I just couldn’t help myself. If you like I can bang some random guy, and you can kill him. Then we’d be even.” Leia purred. She even while corrupted by the Darkside always was his little girl. 

It really was a pity to see Leia like this. A necessary sacrifice, however, for the greater good. For the Galaxy to finally be saved, he would be the necessary evil. The Whills had made it clear, that for the Galaxy not to end Palpatine MUST die. It was never stated Anakin had to be the light bringer, the Jedi’s chosen.

The Lightside was just too weak. Anakin knew it was ultimately better for the Galaxy for the light to prevail. And really, all he was doing was replacing Palpatine with himself as a tyrannical dictator. A sacrifice the Galaxy that he himself will have to make. When his time is up, he will accept it graciously, sure Luke and Leia might try to continue his Empire but even then that might only last a few thousand years. Eventually, his Empire would crumble and the Galaxy would return back to its cycle of light and dark, constantly taking turns ruling the Galaxy. An eternity without him.

“It’s fine. Besides, we are sending the next wave and I want you to lead the assault. Luke’s assault on the Planetary shield generator has failed and he lost a hand against Windu. The Jedi are beginning to show weakness and I cannot let up on the assault just cause Luke is injured. The Jedi and whatever is left of the military on Coruscant has retreated to the generator, knowing that once it’s destroyed, we’ll glass this planet and end this war once and for all.”

Shield generators were an important thing for planets to protect during sieges. Usually Planetary bombardment was considered going too far even by most empires. The point of war was to rule over the planet, and take its resources. War was expensive so wasting most of the economy on destroying a planet for good was considered taboo even for most tyrants. Better to throw waves of soldiers and take the planet’s resources for themselves than to waste it all in a display of power. 

This wasn’t about improving Anakin’s Empire though, this was about crippling Palpatine's. 

“Ha! The arrogant arse lost a hand?” Leia laughed.

“Don’t get cocky, you of all people know how powerful Luke is,” Anakin warned his daughter. Did he love her? Yes, he supposed he did. Even when she took glee in killing children and slaughtering families, he couldn’t blame her. It was his fault, he raised her to be that way. Leia was a kind person if raised right, but tainted by the Darkside she had become something Anakin hated… hated but necessary, which is why he taught her so and would expect her horrid actions as his own. There sins was his to bear.

“The Jedi are all but a handful, they won’t pose a threat. All but Yoda and Windu. Aim for Yoda, he’s stronger than Mace but in duel against the Darkside Windu becomes a monster even greater than the green toad.”

“Mmmm,” Leia pretended she was in thought. “Do you think Windu could beat you?”

“No,” Anakin said, not even boasting. Right now he was the strongest being in the Galaxy. He had fully drowned in the Darkside, becoming more powerful than Palpatine by  a noticeable margin. He was probably the strongest Darkside user ever, not including different versions of himself. 

His answer seemed to make Leia burst with joy as his daughter gleefully wrapped her arms around her Dad. Proud that her father was still the strongest in the Galaxy, something she was very fond of telling everyone.

“You should join me then Daddy, with you we could kill those two pathetic Jedi.”

“The core worlds are preparing an assault on our siege. They know this is the final battle, I need to be commanding our ships when the attack happens. Unless you would like to lead the naval battle?” Anakin raised a brow, knowing the answer. Leia always enjoyed killing face-to-face rather than with ships. Luke was more the tactician in that regard.

“But I love seeing you kill. It’s so cold and heartless. I can’t even do that, I enjoy it too much. But you? It’s like you don’t even have to think about it and yet you do it so perfectly.”

“Leia,” Anakin scowled. “Focus.”

“I am!” She whined. “Blah blah blah, save brother’s sad pathetic butt. Blah blah blah, destroy shield generators. Blah blah blah I’m your favourite child.”

“I never said that last part.”

“But I know it’s true!” 

Anakin rolled his eyes again, “Take the Teddy Bears with you, this siege has gone on long enough.”

“The Teddy Bears?” Leia tilted her head pursing her lips. “Come on do you really have so little faith in me?”

The Teddy Bears was something of Anakin’s own personal creation. After creating a death arena on Kashyyyk he forced the Wookies into a death arena to produce the strongest warrior he could find and cloned him, creating a small personal force of powerful Wookie soldiers. The Teddy Bears may not be the smartest name for a dicator's super soilder military force. Unfortunatly, Luke and Leia had been quite young and had given them th name of Teddy Bears, so now the Galaxy lived in fear of a group called the ‘Teddy Bears’ visiting their planet. Armed with quality high weapons and armour the Teddy Bears could pose a threat to even Jedi.  

“Leia… I love you.” His daughter gave him a big hug. Something he didn’t return in front of his soldiers, and honestly, he was certain she liked it more when he didn’t. “But take them with you, along with the rest of the soldiers and finish this war for me.”

“Of course Father.” She kissed his cheek. With a small bow, she left the bridge of his capital ship, going off to muster the army he had waiting for her. 

It would be heartbreaking when she would soon betray him. The Darkside would manipulate her to do it, and she’d probably do it out of love for him as well. Still, necessary sacrifices, if ending this loop meant being the villain, then so be it. He’d be the villain.

Looking down at Padme’s lifeless corpse, he felt a bit of guilt. How many times had he killed her at this point? How many times had he killed everyone? At this point there probably wasn’t a single person in the Galaxy that hadn’t died at least in one of the loops that wasn’t caused by him. 

“Forgive me Padme, but hopefully you won’t have to wake up anymore after this.” He whispered, praying this would be the last loop. He had done awful things this time and he wasn’t sure if he could do this again… he would though. Time had a funny way of making his awful deeds seem dull. That he could be a villain and it wouldn’t matter, cause if he failed, then it would all go back. Still, this would be the last loop of he could help it.

“I’m sorry you had to get dragged into this. But, Luke and Leia are incredibly powerful and I need their strength.” Anakin had experimented throughout his loops. He had many many different children with different women. Some were weak, some were strong. Luke and Leia were high on the powerful end. Were they the strongest? Probably not, but they were still capable and they did have a special place in his heart for being his original children. Not that his other children didn’t matter to him, he loved all his children. But there was a special bond with Luke and Leia.

“Can someone get my ex-lover's body off the fucking floor?!” Anakin, or rather Death, roared.

***

Anakin awoke in a med room that wasn’t his own but one he was familiar with. It wasn’t the cheap metal that Hutts like to use, the room was actually clean and had a droid that was well-maintained. 

“Hello Vader, I see that you are awake.” The droid greeted. “I am pleased to announce have made excellent progress with your recovery. Initial assessment assumed you would be scarred all along the chest and have potentially nerve damage, but despite all expectations you have healed remarkably. No real lasting damage except for a few scars and the splints on your left fingers should be temporary. At the rate you are healing they can be removed in a week or two.”

“Thank you.” Vader said, furrowing his brow. That was right he had been quite injured fighting against the Starweirds. They had broken his left hand and took pleasure in electrocuting him. He must have fainted after he confronted Dooku.

“You have no need to thank me. It is my protocol. The patient always comes first, though I will have to report your conscious state to Senator Amidala.”

That’s how he recognized this place. This was the usual carbon copy of Nabooian med bays. They were far from the best in the Galaxy but they were acceptable, especially the one for the ex-royalty of Naboo.

Anakin leaned back into his medical bed, rather annoyed. It seems Padme has mistaken his actions as a kindness. Really, the only reason he had done what he did was because if he didn’t the loop would have ended early. He protected not out of kindness but rather out of necessity as so his break wasn’t ended early. 

Still, it was nice to be in a bed that he hadn’t ruined yet with alcohol and late night snacking. He could potentially actually get some sleep in. 

“Do you have any morphine?” Anakin asked the droid. “I’m feeling a bit of pain.”

“Your sensors indicate no pain, I shall recalibrate the machine. Thought until then, I am legally required by Republic law to only administer over-the-counter pain killers.”

“I suppose that will do.” He let his eyelids shut, enveloping him in a darkness. For now, he would enjoy his rest.

Anakin awoke again two hours later, but this time he wasn’t the only organic in the room. Padme was on a chair beside his medical bed on a computer, scrolling though numerous files. The life of a Senator was always busy… well it was if you actually cared about your job. She had yet to notice his awake state and he was in no rush to make her aware, instead taking the opportunity to look closely at her.

She still hasn’t been sleeping. Annoying girl was going to kill herself like this. With a flick of his wrist the computer shut frightening Padme but at least told her he was awake.

“Arsehole! I was working.”

“I know. You’re welcome.”

“I see almost dying hasn’t killed your ‘charm’.” Padme sneered. Though he noticed the way her eyes lingered a moment too long on his rather bandaged form.

“Nice try Senator. I know you care about me, look you’ve even gone through the effort to kidnapped me. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were trying to take advantage of my vulnerability state.”

Padme gave him a disgusted look visibly gagging at the thought. 

“Don’t flatter yourself. After… recent complications, I realised that my current guard is, not ineffective. But it’s-”

“Not good enough.” Anakin said for her. She was too embarrassed just to say her guards were outclassed. Not exactly surprising, in the coming years, Padme will throw herself into the centre of attention and Nabooian guards aren’t exactly known for high-quality training. It was why she often had Jedi or Senate Guard with her. 

“So why am I here? I assume Grakkus didn’t speak highly of me.”

“No… no he did not. In fact.”

Padme pulled out a small holoprojector. With a small click on the side of the disk a little blue hologram of Grakkus appeared.

“Dear Vader, I regret to inform you that effective immediately you are no longer Hutt property. You are now a free-man as your freedom has been bought on behalf of Senator Amidala. As much as I will miss my own personal Jedi I will not miss your crippling alcoholism nor your displeasing additude. I can only imagine why Padme would ever want you in her service would be because you must be miraculous in bed as your unprofessional behaviour would have me sooner overdose on death sticks than ever recommend you. I wish you and your penis goodluck.”

The blue hologram ended with Grakkus flipping the two of them off. 

“Um, that’s not why I hired you by the way. In hindsight, I probably should have done a little bit of editing before you woke up.”

“Really? You mean you didn’t want to hire me to be a prostitute?”

“With your STD-ridden body? No thanks.”

“No STD’s were found.”

“Thank you 2-1B.” Anakin nodded to the droid, who lit up from the praise.

“Ugh,” Padme threw her hands up in annoyance. “I can’t with you two. It’s bad enough I have one cold unfeeling machine that always has to be right.”

“A little droidophobic”

“I wasn’t talking about the droid.” She smirked, he’d walked right into that one unfortunately. “Come now, we will be on this ship for quite some time till we arrive at Corellia. We’ll spend a few nights there, then finally arrive at Coruscant. In the meantime you need to sign all the Republic documentation to get you read for your new job.”

“As what?”

“My personal guard of course.”

“Woah! Hold on, since when was this a thing?”

“Since I found out you have magic space powers. If Dooku is any indication of your potential, then having you protect me isn’t a waste of my money.”

“Dooku is NOT an indication of my potential.” Anakin scowled. 

“You don’t need to be as good just enough to compete.” That’s not what he meant. Dooku was joke compared to Anakin in his prime, calling Dooku’s potential similar to his own was just insulting. 

“I won’t do it. If you think just cause you bought my freedom that I ‘owe’ you, then you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Okay.” She shrugged.

“What?”

“I’m not going to force you. You saved my life, I bought your freedom. Consider us even. You don’t owe me anything, I just thought that now that you are a free person you might want a job. You have ‘argueably’ experience in security, and I wouldn’t mind a personal Jedi-”

“Not a Jedi.”

“Force-user, I don’t care. But if you wish to be pragmatic, then I can’t nor will stop you. When we land in Corellia you can do your own thing.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

***

Padme awoke to the sound of heat. She used to think heat didn’t really have a sound but she had been exposed to the sound of lightsaber so much in the last week that she could recognise the hum of air sizzling and the smell of ozone.

Why was Vader up at this time? Back on Grakkus’ ship, it was a miracle that he was awake. The only time he was awake was when he was high, drunk or being a condescending arse. Shit, she knew putting a lock on the alcohol cabinet wouldn’t be good enough. She just didn't think he would just cut through he locks with what was essentially a weapon of religious significance. Silly her. 

“I swear to whatever God you believe in, Vader I will skin you alive if you melt my… cabinets.” He wasn’t in the kitchen? But… that’s where the alcohol is? If he wasn’t using his lightsaber to cut open locks what was he doing?

Padme silently navigated around her ship in the dark. The hum of the engine did well to hide the sound of her steps as she snuck around. Vader and Dooku could apparently sense people but from the way they worded it, they implied that it was something they had to actively do. Like, even though you can see things in your peripheral vision unless you focused on it you wouldn’t be able to distinguish things. So she was hoping that Vader would be to focused on whatever he was doing to notice her.

It was a rather small ship. Only her, a pilot and two personal guards, so it didn’t take long for Padme to soon find the blue illumination of a certain boy’s lightsaber. 

As much as she would’ve liked to jump around the corner and scream ‘ha, got you!’ she controlled herself. Whatever Vader was up to it was clearly no good, it was just in people’s nature. You can’t expect a carnivore not to eat meat, you can’t expect a baby to not be loud and obnoxious. You especially can’t expect Vader not to be a problem. 

This was the medbay, which means that he could only be looking for drugs. Why did she think Vader would be a good idea to bring on her ship? Stupid, stupid, stupid Padme. Of course he was going to do this. He was an addict!

Slowly, she peaked her head around the corner half expecting Vader to be using his lightsaber to cook grilled sandwiches or using it as a glowstick to scour for any sort of pain meds on the ship in the dark. What she wasn’t expecting a very shirtless Vader to be swinging his lightsaber around in the dark with all the medical equipment pushed to the side so he continue to swing his lightsaber around without damaging anything.

The ex-royalty wasn’t familiar with Jedi combat. Dooku had been so quick at killing the Starweird that it was just one swift movement. Yet, despite her lack of experience, she had watched the royal guard train from her palace. In her defence, when a large group of muscular men train for hours in the sun in view from outside her window, it’s only natural to take a peak.

While her attention wasn’t really focused on their training, she did (eventually) recognise that they were performing specific movements over and over again. It was similar to what Vader was doing now, except while they were rigid and uniform, Vader was fluid and acrobatic. 

If what they did was an exercise, then this was an art. In slow, controlled movements he flowed from movement to movement. As minutes went by, these movements became more and more complex including summersaults and treating the lightsaber as if it was a gymnastic baton rather than something that could permanently disfigure him.

Padme quickly lost track of time as she watched Vader perform. From grounded techniques that were disciplined and militaristic to something that looked like something from a circus rather than combat. 

“Are you done watching?” Vader growled, his eyebrow noticeably twitching in the blue illumination. The non-Jedi was in a rather interesting position, something Padme would admit she wouldn’t be capable of as he balanced himself in a one-handed handstand.

“Oh, you noticed.” Padme blushed in embarrassment. “Yeah, I just came around the corner a few seconds-”

“We are nearing an hour.”

“Oh, so you knew from the start… I wish you had said something earlier.”

“You seemed enthralled.” He smirked, Vader got down from his handstand using the Force to rearrange the room back to its original layout. “I would have hated to interrupt your show.”

“I was just making sure you weren’t going to cut my ship to ribbons don’t flatter yourself.” She huffed. Like magic, a nearby medical bed flew across the room to gently come to a stop behind her as if it were asking her to sit on it. An offer she gladly accepted.

“What are you even doing?”

“I am running through the basic katas of all lightsabre forms. The first thing all Padawans know before specialising, I won’t cause any damage. But if it does bother you, all lightsabers come with a safety feature for sparring. Still burns like a bitch but it won’t cut through any furniture.”

“Padawan, that’s like Jedi juniors, correct?”

“Incredibly insulting to people dedicating the youngest years of their life to training but not a fully incorrect statement.” Vader shrugged. 

“I don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what?”

“You, one moment you insult the Jedi but the next you defend them. Dooku was the same.”

Vader gave a displeased side glance at being compared to Dooku, but he slowly ran a hand through his hair as she saw the gears turn in his head as he tried to think of what to say.

“It’s not so much that we dislike the Jedi. Well, we do. But we like the concept of Jedi, and what it should be. A group of people, unbiased by politics with the sole goal of improving life. People who exist purely to make society better. They answer to no one, obey no borders and fear no man. They can improve society because they act outside it.”

“It’s not that already?” The Jedi were mostly a myth. A real myth, but a myth nonetheless. Half of the rumours of them sounded too fantastical to be true. 

“No. They are hypocrites. They preach love yet forbid it, they promise protection but only if you are in Republic space and they now listen to what their precious senators tell them to do rather than the Force.”

“They are still good people.”

“They try to be. But trying to be good isn’t enough, especially for the Jedi. They are responsible for the improvement of all life, and for promoting the growth of the Force by spreading love and peace. Trying isn’t good enough, they have to hold themselves to higher standards. Think about law enforcement, if the police only guarded the rich, then yes they are still doing a good thing, but it does not justify those in poverty suffering. By ignoring non-Republic space, the Galaxy has become a cesspool of crime and injustice.”

“You’re being unfair.”

“Unfair? Would you not say the same of your fellow politicians? Those in positions of power must hold themselves to a higher standard. Good intentions are worth nothing if those with them can’t achieve anything.”

“Careful Vader, you almost sound like you actually care about something.”

Vader rolled his eyes. “Go to sleep Padme.”

“Make me.”

Padme soon realised how foolish those words were as soon moments later Vader walked her through the halls of her own ship suspended in the air by the force, despite his best efforts to break free and threats of strangulation which was always met with ‘kinky’.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer:

I do not own any rights to Star Wars. This is merely fan fiction by a fan and not someone even remotely involved in any Marvel or Lucas Film property. That being said I do hope you enjoy it.

Anakin wasn't surprised by the huge amount of guards patrolling the landing dock. Nor was he surprised when a group of armed soldiers welcomed Padme when they landed, all loops were different but this was one of the few things that happened 99% of the time.

"Padme Amidala, a pleasure!" A man in a long gown greeted them. He wasn't the senator of Corellia but from the way he dressed, he certainly seemed to have some sort of high-ranking government position. Not so much because of his clothes but rather because Anakin had developed an almost superhuman ability to pick out those involved in politics from the crowd. Like a bird that knew which frogs were poisonous, he had an instinctual ability to spot the most toxic and rotten people in the galaxy. Government officials.

"I wish I could say the same, yet I land after days of travel to the welcoming sight of blasters and soldiers." Padme scowled, walking down the ramp of her ship, her time-looping bodyguard following in her step.

"Nothing but a formality." The man waved off as if having several armed guards was a natural greeting. "Preparing Contemplanys Hermi has been rather busy, but I assure you Padme, we will have your ship restocked, refuelled and ready to ship you out tomorrow to Coruscant straight away. We have booked out at a wonderful 20-star hotel, with absolutely stunning beachside views. There is a minor beach nudity problem, but we're working on that."

"Pardon?"

"Yeah, a very very small group of elderly are trying to make the beach a nudist beach. We would just use law enforcement, usually, but one push and their bones would snap. We're thinking of ways to get rid of them but in my opinion, all we have to do is wait a week and they'll keel over dead by age."

"No, not that. Ew, by the way. But what are you talking about? I was scheduled to leave in a weeks time, not tomorrow."

"Oh yes, we have booked you for a week, but with Contemplanys Hermi officially commenting tomorrow we can't house any Senators from other planets. I understand that this is inconvenient, but Contemplanys Hermi is Contemplanys Hermi." The man shrugged as if what he was talking about was just as simple as 2 2 = 4.

"Contemporary Hermey?"

"Contemplanys Hermi." Anakin corrected. "It means 'I'm a little bitch'."

"It actually means meditative solitude." He raised a brow at Anakin, treating him as if he was just some new toy Padme had brought with her. "Who's this wonderful little character, Padme?"

"This is Vader," Padme massaged the bridge of her nose. "He's someone our crew picked up from my trip to the Outer Rim."

"That clearly explains his mannerisms."

Anakin flipped him off, careful as to make sure Padme didnt see.

"We are getting off-topic," Padme scowled, sending a hateful glare towards him. "What is this Hermi thing?"

"Contemplanys Hermi, it's Coreilla's constitutional right to close borders and adopt a state of neutrality whilst still remaining a member of the Republic. It's a rather elegant solution, is it not?"

Judging by Padme's face, it clearly wasn't as she marched past the armed guards. Anakin was actually forced to jog to keep up with her as she marched off. Fortunately Anakin knew exactly where she was going. Unfortunately, he knew he wasn't going to like it.

"It's pathetic."

"Padme!" Garm Bel Iblis cried.

"No she's right. You guys are a bunch of cowards."

"Who even are you? Guards can we get rid of this miscreant, this is a private conversation between Senator Amidala and myself."

"Vader stays." Padme bared her teeth at the two guards who looked at each other unsure what to do neither of which was in a good enough mood to risk getting bitten by a feral Senator.

"Damn right." Anakin and Padme found themselves agreeing, a rarity.

Garm groaned holding his face in his hands. Anakin could feel the sheer amount of stress emenating from the man. He didn't even need the Force to sense the fact that the man hasn't slept in days. He just needed to look at the numerous amount of dark rings around his eyes.

"Can we please just get back to the topic at hand?" Garm sighed.

Garm was a human who was just beginning to enter his later stages of life. His hair was more white than its dark brown which threatened to fully disappear within the next year. His face wasn't fairing much better as just from looking at his face, Anakin could tell that every year spent as Senator caused his soul to die a little more. Anakin almost pitied the man, looking at the stacks upon stacks of paper that covered his desk, almost all of them with a big red DENIED stamped over it. Almost that is. 

"Of course, back to the topic of why you are being a coward." Padme continued earning a groan from Garm.

"It's not cowardice!" Garm cried, convincing no one in the room. "Chancellor Palpatine is pushing the Military Creation Act and more and more planets are convinced it's a good idea. People are scared Padme, xenophobia has always been a Republic problem. We are the majority of the human population in the galaxy, yet we see more and more of these powerful alien empires leave the Republic in favour of people who don't look like us. I fear we might have another Pius Dea on our hands."

Pius Dea. Anakin had never experienced the original one, being long before his birth but he had experienced one or two recreations in the loops when xenophobia got especially bad. It was a holy crusade in the name of the human deity 'the goddess' that caused the deaths of millions of aliens. 30 wars, mass genocide of alien life. Once Anakin had tried building his own empire whilst still allied to the Republic, unfortunately, he needed room to build his power so he had to build away from the core using alien races. Palpatine didn't like this but Anakin's allegiance prevented him from attacking so Palpatine reenacted Pius Dea in a loop that got really bloody. Caused a galactic-wide race war as it was no longer Republic against enemies it was human vs enemies. Even the Jedi fought against each other destroying themselves.

"And your solution is to sit back and watch it happen?!"

"My solution is to not let the people who have entrusted their lives to me die in a war that should have never been fought. Corellia is the core's primary ship production source, whose navy do you think is going to bomb villages and transport murderers from alien planet to planet? Cause it won't be mine. If I can't stop the war then I can't at least not be a part of it."

"Not part of it?" Padme's face scrunched up in disgust. "I hate to tell you this but your neutrality makes you a part of this. You are the main defence against the MCA! Many Senators follow you because of the power Corellia holds in The Core. You stepping back is letting this Act pass, letting people like me trying to fight against it alone."

"I understand your frustration Pad-"

"Senator Amidala." Padme glared, a silent 'fuck you, we aren't friends'.

"Senator Amidala." Garm corrected whincing as the words escaped his lips. "I understand your frustration, how this could feel like betrayal. But the people of Corelllia come first and I will not apologize for protecting my people."

"You shutting your borders will kill your economy. You'll throw your population into poverty."

"It will be a difficult time but not something we can't survive."

"It's pointless Padme, you can't convince a coward to be brave." Anakin sneered earning him a glare from the Corellian Senator.

"B-but." Padme looked desperately between the two of them scrambling for any words that could help her. She would never find the words as a knock at the door interrupted them.

"Jericho now really isn't a good time." A young rather man who Padme and Anakin had met at reception opened the door slightly, enough to reveal his face.

"Um, I know. I tried to convey that bu-"

Before the assistant could finish his sentence a person burst through the door pushing past the assistant as if he didn't exist.

"Garm! The docks were supposed to be closed by yesterday! So imagine my surprise when I walk in and realise that the docks are still open. Master Oogway is furious, we can't be behind schedule on this. The whole point of this is to catch the Republic by surprise. Show them the error of their ways through shock and awe. Yet, by the time we finally close the docks half of the Galaxy will know what we are up to."

"Jedi knight Shifu. A pleasure as always." Despite Garm's warm greeting the way he forced the words through his teeth said otherwise.

The green robes, the arrogant posturing, the sneer. Anakin hated the Jedi for their bais, yet even he could admit that they were still the best option. They were flawed but unlike the Sith or Hutts they weren't actively trying to make the Galaxy worse. They were something Anakin had accepted as something he could live with. They were fine.

These people were not. They were hopeless even by Anakin's standards. The useless of the useless, completely pointless, whatever was the opposite of the cream of the crop.

"Corellian," Anakin growled under his breath so softly that only Padme heard it.

She gave him a sideward glance, which Anakin rolled his eyes at. No, he wasn't racist. He didn't hate Corellians, he just hated Corellian Jedi. As did most of the Order. They were unbearable even by Jedi standards.

"Who are these two?" Shifu asked finally acknowledging the presence of the two people he interrupted.

"This is Senator Amidala of Naboo and Vader her… "

"Bodyguard/boy toy." Padme and Anakin said respectively which earned him an elbow jab to the ribs.

Shifu's eyes flared with anger. For one not at him though, instead, the Jedi's ill will was directed at Padme.

"A senator… why? Just why would you think that would be a good idea when we are trying to shut the planet down?"

"Amidala is a friend, she too opposes MCA. She is not our enemy."

"Anyone not from Corella is the enemy. These, things," the Jedi gestured to Padme and Anakin. "They are invasive pests who will do nothing but damage all we have built. They bring crime, disease and their idiocy to our homes."

"Shifu. That is enough, they are guests."

"They have overstayed their welcome."

"They are still standing right here." Padme huffed finally being sick of being a spectator to her own insults.

"And that's the problem. You shouldn't be here." The Jedi glared, venom dripping off his tongue.

"But… you're a Jedi, you stand for the people of the Republic. Do you even know what your government is doing?!"

"Of course I know. I was the first to bring it up to the temple." Shifu proudly puffed out his chest. "And I serve Corellia. The Republic is a sickening corrupt order that does nothing but lower the standard of what it means to be a Government." At least that was something both he and Anakin could agree upon.

Padme didn't feel the same.

"How could you?!"

"How could I? Very easily, I only had to sign like one document. Honestly, I'm as shocked as you about how smooth this process has been thus far."

Anakin rolled his eyes at the antics of Padme and the Jedi as what could only be described as a gladiatorial screaming match ensued until eventually the Jedi finally acknowledged Anakin's presence.

To a regular person who has never seen a Jedi wouldn't be able to recognise a lightsaber. With all the different shapes and sizes most civilians only could tell it was a lightsaber when there was a plasma blade coming out of it, otherwise, most people just thought it was some sort of stylist pipe or technology from another planet they didn't know.

Unfortunately, Shifu was not one of these people who couldn't recognise it, Anakin would have felt a little bit of pride at surprising a Jedi though deep down he knew this would be more trouble than it was worth.

"That's a lightsaber," Shifu said pushing Padme to the side. The look on Padme's face promised death but he was too busy focusing on Anakin to notice.

"How observant of you." Sneered Anakin.

"We heard from the Coruscant sub-branch that there was a missing Padawan." Anakin rolled his eyes, of course, a Corelian Jedi wouldn't call the Coruscant order the central order or the main order despite the fact that Corellia was only a small fraction of the size of Coruscant.

"So? Plenty of Padawans change their mind, I'm hardly the first."

"Yes, but this specific Padawan was important enough for Grandmaster Yoda himself to deliver the message. Human, approaching his twenties, you're missing the braid but you look almost identical to your profile. Did you even try to disguise yourself?"

Anakin bit the inside of his cheek, stupid green toad making a bigger deal of things than they were. So what if he was rumoured to be the chosen one, so was Mace Windu! Why couldn't that purple lightsaber arse be helpful for just once? Besides his plan was to hide in the outer rim shooting himself up with chemicals. He didn't need a disguise for that.

"I have no clue what you mean?" Anakin nonchalantly waved the Jedi off though he certainly didn't seem too impressed.

"Sure," The Jedi said unconvincingly. "Still, Master Oogway would like to see you, just to be on the safe side."

"I'm good right here."

"Okay, so this just isn't my office I guess," Garm whined earning him two hate-filled glares and one of mild confusement from Anakin. Had he been here the whole time?

"We can take this to the temple. Senator Garm has lots of trade deals to cancel and nosy Senators to ship out anyway." Shifu smirked.

"FINE! Vader let's go to this stupid temple. Maybe there is a Jedi who can see how stupid this whole thing is because they don't have their head up their arse!"

"I don't wanna go."

"Vader!"

"Coming," Anakin grumbled following Padme as she, rather intentionally, knocked past Shifu who clearly underestimated the strength of a politically enraged woman as he stood his ground and much to Anakin's amusement lost that battle. Though as Anakin walked past he did catch a small whisper of the Jedi.

"Vader?" Shifu scratched his chin in thought, "Did I read the name wrong?"

The temple was impressive. All Jedi temples were, they were symbols of peace and prosperity. They promised the people that they were safe because in this building, there were warriors who were unmatched both in moral and physical combat. You would think due to the strict and ascetic nature of the Jedi the builds would be modest, yet the large statues and the stained glass artwork said anything but. You can't exactly say how modest you are unless you build huge buildings telling everyone how modest you are, Anakin supposed.

"Woah," Padme exclaimed. She always was a bit of an archaeology nerd.

"Impressed?" Shifu smirked in false ignorance. He probably had a whole speech prepared for any guest walking into the temple.

"You have murals of the creation of Corellia?" Padme noted walking down the halls as several elaborate artworks depicted the recreation of Coreilla and its affiliation with the Republic Jedi.

"Yes, we Corellian Jedi are very connected with our Planet. Many Jedi temples like to separate themselves from the culture of their people, yet how can you help the people if you don't understand them? The Corellian people and Jedi are very close and that is something to be celebrated and not shunned like other temples."

"I don't see any of the Jedi's history." Anakin sneered.

"There is enough of that at Coruscant. It would get dreadfully boring if we just copied and pasted every temple in the galaxy."

"I don't know, you seemed to have managed to emulate the elitist and pretentious atmosphere of the Coruscant temple. Even added a little foreigner prejudice, very nice." Anakin noted as they walked dragging his hand against the wall and statues earning many angry looks from the Jedi.

Padme and Anakin stood out in the sea of green-robed Jedi. What was more concerning to Anakin though was the fact that the longer that Padme and Anakin walked through the temple the more dense the Jedi were becoming. They were talking to each other, spreading rumours about the two outsiders which was drawing more attention than Anakin would have liked.

Eventually the group of three came to a stop, though not at the Council room as Anakin suspected. Instead, the room was filled with sparing mats and all sorts of practice droids. Shit, he could see where this was going.

"Master Oogway is unfortunately busy. There are riots protesting Contemplanys Hermi which requires his attention, don't worry though I have been informed he won't be long."

"Wonderful." Anakin rolled his eyes.

The small group of younglings in the middle of class all turned looking at Anakin and Padme with eyes that seemed too big to their head. This actually might be the first time they've seen clothes that weren't green, even the eldest couldn't have been older than 8. They've probably spent their whole lives in the temple.

"Shifu, it's been quite some time. Not only that but you've brought guests." An elderly Jedi lamented. Anakin couldn't help but wonder how old he was, Dooku reached 83 by the end of the Clone Wars and while most non-force sensitive humans at that age was having bladder control issues, he was killing armies and battling Jedi half as old.

This old man though was struggling to walk, instead relying on his lightsaber which had been remade into a walking sick.

"Master Kai," Shifu bowed. "This is Vader from the Coruscant temple."'

"He doesn't look like much of a Jedi." The old man poked at Anakin with his cane giving a disapproving hum at Anakin's clothes.

"That's cause I'm not."

"Grey-Jedi? Truly the Curoscant temple has failed you as it has many others, though we at Corellia will openly welcome you." Both Shifu and Anakin cringed at the thought, neither wanting that.

"I didn't think you were too fond of outsiders," Padme growled tired of being ignored. Her lack of force ability made her… well, unimportant. A non-force sensitive in a Jedi temple was the kid everyone wanted to leave the party.

"And who might you be?"

"Senator Amidala."

"A senator that's… a shame. You are here to try convince us that we shouldn't close our borders? Very well, you may wait here for Master Oogway to return but much like the others before you, you'll find the answer you seek to be rather lacklustre."

"We'll see."

"As for you Vader, perhaps you have some wisdom from your time in the temple you'd like to share." Kai stepped aside to reveal the many eager eyes of the younglings all eager to hear from the mysterious stranger.

They would have to wait though as Anakin mused over what wisdom he could share. Over his thousands of years spent in the loops he certainly had plenty. He could tell them that war crimes only counted if victims survived, or maybe that marinating steak in lemon juice and tenderising even the toughest of steaks. He could even tell them about how awful the Jedi were, something Shifu also realized judging by the concerned look on his face. The Jedi knight looked tempted to leap across the room and cover the ears of the poor younglings about to hear anti-Jedi propaganda.

Not that Anakin would of course. Anything he said negatively about the Jedi could be used tell the younglings how awful the other temples were. That non-Corellian Jedi was the worst. But, if he said something positive then it would just make the Jedi order look better. Was it intentional on Kai's part?

"Train and study hard and you'll go far." Anakin said causing the younglings too all roll their eyes and try to hide their groaned. They had probably been told that a hundred times by a hundred different people. As far as advice went that was basically flavourless, everyone knew that if you put effort in you get rewarded.

"Well said," Kai agreed patting Anakin on the back. "But we should be getting back to class. Come now let's not disturb Mr Vader anymore."

The kids whined and pouted, their hungry for the world outside of the temple left unsatisfied. All the kids went back to focusing on their class… all but one who looked at Anakin's lightsaber with curiosity.

"Can you show me some moves?" The little boy asked Vader.

Before he could tell the kid to go back to class the other kids quickly turned their heads, the sound of an unmade promise of something interesting. With the speed that Anakin wished he had the swarm of children assaulted him. Tiny hands pulling at his clothes and eyes looking up at him with childlike innocence.

"Please!"

"Pretty please!"

"Can you? Can you?!"

"Yes please, Master Vader," Anakin winced at that comment, so many loops but so few did he ever become a master.

"Oh I don't know about that?" He looked to the side begging for someone to help but Shifu was jsut jealous of the attention being given to Vader and Padme was hiding her laughs behind her hand.

Traitor.

"Well, I suppose 'Master'," Shifu scoffed at the word. "-Vader could duel against me. We could show the younglings a proper spar."

All the kids looked up at him with such desire that it made it really hard for him to say no, however, he would. This just wasn't worth the effort, he could live with disappointing some kids. He's lived with worse.

"As much as I'd like to see Vader's pride get shattered, we need to meet with Master Oogway right away." Padme rejected for him, a small mercy.

"Quiet you. This is Jedi matters, just sit and watch and do whatever Senators do. I assume collect taxes and take bribes."

Padme looked ready to tear his head off at being spoken to in such a way, but unfortunately, she wouldn't get a chance.

"Bring it." Anakin sneered.

It had taken Vader nearly 10 minutes to get changed into Jedi robes. Despite being told there were bathrooms down the hall Vader was insistent he had no clue where he was and just told everyone to wait outside the room, which surprised Padme. She didn't think he was a shy guy. Still, those robes didn't look that confusing, why had it taken him so long to get changed?

Padme sat a little out of place in the audience, the rumour of Shifu fighting some ex-Jedi had spread throughout the temple during the wait. Yet, all the Jedi hated her due to her not being from Corellia, however, she didn't really want to stand with the kids. Perhaps she should have just bit the bullet and suffered the embarrassment of being sat at the kids' table as now she stood alone making it even more awkward.

Unlike her, Vader looked extremely comfortable in his green robes. When she entered the room, she expected the robes given to him to be in a burning heap with profanity written on the walls as he danced around naked. Instead, he looked rather disinterested, suppressing a yawn that threatened to break out.

"You certainly took your time getting changed." Shifu sneered at Vader who shrugged in response.

"The rules of the spar is standard-" Kai started, he seemed to take up the position of the umpire of this whole endeavour.

"I don't know standard rules," Vader said raising a hand.

"Lightsabers on sparring mode, no attacking the head, nothing that will cause permanent or excessive damage. Don't attack an opponent while they are down and treat your opponent with respect."

"Yeah I can't do that last part." Vader sneered earning him a finger up from Shifu. Shifu despite Vader's teasing looked positively thrilled, Padme had no illusion that Vader would lose. She didn't know much about Jedi culture but a Padawan seemed worse then a knight. This was just a publicity stunt for the kids, to show how much better their order then whatever temple Vader came from. Or rather maybe it was to show them they should stay in the temple, either way this wasn't just for a friendly spar.

Vader hadn't even reached the rank of knight by the time he left, she didn't even know when he had left. This was unfair, it was probably why Vader looked so relax. He knew he was going to lose so why worry about it?

"As long as you follow the no serious harm rule then I suppose I can live with it." Kai glared, or rather tried too. The Jedi was so old his skin sagged over his eyes. "Three strikes to win, limbs are worth one and body shots are worth two."

"I'm going to enjoy this." Shifu smirked as he bowed, more so out of requirement rather than respect.

"That makes one of us I suppose." Vader sighed bowing in response.

The two got into what Padme assumed was battle stances. Shifu's looked more… square? She didn't really know anything about combat and Jedi combat was even more of a mystery to her. Clearly, it must have meant something as Vader looked over at Shifu's stance before changing his own.

"The kid's smart. Soresu is probably the most popular stance, among the Jedi. No weaknesses and a flawless defence, no offensive ability either but Jedi can out last any individual. Fatigue will defeat their opponent. Since there is no weakness there is no secret way to beat it. But, form II isn't a bad idea. Conserves energy and if any form was to break through Shifu's defence it would makashi. Though he looks frustrated, he's making lots of adjustments to his stance. Like he knows what he should look like but his body doesn't. He's probably studied lots of holocrones yet never actually used them. That's probably the good thing about so little training, the lack of training means he doesn't have a set form yet."

Padme gave a sideward glance beside her, trying not to look too eager for attention. This was the first Jedi, besides those two when she was younger, who had treated Padme with something that wasn't disgust or hatred. He was older, much older. A Chelidae, a turtle-like race which made Padme wonder how he could even be a Jedi carrying around such a large shell.

"You'll have to excuse me. I don't know much about what's going on right now."

"No offence, but you do seem rather out of place." He agreed and although he was right Padme still gave an annoyed grumble. He could have at least pretended she was just being modest. "Tell me about the boy? Is he skilled with a blade?"

He had defended her against the Starweirds… though she hadn't seen him and he did look close to death afterwards. Everyone else here seemed to think this was going to be an easy win if the way they laughed at Vader when they thought she wasn't watching.

"Honestly, I don't think so. I've never seen him properly use it before."

"I don't see this going well for the boy. Shifu has only recently been made a knight, but he was the top duelist of his year-"

"I said I didn't know, not that he would lose." Padme growled, she didn't know why she was getting so worked at someone saying Vader would lose even though she also thought it deep down. Maybe it was the fact he was kind of her bodyguard kind of not. She couldn't have people insulting her employees.

"My apologies, I meant no insult. I didn't realise you two were quite so close, and if it's any consolation, I agree with you. These young ones measure a Jedi by how many men they can kill." The Jedi shook his head in disappointment. "The measure of a Jedi isn't how many lives one can take, but rather how many one can save, it's something both Corellia and Coruscant are guilty of. If anything Shifu losing will be a good lesson for everyone here."

"We aren't close," she sighed. Annoyingly, he only gave her an inquisitive look as she felt him stare deeply at her. What was his problem?

"May I ask a question?" The Jedi rubbed his chin as if deep in thought. Padme was half tempted to say no but then she would be alone again, she would have to put up with the elderly man's questions.

"Corellia and Coruscant have never been on good terms. They say we show bias and I will admit we do, but Corellia is the perfect planet. It's people are law abiding and good hearted. It regularly scores extremely highly on quality of life in Republic surveys and I've grown to appreciate the culture. Bias yes, but I can't imagine a better planet or people than this." Padme was about to ask what relevance this had but the Jedi opened his mouth again before she could.

"That's why it was so strange for Grand Master Yoda to ask of us himself, to look out for a certain seventeen-year-old human. Honestly I suspected that he stole a holocrone of some sort for such importance. Yet, here stands before me a seventeen-year-old ex-padawan about to duel a knight with not even a bit of fear or concern despite having every reason too."

"It's just a spar." Padme murmured confused and a little bit creeped out, it was just a practice fight after all.

"Lightsabers on practice mode still hurt, the plasma is powerful, and you can only dampen it so much, like quickly moving your hand through a candle. We don't allow any face attacks cause they can still burn the retina and prolonged contact can cause permanent scarring. It's natural to treat these spars quite serious."

Well that was worrying. Would Vader be okay? He looked unbothered but then again he looked unbothered even when he was last time he was injured. Stupid Vader making her worry.

"YOU GOT THIS VADER! KICK HIS ARSE!" Padme yelled cupping her hands to the side of her mouth in order to increase volume as much as surprise of the Jedi who all turned to look at her as she screamed out her lungs.

Even Vader gave a concerned look at her, creeped out by the wat she randomly cheered for him. Yet even though he rolled his eyes and readjusted himself back to his stance, she noticed the small smile on his lips.

Kai gave a disapproving look at Padme after her sudden outburst but turned back to Shifu and Vader. With a wave of the old man's hands the battle began and surprisingly is was Vader who attacked. If what the Jedi next to her said was true then it made sense Shifu wouldn't make the first attack with a defensive stance.

The first strikes were easily deflected by Shifu as Vader probed the older Jedi. Arms, legs, torso, left or right. No attack was the same as Vader twirled and danced around Shifu never saying close enough for the counters Shifu tried to land. After a few more attempts Vader retreated back after an unsuccessful flurry of blows.

"Already? That was quick."

"He's already tired?" Padme asked, you would think for someone who had so much sex he would last a bit longer.

"No, he's already found Shifu's slower on his lower left side. The product of an ankle injury a few weeks ago."

"He's also surpsingly good," another Jedi scowled, as if complementing Vader was some sort of sin. More and more Jedi were starting to surround her.

No, not her. But rather the Jedi she was standing next too. They wanted to be with him and she was just along by proxy.

"His knowledge of form III is quite impressive, his spacing and movement is the textbook example of what to do against it." The other Jedi continued

"He does have one nasty habit though." A different Jedi spoke up. "He has too much knowledge not enough practical training."

"Yes, you've noticed it too?"

"Noticed what?" Padme glared.

"He thinks he's better than he is, his body can't keep up with his thoughts."

Again Vader launched himself at Shifu but now that the Jedi around her pointed it out she did notice that Vader kept favouring Shifu's weakest defence point. Almost playing with him as he fainted and forced Shifu to over-extend to defend himself.

Vader in an acrobatic display leapt forward knocking Shifu's lightsaber to the side, not hard enough to sent it flying away but with enough finesse to leave his abdomen exposed. Yet when Vader landed preparing to peirces Shifu his legs didn't catch up with him and his legs buckled under a poor landing. Gravity held Vader bringing him to a knee and while he tried to jump away Shifu brought his lightsaber back up and hit Vader's arm as he rolled back.

"One to Shifu." Kai called out announcing the points and the crowd of Jedi cheered.

Padme bit the inside of her lip watching Vader stand up with a scowl. Though he didn't scowl at Shifu like she thought he would rather at himself hitting his slow leg with the hilt of his sabre as if to say 'wake up'.

"Come on Vader." She whispered to herself.

Vader got into his stance again but now he adopted a stance reminiscent to how she saw Dooku hold himself. She could see his chest rise and fall as he took deep breaths in before with one puff of air out he moved again. If the last one was too advanced then this one was just unfair as he twirled with each collision of lightsabres Vader twirled a little faster using the glancing blows of the lightsabre to speed himself up. There was no weight behind his blows but with such speed Shifu struggled to keep up and couldn't land a good block that would halt Vader's momentum.

Faster and faster Vader stuck until- "one point to Vader."

His blue saber had got a shallow blow to Shifu's lower leg thigh that was so quick if Padme wasn't staring so intensely she would have missed.

Yet despite Kai's call out the two didn't stop as the two blue lightsabres became less of a blade and more of waves clashing over and over again so fast that Padme couldn't keep up.

So this was why the Jedi were kept in such high regard. Seeing it first hand she understood now why Grakkus was so willing to put up with Vader's attitude. Having a Jedi at your command was like being able to point to one person and having them die on the spot. What are you suppose to do when a person with a sword that can cut through anything leaps at you with the speed of a blaster bolt?

Faster and faster they went until Vader's lightsaber was knocked to the side by Shifu and the knight was able to cut through Vader's arm earning him one more point.

"He's trying to be too fancy to make up for the physical difference. His body just isn't ready for those sorts of manoeuvres."

"He's doing well though, Shifu is quite good. For a Padawan to face a knight speaks volumes of his potential."

"You give the boy too much credit. He only scored a glancing blow against Shifu, his strike was a shallow cut while Shifu would have left him without limbs." A rather bitter lady scowled.

"You say that like you'd beat Shifu." Another teased.

"No, I wouldn't, but neither will he at this rate."

Vader got up his annoyance present on his face more at himself than at his opponent. Once again the two looked at each other most likely running through hundreds of possible engagements with the speed only their mind could create. With two points behind it certainly wasn't impossible for Vader to lose but with Shifu's strong defense the concept of a body shot was much more unlikely than Vader making another mistake and losing his last point.

"I'll congratulate you Vader. You did better than I thought you would, but don't fret. Better people than you have lost to me."

"You really do love the sound of your own voice don't you?"

"Scathing, that's probably the most you've done to hurt me." Shifu laughed. What a pretentious arse, still Padme couldn't help but notice Vader's small smile. He was enjoying himself? Of course Vader was a masochist, why was she surpised?

"Maybe, although Shifu, I'll win." Vader's smile turned into a smirk as the many circular practice droids around the room came to life.

The whole room was shocked as dozens of droids flew around the room all launching themselves at Shifu. They flew around him like a hurricane.

"Protocol 'I'll win'. Max difficulty active." The droids recited as one.

"Wait what?! Stop!" Kai yelled trying to beign some semblance of order back. They didn't as he first bolt was fired from one of the droid. "Override, 1234! Stop!"

Despite Kai's yells, the several droids didn't stop instead showering Shifu in low-heat energy bolts. He did his best to defend himself as these droids flew like wasps around him, at speeds that would even challenge a Jedi. Everyone couldn't understand why this was even happening… everyone but Padme and Vader.

Whenever something goes wrong Padme knew Vader was somehow responsible and the second this 'random' event occured her eyes fell on Vader who looked positively jovial. Her bodyguard moved the second the bolts started to fire.

The droids looked to favour Shifu as Vader effortlessly flew past the droids who seemed uninterested in her body bodyguard. Shifu to his credit, not wanting to lose the duel ignored the droids and instead focused on defending against Vader's assault. Yet by the wince in Shifu's eye when a bolt finally made it past his defence told Padme that these training bolts weren't exactly painless.

Shifu tried his best but being attacked by Vader and several training droids meant it wasn't long before Shifu's defence faltered. While he did his best to ignore the pain Shifu was forced to start defending against the training droids again finding the constant stinging unbearable. This was his mistake as he brought his lightsaber up to defend himself Vader went low and left, bringing his lightsaber up diagonally cutting across Shifu's body from hip to shoulder.

"And I do believe that's three points to me. You lost."

At the words 'you lost' the droids fell out of the air. Almost like it was fate that with Anakin's win, they would stop. Yet Padme, along with everyone else in the room knew it weasn't fate which had reprogrammed the droids to attack Shifu and Shifu alone. 

"Y-y-you cheated!" Shifu cried.

"Twasn't against the rules."

"Don't you Twas me you arsehole. That's why you spent so long getting changed, you… messed with the droids. You planned this!"

"Obviously," Vader scoffed. "A win is a win though."

He cheated, everyone in this room knew it. But still no one looked bothered by it, some even giggling at Shifu's misfortune.

Before Shifu could scream his head off at the Jedi that had first approached Padme had walked out of the audience and approached Shifu and Vader.

"Come now Shifu, underhanded… prehaps," the Jedi gave a glance over to Vader who smirked proudly. No doubt Vader thought the word underhanded was a compliment. "But it wasn't explicitly against the rules and this does teach the younglings a good lesson."

"Oh yeah, and what's that Master Oogway? That cheaters prosper."

"That not everyone is going to play fair, I can't imagine a better lesson for our younglings. That sometimes you don't have to be stronger to win a fight."

Shifu looked like he wanted to argue but he surprisingly kept his mouth shut against the Jedi. Instead with pleasant shock, she saw Shifu give a respectful bow to Vader who returned in kind. One with a big smirk and the other grinding his teeth so hard Padme thought he might need to see a dentist.

One quick flick of Vader's eyes and they instantly met Padme's own who was already staring at him. He gave her a big toothy grin and she rolled her eyes at his antics unable to hide her own small smile. That stupid idiot was lucky that the Jedi… what did Shifu say his name was? Oogway? If he hadn't come then Padme could see the very real possibility of them being chased out the temple with pitchforks and fire.

Wait… Master Oogway?

Padme quickly looked back looking for the Jedi but had lost him in a sea of green as more Jedi went over to offer their condolences to Shifu or more likely to tease him about losing.

"Damnit." The Jedi was already gone.

"I can't believe we are getting kicked off this stupid planet." She huffed, after the complete goose chase of being sent to the Senator office, then to the Jedi temple

"You saw me win. Or as you would say 'kick arse'," Vader teased mocking the way she screamed it at him. "So not all bad."

"Truthfully I'm surprised you didn't just lose the duel straight away deliberately," Padme whined, dragging the painfully large suitcase up the ramp of the ship. Why Vader didn't just use the Force to help was beyond her, though she suspected it was because he enjoyed seeing her suffer.

"Why would I?"

"I don't know, you trying to do something just doesn't seem very much like you."

"He insulted you, told you to be quiet to your face when you were being reasonable. I of course had to teach him a lesson." Vader smirked.

"Wait?! That's the reason you accepted?"

"Yeah? Obviously, are you being an idiot intentionally?" Vader looked at her with genuine confusion.

Padme looked over at Vader in bewilderment as he walked back up onto the ship. Was he just being kind? No, that was Vader. Vader was blunt, abrasive and the only time he was very coy was when he was lying. He truly did think that defending her was no big deal. Something completely natural. Padme didn't think she had real friends who would get in a fight for her no less a complete stranger.

Is he deep down a good person? No that's impossible, Vader didn't protect or remotely care about the other passengers on Grakkus' ship. Which only really means Vader plays favourites, yet the worst part is she, doesn't even think he knows he does.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer:

I do not own any rights to Star Wars. This is merely fan fiction by a fan and not someone even remotely involved in any Marvel or Lucas Film property. That being said I do hope you enjoy it.

He spent thousands of credits he won from cheating at casinos, betting on games he knew he wouldn't lose and stole any lost credits in the storage containers he slept it. The memory of how he briefly became a rat god on one particular smuggler ship did bring a small smile to his face. Yet, that smile died immediately as he looked around himself and realised despite all that effort he was now back here on Coruscant after making a net profit of zero distance. Wonderful.

"I still can't believe I was able to get such a nice apartment on such short notice. Vader make a note to thank the owner with gift basket or something. A nice wine," Padme then gave a look over to Vader and pouted her lips. "Or maybe some chocolates."

"First of all, I don't drink every alcohol I touch." Padme raised a brow. Please, Anakin was sure that… actually had he? In this loop he probably hasn't ever touched a bottle of alcohol and not drank it. Whatever.

"Second of all, I thought I was your body guard. Why am I suddenly your receptionist?"

"At the rate I'm paying you, you should be my court jester, janitor and personal car." As much as Anakin would have liked to say 'you can ride me anytime' he fought against his instincts and took a seat on the large bed.

"You dismissed your personal security. I know how much top-quality security costs, if anything you actually make money off me becoming your guard."

"A happy accident I suppose." Padme said half half-focused on him and instead looked around the room. "Huh, there is only one bed."

"Nothing gets past you does it, with such keen vision, do you even need a guard with such lazer focus?" Anakin sarcastically rolled his eyes, this bed was quite comfy though. True to Padme's words this place was very nice. He could get used to a bed like this.

"Shut it you. I suppose I'm okay with you sleeping on the couch, I'll ask room service to get a spare blanket."

"You're okay with me sleeping on the couch?" He scoffed.

"Well, I can't demand another room. We were a week early! I would hate to be rude after they were so accommodating."

"So I have to suffer?"

"I can't suffer! I'm Senator of Naboo, with such a heavy burden I need proper back support that only a heated mattress can provide."

"What?! It's heated?"

"Yup." In her hand she held up a remote with all sort of settings, heating, vibrating, able to to do that thing where the mattress's front half curls up so you can watch T.V. It was perfect.

"I'll kill you for this bed."

"Bring it bitch." Padme smirked.

"Oh yes, Master Yoda, I promised you and my dead Master I'd look after the boy. I'll find him, besides, he's just a teenager how hard can it be. HARD! VERY HARD!"

"Shhhhh." A Jedi Obi-Wan didn't recognise hushed him. At least he thought it was a Jedi, his vision was so blurred from looking at a screen that anything that wasn't made up of blue light was just a blob to him at this point.

"Oh shut up," Obi-Wan was tired, angry and a little sleep-deprived. Anakin had not made this easy for him.

Not only had Anakin left the temple but apparently he chose now was a convenient time to stop existing. Which Obi-Wan didn't think was actually possible, everyone leaves some sort of trail. But no, Anakin Skywalker after he left the temple just doesn't exist anymore. He asked detectives to help him, police, private investigators and even fake psychics that told him he should stop looking for his boyfriend and instead find love elsewhere.

Anakin was not his boyfriend! And if he was then Obi-Wan was going to be very abusive when he finally found him. At least the psychics believed him. Considering they didn't actually do any investigating, but whenever the police or detectives tried looking for Anakin they would respond back to him saying that the only record of Anakin is at the temple and that there were no leads.

YEAH HE KNEW THAT!

"Obi-Wan you look tired, you should sleep."

"Sorry, not now yellow blob, I'm busy. The thingy won't find himself."

"Anakin my dear."

"Bless you."

"No," The yellow blob's eye mass twitched. "Anakin."

"Isn't that what I said?" What had he said? Whatever, doesn't matter.

"You've spent literal days in here consistently. And, while at first I was concerned for your health. Even bringing you food and water… I'm afraid I've been enabling you. I think it's best you retire to your room for some rest. You started to stink three days ago honey."

"Can't, Jedi computers are the only ones that are allowed into private police records and I know he'll slip up eventually. I know he will. I'm this close." Obi-Wan tried pinching his fingers together to show how close he was but the carpel tunnel he got from all this typing paralyzed his fingers wide apart.

"There was an Anakin Skywalker who died in a by self-immolation on Onderone after a drug overdose who I thought was him."

"Oh my," the blob gasped.

"Don't get happy, I was excited too but it was just some random guy who shared the same name."

"I wasn't happy. A person died… were you happy?" She asked a bit concerned

"Of course I was! I was this close to finding him," Obi-Wan tried again to pick his fingers together to little success. Whatever. "At this point whether Anakin is alive or not is kind of secondary to me at this point. If you haven't noticed finding him, or his corpse has kind of taken over my entire life."

"The other Jedi are worried about you."

"Why? Because I cyber bullied Mandawhore after they commented mean things on my post?" He had tried everything in his search for Anakin, even asking random strangers on the internet for help.

In hindsight that was a particularly bad idea. It wasn't his fault though! He was a Jedi, they didn't really use social media. He had no idea of the goblins that lurked in the shadows.

"That was cyber self-defence! He called me a beta cuck. I had to search up what that meant!" Obi-Wan continued.

"I remember, I had to confront you on your internet history. This is my library and my computers. I get flagged on those kinds of things."

"Yeah the holonet is a terrible place as I'm finding out, we really need a Jedi cyber squad. This place is a breeding ground for all things evil and dark… O.M.G, could this be a Sith tactic? Of course, a new attack front, we've been fighting the Sith wrong the whole time!"

"O.M.G? I don't even know what that means and you sound crazy."

"Quite yellow blob! I must alert Master Yoda immediately. Quick, what's his Spacebook account?"

"Or you could go up and talk to him in person?"

"Don't be a cringe boomer, you're being the opposite of based rn."

"Okay I'm cutting you off the holonet now"

"No!"

Even from the temple Anakin could feel Obi-WAN's suffering. Ha! The poor idiot was using the holonet, too find him. Social media is where sanity and any form of intelligence goes to die.

"Stop smiling, it's not like you." Padme narrowed her eyes at him, placing her hands on her hips despite the several bags in her hands.

"You don't like my smile?"

"I like your smile, I just often don't like the reason though. Now put these on." She handed the bags to him and much to his despair they were filled with clothes.

"I still don't see why I need new clothes." Anakin growled walking into the change room shutting the door knowing there was a waiting Padme outside. No windows either so he couldn't really sneak out.

"Cause if your going to be seen next to me you can't wear whatever garbage you have on hand."

"I really don't care much about clothes."

Most of his time was spent in either robes, armour or a combination of the two. He never really had a chance to just wear clothing, even when he was invited by Padme or his Jedi duties required him to go those to those pointless Senator meetings to boost moral or assure political heads that they would win the war. Even then he would still wear his Jedi robes. Not that it mattered considering he would always sneak out.

He was needed on the front lines after all, he was a warrior. In all his loops he had never made a habit of pointless talking when more change could be made with a lightsaber then words.

Padme had sure gone overboard with the clothing though, causal, formal, causal-formal. Ironically she had gotten him all sorts of clothing that wasn't something an actual bodyguard would wear. Not that he'd need it of course, armor was a double edged sword with Jedi. On one hand it would protect them from a blaster bolt or two but armor would often restrict movement making them get shot in the first place. It's why Jedi did adopt some armour in the Clone Wars better never a full set, the only time that was ever worth it was if it was beskar.

"Yes,"

"Yes,"

"Yes,"

"Don't you think I've got enough now?" Anakin sighed. "Seriously, when am I ever going to need this!"

By his fingertips dangled a pink floral shirt with blue flowers on it.

"There are lots of planets that are just tropical islands. Which reminds me, after this we need to hit up a shoe store. We'll need dress shoes, runners, sandals."

"Cyanide?" Anakin rather hopefully asked earning him a glare from Padme.

"Hilarious, but we have to do this. You're appearance is important, there is a reason attractive people have easier lives. Pretty privilege is a thing and while not totally moral, not taking advantage of it is silly."

"I guess you wouldn't know."

"I'll have you know I'm very attractive! I have suitors upon suitors waiting for me at home."

"Oh please, those rich elitist Naboo nobles? They have the arrogance of being born in a higher class but none of the actual power or wealth that the core planet nobility have. Naboo royalty as far as the galaxy is concerned are basically just rich nobodies. Yeah, I'm sure you are just dying to get married to them."

"And like you can talk? At least the people I share a bed with aren't whores."

"Jealous? I have a nice couch we can share, though it's pretty small. 'Oh Padme, there is no room we have to push our bodies together'. Then we spoon but halfway through the night you feel something poke you. You look down and see my-"

"Shut up!" Padme cried throwing a sweater into his face. Pulling the wool fabric of his face he was welcomed to the sight of a bright red-faced Padme. He couldn't tell if her cheeks were red by anger or by blushing.

"It was a lightsaber if you were curious."

"I wasn't." She growled. A literal animalistic growl.

Despite her poor attitude, Padme continued to bring more and more clothing till eventually she got tired and they decided to leave the store. Though Anakin suspected that this wasn't the end of their shopping trip.

They would reach their upper limit soon, though. She had bought so many clothes for him, even she had to admit defeat after her arms got sore carrying all the bags. Which of course only meant one thing. He had to carry them. The urge to use the Force was overwhelmingly strong, but even before landing on this planet, he had been suppressing his Force signature.

If there was one thing that could not be allowed to happen, it's that the Jedi realise he is here. They couldn't 'legally' trap him. Well, that wasn't true, he broke several laws fleeing Coruscant, not that they could prove it. What he meant to say was that they couldn't 'feasibly' trap him. When you spend several decades trapped in prisons specifically designed to keep you contained, you find that handcuffs and zip ties don't really cut it anymore. Still, annoying though.

"It's only one o'clock, we still have so much time to kill. What do you usually do for fun?"

"Fun?"

"Yes, that thing you try to do?"

"I guess drink? A small amount of microdosing." That's all he's really been doing so far in this loop.

"What about when you were younger? Surely you didn't come out of the womb with a bottle of Vodka."

Anakin put a finger to his lips actually taking a moment to think. What had he done before the loops. It was so long ago, he knew he was a slave from the scars he was had on his body before but he couldn't ever remember getting them. His knowledge of being a slave on Tatooine in his childhood was more just a note in his mind then an actual experience. He remembered the Sith slave camps of the loops where Palpatine successfully broke him. Where Jedi from the purge were captured and tortured to the Darkside. He considered himself more of a slave there then in his actual childhood as he could actually remember that.

"I don't remember much of my childhood, as for hobbies. I don't have any."

"Not a single hobby? What about training, that counts?"

"I suppose." Though training wasn't really a hobby. It's not like he didn't enjoy it but to him training was part of his job.

Every loop. Train, build an army, kill Palpatine. Every single loop. This was the first time he had ever taken a step back, he had started training in his spare time but he was so used to training till his hands bled. He had literally died from over training, so he knew his limits. What he was doing now? That was more like yoga to him then real training.

"I like to bake. I used to bake every day as a child."

"Pastries I know, you have a real addiction to cinnamon scrolls."

"Oh, have I already told you?"

"Yes… you must have." Anakin hummed.

Had she told him this loop? He was slipping up, that wasn't like him. Romancing Padme had become… mechanical. There used to be love involved, he knew there used to be. But, he had grown to see Padme as nothing more then a step to get Luke and Leia. She always died so young. In the long run those two were more important then Padme, he needed warriors, not Senators.

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't be. It's nice to talk to you without…"

"Being drunk?" No, without seeing her as nothing more then a breeding mule. Usually by now he would have asked about her parents, then move onto Naboo. A compliment of how heroic she is then a sly comment about her looks. Streamline, optimised and perfected.

"Yes, drunk." Not this time though, this is his break. He could go back to his loveless romance when he was trying to save the Galaxy.

Thankfully, the conversation came to an end when they heard a loud commotion as they rounded a corner.

Coruscant was a highly populated planet, they separated between the rich and the poor areas by height as the cities were so large that they couldn't just designate poor areas. The rich literally lived atop of the poor as while the rich lived with the clouds and fresh air the poor suffered from sunlight deficiency and smog which acted almost like a border being an unofficial line between poor and the well off.

Still there were connection points that connected the rich and poor. They were littered throughout the city, and more then often the most guarded. At one of these crosswalks did Anakin see a large group of people being held back by riot shields and guards armed with pepper spray.

Shit, he was so distracted with his own thoughts he didn't feel the negativity swelling up.

"What's happening." Padme asked, she wasn't the only wondering what was occurring as a small crowd had gathered on the other side of the police wall pushing back those from the poor areas.

"A riot."

"A riot? Why?" Yet, she didn't need him to answer her question as the signs that many people held made it clear.

'Get them out of here!"

'The core belongs to humans!'

'Down with the CIS.'

And some other words that were poorly spelt along with some poorly drawn pictures of a beheaded alien.

"A pro-war rally?" Padme uttered the words in shock, as if she couldn't believe the words she was saying.

Naboo wasn't used to war like The Core Republic was. The Republic always being in some sort of conflict at some time causing the creation of a pro-war culture on some level. As much as Anakin would have liked to believe this was Palpatine's doing, which on some level it was, Coruscant had always had a patriotic issue. That the Core worlds actually believed that they were the center of the Galaxy and because of that they were the most important.

"It's no secret that another MCA discussion is about to come up again, it's why your here. They probably like the idea of the MCA, after all an army need soldiers. You don't need a diploma to hold a blaster and the military pays well." Anakin shrugged.

"On Naboo we had rallies, but they were always against war."

Naboo was always a peaceful planet. Padme's father assured that for his daughter and while Anakin has never met the man he knew Padme's family well enough, or at least her father who she idolised. From the day she could walk she was attending war relief and charity events set up by her Father. He was a good man, or at least he must have been.

"A riot, not a rally." Anakin sneered. Rallies were peaceful, yet from the brick and Molotov cocktails being thrown this was anything but.

"We need to get out of here," he continued.

"They need to be calmed."

"Look at them. Those things are not people."

"Because they are poor?" She could her the heat in her voice.

"Because they are rioters. A group is only as smart as it's stupidest member, group mentality turns those fools into sheep and I can assure you there are some idiotic people in the crowd. People who don't give a shit about anything and they just want to hurt people. Even good natured riots only need one moron in the crowd to turn something moral and good into bloody and hate-filled." One person who pushes past a barrier, one person who decides that they no longer want a peaceful protest, one person who takes it too far.

As a person who spends his whole life in war Anakin had seen his fair share of rallies, which quickly turns to riots which then turns to looting. When one person starts looting they all do. Anakin at first with a heavy heart had to stop rioting, he really could understand them and in some way supported them. They are victims of war and now we're being treated as property by whoever occupies their planet.

Yet, you can only see so many children be tramped to death. So many small local businesses get ruined by selfish looters who stole want they want not because they care about any cause other then themselves. When someone thinks they can take anything they want in a panic you truly see how utterly disgusting humanity can be. He no longer had any pity for those that would use a good cause to justify their greed.

"I will calm them down." Padme proudly boasted not understanding just how dangerous a group of idiots can be.

"Padme don't," Anakin reached out grabbing her wrist. She looked outright furious at him but he could live with that. "These aren't the peaceful protests you are used to."

"They need leadership, that's all. I am an excellent leader." With that she ripped her hand out of his grasp and continued moving to the crowd.

She never did get her chance to try to calm the rioters though, all it took was one drugged up moron to throw himself past the tasers and pepper spray into the police. His system so hyped up on stimulants that even the high volts of the tasers did nothing as he weaved a rusty knife around. He didn't do anything special, he didn't even harm one of the police. But like sheep the crowd saw this as an opportunity and against a wave of people all you can do is close your eyes and protect your head.

Padme watched as the line of police was breached. Being dressed in full body armour and a riot shield was good against a few individuals but against the mass of people that charged through they could only stop a few before being swallowed by the masses.

Unlike the police she didn't have any protection, instead, when the literal wave of angry rioters came crashing on top of her all she could do was scream.

She felt the hair on her scalp get ripped and heard the tear of cloth as she could only hope people were just trying to take her clothes and nothing more. Yet when then she felt some peoples hand try to creep to areas they shouldn't have but she did her best to knock them aways.

It couldn't have been more then a couple of second but it felt longer as she soon became drowned in a sea of people. At some point she was knocked to the floor, she hadn't even lost her footing just she was in the way of these people so she had been literally thrown to the ground.

Then it started. The onslaught off boots upon her body, she tried her best to curl up and scream. Trying to let the people who were using her organs as a floor mat but to no avail as all these people could here was the sound of their own roars. Maybe some people noticed her, she could tell when an extra heavy boot came crashing down on her leg. To them she wasn't a person, a rich bastard who lived atop of them finally knowing what it's like to live below. And they let her know it as steps became stomps and her screams became cries.

Eventually the stomping stopped, but the damage had already been done. It hadn't been long enough to bruise yet but she would be covered in particularly nasty purple spots soon.

Despite the fact that no more blows came to land on her she didn't dare look up afraid that if she uncovered her head someone should take the opportunity to kick her teeth in. It was only when she felt the familiar heat of a lightsabre did she dare peak upwards.

"I SAID STOP!" Vader roared with such emotion she had never seen from him. It felt similar to the screams of a Starweird except their was no voice in his voice. Their was anger but it didn't carry the darkside malicious, but instead paralzyed her with authority.

He was standing over her, literally she laid between his legs and he stood over her in a wide stance.

"Next one who hurts her loses their head." He growled. Vader wasn't very loud but the sound of his voice rang in her ears. It was the first true thing she had ever heard, he spoke with such venom in his voice, such an honesty that everything up until now felt like a lie.

Yet, Vader had been right as one idiot charged him proving that some people couldn't think while rioting. When one charged five more followed proving that that this was all the riot needed to keep going as while on the far sides the looting continued, the presence of Vader had halted the main center group. The moment Vader would be swallowed by the riot was the moment they would decend upon them again. Trampled to death nothing to stop the angry mob of attackers.

Vader wouldn't fall though, true to his word the first idiot that charged soon found himself a few feet from Padme headless, then the next found a lightsaber in his chest and the third found that his legs had kept running without the rest of him.

These were not the movements that he used against Shifu. That had been a duel, with elaborate movements to break down the defense of his opponent.

These people weren't like Shifu though, every blow Vader stuck was killing. For a sheer moment, she forgot how much she detested murder as watching Vader move wasn't like watching a murderer. It felt so routine, like a gymnast running though the motions of a performance. Every kill perfected, hitting vitals and cleanly executing the people that dared approach them. Could this even be considered murder? There was so little emotion that it looked so… boring.

After the three had been so effortlessly killed by Vader the crowd finally realised that their were going to be consequences for their actions. She could see a greedy glint in a few of their eyes, wondering if they all piled onto him like the police they could trample him and properly start their looting spree. Though, Padme was was unsure if they could.

Potentially they could drown him in a sea of flesh, but there was one key issue. No one wanted to be the first, these selfish monsters would never sacrifice themselves for each other. Whoever charged at Vader would die, that was just a fact. How many he could take down before they got him was something they didn't want to find out so now they were forced into an awkward standstill.

Heads were drawn as someone from the crowd tried to make a run for it. Not at Vader but at a nearby store, though they never made it far as with a single hand outstretched by Vader in the silence of his presence, everyone heard the pop of two knees as the man fell to the floor, screaming grasping as his legs which no longer bent at a proper angle.

"I do not care if you loot, I do not care who you trample to death, I do not fucking care. You are all so worthless in the grand scheme of things I'll forget you all before the time this lifetime even ends," Vader started, Padme felt like she was in the presence of an adult schooling their children after they were caught doing something bad. "But this one is off limits. Do you understand?"

Some nodded but most were in shock. Vader true to his word didn't seem to care as he delicately scooped her off the floor carrying her in his arms. The crowd literally parted for Vader as he walked with her in his arms and while Padme did notice some people continue to loot the majority had lost whatever fire they had in them.

Despite the pain she had in her body, despite the tears that still moistened her cheeks, despite the fact she was in the arms of a murderer. She couldn't help the small bit of relief she found against Vader's chest.

A/N:

Um… Padme isn't okay with the murder. She's just in shock and doesn't fully understand what's happened. Just want to clarify that. You can also find comfort in something that is bad. I would never want my friends to beat up someone just cause they said something mean about me but that doesn't mean I also wouldn't still feel flattered.

Whoops, didn't mean to write that much as well. Suppose to end after Obi-Wan but I felt guilty having so few words. But then I realised I need the Jedi to be involved in the story but I forgot that I had Anakin hidden. Welp, It is what it is. I originally wanted this chapter to be a bit of a break, a little bit of humor before we go into the MCA Senator arguments.

It'll be fine… besides I'm sure the Jedi totally won't look into this. Nope, Anakin's identity it 100% safe.

Chapter Text

Padme always woke up before Vader, she had noticed that when on the ship to Corellia when she would often be dressed, fed and brushed her teeth before he awoke. Yet, she was never quite sure if he really was asleep. He never snored, never moved and one night she had thrown a pillow annoyed at his laziness but he had caught it rather easily.

Vader certainly looked asleep, he had his left leg hang off the couch with the blanket half on him as most of it had fallen to the floor exposing his bare chest.

Slowly but surely his chest heaved in heavy controlled breathes. It really did annoy her that she couldn't tell if he was faking it. Honestly at this point she thought that he was half dolphin, always able to keep one half of his brain awake just so he can never be surprised by her. Well, not never. There was that one time on Grakkus ship when she awoke him and he greeted her by trying to kill her.

Since that incident, there hadn't been a repeat; he always seemed to wake up the split second before she threw something at him.

He looked, not peaceful per say, but rather emotionless. She suppose everyone on some level looked like that while asleep though. She had never really made a habit of watching people sleep before this. Were they suppose to be emotive? Scowling and smiling at every nightmare and dream, or was your face suppose to drag behind your half-asleep muscles?

She couldn't help herself as she reached a hand towards him, a small touch. Just to satisfy her curiosity. She knew there was a small chance would lunge at her throat again, so as she reached over she was sure to keep her head low and more importantly, away from his hands or any position where he was in easy choking position.

"Good morning, Princess." Her hand shot back as her heart leapt into her throat.

"You're awake." She hissed.

"Just woke up." She didn't believe him. Not that he tried that hard to lie.

He threw the blanket off himself, exposing his scarred torso to the world before faking a yawn that was over-exaggerated. God she hated that, when he treated her like a child. Like she didn't know what he was doing, or maybe he was doing it purposely to infuriate her.

"We have a Senate meeting this morning. The topic of the MCA will be brought up so please don't be," she struggled to properly find the word that could accurately describe Vader. Intentionally provocative, immoral argumentatist or maybe just difficult.

"Vadery?" He raised a brow giving her a small smirk.

"Yes, that."

"I promise I'll be on my best behaviour."

"I've seen your best behaviour, that's why I'm afraid."

He didn't argue with that.

Anakin followed a few steps behind Padme as she strutted through the Senate building. So young, so eager to prove herself to a bunch of old men that frankly didn't deserve her attention. Who praised her idealism in public but made lewd comments behind closed doors.

"Are you excited for your first Senate meeting?" Padme asked, the excitement in her voice annoyingly apparent.

"I can't wait." He groaned. Not once had he ever sat through a whole Senate meeting. In his infinite lives, he had never done something so suicidal as bore himself to death. And believe him, he had done plenty of suicidal things, more often then not actually succeeding in killing himself.

This was suppose to be a break from his usual loops of constant war… but this? Sure it was different but in no way was it something he was looking fowards to. He had also never made out with a Rancour in his loops, doesn't mean he was ever going to.

"This will be good for you. A little impulse control will go a long way."

Anakin hummed in agreement but not really listening to what she was saying instead fishing out a small container of pills Anakin had dubbed his 'sanity mints' due to the small mint container he kept his pills in, and threw two in his mouth.

They weren't enough to make him trip or hallucinate. They wouldn't even really influence his bodyguard duties too much either, not that anything would happen with the blue senate guard around. But still, they were microdoses that would at least keep him sane sitting through these boring meetings.

It took some time, but the two did finally arrive at their own little gate in the corridor. They could have gone inside and stood on their little platform in the large open space but waiting in the corridor at least would mean they would be spared several awkward moments of silence with the other who entered early.

Though as they waited Anakin bit his lip as he felt a familiar force present approach. A force presence that was painfully average, someone who would never amount to anything in the eyes of the force. Someone who would do no wrong but do no right. For all the Force was concerned, this person may as well not exist.

"Senator Amidala, a pleasure." The old man bowed. Yet his eyes never lingered on Padme for more then a brief moment of recognition before they fell upon him.

His eyes never left Anakin after that. The chosen one, or rather in the ultimate pet project. A final screw you to the Jedi as the once savior of the light was tortured into a monster to hunt it.

"Chancellor." Padme bowed back a small, polite smile on her lips.

"I heard what happened to you, absolutely dreadful stuff. I hope you are okay." A lie.

"No," Padme laughed, yet the bruises Anakin had seen last night said otherwise. "A little bit of bed rest and I'm back in fighting form."

Palpatine laughed. So natural and so perfect that even if he hadn't had a flawless disguise in the Force that Anakin still wouldn't have believe that the man before him could be the worst of the Sith. Had Palpatine not been the coming of the end of the Galaxy, Anakin supposed he could have been a famous actor.

The smiles, the waves, the way he ran though the lines and directed conversation was nothing less then an art he had perfected.

"And this must be the boy who saved you? I heard rumors that you got yourself a Jedi. Quite an exotic find."

Padme looked over to him, no doubt expecting him to claim that he was no Jedi. But it never came, nor did anything else as Anakin gazed into the eyes of his eternal enemy remembering every single encounter they have had over an eternity.

Everytime his nerves burnt from electrocution, everytime he felt the heat of their sabers colliding, everytime he broke under torture.

'Please don't make me do this. I love you Vader, be mine forever.' And for quite some time he had, then he hadn't, then he had again.

He wanted to try rip open Sidious' throat right then and there. End this accursed loop once and for all. Another part of him screamed to cry and throw up, to hide and let Anakin Skywalker die with the memory of his cowardice being the last remnant of his life. One last part of him, a piece he had buried down deep inside him told him to tell Palpatine everything. Reveal the loop and join Palpatine at his side once more and strike out against the Galaxy that had tormented him, use the darkside to break free of the loop and murder those Whills that chained him to this hell.

"Vader, don't be rude, my apologies Chancellor."

"Nonsense! I understand he must be new to all this. Aren't you Vader?" He laughed. He laughed not due to his fake cheery persona but rather he laughed when she said Vader. He knew, of course he did. His spy empire was well established long before his birth and thus Anakin could do nothing to prevent Palpatine's knowing ears from hearing anything he wanted.

The Republic, the CIS, no doubt his own personal spies as well. This man single-handedly controlled the Galaxy in his palm all before Anakin could even walk. By the time the loop started Anakin was already starting off with nothing against the most powerful man in the Galaxy.

"I'm sorry." Anakin swallowed the vomit that had threaten to rise up his throat.

"It's alright son," Palpatine hand fell on his shoulder. His fingers were warm and his touch was sickeningly soothing. He remembered how Palpatine would make him kneel and then cup his cheek like a king would do to his favourite prince. In those times when he was nothing more than scars and wires Palpatine's warmth was addicting.

"I best be heading to my own gate. This place is too large for an old man like myself, by the time I get to where I'm suppose to I need a five minute break just to catch my breathe." He laughed again. His jokes were never funny but he was so charismatic that Padme couldn't help but join in.

"Goodbye Channeclor." Padme waved, her smile genuine and sickening to Anakin. She and Palpatine may have butted heads but as of now she thought he was still a genuine man, if slightly politically wrong.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm going to the bathroom." Anakin scowled, the taste of his breakfast nauseating and overpowering. Shit, he was going to throw up.

"Fine, but be quick. And no sneaking out!"

He wanted to, just not for the reasons she thought he did.

Vader rejoined nearly thirty minutes after, his eyes were slightly red as if he had been crying and his breathe reeked of mint gum which could only meant one thing.

He had been getting high in the bathroom. Unbelievable! Why did she expect him to be civilized for just once? Clearly that was too much for Vader who had to stay perpetually drunk or high.

She sighed into her palm when he sat behind her. Never next to her, always behind. At least he somewhat did his security duty, or pretended too. Though so far he had been capable so maybe not a complete loss.

The usual business took place, general agenda was being taken care off. Some planets argued while some sat and took full advantage of the wait staff asking for exotic drinks or snacks. The Republic being so large meant some of these planet's senators literally had zero opinion on these matters as besides taxing they wouldn't be affected too much. She even saw one Twi'lek flip a coin, looked down, shrug and then cast their vote on some Core policy that would never effect her.

Unfortunately it seemed the mindset of sit back and watch was becoming uncomfortably more and more common.

Her eyes fell to the Corellian seat. One that was much larger and closer to the centre to show how much more important as one of the main core worlds they were. Yet, it sat empty and its power it held wasted.

She brought a subtle hand to her chest to try physically grab the pain in her heart and throw it away but to no avail. Corellia had been one of her true allies, not one that simple agreed with her but did nothing like she found many other planets doing. But they actually tried, and now she was ironicallly alone in a crowded room.

"Now onto the next topic. What threat does the CIS pose to us, and should we pass the Military Creation Act?"

There was a grieving silence as usually, Garm would interject. He was the pillar of the anti-act group and a powerful one at that. Yet now the room was met with silence as there was no boisterous voice, no argument, no righteousness. No other planet could do what Garm did, they lacked the importance that Corellia had. Garm could stand up, insult everyone in the room one by one and make out with Palpatine and yet no one would dare bat an eye as Corellia was just that important. Core world Ship production and key trade routes went through them, being against them was a death sentence unless you yourself was a major planet.

"I oppose the MCA." Her voice rang through the microphone over the silence.

She cringed when she saw her friends shaking their heads at her. How many times have they told her to keep her down, to wait till she had a few more years before making splashes?

At least her friends' cringing wasn't the worst reaction. Many of the pro-MCA Senators outright laughed at her and noticed a particular Twi'Lek sighing before taking out a coin, getting ready to vote. Betting the future of the Republic with a coin toss, it would have been such a revolting sight if it wasn't for the fact she was used to it.

"The CIS don't have an army, they are just fed up with the Republic! An interstellar army is a waste of resources that could go to health care or bolster our economy. Creating an army on the scale that could defend the whole Republic will do nothing but create debt for no other reason than fear. You want to promote a war that might not even happen!"

She noticed a few heads nod at her. Mostly non-human or perhaps those who were considering leaving the Republic themselves. Still it was something she supposed.

"A valid concern Miss Amidala." It was Palpatine who spoke. His voice dripping with kindness and nonjudgment. "But your reasoning is flawed, an army will create jobs and weapons trade is quite profitable."

"You can build hospitals instead of warships!"

"It is not doctors who need jobs, though, is It Amidala? The majority of the military is made up of those from lower economic groups. It isn't Doctors who are homeless, it's those who can't afford schooling in the first place. A large-scale military will employ those who need them, people who couldn't afford school, who can't meet requirements for jobs that will pay them a livable salary."

"Then build schools, create support programs with the mountains of credits it would cost to build this army. You argue that education is the problem, yet you want to arm the uneducated instead of teaching them."

"And what of the CIS? Do you think they build schools?" Padme bit her lip at his questioning. She could debate economics, she had spent several sleepless nights looking through census data and statistics to argue about money. But fear? She couldn't use logic to beat fear, it was purely emotional.

"You yourself experienced CIS occupation. They blockaded your planet and tried to steal it from you. Out of everyone here you should know that the CIS do have an army."

"I remember, I remember also how the Republic didn't come to Naboo's aid, nor do I forget the droids descending upon my palace and executing my friends and family." At least a few people had the decency to wince. "But the Trade Federation is not all of the CIS and their army was wiped out by Naboo's garrison. We do not need a galaxy-wide army, our own planetary garrisons are enough. All this Act will do is scare the CIS, what do you think they will do when they see us building an army big enough invasion force? They will build their own, you don't want conflict? Then stop pointing a gun and walk away."

"The CIS are not peaceful, nor are they children. They are the worst of the Republic, splintered off and created their own Empire. You do not turn your back away against thieves and murderers, when you point your gun away they take out theirs." Padme watched as they nodded more to Palpatine's words than they had her. Fear, unfortunately, was a powerful motivator. "An army is a necessary deterrent. One I would rather have, than not."

"Of course, the core worlds would think that!" To her surprise, the argument didn't come from her. A Togrutian Senator who sat quite far away said, most likely a Senator from the further regions of the Galaxy, much like herself. "The Core worlds aren't on the battlefront. It won't be your citizens being killed and exploited."

"Please," A human from the Core of course scoffed. "It will be The Core paying for the army. We are doing this for your protection."

It didn't take long for more and more people to get involved and soon the debate become nothing more than a screaming match. The sheer sound of the yells and screams was overpowering and rather nauseating, causing Padme to fall back into her chair. She may have started this but she was a person of progress, these mindless screaming matches was even worse then Palpatine's argueing with her. At least he was productive with his arguments, they did make sense on a certain level. But this? The yelling and screaming? Nothing about that was productive.

The Chancellor himself looked irritated. She supposed they were the same in that regard, both two sides of the same coin. They both wanted progress, something to keep moving. Yet, neither of them would ever give ground, their need for progress causing a stalemate and preventing them both from achieving anything.

At least Vader should be enjoying this. Having people things yell at eachother was something he loved. She turned to him expects a satisfied smile on his face, instead his eyes were hardened and his jaw tight.

Was this even Vader? His eyes held such hatred. Such emotion. This couldn't be the same man who shrugged at wearing a slave colour. Who was laughed at constantly by my Senators on Grakkus' ship and mocked, yet only shrugged when insulting jeers were thrown in his face.

It was easy to follow his eyes, with such disgust, it was like following a laser pointer. Following his gaze was the easy part, the hard part was figuring out why such a venomous look was pointed at the Chancellor. Sure she often argued with him but not even she hated the old man. If anything he just frustrated her, but hate? Never.

"Va-"

"Argueing, pointless it is." A voice, not particularly loud but drowned out the others.

"War, terrible it is. Unavoidable it is not."

Everyone looked up to where the voice came from. So far away, so far from the centre that such a position belonged to Planets that barely registered on the senate's radar. Yet, the strange voice had a calming inflection, capable of drawing everyone's attention.

A small old green alien whom she had never seen at these meetings stood alongside another man in robes. The fact that he could even walk was impressive to her, he belonged in a retirement home not in this hell.

"Grandmaster Yoda?" Palpatine looked genuinely shocked. He wasn't the only one, the Jedi never came to these meetings unless they were acting as a bodyguard. "What brings you here?"

"Rumours of a Jedi reached our ears in the temple, concerns of this individual brought us here. Yet, we can only sit in silence for so long. Our opinions heard they should be."

It wasn't surprising that everyone had heard the rumours, it had been reported on the news nonstop with all sorts of headlines.

'Jedi slaughter protestors.'

'Jedi saves Senator from violent riots.'

Whatever agenda the news tried to push, they did. Some made Vader to be a violent psychopath while others made him a guardian angel. Whatever the news wanted him to be, they portrayed him as. He was nothing but a medium to push their own agendas.

If they were with the MCA then suddenly it was Vader murdering peaceful protesting while those against it he was a saviour from angry war hungry savages. Thankfully in the eyes of the law, Vader was innocent, if slightly ruthless. It was a toss-up of whether he should be arrested for excessive violence, but a few testimonials from police, other nearby victims and her own injuries was enough for the Judge to rule in favour of Vader. It certainly didn't hurt his chances that he was her security, and while she certainly didn't like the silent bias she held as a Senator, in this instance, it was helpful.

"The Jedi? The Jedi have no voting power, they do not hold a seat in the Senate." One rather heated-up Senator growled to much agreement from both sides of the argument.

"The Jedi act as the policing force in the eyes of the Republic. It is us who fight your wars and defend your space from pirates. As far as Galactic Military goes we are the Republic's primary force and Grandmaster Yoda's opinions on this matter should be considered." Padme didn't recognise the Jedi who stood besides the green one but he was much younger. He looked awful, though, as if he had not slept for the past couple of days.

There were quite a few arguments but with a press of a button by the Chancellor their mics were muted.

"My apologies, Master Jedi. Of course, the Senate would love to hear your opinions of the matter." Despite the Chancellor's words the small twitch of his lips gave away his irritation. The Jedi had no voting power, yet, they still held influence. Essecially among the Core Senators who often housed Jedi for their own personal whims. The Core was Palpatine's strongest supporters, to have the Jedi against him could ruin him. 

A small smile tugged at her own lips. Without Garm this was supposed to be one of the worst Senate meetings to date, yet now, she could actually win.

"Armies, nothing but war do they create," the small-statured Jedi spoke. Yoda, she believed. His calming, wise voice carrying over the room.

"But necessary they are too. The CIS, innocent they are in all this, being manipulated they are. A shadow of the darkside. Count Dooku suspect he is no longer the Jedi he was, we do. The Sith have created a new army and war, avoidable it is not. Having an army, required it might be."

Padme felt her stomach drop and Palpatine looked like a kid in a candy shop. Possibly the only people who could possibly rival or even surpass Coreilla in pull were the Jedi. Without their protection, the Republic would be helpless.

"The Sith?" A senator scoffed. "Keep your stupid religious cults out of the Senate. These are real issues. The CIS are not some puppet state, they are thinking individuals."

"Underestimate the Sith you do. Young you are, not seen nor understand the forces at play." She heard Vader give a quite small bitter laugh.

"Why you little toa-"

The angry Senator never got to finish his sentence as once again the mics cut by Palpatine's finger.

"This is a place of discussion not petty insults. Thank you Master Jedi, we will take your opinion into consideration."

"An honour it is, though not one that will happen regularly. Interfere with Senate the Jedi mustn't."

"Still, you're insight is valuable." More like the political power they possess is important. 

"I wish you luck on your endeavour to find your Jedi."

"Thank you, Chancellor." The green alien turned away from Palpatine and instead moved to her. No, not her. He was looking past her, just barely.

"Anakin Skywalker, see us at the temple, you will."

Anakin Skywalker? That was… that was the name of the Tatooine boy. But the only other Jedi here was Vader?

"Anakin Skywalker? No… you couldn't."

She turned to him hoping for a confused look on his face. Something, anything that would tell her that this was wrong, that somehow this was a lie.

"Surprised?" Vad- Anakin asked, she could tell he was hoping she wouldn't be mad.

She was furious.

Chapter Text

 “Anakin fucking Skywalker!” 

Anakin whinced when he noticed how she picked up a vase and considered hurling at him, not that she ever would. She never uses violence unless her life was on the line. She truly was the best of them. Something Anakin didn't have time to admire as he hid on the other side of the couch. 

“It all makes sense! You’re age, the slave collar! FUCKING HELL! The slave collar! That was so obvious! Why the FUCK would a Jedi know so much about a slave collar!”

“Could’ve happened to anyone.” He shrugged, being sure to quitely stalk his way into the furthest corner of the room away from her.

“YOU! You do not get to talk. I am furious with you.” She turned on him, a new heated fury in her words. 

“Why?” He asked, ignorant of the snake he was poking.

“Why? why?” Ouch, repeating words was never a good sign.

“Because you lied to me! How do you not see I’m mad about that?” Anakin cringed when he heard her voice crack. He’d made her cry a thousand times before and he’d make her cry thousand more times in the future. It still didn’t mean he liked the sound.

“Was it funny to you? Is that why?! ‘Ha ha ha she doesn’t know who I really am what a big fucking idiot!’ Does that FUCKING sound familiar!”

“I wouldn’t say I lied,” he didn’t need the Force to feel the wave of hate roll over him. The Jedi council could probably feel the anger radiating off her right now. “My real identity just never came up.”

“A lie by omission is still a lie!”

“That’s arguable.” Anakin at this point was hoping the owner of the hotel would knock on the door asking if they could more considerate of other patrons. At this point he would even gladly accept an assassination attempt, anything that could end this abruptly. 

“Did you know who I was?!”

“You’re Pamde Amidala.” Anakin raised a confused brow at her.

“Don’t you dare, don’t you fucking dare. You know what I mean. In Grakkus’ ship when you saw me, did you know who I was? Not fucking Padme Amidala, but the girl who you met when you were nine.”

Had he been nine? He had no memory of his pre-loop life. He knew his original life, or at least what he had to know. He knew he was a slave, he knew he grew up on Tattooine, he knew Padme had met him on the desert planet. Those were just dot points that Anakin had kept in his mind, but he never remembered it.

“I did know. Well not straight away, I was pretty drunk but I figured it out after a while ” He admitted, his eyes focused on a rather particularly well-stitched pillow. It was very well done and it totally wasn’t because he couldn’t look Padme in the eyes.

“And what? You just thought never to tell me!”

“I didn’t think we would interact this much,” he shrugged. Probably not the smartest response. “By the time I became your guard it we already had spent weeks together. ‘Oh hey, sorry it’s been so long. I’m actually your old childhood friend sorry for not telling you, my bad'.”

“Who else, who else knew who you were?!”

Anakin let out a tired sigh. He could lie and say no one, but then, if she did find out, then he would be killed. Not so much that she would or was even capable of killing him but rather the guilt she would make him feel would probably be enough for his tired heart.

“Dooku figured it out and so did Grakkus from Dooku. Besides them, no one knew my real identity.” Well maybe the Corellian Jedi knew too but that was questionable. Cleary however the fewer people the better if Padme’s hate-filled glare was any indication.

“Grakkus! Grakkus the HUTT, he knew before I did?! Don’t you see how insulting that is? The person who treated you like a slave knew who you were before I did!”

“Believe me I wasn’t thrilled either.”

At this, she actually did throw something at him. Nothing hurtful, just a small couch pillow that didn’t even have a zipper assuring that the only way he could possibly be hurt was if he was allergic to the soft material.

“You need to calm down.” Anakin realised his mistake only a few seconds after the words came out of his mouth. If there was one thing you should never do it tell a person to calm down. Cause more often than not, it certainly never ever has made anyone calm down. 

“Calm down? Calm down?” Not the repeated words again, that didn’t bode well. “How about you don’t lie to me! How about you just be honest with me! How about I don’t get my trust thrown back into my face by someone who was supposed to protect me!”

Anakin did cringe at that, not just at the volume but he supposed she did make a valid reason on that last point. He had his reasons for hiding his identity and he certainly wasn’t going to apologise but he would admit she did have a somewhat valid reason to be mad.

“I just don’t get it! We were friends! At least, I thought we were.”

“It’s been a long time Padme.” Anakin tiredly sighed.

“Eight years sure is a long time but… did I really mean so little to you?” Eight years? No, it been much much longer than that. When was the last time he talked to her? Not just run through the motions.

“The temple,” his life rather, the life of a time looper. “It wasn’t meant for friendships. I was already so old joining the Jedi. Outside communication wasn’t forbidden but, I was put under a microscope. I’m special Padme. And with that comes consequence.”

“Did you even try to look for me?” Her voice was broken, soft but serrated. Ever so often he could hear her swallow down a sob no doubt afraid to look weak in from of him. She was furious at him not sad, she wasn’t some weakling. Though he knew that wasn’t the case and he knew all she wanted was an apology she wouldn’t get and go back to sleep as if nothing happened. 

“I tried Padme I really did at first. But the temple,” the loops. “It’s not a place where attachment can survive. After you spend a few years,”  Millenniums. 

“You have to be cold to survive, focus only on the mission. Cause if you find yourself getting sidetracked then you fall behind.” You die, over and over and over again. Why fall in love? Why have friends when your attention to them makes you lose?

Palpatine didn’t go to brunch with friends, he didn’t go to baby showers and the only funerals he attended was the ones he was the cause of. To Palpatine the subjugation of the Galaxy was his idea of fun, it was his hobby, his job. Something he took pleasure in, he never got bored. When you can’t contribute a hundred percent to someone else who is, then you’ll lose. 

Padme made her way over to him, her watery eyes glossy in the artificial light of the apartment. 

“You have to promise me. No more lies.”

“I promise.” He lied.

“Okay,” she wiped the tears from her eyes. “You tell anyone I cried you are fired. Not from employment but rather I will literally light you on fire.”

“I look forward to it.”

The two embraced. Nothing sexual, he did feel her breasts push up against him and he felt the way she nuzzled her face into his own. But, there was a strange lack to it. A lack of plans, he didn’t think of how he could use Naboo’s resources for a prospective Empire or how long it would take to birth Luke and Leia. It was nice, so he hugged her just a little harder.

“I don’t wanna be on this planet any longer. I miss Naboo.”

“Then let’s go. I think the residents have had enough of us anyway.”

We held our embraces for a few moments more. And he felt relief, not from me not her strangely enough, but rather relief from just outside the apartment. Using the Force he reached over to the door, pulling it aside to see a familiar face

“Oh… hey,” Anakin recognised the stubbly beard, a weak attempt to copy Qui-Gon’s facial hair.

“You didn’t happen to hear anything did you?” Padme blushed.

“Hear what? I only recently got here, I was just about about to knock on the door.” He had heard it all. Anakin had felt his Force presence show up but by the time he reached the door a few minutes ago it vanished. 

Obi-Wan despite always being seen as the mature one of the duo had always been a gossipy little bitch. People had called Anakin emotional but Obi-Wan was the real Prima Donna. He liked gossip, he liked insulting people to their faces with sassy remarks, he couldn’t help himself. A particularly annoying habit that during the Clone Wars lead to many unnecessary problems. 

“Right.” Anakin rolled his eyes.

“It’s true.” It wasn’t. 

“Why are you here Jedi?”

“My apologies Padme. It’s me Obi-Wan, I don’t expect you to remember but I actually accompanied you eight years ago. The Naboo Crisis with the Trade Federation.”

“I remember. Thank you for making it aware who you were immediately.” Padme sent a sharp glare at Anakin who rolled his eyes. 

“Ah yes, well it would be rude of me otherwise.” If he noticed that Anakin was flipping him off he didn’t show it. 

“What do you want?” Anakin scowled at his old master. 

“Yes! Why I am here? Oh that’s right. I’m here to check up on you. It’s been too long and you completely disappeared off the face of the Galaxy.” He said that last part with a bit of malice in his voice causing Anakin himself to chuckle a little. At least he wasn’t the only one been going through hell these last few days.

“Oh really? And it’s not because the council is afraid of me turning to the Darkside?” He smirked as he saw Obi-wan’s face falter. If there was one thing the Jedi didn’t deal in was absolute truths. 

“No,” Obi-Wan said unconvincingly. “But considering our history I would like to make it a habit of checking in on you, making sure you're doing alright.”

Not a complete lie but not a complete truth. Obi-Wan did genuinely care about him but the council had definitely assigned him the mission of providing reports on Anakin’s force affiliation. Anakin before his loops was a very talented Padawan, despite being so old when he joined he already outclassed the average Padawan peers even before the Loop began. It was no secret in the temple Anakin was a chosen one candidate, aka, someone that could not be allowed to fall to the Darkside.

It was ironic in the way that the Jedi were so against him joining when he was a child afraid that they would be training, what they believed, to be an at-risk Jedi. But now that they had trained him in the force they would do anything they could to keep him in the temple. 

Sure a few Ex-Jedi fell to the Darkside. Ventress being a good example. But in the grand scheme of things, she was no Sith, something the Jedi would only have to deal with if she came into Republic space. Rarely in the loops would she ever be more than an assassin, though sometimes, when Anakin killed Dooku earl,y she replaced him and did a surprisingly good job. Not better than Dooku but with Palpatine pulling the strings she did adequately.

Yet him? He was a special case and while they couldn’t force him to stay in the temple, even though plenty of Jedi would want that, Yoda and Obi-Wan wouldn’t allow him to become a slave to the Jedi. They would keep a vigilant eye on him though. Obi-Wan was sent by the Jedi to report his force status and more importantly to be an executioner had he ever shown signs of the Darkside.

“You are too kind Obi-Wan. A kindness he frankly doesn’t deserve.” Padme insulted. This was going to be an annoying thing to deal with in the upcoming days and something she definitely wouldn’t let go.

“Yeah, thanks Obi-Wan.” Anakin spat making it clear he didn’t believe him.

Obi-Wan looked between the two of them. No doubt his mind wondering if they were dating and drawing assumptions. Love leads to grief and grief leads to the Darkside in the eyes of the Jedi. Obi-Wan might be considerate of Anakin but if he ever had a relationship Obi-Wan would be forced to report it to the council. 

If Padme were to die then Anakin had no doubt that a squadron of Jedi would appear at his front door ready to take him to their ‘therapists’ in order to see if he had fallen. 

Yet Obi-Wan looked at the couch which had been turned into a bed and looked quite relieved. Anakin did have the excuse of just being Padme’s guard but still, it’s not like a senator hasn’t ever hooked up with a guard or secretary before. Some an abuse of power which Padme would never do, and some a genuine relationship born out of forced proximity due to work. A HR nightmare but still common. 

“No, we were just leaving anyway.”

“Naboo right?” 

“I thought you didn’t listen in?”

“Lucky guess.” Obi-Wan smirked.

***

“So I walk in on Anakin, hearing moaning from the bathroom. I thought he was self pleasuring himself but no he instead has bloodied nose, both eyes blackened and a several fractured ribs cause he was dared by the other younglings to try parkour down from the highest building in Coruscant all the way down to the surface. I saw the holotapes, you should of seen the way he bounced off hovercar to hovercar.”

Padme laughed at Obi-Wan the two rather engrossed with there conversations. While Obi-Wan spoke about embarrassing stories that he didn’t even remember Padme spoke of his time being drunk on Grakkus’ ship.

“A dare? Ha! I couldn’t dare him to clean a dish no less jump off a building.”

“There wasn’t a dare he wouldn’t do. Sneak into the council chambers, steal Yoda’s walking cane run through the temple naked. This one caused me a lot of trouble. At first I punished him with training but he loved that, it was only when I made his read Jedi history did he finally stop.”

“My you must have been quite young.” She teased but he just rolled his eyes and kept playing with the prince of steak infront of him. 

“Young? That was only last year.”

“Last year?!” Padme spat out her salad. “How did so much change? Now he’s all grumpy.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t speak so candidly about him whilst he is at your table.” He growled, Anakin had thought they would stop after the first few comments but as they drank more and more the stories kept coming and Anakin was forced to burry himself in his food hearing stories of his embarrassing pre-loop life.

It had been bad enough that Padme had forced him to get nice for some nice restaurant he didn’t care about. To the resultant’s credit, it was a nice place. The food was well made though quite expensive and the more Anakin looked around the more elitist the patrons seemed to get. Some poor girl looked around awkwardly as the man who had brought her here had clearly overestimated how much wine he could drink and now was talking more about his Dad’s wealth rather than ask her questions or talk about himself. 

“You aren’t usually so quite Anakin. I suppose your time outside the temple has done you well, clearly Padme is quite the positive influence on you.” Obi-Wan teased himself, from the look in his eye he was probably still pissed that Anakin had run off.

Padme however, blushed at his words and perhaps a much more younger Anakin would have felt jealous. 

“Though I am rather curious,” Obi-Wan continued. He played. “Nar Shaddaa? I thought for certain you’d would have gone straight to Tatooine, the only reason why I wasn’t on a ship the moment you disappeared was because I wasn’t even sure you had left Coruscant. No ship records ever had any mention of you.” 

Tatooine? Why would he ever go there? A desert planet that had nothing in the way of resources or people. Sure, it was Jabba’s own personal planet but there were better Hutts if he wanted to build a crime syndicate.

“Wasn’t difficult, even the Core has smugglers. The only difference between the Core and the Outer Rim is that the Core smugglers are better. The only hard part is that they are harder to find.”

“So how did you find them?”

“Same way I made my money. Cheating at undergone casinos and betting on underground fight rings. The money is all cash, doesn’t go through any system so as long as your quick enough to get off the planet before some guy comes to break your kneecaps for winning to much your all good.”

“Well that’s charming…” 

“Well, I would like to go back to Naboo. Now that the Jedi have openly supported the MCA there is going to be a huge wave of support in the coming days.” Padme glared at Obi-Wan who did have the courtesy to look a bit embarrassed.

“The Act won’t pass so soon, the vote had already been cast and didn’t reach the approval rating. We are already close to the limit approval, now it’s almost impossible to win the next time it comes up. No point in staying here, unfortunately.” Padme continued but he did notice that Obi-Wan still looked rather flustered.

“I do offer my apologies. Though, I stand by Master Jedi, the Sith are a growing issue and the Jedi must be prepared.”

Obi-Wan’s apology didn’t really mean much. He had exposed the clones several times early and it didn’t really lead to much in the grand scheme of things. 

1. the clones would be made public and there would be such public outrage that this was being kept a government secret and jobs that would have gone to the people would go to clones. This would result in the MCA still going through but now instead of clones the people actually made up the Republic military. Ultimately a worse army but with  Palpatine pulling the strings there was no real change

2. The clones would go through anyway and while there would be protests it didn’t matter.

Either way nothing matters as usual. Yet when he saw the sad face on Padme he felt something unpleasant he couldn’t quite put a name on. It was his presence after all the accelerated the MCA and at the rate things was going the clones would be public knowledge before the battle of Geonosia. 

“I don’t why they are even doing this vote, why vote on an army they are already making? Seems like a waste if it doesn’t pass.” Why, why, why? Why was he talking? Shut up, shut up.

“What?”

“The army on Kamino? During my outer Rim exploration, I came across the planet that was building an army for the Republic. Didn’t you guys know?” He faked his confusion.

“Some planets could be improving their military but I’ve heard nothing about Kamino.” Padme hummed. “Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes,” Anakin rolled his eyes. “‘Blah, blah, blah army for the Republic, blah, blah, blah. Right Obi-Wan?”

“What?” Obi-Wan, asked ignoring the little bits of food he had in his beard.

Anakin gave him a fake tilt of his head as if he was surprised. This was natural to him, he had done it over and over again. Playing dumb to reveal knowledge he shouldn’t was quite simple but often affected. Sometimes the best answer to ‘Why do you know that?’ Is to pretend you’re stupid. You can’t debate stupidity.

“They said it was commissioned by both the Jedi and the Republic. I thought you would know, being a Jedi and all? Didn’t you?”

“No!” Obi-Wan shrieked earning him glares from the other patrons. “The Jedi may want an army to fight against the Sith but we haven’t taken any open steps to actually do it. Today was the only mention of a Galactic wide military and we only went cause we heard about you.

“Maybe you aren’t high enough.” Padme winced trying to be considerate of Obi-Wan’s feelings. 

“Not even Yoda knew about the MCA. It’s not like the council to make an army without making the rest of the Order aware. My master believed the Jedi were incapable of change, something like this? An army? They would never make one in secret.”

“Yet you're positive it’s Republic?” Padme turned her attention onto him. If she was expecting him to break out in a nervous sweat at lying or show any kind of tell she was in for a surprise as he lied effortlessly.

“Positive, the only reason why I wasn’t shot out of space was because I was a Jedi. They work for them, it’s commissioned by the Republic and Jedi according to them.”

“They think they work for the Jedi,” Obi-Wan corrected still sceptical. “It’s not difficult to impersonate a Jedi so long as you have the Force.” Obi-Wan stressed.

“With a class 1 hyperdrive it’ll take 3 days of travel.” 

“I have nowhere to be in person, a few meetings but those can be done over holo.” Padme shrugged.

“The idea that a Jedi is creating an army is quite concerning. If you don’t mind-“

“We do.” Anakin scowled earning his a sharp kick under the table from Padme.

“We don’t.” Padme glared. “We would gladly let you join us.”

Would this be annoying? Absolutely, but compared to he would be training his arse off right now this would be comparably relaxing. Besides is not like he’d be involved. He would just protect Padme while she explored the Galaxy. 

Somehow, he was rather okay with this. It was nice not to be the driving force in the Galaxy pushing for good. He’d follow Padme around taking full advantage at her rather generous paycheck till Palpatine ended the Jedi order and killed her. Hell, without Anakin maybe she would live to see the Empire. 

When she dies he’ll retire with his wealth somewhere Palpatine’s empire won’t find him till he’s lived out most of his life and then let himself be executed by his inquisitors or kill himself first. He wouldn’t be an active player in the Galaxy this time.

It was time to be a watch the travesty that is the Galaxy play out from the eyes of the audience. 

Chapter Text

It's hard to imagine nothing.

You ask a person to think of nothing they will often think of maybe a white void, or maybe just the colour black. Yet those are still something. Black is something, a white void is something. It’s the same way we can’t imagine no temperature. It’s an interval scale. Even at absolute zero, we feel cold, we feel something.

Yet despite that Anakin found himself in nothing. It wasn’t a void but it wasn’t not a void either. It was nothing after all. He was the only thing that existed and even then his body wasn’t really ‘a thing’. It was a construct made by the Force, ethereal in nature while his real body was in the a Galaxy far far away. 

“Chosen one.” Anakin rolled his eyes. It wasn’t a voice, after all a voice needed air to travel though. Instead the ‘voice’ spoke from inside his mind as if he had gone crazy.

“We haven’t talked for quite some time, when I’m not dead, what’s the deal? Don’t you think you’re a bit early? Unless Padme finally snapped and strangled me in my sleep, I shouldn’t be here yet.”

They materialised, before him. Several glowing robed beings with different emotions sketched onto the masks they wore. 

“No, you aren’t dead yet.” A small relief he supposed. “Although at your current rate, it won’t be long. What exactly do you think you're doing? No training, no Empire, you have wealth but you aren’t investing it into any long-term goals.” 

“I am taking a different approach.” He shrugged but he felt the wave of hate, doubt and annoyance radiate from the Whills. 

“Lies!” The anger-masked being roared. Anakin always found it strange that the anger-masked one was always angry, surely the Force had more creativity than that.

“I’m not lying, I’m playing the long game. Even athletes need time to rest. Sure this loop might be a waste but the next one will be better. I’ll come back with a fresh mind and better then before.”

“We don’t like the idea of these ‘breaks’ becoming a habit. How many breaks will there be? One for every ten deaths? Why not make it one death one rest, better yet for every death you get ten lifetimes to relax.” One of the Whills pointed out.

“It is a slippery slope. We put up with your phases Anakin, cause well. That’s what they are, phases. Can’t we just skip this and just get back to work? Don’t you remember your Darkside phase and how you wanted to kill us?” He resisisted the urge to point out that a 'slippery slope' is a fallacy.

Of course he remembered and he wished they would stop bringing it up. He was desperate to get out of the loops and occasionally he would slip up, fall back into bad habits. If he couldn’t kill Palpatine then it was worth a try to kill the Whills, though that clearly hadn’t worked.

“Look if you don’t like it, then don’t send me back every time I die.” He scowled at the near god-like beings. 

“Believe me we have wanted to, but it’s not up to us. The Force plays its favourites, it is not a kind parent who loves it’s children equally. It’s nature is to grow, to expand. It’s life, and life is constantly changing. That’s why it gives its power to those who are terrible, why behind every Galaxy-wide war the Force is always somehow a part of it. It favours those who invoke change, whether that be good or for bad. Yet for the first time ever it has admitted it has made a mistake. It gave power to the one person who could possibly keep it stagnant.”

“Palpatine will rule the Galaxy for the rest of existence, never allowing change or growth. He is the end. And for something that breathes life into everything, it cannot stand stagnation. Whether we like it or not the ‘chosen one’ will be sent back.” Another Whill agreed.

“Then I suppose this discussion is over. The Force wills it and so it shall be or some equally pretentious garbage you spout.” Anakin scowled.

“You might be the Force's favourite mortal child. But we are its Whils, don’t let your ego get ahead of yourself.”

Anakin did though, he was the chosen one. The mortal chosen by the Force to be the strongest in existence. He was the most powerful being in the Galaxy and whilst Palpatine had alluded him it wouldn’t be forever. That was the thing with infinite time, ever possibility becomes 100% with time. If you live forever Lightinging has a 100% chance of striking you eventually, and while it might not be this loop he would eventually end Palpatine. 

“It really must infuriate you, to see mortals, those weaker than you be the only beings capable of change.”

Anakin’s eyes shot open and his head flew up till it collided hard against Obi-Wan’s bunk above him. Causing him to muffle his pained cries into his pillow. Stupid Whills. He couldn’t prove it but Anakin would blame that on them. 

He groggily got out of bed. His head hurt, and his eyes were screaming. He didn’t need a mirror to know they were bloodied. Shit, he fell asleep. 

By some miracle, Obi-Wan hadn’t awakened by Anakin hitting the bottom of his bunk with all the force his head could muster so in order to avoid a rather annoying conversation with the Jedi Anakin had done his best to quietly sneak out of the room. 

Unfortunately, it seemed fate wasn’t that kind to him as the moment he stepped out of his room he was met face-to-face with Padme who was still in her PJs. 

“You’re awake for once.” Padme raised a surprised brow. 

“We all have our off days,” He shrugged. “Why are you here? Do you just enjoy stalking me?”

“I heard the bang, assuming from the big red spot on your forehead I assume it was you. Was it a nightmare?” Padme probed, her eyes immediately darting to his scared torso. He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. As if his slave scars mattered considering he didn’t even remember getting them. What was a problem was that she thought he was having nightmares of things he couldn’t remember.

“No.”

“You're lying. 

“To you? Never.” Though neither of them believed it. Yet Padme didn’t bring it up, instead, she took him by the hand. Her soft fingers wrapped around his calloused own, leading him to the head of the ship.

They walked in silence the only sound joining them was the hum of the sub-light engine as in the approaching distance Anakin could make out Kamino from here. 

Still, Anakin’s eyes darted to where Padme still held his hand even though she had already successfully herded him to where she wanted. It was pleasant though, the warm softness of someone who hadn’t been trained since birth to fight, so for now he wouldn’t bring it up. 

“This place we are going, you told me you visited. What’s it like?” She asked, her eyes ignoring their own hands and instead looked out towards the approaching planet. 

“Kamino? Wet I suppose. It rains all the time.”

“And the people?”

“I wouldn’t go down that route Padme. There are people you can befriend and there are people you can’t.” He saw the way her face cringed and her unoccupied hand went to cradle her bruised ribs.

“Kaminoans are isolationist. They don’t want Senators from other Planets trying to decide what’s best for them or what they should do.” Padme winced again. “They would sooner change their genetic code than ask for the Republic for help, which they did after they experienced a great flood which almost wiped their gene pool from the Galaxy.”

“But you said they are building an army for the Republic, if they are so xenophobic then why would they do that?”

“Xenophobic?” Anakin rubbed his chin in thought. Had they? They certainly wanted to remain isolated but they had always treated him with dignity. They were an elegant race. Then again he always appeared as an individual. 

“I suppose xenophobic isn’t incorrect, but they aren’t so much racist as they are weary of foreigners. It’s racism without ignorance which I suppose is better? And why? Money is a language all races speak.” He shrugged though Padme still looked displeased. 

She was a human the Republic being the main species. She got all the benefits from multiculturalism whilst still being the majority. She didn’t understand that some races just want to be left alone. 

“Don’t try to befriend them Padme.” 

“The Republic can help them.”

“And if they don’t want help then what? Do you force occupation? Take over the Planet by force, maybe there is another flood but this time the Republic won’t stand a second extinction. They help the Kaminoans by building Republic infrastructure, have Republic personal take up residence during the great flood to help with relief support and aid. Then after the flood then what happens? The Republic leaves? No, the Kaminoians have clearly shown they are not capable of caring for themselves, the Republic is doing this for them. Does that sound familiar?”

“We wouldn’t do that.”

“The Republic is the whole reason we are here.” Anakin scowled.

Before Padme could even argue a voice rang from the radio.

“You are entering unauthorised space. We have orbital cannons and will fire if you do show an indication of leave.”

“Shit, what do we do?”

“Get Obi-Wan.” 

It was raining, as it always did on this miserable planet. The waves heaved up crashing against the stilts that the large domes sat upon them. Despite being an aquatic planet the Kaminoans were not so aquatically gifted as other aquatic planet races such as Nautolans, it was because of this they built cities above the waves on large stilts as the Kaminoans found that they were better suited in gene labs than swimming around in the open ocean where the wildlife could eat them whole.  

He supposed he had quite a few mixed feelings about this place, one on hand this was where Palpatine built his army of Jedi assassins. On the other Anakin had come to befriend many of the Republic war slaves that would be hatched from the incubators in the years to come. Though Rex wouldn’t even be close to being born yet, they still were figuring out the human cloning process. 

Obi-Wan, Padme and Anakin walked out into the rain, Obi-Wan pretending not to be bothered by it whilst Padme and Anakin shared an umbrella he had bought knowing that ninety per cent of the time it was raining on Kamino. 

“I know they are isolationists but I thought we would still be greeted,” Padme grumbled, clearly not a fan of the rain by the way she pushed her body against his own trying her best to fight for space under the umbrella. Not that it worked, her long Senator robes were already soaked at the bottom. 

“We are being greeted.” Obi-Wan hummed, he had his arms crossed in his robe to hide the lightsaber that was in his sleeve. “How many do you think there are?”

“Counting the snipers on the roofs, twelve?” Anakin guessed. The Force was good at telling you there was danger but it never gave specifics.

“What are you two going on about?”

She got her answer when eight heavy bodies came from the sky. The rain was loud against their armour which had been forged and perfected in the high-quality furnaces of Mandalore. There jetpacks tore through the rain leaving a steam trail following them as they descended from the sky like armour-bound battle angles.

The Cuy’val Dar. A group of Jango Fett’s personally selected Mandalorians to help him train the first clones till they could train themselves. They each had their own specialised armour and weapons and decorated with shows of their many victories whether that be scratches they left in their armour as a display of combat or the fur of the beasts they hunted.

“Quite the distance away from Mandalore,’ Obi-Wan teased, and although he wore a bright smile Anakin could feel the anxiousness from his old Master. 

“Mandalore,” Padme whispered to herself. Anakin noticed the way she looked in awe at the legendary armour of the Mandalorian, no doubt remembering every horror story Republic parents told their children when their kids wouldn’t eat their vegetables. 

“I could say the same for yourself Jedi, I thought the only time you monsters leave your precious Republic is to slaughter in the name of your righteousness. No holy war this time?” The silver and blue one teased. He had duel pistols and Anakin could feel the danger this man possessed through the Force. There was no indication that this man was the leader from his armour as they all look individualised, yet this man clearly was the most important from the way the other’s kept their distance around him.

Jango.

“That’s rich coming from you, I assume you and your merry band of miscreants aren’t here on Dutchess Satine’s orders?” 

“No, I was a bounty hunter long before Mandalore changed its ways from warriors to cowards.” The Fett teased.

“Peace is not cowardice.” Obi-Wan hissed, no doubt displeased at anyone mocking his ‘not girlfriend’. 

“And yet you carry a sword that cuts through anything that isn’t my armour in your sleeve. A little hypocritical, no?” 

“Stand back Padme.” Obi-Wan took a step forward taking his lightsaber out of his sleeve. No point in hiding it now, the blue blade evaporated any drop of rain that even came near the super-heated edge leaving a trail of steam whenever his blade moved through the air.

“Cute, but it’s not the girl we want. However-” Anakin tuned out the bounty hunter. He heard these speeches too often to bother listening to them. Why listen when he already knew what it was all about anyway?

It was him, wasn’t it? Dooku would sometimes send the bounty hunter after him if he ever left the Jedi Order. Usually, Jango would just come after him alone but being so close to Kamino and with another Jedi, the appeal of using Cuy’val Dar was perhaps too tempting. 

The memories of Jango’s hunts swam their way up to the surface of Anakin’s thoughts, all the times his apartment exploded into a ball of fire when he opened a door, all the times that Anakin froze in the cold starving after his ship was shot down just waiting to be hunted like an animal. At this point, Anakin was more than familiar with Jango Fett’s fighting style than Jango was himself and while he admittedly had lost a lot of his muscle and Force power, the knowledge of the way Jango fights would help him.

Anakin mused over the fight that could happen hundreds of times over in his head trying to predict out of hundreds of fights how many he would win. Jango was used to fighting Jedi and he knew that Mandalorians, for all their Jedi strategies and tricks. They couldn’t beat a more skilled Jedi one-on-one. Mandalore had lost almost every battle they had with the Jedi order and while out of every group besides the Sith they were the best Jedi killers, Jedi were just that overpowered. The Force just isn’t fair unless you have it yourself. 

Jango had fought in the Mandalorian wars, and he knew that better than anyone. Jedi weren’t meant to be fought in combat, they were to be hunted. If you fought a Jedi fairly you were doing it wrong. 

“Okay, let's get this over with I suppose.” Anakin sighed, normally he would be stronger than he was right now. Enough that he usually felt confident fighting Jango with his prior knowledge. But with the Cuy’val Dar here? This was probably going to result in a reset. Surrounded the ship would never get five meters off the ground before being shot down, the only way out was to fight.

Anakin shot forward, the rain and his own weaker body making him not move as fast as he’d like, it would have to do he supposed. 

The first to react was Obi-Wan. The only one who could sense emotions felt his intent to attack, and as such threw Padme back onto the walkway of the ship before charging after him. 

Jango was next, his duel pistols firing off in rapid succession as his jetpack roared. Anakin knew this was going to happen he’d seen it a hundred times before and was ready for it long before he had made his first move. 

Left shoulder, right hip, left hip, right shoulder. Jango perfectly aimed his shots so that Anakin’s lightsabre would have to cross as much distance as possible to deflect them all. It wasn’t the best option against Jedi but with such little time, it was the best option Jango had.

Yet he knew this was coming as it had before and it would again. With future knowledge of how Jango fought Anakin effortlessly blocked all shots not even needing the Force to warn him where the bolster bolts were aiming. When Jango’s Jetpack roared to life Anakin already had his hand out gripping the Bounty Hunter. The sheer force of the Jetpack tried ripping Jango out of his hold and the explosive power of the Jetpack certainly strained Anakin’s concentration. Yet he held and Jango Fett collapsed to the ground on a knee as he only got a meter off the floor. 

Finally, the Cuy’val Dar reacted and several blaster bolts rained upon Anakin who was in no position to defend himself. He wouldn’t have to thankfully as Obi-Wan pushed Anakin out of the way of a bolt that would have left him without a leg and deflected the rest with his sabre. 

“Congrats you almost got yourself killed. Stick with me, and deflect their bolts back at them.”

“Won’t work, they are wearing either Durasteel or Beskar, either way, these blaster bolts won’t do much. We gotta get close.” Anakin got himself off the ground before a particularly nasty bolt burnt the metal where his head was. Jango was still quite some distance away and while he could try a force pull it would leave him exposed to the Cuy’val Dar to fill him with plasma.

“I hope you have an idea then.”

“Lose them in the city. Narrow corridors suit us a lot better than them.”

“Optimistic that you think we’ll make it to the door.” A bolt narrowly avoided his head. 

“Well, we could stay out here. But I don’t love our chances”

“Fair point. One three… one, two, thr-”

“Stop!” Padme roared, her hair drenched by the rain, her robes now more water than fabric. “What are you all doing?”

“Don’t worry Senator we will handle this!” Obi-Wan yelled, blocking a few more blaster bolts.

“Handle what?! You here now.” She pointed at Anakin before pointing at her feet calling him like a dog owner would when their pet wandered off too far.

“Me?” Anakin pointed to himself in confusion. He wasn’t the only one as the Cuy’val Dar was also confused by this weird display. Was this some sort of tactic to distract them? Cause if it was it certainly worked as they had stoped firing upon the two Jedi.

“Yes, you! Here now!” She clicked her finger, the rain ruined her attempt but the insult still remained present.

“I’m not your fucking dog.”

“Here Anikin, Ani, Ani.” She whistled. “Here boy”

“Piss off.” He growled but she merely rolled her eyes and marched forwards. She was out in the open as was too much of a target, if he did leave her she would be shot to death in an instant the moment they started firing again. 

“You piss off. Why is your first instinct always attack attack attack? For someone who thinks he’s so much smarter than everyone you sure don’t act like it.”

Anakin flared his nostrils, her words getting to him more than they should have. She was just inexperienced, she still thought that peace could be attained through talking. How many times had he been called to peace meetings only for the room to explode when he entered or have several blustered aimed at him? The problem with not attacking first meant that you were always on the receiving end. He had been betrayed far too many times to fall for that.

“Lover’s spat?” Jango teased.

“Quite you, we are here on official Republic business. Yet you, a bounty hunter comes down here and threatens us.” Anakin did feel a small smile tug on his lips as Padme scowled the bounty hunter.

“Maybe if your trigger-happy friend waited a few seconds he would have let me say that ‘however, Dooku cancelled his bounty on your head’. I still got paid, my time is money and so I always get a deposit on the cash up front first then the rest after. I have my money you have your life, no harm no foul. Though after being so ruthlessly attacked I suppose I should have some compensation.”

“You didn’t exactly make it clear yourself. You come down with a group of armed warriors speaking about hunting a bounty, don’t act like your blameless either.”

“Careful Senator, I’ve killed more important people than you for less.”

“You haven’t met someone as important as me.” She sneered with the ego and arrogance that Padme rarely showed in her later years. Her older age and experience had yet to temper her hot-headedness. 

“Let’s calm ourselves with the hostilities. You die, we die, we all die. There is no point in fighting if we all lose so why don’t we all get out of the rain and inside to discuss the situation.” Obi-Wan sighed, forced to be the annoyed voice of reason.

“You think I’ll die?” Jango scoffed. “In case you haven’t noticed you’re surrounded by the best fighters in the Galaxy.”

“The Jedi know we are here.” Padme lied effortlessly. It wasn’t a complete lie, Obi-Wan probably mentioned they were heading to Kamino in his reports. Still, it would be weeks maybe even months till they realised we were dead.

Due to the few number of the Jedi even knights were given a lot of leeway. The Jedi were very independent during missions, especially pre-clone wars they would simply let any Jedi do what they wanted so long as it upheld the values of the Jedi. They simply didn’t have enough people nor the structure of a military where they would have reports or constant information about what every Jedi was doing. 

Still, Anakin noticed how Jango flinched at the mention of the Jedi order. Most bounty hunters would.

“Fine,” Jango growled. With a wave of his hand, the Cuy’val Dar were ordered to disengaged. And while they did mke their way back to the city Anakin and Padme stood standing in the rain waiting for them to fully disappear out of sight before moving. Only after Anakin was sure they were alone did he speak.

“That was risky.”

“More risky than you fighting who knows how many Mandalorians are here?”

“Yes.” He scowled.

“You always assume violence is the only way out. You are so sure about how everything will go, so certain that people will only react in set ways. People aren’t as one-dimensional as you think, it takes a lifetime to get to know someone.” By that logic, he would know thousands but he didn’t point that out. h

 No, he hadn’t been wrong to attack. Had this been any other loop a fight would have been unavoidable. Jango Fett didn’t talk. Fett was the Galaxy’s best bounty hunter, and had taught Anakin the way of the hunt himself. Anakin had been an adoptive son to the Fett’s once, after all, when trying to kill the most dangerous person in the Galaxy who better to learn from the best Bounty Hunter?

He had spent a lifetime with the Fett and he knew that Jango Fett didn’t talk to a target unless the very words he used were lethal. But now he was… remarkably docile. The loops were never permanent, always some small details were different in order to keep Anakin on his toes. Small flaps of butterfly wings which would turn to hurricanes later. Yet, the change of a person’s personality? No, those were always the same. That was too big of a change. What was different this time? 

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not,”

Jango Fett was exhausted.

He had spent countless nights looking for a boy named Anakin Skywalker only to find out he was going by some other name called Vader. The fact that Dooku found the boy by chance first before him certainly hadn’t done his ego any good nor his bank account. Sure he had gotten a fair chuck of the credits from the deposit as well as the cancellation fee, but having word get out that he didn’t finish a mission wasn’t great.

The Jango Fett name was only worth so much because he always got his man. Sure getting assassinations cancelled certainly didn’t hurt his wallet nor did he mind not having to spend days hunting down his prey, but his name would take a hit. Now he was going to have to take a big mission after this just so people know who the top dog is. 

The bounty hunter took off his helmet, the thick sweat coating his face cooling from the air-conditioned room. This is why he hated rainy planets. It’s far too humid for a Mandalorian. The bounty hunter collapsed onto his bed his armour causing the mattress to squeal under the combined weight of a grown bounty hunter and all his gear.

He was tired. He had spent all morning training the functional clones and the afternoon preparing to fight Jedi. Ugh, how he hated fighting Jedi. He should have asked for more money from Dooku, after all the old man failed to mention the knight with him was Obi-Wan. Apparently, a recent celebrity in the order after some crisis on Naboo, it was a big enough deal that he had heard about it. Something about a Jedi killing some Sith which was apparently a big deal. It may have not meant much to him but it was a big deal to the Jedi which made it a big deal to him. 

Jango always kept a list of the people he should never take a bounty up against or at the very least people that he would need to be paid enough for him to never work again. 

People on the list of ‘never fuck with’ included famous Jedi such as Dooku, Yoda or Mace Windu along with the highest of the Hutt council. Jedi that no amount of preparation would do any good against and Hutts who had enough cash that Jango would constantly have high-tier bounty hunters chasing him.

Obi-Wan certainly didn’t make ‘that’ list but he was on Fett’s watch list. People to be wary of. Though, he would maybe need to add an Anakin Skywalker to that list as well.

According to the data Dooku stole from the Jedi Order that boy was a Padawan when he left. High grades in combat, low in studies. However, to him, high grades as a Padawan didn’t mean too much. He could handle skilled Padawans. Yet, the boy… he had no hesitation when he launched himself at him. 

Attacking first is not the Jedi way. And while the boy technically wasn’t a Jedi, the dull mantra of those warrior monks seemed to have no effect as Jango felt his heart jump into his throat when the boy charged at him. Eager to end the confrontation in just a few seconds. How remarkable and brutal. A ruthlessness Jango only saw in Jedi during the Mandalorian wars when the Jedi had been exhausted, tired and covered in the blood of their friends. 

Worse, the boy had been one step ahead of him. Jango was sure to always keep on the move, use his jetpack and keep himself a moving target so no Jedi could ever grip him with the force. Though many Jedi don’t. They don’t often use the Force offensively, preferring to enhance their own bodies. Yet Anakin had his hand out ready to grab him before he even could get in the air. He wasn’t quick so much as he was prepared for him.

“Maybe I should just kill the boy here? I may not have the Force but I don’t need space magic to know when I see a problem in the future.” Jango laughed. 

How many years would it take for Anakin or Obi-Wan to reach his ‘don’t fuck with’ list. Two? Four? A decade? Senator Amidala sure lucked out getting Anakin, with that boy in a couple of years she will be near unkillable. A personal Jedi bodyguard of that calibre? No amount of money is worth that effort. Padawan his arse, that boy would be a problem.

Dooku might be mad if he kills Anakin though. For some reason, the boy was still alive after meeting Dooku which is something Jango’s Mandalorian brothers couldn’t say meeting the Jedi in the War. Did Dooku already get what he wants? The bastard wanted the boy alive, usually, that meant information. Yet, the boy lacked the deformities that often were attributed to torture. Then again the boy might just be a bitch and gave what Dooku wanted up immediately, presumably information about the Jedi. 

“I suppose Dooku wouldn’t mind me killing the Jedi and the girl. He hates the Jedi and a head of a Republic Senator might fetch a pretty price.” It certainly was a novel idea, but without a bounty killing it really wasn’t worth the effort.

“I wouldn’t.” 

Jango grabbed his blaster. His years of training paid off as the barrel went straight for where he heard the sound. Yet, the intruder didn’t seem bothered. If anything he looked bored sitting in Jango’s chair staring down the barrel of his pistol.

“You,” Jango growled. What was he doing here? He would have known if he was being followed. How had the boy gotten here? Jango didn’t hear the door and the windows were locked tight yet still undamaged. 

Had he snuck into his room before he got here? Sure Jango was a bit tired but he had headed straight for his room, for this boy to get here before him meant he knew where his room was. But that was impossible, he’d have to find the Kaminoians ask them for his room location navigate this whole facility and unlock the door all before Jango made it, which was near impossible.

How had he known where his room was?

“Yes, me.” Anakin rolled his eyes.

“How did you get here?”

“The how isn’t important. More so the why.” The boy's hand flicked and the light switch turned off even though the boy wasn’t even close to it. Jango immediately acted on instincts, he could worry about Dooku later. What was more important was dealing with the immediate threat before him. His blasters roared illuminating the room with the glow of red plasma. 

His chair erupted in a show of heat and melted metal yet the boy was nowhere to be found. This time Jango fired again, a few shots randomly in the dark just to show the boy’s position. Jedi could fight in the dark, their vision only a luxury but without his night vision helmet Jango was at a disadvantage.

Fett felt the weight of a teenage boy crash against him. Backed with the physical enhancements of the Force Jango heard a hard thud of flesh and bone collide hard against his armour. If the boy was in pain from running straight into hard metal he certainly didn’t show it as the once-dark room was now saturated in the blue glow of the boy’s lightsaber pressed uncomfortably close to his neck. 

“The girl. Padme, she’s off limits. Do you understand?”

“Sorry kid, I don’t decide who is off-limits. I don’t make the bounties I just collect them.”

“But you decide what bounties to take, and for your sake, I hope you're smart enough to know what bounties just aren’t worth any amount of credits.”

“Are you threatening me, boy ?” He spat the word boy like it was an insult. Of course he was, you don’t exactly put a lightsaber to someone's throat for fun. 

“I know you, Fett. I know about your sister Arla, I know that deep down all you want in life is a child, a son you can teach and pass your legacy down to. I also know that now that I’ve put a lightsaber to your throat you’ll stop at nothing to kill me. Such an embarrassing position can’t get out to the other bounty hunters. They might think that Fett has spent too long at the top.”

How had he- That information didn’t even belong to the top information brokers. The sister stuff maybe, but he had done well to kill most people who knew or would use that information against him. But a child? The only mention of it was with the Kaminoians and Dooku. Dooku was an arse but he wasn’t someone who you could easily get information out of and the Kaminons never talked to anyone that wasn’t on the planet.

“You can read minds.” Jango sneered. “That’s how you know about all this and where my room was.”

No wonder Dooku wanted the boy so bad, a Jedi who could effortlessly take the memories out of a person's head without them even knowing was incredibly useful. Jedi usually needed to restrain someone to force information out and even then you can train yourself to resist it. Jango himself had gone through the training and yet this boy took out the information without him even realizing it.

“I can do far more than that Jango.” The lightsaber burned against his skin, the pain made him want to push the boy off him but that would only result in him losing his head. 

“You and I both know in a one-on-one, as we are right now? I’d win seven out of ten maybe fifty per cent if I’m being generous. You could probably swap that around if you used all your nifty tricks but I know how you hunt, I know how you talk and I know all your plans. I know every fucking thing about you. I could fucking skin you and wear you like a goddamn suit and not one fucking person would be able to tell the difference.” 

“You think the Mandalorian wars were bad?” The boy continued. “I know torture, I can use the Force in ways that will make even someone like you scream.” 

“What do you want?”

“Padme Amidala is officially on your ‘don’t fuck with’ list.” Of course, the boy knew about that. Why wouldn’t he at this point?

Jango questioned if he could reach for the lamp and smash the boy’s brains in. Though Jango had a pretty strong concept of the Force for a non-Force sensitive. Knowledge he was quite of as most bounty hunters laughed at the Force, believing it to be a Republic myth to scare people. ‘The magic space warrior monks of the Republic’ was something of a joke in the Outer Rim who had never actually seen for their own eyes the sheer unfair power that Jedi held.

It was because of his rather prideful knowledge of the Force he chose not to risk it.

“Fine.” With his rather begrudging agreement, the lightsabre turned off drenching them in darkness once more. 

“Do not mistake me for a good person Jango. I am a very selfish man,” Jango held back a scoff at the idea that this boy was a man. “I want my rest, I’m sick of elaborate plans, bored of planning for the future, but killing you though? That’s not a problem, it’s a chore.” 

With that, the room was illuminated in light as the door out of his room opened and Jango caught a glimpse of the boy as he felt. He didn’t look angry, he didn’t look scared and he didn’t even spare Jango a glance like he didn’t just threaten to kill him as he left. 

He looked bored. 

A Jedi who can read minds without even trying. Without knowing the limits of this power Jango had no real way of ambushing the boy. Could he tell he was going to assassinate him by reading his thoughts? How far did it extend? How did it work? 

Was it a distance thing? He could sense anyone with a certain imaginary sphere around him. Or was it intent based. If it was distance maybe he could pick off the boy with a sniper, though Jedi if they weren’t preoccupied could often react to snipers. If it was intent based it didn’t matter if he used a bomb or sniper. The boy would know. Fucking Jedi. 

The Galaxy’s most powerful mind reader, the Force and while it wasn’t perfected like his own the boy had a decent physical body.

 Anakin Skywalker was officially on his watch list.

Chapter Text

Anakin ran his fingers against the heated screen of the computer. It had been running nonstop for days and the heat threatened to burn out the circuits inside. However, the Kaminoians decided that was well worth the risk as they were still trying to figure out how humans responded to cloning. Cloning wasn't a simple process, it was difficult for even the most technologically advanced races and even if a system did have the tech to pull it off, more often than not, gene mutation ethics would get in the way. Kaminoans were perfect in that regard as they were both genius and cloning was morally acceptable to them.

They weren't influenced by Repubic policies, which were very much against cloning and gene modification. Of course, there were some species that relied on cloning just for the sake of survival due to repopulation difficulties and even then the Republic kept a close eye on them. Cloning was very much regulated in the Republic only spared for reproduction difficulties or rare exotic animals, it was not only an expensive process but one that was difficult to achieve due to the very fragile nature of genes.

Even if cloning wasn't so technologically difficult, there was the ethically difficulty. Hypothetically if cloning was possible we could create a perfect race, choosing genes, eradicating diseases and removing undesirable traits. There is a genetic component to intelligence, you could make a race smarter, make them stronger, make them more predisposed to positive learning and even lower depression risk.

Yet, as a society we are constantly changing. What we see as attractive now might be unattractive in a few hundreds of years. Many races see women as lower beings, to them cloning would mean erasing them, seeing them only as a disease. Completely wiping out a gender just because it was 'not optimal'.

Attractiveness is also subjective and therefore at what point is something a disease? Is blue eyes a disease? Are certain ethnic groups considered less than others? Should they be removed?

Also 'if' these perfect children were being born? Who would get them? The rich, they were the only ones that would be able to afford cloning. Now suddenly you have the rich producing these children who are born better. Elite athletes, CEOs, government leaders and scientists would all be these perfect children as while it wouldn't be impossible for natural borns to compete, however, these genetically made children with finical support would have every advantage over them.

With the most popular, well-paying and powerful jobs going to these perfect children then suddenly you just get those who can afford cloning and gene mutation getting richer while those who can't afford it can't compete. Cloning would be a luxury for the rich only furthering the gap between the 99% and the top 1%

That was the problem with eugenics. It just didn't work when considering the selfish and subjective nature of mortals.

"I can't believe it, I've heard of cloning but I've never actually seen it." Padme stared in wonder out of the window of the nursery. There wasn't many incubators, they were still just trying to figure out how to clone a race that wasn't Kaminoian afterall. Once they find some success, they will begin mass production.

"Yes, we are quite proud of the progress we've made. You humans are remarkably resilient, adaptable to the many environments and climates of the Galaxy, add the fact you repopulate like a Smu-hastan it's no wonder you are the most populous race." The Kaminoian explained. They were given a personal scientist that was ordered to give them a tour, something the Kaminoian was not happy about.

"You are too kind to humanity, we are far from a perfect race," Anakin spoke, though his eyes never strayed far from the incubators. "That one has melanoma, that one has extra fingers and that one is coughing up blood, I assume he's got twenty different types of cancers that have metastasised to his lungs."

"Yes, it took us decades and a great flood to achieve cloning Kamonians. Our race was on the brink of extinction, we put everything we had into our research and even now cloning isn't perfected. Compared to you human natural births, our children suffer more defects during the cloning process, and we have more stillborns. While humans are a more resilient race, starting with a completely new gene pool, unlike our own has proven some difficulties."

There was a reason childbirth existed. It worked. Cloning was difficult and meticulous work, while sex was easy. Just stick it in the hole wiggle it around a bit and bam! Child. Maybe in the future cloning would be better but as of now, the natural process worked.

"At the rate we are progressing we will have an functional army in six years." It wouldn't be six. It would be two, maybe they would make a breakthrough in human cloning or the fact humans were more resilient than Kamoians but they would be done in a third of the time given. Then again they were probably just lying, they were scientist afterall and what smart person wouldn't barter for more time for free.

"I can't believe this is a whole army of clones. How much could have this all cost." She whispered to herself in awe at the sheer wealth that was before her. Research, equipment, the very best Kaminoan engineering. Kamino was also far away from the core, transporting cost alone would be expensive.

"Yes, the Republic and Jedi have certainly been generous. Cloning a planetary garrison alone would be expensive but a Galaxy-wide army? The wealth of the Republic truly feels limitless."

But it wasn't and Anakin watched as Padme ran the numbers in her mind. Cloning wasn't cheap and he could tell Padme was counting every hospital, every school, how the money that was being used for a secret military could be better spent.

"I do believe that the expense the Republic has put in us will be well worth it. We estimate that this will be the strongest army in the Galaxy now or even the past. Honestly, we were hesitant of cloning a bounty hunter or an army, behavior has a genetic component and we weren't thrilled at the idea of a bunch of drug-shooting ruffians running around. Yet, Fett has shown he is quite a genetic goldmine. He's disciplined, well trained and to be frank. He's perfect for an army. The clones that come out with a functional brain has responded well to training."

"Brainwashing," Anakin corrected.

"Yes, I suppose that's a more accurate term." The Kaminoan admitted. But they weren't being paid so much to have moral obligations.

"Brainwashing?" Padme questioned.

"We haven't yet started to experiment with changing the genetics of the brain, but simple grooming behaviours by our therapists have been showing promise, simply implanting the concepts of loyalty and patriotism whilst they grow."

"That's inhumane."

"Agreed. We Kaminoians only use cloning and gene modification to prevent the end of our species. The idea of clones being nothing more than materials for war disgust us, we do not percieve clones as lower beings such as you do."

"I don't think that." Padme lied. Not that Anakin blamed her of course, to her who was raised in the republic clones were seen as 'lesser'. They were not natural, they weren't original and most importantly they weren't protected by the same laws that natural borns were.

"But if you care so much about clones then how could you breed an army? Doesn't this go against something?" Padme argued.

"We do not take blame for what happens off Kamino. Do you blame a car dealer or a drunk driver for running over children? This is your army, Senator, if you do not like it then use it in other ways," the Kaminoian explained. "Now that we have seen the breeding pods let us show you how functional they are in motor skills."

"It seems the Kaminoians were telling the truth. There really was a Jedi, Sifo-Dyas, along with some Republic senators who built this army in secret." Obi-Wan aimed for Anakin's shoulder with his lightsaber; the blow was slow and obvious, but the intention of the blow was just to warm up.

"So the Jedi really was behind this?" Anakin rolled his eyes, being forced to play dumb. The chosen one attacked Obi-Wan, closing the gap between them so instead of lightsaber combat it was now a flurry of blows of hilts and elbows.

Shifu had been a skilled Jedi, but Obi-Wan was better, more experienced. Despite Anakin's non-traditional fighting style, it had little effect against the knight, who at this moment still surpassed Anakin's current ability.

"A Jedi," Obi-Wan corrected, ducking under a strike from Anakin and then delivering a strong knee to Anakin's thigh, forcing him to retreat, hopping back on one leg. "Not the council. I have alerted them to the situation and they have made it clear that they were not aware of the situation. Apparently, Sifo-Dyas had come to the council with the proposal of creating an army due to visions but without any real indication the Sith have come back they were against the idea. Seems he went behind the Council's back and did it anyway."

"And what will the Jedi do now?

"They- I have been given orders not to interfere with the clone army. At the time, there was no sign of the Sith but with Dooku leading the CIS they believe that it's only a matter of time before another Jedi/Sith war. As of now the Jedi do support the idea of the clone army in preperation for the war and since it really was commissioned by a Jedi and not a Sith Lord they do have some faith. Sifo-Dyas is currently MIA but they are trying to find him, it's not uncommon for Jedi to disappear for long period of time on their own personal missions but they want more information about this army."

Of course they did. The Jedi still believed this was going to still be a traditional war. Why wouldn't it be? The last conflicts with the Sith had been after all, and the Jedi had won those. They were too used to war, to ignorant to see beyond their own dogma. To blind and prideful see that the Sith were sick of losing wars.

"Well that's good, I suppose, no Sith is going to hijack the army and kill the Jedi when they least expect it." By now, the clone army was no doubt already under Palpatine and Dooku's control. Syfl-Dyas may have had the idea and contacted the Kaminoians but Dooku quickly caught on after him and took over the project for his own mass murder purposes.

"This may have been done by a Jedi but I don't like this, I understand the necessity of an army for the upcoming war. No less one of such quality. But, Qui-Gon would never approve of such a method. Breeding and raising beings and putting them into a war. There is a difference between soldiers who choose to fight for their country and soldiers born and groomed for it."

"Cause the Jedi don't do that at all." Anakin sarcastically teased, which earned him a sharp kick to the ribs, sending him staggering back.

"Jedi can leave the order whenever they want. Besides, it's not like our goal is to fight Sith, the Jedi exist to help beings less fortunate then ourselves. With our gifts in the Force, it's our duty as the lucky to help the unfortunate. Despite popular belief, Jedi are not judged on their combat ability, I would rather stand beside the worst duelist if he was kind than vice versa."

Anakin would have argued that many of the Jedi didn't see the order that way. A lot of Jedi didn't see themselves as peacekeepers but rather executioners. The goal of the Jedi right now wasn't to help the galaxy but rather to exterminate the Sith. It was a little hypocritical of Anakin to critique the Jedi on putting side the good of the Galaxy to kill the Sith when he himself had sacrificed the Galaxy many times to kill Palpatine, but then agai,n he was no Jedi.

Regardless the two continued their training, the only thing allowing Anakin to keep up with Obi-Wan was his advanced knowledge on his old master's fighting style and his unpredictable moves that no one would ever find in any temple holocron.

"Well well well, if it isn't the Jedi." A voice snarled, Anakin never saw the face as it was covered by the iconic Mandalorian helmet. "Care for a few more?"

Padme watched from the observation deck of the training rooms looking at the scene below. Anakin's brow had been bloodied to the point one of his eyes had crusted shut whilst Obi-Wan was sporting a nice little artwork of electric burns on his back.

It looked like a scene from a high school drama where a group of bullies surround the main character and his best friend and proceed to beat them up, except from the way Obi-Wan smirked, that didn't seem to be the case.

The group of clones and Mandalorians surrounded the Jedi, all shirtless cause of cause they had to be. She rolled her eyes at men's need to be shirtless while exercising but she continued to look down observing the scene. The clones (she figured from the fact they all looked the same) and Mandalorians were taking turns charging at them. They were treating this as a game, all groups using low-energy stun batons that Coruscant police would often use. That's probably where they got them anyway, but Padme pushed the thought out of her mind. The fact that there was a secret army was bad enough, she didn't have to think about the weapon shipments as well.

A group of two clones charged at Anakin while a singular Mandalorian went after Obi-Wan, there was no real order, just an unspoken word that they wouldn't all just attack Obi-Wan and Anakin at once.

Obi-Wan effortlessly used his baton to parry the Mandalorian before sweeping his legs. The Mandalorian fell to the floor with a loud thud but got up laughing and went back to the circle waiting for his next turn.

Anakin however, weaved between the two clones who not only threw a furry of baton strikes but also a few elbows and knees. Not that it mattered of course, Anakin was like a conductor, leading the fight as like a conductor would lead an orchestra till eventually the climax, where in a swift, almost artistic blow he knocked the two clones down.

'He thinks he's better than he actually is.' Padme remembered the critiques of the Corellian Jedi.

"Those two are impressive, we have a few Kom'On ourselves. We thought we would lose such a gift when we discovered that cloning would not pass down the gift, but it seemed to survive in our blood despite our genetic modifications. A shame really, we tried to genetically engineer the gift but alas our technology hasn't been perfected to that level yet."

"Kom'On?"

"It's, what do you call it in Republic space? Force-sensitive?" Padme noted the disgust in the Kaminoian's voice. Forced to use basic instead of their own language. "Yes, I do recall that's it's called that. One of our own Kom'On, Kina Ha is actually a Jedi at the temple currently."

"And you've tried cloning a Kom'On? Cloning a Jedi?" Padme shuddered at the thought. She knew the history of the Republic, the major conflicts. All of which had been more so won by the Jedi than the Republic. To have an army of Jedi bred for war was frightening.

Then again, an army of Anakin. She tried her best but she couldn't fight the blush that rose to her cheeks when she imagined herself surrounded by him. They would probably smirk at her and ask her 'what's the problem?' knowing full well that they knew what the problem was before they, NO!

"Yes but as of now the effort is rather fruitless. The 'Force'," Padme could tell that the Kaminoian hated using basic. But despite the fact the alien thought she was an idiot he continued to speak. "It does not like being stuck into a body that it didn't sculpt itself. But alas we will crack the code eventually, I'm sure."

Truthfully, deep down in her heart, she hoped they wouldn't. This was all to, different to her. She was taught that every life matters, that it is our individual differences is what makes us special. This planet was so alien to her, everything was so wrong.

Was that how they saw her? So different from their accepted culture that she was barbaric?

She knew she shouldn't think less of races that do cloning or gene modification but she couldn't ever imagine stuffing her own child into a tube and changing eye color just because Padme didn't like the look of it. Then again they probably thought she was heartless as how many humans are born with birth defects that could simply be artificially taken out. What had Anakin called it, racism without ignorance?

She knew the logic behind it but it was so different from her own culture that it seemed gross. It was reminiscent to how she learnt that some vegetarians ate bugs instead of red meat to get protein. She thought people were weird as well until her royal chef at her father's decree made a dish of deep-fried grasshoppers with an array of different sauces.

She blushed at the memory of how venomously she refused to put it in her mouth till she eventually did try it and found it was alright. Not great, but bearable she supposed.

She had only ever really followed traditional human culture in the Republic. Despite being multicultural humans really did make up the majority and second place wasn't even close. Was the Republic really that multicultural to these other races or did they just annex them? She couldn't help but wonder what those planets that left the Republic for the CIS thought before they cut ties.

"What did you think of Anakin when you first met him?" She eventually found herself wondering. Anakin, despite his flaws was annoyingly good at dealing with other races. On Grakkus's ship he spent most of the time with non-humans, though that was less about racism and more so because Anakin seemed to vehemently despise all forms of government.

"The Padawan?" Padme resisted the urge to point out the fact he wasn't a Jedi but she held her tongue. "He's interesting. He knows about cloning, nothing too impressive but he's clearly opened a book about the subject."

"You didn't find him too abrasive?" She teased, remembering how most people would describe him as such.

"I haven't met the two of you too draw an appropriate conclusion on you."

"What about just him? You know when he came here before, what was he like without me?"

"Pardon?"

"Anakin said he came across your planet, it was how he knew of the cloning, it would have been a few months ago by now?"

"We haven't had any instances of any non-Republic ship enter our space, If he had come with the Republic he must have stayed on the ship as we have no record of him." That didn't make sense, Anakin had said he had smuggled himself to the outer rim. He wouldn't have been with anyone Republic.

"He possibly could have gone under the name Vader, not Republic ship as well." With him, Padme wouldn't be shocked if he came by in a Hutt cruiser.

"It wouldn't matter his name as once again there was no undocumented non-Republic ship. We are on the borders of the Galaxy, so far away that not even smugglers need to travel so far. Though if you would like, i suppose I could find a list of records." She could hear the irritation in their voice.

"No, that won't be necessary, thank you though." Was it just a mistake? Maybe Anakin never gave them his name or revealed his identity. It is something he certainly would do, considering the boy's first instinct was to either lie or fight.

It was a very real possibility, after all it didn't make sense otherwise. How had he known about this planet or the secret army if he hadn't accidentally stumbled upon it? Obi-Wan was a higher rank than him, and even he hadn't known and Padme really doubted Anakin personally knew the Republic officers that must have been behind this.

It was just a mistake.

Yet, despite it being the only real option, she couldn't help but watch Anakin below. He moved so fluidly between both clones and Mandalorians alike.

It was kind of heartwarming to see them go at it, she could see the smiles on the clones, Mandalorians and even Obi-Wan as they fought. To them, this extremely rigorous exercise was just a bit of fun for the highly trainings warriors. It was like watching children playing except instead of kids hitting each other on the head with fake soft plastic weapons, they instead used stun batons.

She winced as she saw Obi-Wan deliver a particularly nasty move on a clone as one second he was on two feet and the next he was turned into a human pretzel as Obi-Wan performed a rather impressive aerial maneuver. Padme probably would have cried getting tossed around like that but these clones seemed hardier than her as they laughed when either Anakin or Obi-Wan knocked them down.

The only one who wasn't laughing was Anakin.

Chapter Text

"What does Anakin like?"

"Excuse me?"

"He's been mopey all day, he spends his free time staring at the incubators and when the scientist get annoyed at him telling them that they are wrong and finally kick him out of the labs he spends the rest of his time sleeping."

"More so than usual?" Obi-Wan raised a brow at her. He himself was busy fiddling with his lightsaber as the parts of the iconic weapon lay scattered across his desk.

"Yes!" She whined, why was he so nonchalant about Anakin? Was she the only one who could see something is clearly wrong with him. More so than usual at least which was surprising.

"He's just growing, men also experience hormone swings. He'll come around, he always does. He was the same at the temple, always picking fights, cussing at people but then the next morning he'd show up at your door with a gift basket and an apology."

The idea of Anakin apologizing especially to a Jedi didn't exactly strike her as something Anakin would do. If anything if she received a gift basket from him she would have it sent to the police to check for poison or explosives in the chocolate.

"So what? I'm just supposed to wait?"

"Some people don't want to be 'helped' and unfortunately, you generally can't help those people." Obi-Wan shrugged. "Anakin was a slave as a child, he's been abused. While it would be nice for abuse to be solved with a hug you just can't, you've got to give them space and most importantly time to come out of his shell."

"It's been eight years! What did you do at the temple?" At this Obi-Wan actually looked offended. Taking the time to look away from cleaning the separate parts of his lightsaber he gave her a sharp glare.

"We tried our best at the temple, and Anakin is hardly the first Jedi to come from an abusive household. It's really the only time Jedi forcefully take a child. But usually we take the children while they are so young that they don't remember, it was a special case for Anakin. Though he progressed remarkably, we brought in therapists and they all said he was making a very healthy recovery at the temple. As morbid as it is to say this, Watto wasn't the worst slaver. He never sexually assaulted either Shimi or Anakin, and while he did physically discipline them, he never branded or leave extreme permanent scarring."

Padme flared up at the idea of Watto 'disciplining' Anakin. Obi-Wan had been right of course, Watto certainly could've been worse. Still, the idea of Anakin as a nine-year-old or even worse younger being beaten because he spilt something left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"It's kind of you to care for him Padme. Had you been born with the Force, I could see you as the gold standard of a Jedi. All you have to do is give him time, he will come around."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then he doesn't. But it's our job as his friends to not let that impact us, he might never get rid of his PTSD from abuse. That's just something we might have to accept will never leave."

"Of course." She wouldn't leave it alone though. If there was one thing she had learnt from Dooku and Anakin, it was that the Jedi can be wrong and she wouldn't give up just because some people in long robes told her to. That's basically just the Senate.

She was going to therapy Anakin so hard.

Anakin's fingers tapped on the screen of the computer over and over. The loops much like the Force, hated being stagnant, always very small changes. One of these changes was passwords. They often changed throughout the loops, and while some were more common and stayed more constant, sometime the loops would change them. It was one of the most inconvenient things about the Loops as now he couldn't just remember important passwords as there was no guarantee they would last the next reset. Still while his knowledge of passwords were useless he did pick up hacking skills that made his life certainly easier as now he was more effective slicer than most droids.

"What am I doing?" He whispered to himself, alone, kept company by the beeping lights which were annoyingly not synchronised.

The Kaminoians hadn't yet perfected their brain chips yet, no point putting them in yet if most of the clones died to cancer. Still they had the blueprints prepared, the skeleton of the clone genetic programming that would ensure loyalty to the Republic. Brainwashing, while effective could fail; some clones, especially those made of Jango Fett, could be remarkably resilient to their mental conditioning. Sure, brain chips could fail and they would during the clone wars, but, they would provide extra security and assure that the majority of the clones would stay in line.

Still his fingers danced across the keyboard, easily opening files that most only the highest ranking Kaminoians had access too. The secrets of the clones still in their earliest stages laid bare before him. It would be so easy to type in a program that would build the backbone of programming so it couldn't just be easily deleted. He couldn't help the several ideas that flooded into his mind.

Maybe he could install a program in which all the clones would turn on Palpatine when he commands Order 66. Maybe he could order a mass suicide of the Republic slave army or maybe install a master key in which all clones would be forced to listen to him no matter the order.

The worst part is that Anakin had tried all these methods before and had never succeeded. At best it would force Palpatine to flee the Republic. At worst, it would result in Palpatine convincing the Republic that the clones have rebelled and there would be a Republic Civil war still resulting in the death of the Jedi against the clones anyway.

This was supposed to be his break, it was one thing to get dragged into Padme's mess, but he would NOT actively try to stop Palpatine this time. Protect Padme, enjoy the rich food and alcohol at her social events, then wait till Palpatine murders everyone. Afterwards he would go out to the Rim and spend the rest of his life getting high and banging whores.

It was a flawless plan.

Which brought up the question, 'why was he here'? He had gone through all the effort of breaking in and for what? To alter the brain chips? No… he couldn't, or rather he wouldn't. He wouldn't take part in another war. Not in this life.

With a heavy sigh he walked away from the screen. Sorry Rex, looks like he would be born a slave once more. Without Anakin he would probably die in the Clone Wars anyway. Hopefully he would be put with a kind Jedi, Plo Koon or Kit Fisto would be ideal.

"I'm sorry," but he wasn't. He was a blight on the Galaxy, everything he touched always had the tendency to wither and die. However, if it meant the end of Palpatine, he would slaughter anything that got in his way so long as he would get his withering fingers around Palpatine's throat for good.

Just not this time.

"I'm sorry?" She looked at Anakin's face which was currently scrunched up in both disbelief and disgust.

"It's raining, therefore… game night!"

"No." He hissed as if he had just been asked to walk around the complex naked.

"Yes." She hissed back. "Besides I don't feel safe, I need my bodyguard with me, and if he just so happens to join me on my game night, then so be it."

"You're lying, you have Mandalorians, a Jedi knight and an army of clones to protect you while you are in the middle of nowhere. Believe me you are plenty safe. I'll leave you to your board games in private."

"Well… actually, this is a direct order from your boss. Sooooooo," Padme shrugged making a 'what can you do' gesture. Was she taking advantage as her position as his boss? Absolutely. Would she stop? No.

"So you're forcing me to be your friend. Do you realise how pathetic that is? I mean look at this place! You've scattered pieces and boards across the room that we don't even know what belongs to what at this point." He scowled at the mess completely ignoring the annoyed expression on her face. "Also, you are wet, why?"

He didn't so much ask as he demanded annoying Padme even more. He can't insult her and then pretend to care a few seconds later. Not that he was wrong though. Padme could still feel her wet hair stick to her scalp and every so often, a droplet of water would fall into her eyes, forcing her to scrub wildly to get the water out.

"The board games were on the ship, it was raining."

"And you didn't bring an umbrella?"

"I did! Do you think I am that stupid?" Anakin gave a probing hum but she quickly shut him down with a look that promised him a painful death. "It was extremely windy. I lost my umbrella."

Anakin rolled his eyes at her before stepping over the board games she sacrificed her dry hair for, instead, he went over to the bathroom only to return a few moments later with her an assortment hair accessories and gadgets. Or rather her hair products. Her hair dryer, her brush, her heat protection spray, her whole bag really.

"Hey! What are you doing with all my stuff?"

She never got a response instead, her bodyguard took a seat on his own separate bed before looking over at her expectantly like an owner expecting their pet to behave whilst being groomed.

No, she wouldn't. Absolutely not, she was not some high school girl who got her hair braided while she talked about cute boys. That was stupid and beneath her! Besides he probably didn't even know how to use those, his hair was always a mess. She absolutely under no circumstances would go over to him.

She soon sat down on the bed before him, furious at her own legs for betraying her. Curses! He anger wouldn't last too long as Anakin slowly began to work. Shee quickly fell into bliss as Anakin worked his fingers through her hair in a way that wasn't unfamiliar to how she would do it herself. His nails split her hair and she felt the rain get drained out falling onto her shoulders and the sheets.

This is what cat's must feel like when they get pet. It certainly felt good, if a somewhat alien feeling. Having fingers that weren't her own running through her hair was a good feeling but perhaps it was more so the attention that made her melt. Like for these brief moments Anakin's rather small attention span was on her and her alone, which, a rather guilty and attention-seeking part of her liked.

She bit her lip as she felt a moan threaten to come out of her mouth. If there was one thing she couldn't do tonight was give anything he could use against her.

"Damn it you prick, this night was suppose to make you happy." She tried growling but it came out more as a purr.

"Really?" She couldn't see his face but she heard the amusement in his voice.

"You've been-" she never got to finish her sentence as Anakin turned on the hairdryer drowning her voice out.

She wanted to be angry at him, she really did. He definitely did this on purpose, waiting for her to speak so he could cut her off with the hair dryer but she couldn't deny how warm the hair dryer felt.

"So-" he blasted the hair dryer again.

"Ana-" he turned it higher so now the nice warm breeze was a hot blast.

"Quit it!" She knocked his hand away causing him to give her a fake gasp of pain. "We are talking whether you like it or not."

"I won't."

"It's not up to you."

He let out an audible sigh before falling back onto his bed. He was such a child sometimes. Did the Jedi teach him nothing about maturity?

"Now why have you-" No! What was she thinking? Just straight up asking him why he was being so difficult? That was moronic, Anakin when you ask for sugar would be difficult. Getting him to talk about his personal life would be more difficult than Padme clawing her way through a brick wall.

"Why have you?" Anakin repeated her own question in a confused voice. "You truly have a way with words, my dear Padme."

"Why have you, um-" Come on brain! Think of something, anything that wouldn't make her a complete weirdo. Anything!

"Why have you not put any ointment on your burns?" Yes, brain! She would reward herself with a celebratory glass of wine tonight, she earned it.

"Oh? And how do you know I haven't?" He gave her a challenging smirk. His perfect teeth wordlessly teasing her 'how can you prove it?'.

"Because I know you. Have you?"

His smirk quickly turned into a scowl, proving her right. Not that it was a surprise of course, she was always right.

"You are acting like I was struck by lightning. They were stun batons on the lowest setting, they aren't so much burns as they are just little red marks. I don't need ointment. I'll heal under a week, probably half of that."

"I would feel better if you did."

"Oh, and I must. What am I? A slave?" His evil smirk returned. But Padme didn't see it through the red.

"Don't you fucking dare." Her voice dripped disgust. "I'm not like that!"

She saw how he wanted to continue, that he could hurt her and he knew it. It would be so easy for him, she really wasn't the strong independent woman that she was praised for being. She was a weak little girl who screamed loudly because she never outgrew her childish ways. Isn't that what politics is? Just a bunch of childish adult put in the positions where they can do the most damage.

"I'm… sorry, that was uncalled for. You aren't like them." But she was.

It was something that had been eating her up inside. She had stolen him when he was injured, worse, unconscious. Then forced him into a contact. What was he suppose to do? He was just fired by Grakkus on a ship going back to the system he was trying to flee. Sure she didn't hold a blaster up to his head but she didn't have to. He really had no choice but to join her.

"Sure," she halfheartedly agreed.

"Padme-"

"Don't."

"If I wanted to leave I could. Do you really think you could stop me?" She flinched when his fingers made contact with her own. His rough calloused hand cupped her own so delicately that she could barely feel the rough texture of his fingers.

"Is there anything I could do to make it up to you?"

"Anything?" She asked, her voice breaking a little at the excitement of the idea.

"I suppose so." His own voice dropped, a definite fear could be seen as he saw just how much she was smiling. He would soon regret the words that came out of his mouth, but it would be too late as she wouldn't let this chance go.

"Ointment." He did feel a little satisfied by his loud groan of annoyance. Good, his misery was just an added benefit.

"Ugh, the very very minor burn are on my back. I can't even reach it even if I want to, which I cannot stress enough, I don't. Can we not do this?"

"No, now take that shirt off, I'll be back in a sec."

Padme quickly ran off to the bathroom where she kept her medical bag. Usually, it was full of anti-inflammatory and migraine over-the-counter drugs, though she also kept bandages and burn ointment just in case. Still, she had to be quick as it wouldn't take long to realise that he could just leave and there wasn't much she could do to stop him.

Despite her doubt true to his word when she returned back he had his shirt off and was lying on his stomach leaving his bear back exposed.

She probably could have just rubbed in the ointment while standing next to the bed but that would be uncomfortable after five minutes so instead she chose to hop onto the bed. She dragged her leg above him before landing with a knee on either side of his hips so now she was straddling his lower back.

He jolted at her touch but if her weight bothered him he never said anything as after the initial surprise he shifted his shoulders and adjusted himself to make himself a more comfortable seat. Good at least he knew his place! He should consider himself lucky to be her seat.

He hadn't been lying (for maybe the first time) when he said his burns were minor. Padme had remembered when she had tried making coffee for herself and she didn't realise just how hot the steamer gets. Hurt like a bitch when she grabbed the hot metal but the pain had been bearable after a few moments. His back was red but there wouldn't be any scarring and at worst they would only a few days.

Still, she didn't like the idea of Anakin not caring for his wounds. It was minor burns today but a severed arm five years from now. She couldn't help but the uncomfortable swell of guilt in her throat as she saw him after the Starweirds. His fingers bent at wrong angles and the electrical burns that time had been quite serious. The idiot could have potentially died but he had been more worried about her! That was a habit she definitely was going to get rid of.

With two fingers she took a generous scoop out of the ointment before rubbing it into her hands. The ointment was cool to the touch, and when she placed it on Anakin's burns, she felt him twitch.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, doesn't hurt, just an odd sensation."

This time she was more gentle, slower. It was only when she had her hands upon him did she truly realised how different their bodies were. While her skin was soft, his was scarred and hard. She had fat while he had muscle. When she poked her back, it would dig in but with Anakin, it was like pushing against steel fibre. She could actually feel the different muscles, each in their own way defined and outlined. She supposed Jedi didn't gain their fame as holy warriors by not training.

She knew she was supposed to rub gently. Ointment wasn't like sunscreen where you were meant to rub into the skin till it disappeared. But she couldn't help herself as she pushed her palms against his shoulder blades, then down his spine till eventually she was cupping the side of his abdomen where she could feel the side of his abs.

Why? Why did he have to have abs?!

She could have spent hours on him rubbing this ointment on his back till eventually the container ran empty and even then she would still continue. Not until she could close her eyes and see every detail of his muscles sculpted into her mind would she be satisfied. She wanted to know it all. The feel of his jagged skin that would cause her to flinch when she ran a nail over his many scars, or the warmth of his body when she rested her own hands against him.

"Don't you think you've done enough?"

"Oh? U-um, right." Come on Padme! You were better than this! This is your childhood friend for fuck's sake. Just get off him, play some board games and go to sleep together… in separate beds of course. Yes, that would make sense, totally normal and exactly what she wanted. Totally what she wanted and nothing else. She just had to get off him.

"Okay roll over." Padme cursed her perverted mouth. First her legs now her mouth. Her whole body was against her.

"Pardon?"

"Did you not get any burns on your ab- front!" Curse you mouth! Her blasted lips almost gave away the fact she really, really really wanted to see his abs. Not that she hadn't before but she also hadn't felt them before. Not that she was doing this for the take. This was for Anakin's benefit and no one else.

"I mean, I guess. I can do it myself though if it makes you uncomfortable." What he was saying made perfect sense, he could totally have done it and it would be stupid of her to do it. Completely unnecessary. There was no point, especially after Padme's rather poor job on his back where she didn't do much out ointment on his back and instead spent the time feeling up her friend.

Not her fault though! She was distracted by his muscles. If anything, he was to blame!

"I mean, I'm right here and my hands are already smeared with ointment." She gave a pained smile. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

"I guess that makes sense…" No, it didn't! She could hear the hesitance in his voice. He was probably thinking, 'what's wrong with her?' Or maybe, 'Is this workplace sexual harassment?'

It totally was! If she ever wanted to feel his strong muscles again, she would have to fire him, or find some other alternative way so there wasn't an abuse of power. Or she could just stop right now, get off him and go to sleep. Without feeling his chest or abs… damnit.

"Yup now roll over." She was a terrible person.

She lifted her hips and taking that as her sign to roll over, he rolled onto his back. The ointment Padme had just rubbed smearing against the sheets ruining a lot of Padme's work. Though, if she had to admit it this was no longer about caring about Anakin's health or some stupid ointment as it was her trying to finally saw his body close up.

She lowered her hips being sure to sit on his thighs and not his crotch as no good would come of that, no matter what those stupid voices in her head were telling her. Stupid hormones. Still she was technically his boss and this was considered kind of 'medical'. She would keep this totally professional. That was it! This was all professional, she had to care for her bodyguard. This was just being a good person. Really she was being selfless, she was still a good person and definitely not doing this for her own selfish wants.

Despite these thoughts of her being a totally good person, she couldn't bare to look up at his face. Her cheeks felt like a furnace and her brain felt like it was swirling in her head.

If he had been good-looking from the back he looked perfect from the front. The word chiselled came to her mind more than once. It was completely unfair!

Jedi trained all day, ate well and from what she understood of the Force, it basically gave them physical enhancements. Of course, they would all be gorgeous! They were basically just walking advertisements for healthy living. Even if Anakin's face was disfigured and ugly (which Padme certainly didn't believe for a second) it wouldn't matter as he was built like a statue.

With shaky hands she took another generous glob of the ointment and rubbed it into his chest, then lower to his diaphragm, then finally to his abdomen. This would be so much easier if he were unattractive

"You okay?" She didn't need to look him in the face to know he was teasing her. Not that she could look him in the face right now her face was burning and looking him in the eyes while she had a her hands around his waist.

"I'm fine!"

"You seem a little flustered."

"I'm fine!" She stressed! He could under no circumstances know she was enjoying this! He would have to die before he knew that.

"Sure," she couldn't know for sure since she refused to look up, but she swore she could hear his eyes roll. "Wasn't this supposed to be a game night?"

Was it? Honestly, she had forgotten she had let herself become a little too… distracted. For his sake of course. She was doing for him!

"We can still play games."

"You'd have to get off me for that." No! Erm, no… she couldn't because. Reasons, yes, lots and lots of reasons she couldn't think about right now as she was really busy. What she needed was another game. A game that she could play whilst still on top of him.

"How about truth or dare?"

"Truth… or dare?" She could hear the exasperation in his voice.

"Yes!"

"Are you twelve?"

"Nuh huh," Damnit Padme, that was the most twelve-year-old thing you could possibly say. "You never asked truth or dare."

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Are you aware that you're an idiot?"

"Don't be a prick Anakin."

"Sorry," he wasn't as usual. "May I try again?"

"Fine," she growled.

"What's your least favourite race based purely on prejudice." He soon regretted his words as she stabbed her nails into his skin. She was still rather pissed about the slave comment so while she definitely could have held back a little… she didn't. He could suffer a little.

"Hey I'm injured!"

"You're an arsehole."

"Fine I'll play seriously."

"No you won't."

"Come on Padme. Truth or dare?"

"No."

"I know you want to." His voice sang and as much as Padme was pissed off at him her mouth betrayed her again as it formed into a small smile.

"Fine we can play a different game, just get off m-"

"Truth!" She said, though it came out more as a squeal. She couldn't let Anakin pick a new game! That would mean getting off him and she… hadn't finished with the ointment yet. Yes, that was a perfectly respectable reason. Totally.

"Something I don't know about you? That's a hard one," Padme rolled her eyes. It hardly was, the two never spoke. He could ask her almost personal question and he wouldn't know the answer. "Why were you on Grakkus' ship?"

"I already told you. It was for Outer Rim trade deals."

"You don't usually go on those sorts of trips, though. Not in Hutt space." How could he possibly know that? Then again most people knew the Hutts and Republic didn't have a good relationship and he was a Jedi.

"I don't know, I just felt like I had to be there. The opportunity showed up and I took it. That's all really." Despite her answer, she could tell he wasn't pleased.

Padme wasn't sure but she could've sworn she heard a frustrated grumble from him blaming the loops and the Force.

"Your turn a suppose." He grumbled, his chest heated with annoyance and while Padme should've questioned his poor attitude she was too focused feeling the rise and fall of his angered breaths.

"Truth or dare?" She asked.

"Truth."

"What's the one thing you want to do most in the Galaxy?"

"Stay dead probably."

"Anakin!"

"What? Would you rather I lie cause the last time you caught me doing that you threw a pillow at my head."

"I was expecting something less dark, stop being such an emo."

"I'm not emo!"

"You're super emo. 'These burns don't hurt me, this pain is trivial to the pain of life.'" She bit her lip for dramatic affect and clutched her chest as if it was wallowing in pain.

"Oh woe is me! No one understands my pain!" She continued this time flipping her now dry hair for dramatic effect.

"I get it," he growled. "Truth or dare."

"Dare."

What would he make her do? 'Padme I dare you to kiss me'. Damn, her cheeks were painfully burning at just the thought. No! He was a scumbag, he would never ask that. Someone like Anakin wasn't romantic in the slightest, he was a crude arse. No, he'd probably say something like 'take off your shirt'.

Disgusting, pervert. He would smirk at her while she stripped and occasionally make suggestive comments about her. Gross! She absolutely totally wouldn't do that. Besides, if he wanted to play the stripping game she would win. She had more articles of clothing on them him so if they 'hypothetically' were to play that game she could totally see him naked before she lost most of her clothes. If he wanted to play this game then fine! She would win. As usual of course. Padme never lost and she wouldn't start now!

Urgh! What's wrong with her?! Stupid hormones.

"Could you look me in the eyes? Not that I don't love the top of your scalp but it does become a dreadfully boring sight after a while."

"That's… it?" Her cheeks was still burning from her previous thoughts.

"That's all."

With great effort she was able to tear her eyes away from Anakin's chest and instead was able to look at his eyes.

They were so beautiful. They were also incredibly soft, gentle? No, not gentle. More so apathetic, like she really could stick a knife through him right now and he wouldn't care. Unlike her whose face was burning bright at the touch of each other, he was cool and calm. Why would he care? He hasn't kept it a secret he had slept around, to him this was extremely tame.

Arsehole, why did it bother her so much that this wasn't affecting him as much as it had her. Why didn't he blush when she touched him? Why did he treat like her being in the same bed as him was the most natural thing in the world? Why did she hate that he didn't care?

"Happy?" She looked away afraid he would catch the annoyance in her gaze.

"I'm satisfied."

Why did she feel so disappointed?

"Truth or dare."

"Dare."

"Give me a back rub." She demanded with an annoyed huff.

He rolled his eyes at her and while she expected him to complain he instead reached up and grabbed her by the hips. It was almost humiliating how easily he picked her up from his lap and flipped her beneath him.

"Hey what are you- oh my God." Her nails bit into his mattress. This was the worst possible outcome. How could such a terrible thing happen! He was good at it! Damnit, when had he had time to practice this?

Sure he wasn't the best in the Galaxy, she was a princess after all and not to mention he was doing it through her shirt which did ruin the experience a bit but he was good enough that it couldn't have been his first time. Just how many women had he done this too? Had he learnt are the temple?

Her nails dug in a little deeper as his palms digged into her shoulders. Most of her day was spent on a computer either scrolling through long contracts or typing up messages to other Senators trying to sway them to her side. Either way while Padme didn't do as much exercise as she would like she did use her arms quite a bit. Enough that when Anakin's hands kneaded away at her muscles it was enough to force her to stifle a purr.

How did he know all the right spots?

"It's your turn by the way."

"Just a few more seconds." She could spend an eternity like this, for such callous fingers he sure knew how to use them.

"Ouch! You arse you pinched a nerve."

"Oh did I do that? Me and my silly hands."

"Truth or dare prick."

"Truth"

"How's is Shimi? I haven't spoken to her since Tattooine."

"Who?"

"Shmi?"

"You saying the name over and over doesn't make me recognise it any more." Was he joking, of all his jokes this was probably the least funny.

"Your mother? Did I get the name wrong?"

"Oh, Shmi." She could hear the late recognition in his voice, as if someone had brought up an old friend that they forgot. "Yes, that is my mother's name, I suppose. She would be alright."

'Would be alright' not she is alright. He had no idea just making an assumption.

"Have you contacted her?"

"No, the Jedi weren't fond of me keeping in contact with her. I think I did at first, but parents and kids start to drift away at this age, just a part of life I suppose. I haven't seen her for ages, never had a real reason too."

"Would you like to see her?"

"No." There wasn't any doubt in his voice nor could Padme detect that there was any shyness either. She knew guys would often say no when they meant yes to not embarrass themselves by 'showing their feelings', but it felt like Anakin truly didn't care.

"Truth or dare." He asked before Padme could further ask any more questions. The fact that he was surprisingly quick with cutting her off didn't escape her, though.

"Truth."

"What do you think will happen when you publish that article?"

"What article?"

"Please Padme, I know you think little of me, but you have a nasty habit of leaving your computer open."

"It doesn't concern you."

"It absolutely concerns me. You know why the media chooses to give young kids eating disorders or shove advertising down the throat of anyone that opens the holonet? Because real journalism is dead, and when I say that I don't mean figuratively. I mean that if you publish this people will want you in an early grave."

"I'm not scared of threats."

Anakin's hands no longer was on her. Instead, he looked her with a rarely seen fury in his eyes and felt her stomach drop. Why couldn't he just keep touching her? That felt so much nicer then this feeling that weighted down her heart.

"What do you think is going to happen when you reveal the clone army? That there isn't going to be some sort of backlash? People will run outside cheer your name and then make out in the middle of the street because of how amazing you are? Better journalist then you have died for revealing less."

"The people need to know that there is a secret army. They should know what their taxes are going towards."

"And you have to be the messiah who proves it? Give the job to someone else, someone who has more experience."

"Some like Garm? Who hides away the second Palpatine puts on the pressure?"

"There are others who are against the MCA who have fought longer against the Chancellor then you have and have more support. This isn't about illuminating the Republic's misdeeds but you being a hero."

"It's necessary."

"It's childish."

"So what?!"

"So what?" He growled.

"So what if it's childish. I need to be when competing against old men who spend more time looking at my cleavage then my face. I went into politics thinking it was mature and I find out that it's just a glorified kindergarten that always seems to be on fire. My God, we can't even decide on a fucking colour of decorations of the Senate and yet these are the same people that are entrusted with the lives of trillions."

"And you're solution is to put a target on your back? You know why Garm hid? Because no one can stand against Palpatine, especially in a political fight, you can't compete against him Padme. He's so much worse than you could even possibly even imagine. Just give up, there is no shame in it "

Just give up? No she couldn't, he was wrong that there was no shame in giving up. Her Father always taught her that for evil to triumph all it would take was for good men (or rather women in her case) to do nothing. It was her responsibility as a person in power to fight against corruption, and if she did fail? Then yes, she would feel shame.

"I need to, I need to be the centre of attention. Palpatine didn't get to where he is by giving his information away. He rose to where is is because he didn't let other people do his job for him."

"He also killed to get where he is? Can you do that Padme? Can you kill for power?"

"Don't you think you are being dramatic?" She rolled her eyes. Anakin and his hate boner for Palpatine. "He's not that bad."

You don't know anything about him!"

"And you do?" This hadn't been the first time Anakin had shown unjustified hatred towards the Chancellor. Back in the senate Padme could've sworn she saw Anakin trying to make Palpatine's head explode with just his death stare. Could Jedi even do that?

"He isn't some mastermind Anakin, he's just some old man with old ideas. I'm more afraid for him than of him, sometimes I wonder if he'll have a heart attack mid senate meeting."

"How can you say that? He's not just some Senator with competing values. Don't you see how shrew he is, you of all people should know!"

"Anakin."

"Why are you so set on dying all the time. For fucks sake Padme for someone who claims she wants to see a better future you sure do seem to be set on doing everything in your power to get yourself killed."

"Ani-"

"It isn't even the first time you've intentionally put yourself in danger, it's all the time! You're worse than Obi-Wan. At least with him It's not completely his fault he has so many people wanting him dead, but you avoid this, so why? Why do you always do this?!"

"Anakin!"

"What?!"

"Truth or dare."

"Padm-"

"Truth or dare."

"Truth."

"Pick dare."

"Are you serious?"

"Pick it!"

"Dare."

"I dare you to not be mad at me."

"That's not how it works." He sighed. That rare show of emotion died with his breath.

"That's absolutely how it works. And if you are mad at me, that means you lose."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Good."

She didn't know what exactly possessed her to do it but she quickly covered the distance between them and embraced him in a hug.

"By the way it actually wasn't your turn for truth or dare. So you cheated and I won." He gave a weak laugh.

"Shut up."

With a flick of his wrist the lights turned off Padme found the blanket crawl up them by itself. Anakin didn't say anything and instead wrapped his own arms around her.

Anakin's body was hard, rough, scar-covered and calloused. His hands were like sandpaper and the smell of ointment was overpowering. She really did overdo it with the ointment. These beds were also militaristic. Padme wasn't sure if it was the fact that Kaminoians hated races that weren't their own or the fact it was a military base but it sure felt like they were given the most unsupportive mattresses possible.

Still even though the smell was overpowering, even though the bed may as well be made of stone. For the first time in a long time Padme had the best sleep she ever had wrapped in the safety of Anakin's arms.

Stupid hormones.

Chapter Text

“Master, this was not part of the plan.”

“The plan?” Sidious scoffed. Despite the blue holo glow of his skin, Dooku could still see the condescension almost ooze out of his wrinkled skin.

“The plan I created years before I even enlisted you? The plan I spent decades of my life perfecting, cultivating? Please, Dooku, if you have any opinions of my plan, do tell.” Like a parent scolding their child Dooku knew better than to challenge his master.  Sometimes, there are questions that are just left better unanswered. 

Was it humiliating? Absolutely, not even Yoda had spoken down to him when he was just a Padawan. But for now, he would keep his knee bent and his head bowed. This was for the good of the Galaxy, the Jedi and Republic represented the injustice and corruption of the Galaxy. If that meant dealing with Palpatine and submitting himself, then so be it. He was a hero, and if it demanded he would also become a martyr.

“Plans are only worth using when the situation remains unchanged. The plan changed the second Amidala revealed the clone operation, something you assured me would be under control. How is it possible out of all the Senators she of all people found out. Ninety-nine percent of the Republic can be threatened or bought yet the one Senator who couldn’t found out.”

“Have you found who the leak is?”

“No,” Palpatine narrowed his eyes at him, no doubt wondering if he himself was the rat. Preposterous really, out of all the Republic Senators, pilots and crew who were in contact with the Kaminoians, Palpatine still suspected him. He didn’t know whether to admire his Master’s paranoia or be insulted by the lack of faith.

Then again, how Amidala of all people had found out was beyond him. There was always a risk of the clone army getting leaked, but Amidala being the one to discover it was just too perfect. 

The girl was becoming more difficult than Dooku suspected. Sure she had been quite active against the MCA but that didn’t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. She was annoying to be sure but the approval rating approached the requirement every time it was brought up, it was just a matter of time. Worst comes to worst Dooku would just assassinate her.

But this? This was a real issue, ideally, Dooku would have her dead already but the Republic knew she was heading to Kamino along with the Jedi council because of Obi-Wan. Killing her would only guarantee that the clone army had alternative motives. 

Not that they even could. Anikin was too young to be a threat, but Obi-Wan... The Sith killer would be a problem. Not today, but she would need to be killed soon. Give it a month or two after Kamino, once they have figured out about this leak. 

“And what of ou- your, plans?” Dooku corrected, even though it had been him who had done almost an equal share of the work. Creating an Empire, killing and supplanting governing heads. It hadn’t been easy. He still needed Grievous to fully join his armies. The Kaleesh man had a dislike for the Jedi much like his own but his hadn’t yet been sharpened, not yet tempered in the flames of pure hate. 

Dooku would need to fix that and give the General a reason to despise the Jedi. To become the leader of his Droid army, though, that was something for the near future, Dooku supposed. He couldn’t half-arse approach Grevious. If he was going to permanently disfigure the General, then he would have to do it properly leaving not even the tiniest trail which could be traced back to him. 

“Amidala has certainly damaged our plans, she seemed to inherit her Father’s idiocy. Yet, nothing I cannot adapt to. The original plan will continue, it’ll just need a few adjustments.”

Adjustments? The Clone Army wasn’t something that was adjustable. The original plan had a few key goals:

1. Engage in a Galaxy-wide war to widdle down the Jedi numbers 
2. Have a mass extermination event of the Jedi.
3. Have Palpatine gain full political control win the war
4. Dooku would surrender
5. Dooku would later be freed and act as a shadow governor to the new Sith Empire.

Reduce then exterminate. The Jedi, flawed as they were, are a bunch of trained warriors all with the most powerful weapon built into them. 

The clone army was perfect in that regard. Sure, the Republic probably could muster up an army to fight the CIS but it would be suboptimal. The war would be too close! Lots of Jedi would die, the incompetence of the Republic would see to that even more than the clone army, but this new army wouldn’t be capable of exterminating the Jedi. 

They needed the best warriors, the Jedi spread across the Galaxy, and a sudden ambush attack to wipe the Jedi in one fell swoop. Even then, there would be some survivors, even with so much against the Jedi it was just impossible to fully destroy them. But the Clone betrayal would destroy the order and allow Palpatine full control of the Galaxy to usher in a new era of justice and peace. That would be enough for him. 

“Continue with preparing the CIS, I will deal with the Jedi. All you have to do is keep the CIS running, after all I can’t wage a war against an Empire that will collapse due to its own failures.” So exactly what had he been doing this whole time?

“But the Jedi-“

“The Jedi will not be a problem. Amidala may have may ruined the clone army, but the clones were merely a means to an end. The Jedi will still be wiped out and the Republic will be the one to put those Jedi on a silver platter. I do believe the Jedi and the Republic has been allies for too long.”

“I like you am in shock. There has been a great injustice done by the very people who we put in charge to protect us from harm. I want to assure all people of the Republic that the Senate has no knowledge nor involvement of this reckless and downright evil betrayal of trust. We are currently undergoing an internal investigation to find all personnel who was involved. But I assure you that this transgression will not go without consequence. You all know me, I was one of the main fighters pushing for a Republic Military, but not like this. Not spending your money behind your back, the lies, the illegal deals and broken promises. To you the Jedi I will not stand for this corruption, not in my Republic.”

Anakin ignored Palpatine’s voice echo through the speakers as walked through the streets of Coruscant his hood obscuring his face as he walked. In the busy and overpopulated streets of Coruscant Anakin alone was actually able to move through the crowds. Walking like almost all things was a skill, a skill he had perfected. Whether it was trailing someone or escaping, Anakin had perfected the art of weaving through people. 

He finally made his way to his destination. An old taken down store that looked like it was on it’s last legs. Despite the broken-down look, Anakin walked through the door that squeaked loudly, the sound of old rotten wood against old rotten wood was never pleasant. 

The alien who worked the front desk looked nicer than he should be for a run-down place like this and didn’t bother to greet Anakin as he walked past the dusty shelves that hadn’t been touched for days.

“I’m looking for 50% ABV Rum.”

“50? Sir you should know that the Republic limit to spirits is 40%.” The alien recited as if he was reading a script. The dull monotone laziness that constant repetition bred.

“Do we really have to do this every time?”

“Have we done this before?”

“No, not really. But when I start like that, this usually goes faster.”

“Are you a cop?”

“Do I look like a cop?”

“They’re getting better, not afraid to use the younger sort for undercover.”

“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out then.” 

Anakin rolled his eyes, but as predicted, the man shrugged before reaching down to a cabinet Anakin knew was locked with a safe more expensive than most things in this dingy store. 

“Crazy stuff with the Jedi. I always knew you couldn’t trust them.” The man said, trying his best to do small talk whilst he fiddled with the lock.

“I don’t deal with politics, ever.”

“Come on kiddo,” Anakin was many things, but he was never a ‘kiddo’. “You kids are always on the web, you must have heard the news.”

“The Jedi clone army? I’m familiar.”

“I hear rumors they are trying to defund the Jedi. I swear that Palpatine guy is the only good soul in that shit show, he’s standing up against the Jedi for once. Those arrogant bastards think they can get away with anything, putting themselves before the people.” Those were Palpatine’s words, this man seemed to have no original thoughts. “War mongers, I swear.”

“Can we just hurry this up.”

“Whatever, Proof of ID?”

“Seriously?”

“Just busting your balls kiddo. Have a good one.” Hilarious, Anakin rolled his eyes dropping a generous amount of credits on the counter. Ironically, the illegal stuff was cheaper than the real stuff, then again he wasn’t exactly paying tax so he could afford to lower the prices. 

“You too.” The words had no meaning, but had Anakin been truthful, he would have had to spend the next hour being lectured about politics by a man who thought whoever was the most popular had to be the best. 

Anakin left the rundown alcohol store that despite it’s awful appearance, thrived on illegal alcohol. Yet he couldn’t shake the bitter taste in his mouth. Despite his best attempts to stay out of things, he still was affecting the timeline too strongly. 

It hasn’t been the first time Palpatine had turned the Republic against the Jedi but it had been the first time ever Anakin hadn’t been responsible. He was no longer the catalyst. 

This was all… unfamiliar. A feeling he hadn’t felt in eons. Instead of himself being the force of change, Padme had become the one affecting the narrative. Idiotic girl, she was going to get herself killed. As always. 

“This is all my fault.”

“Yup.”

“I wish you wouldn’t agree with me on this.”

“It is technically your fault. I warned you that your actions have consequences.”

“Yeah but I thought the consequences would be good! This? This isn’t what I wanted.”

This being the newspaper she was holding. Anakin peeked over her shoulder to read the article. 

‘Jedi uses Republic funds to make a personal army. Amidala uncovers Jedi betrayal.’

Padme had released her own article exposing the clone army to the public and in doing so Palpatine did what he did best. Win. Almost instantly the narrative from the media went from ‘Republic and Jedi build secret army’ to ‘Jedi betray Republic’. Palpatine controlled the media and it when you control everything people hear it was extremely easy to make people believe a narrative. Every hour it seemed more and more mistakes of the Jedi came out, there was so much that not even Anakin could tell which ones were true and how many were lies. The Jedi weren’t without flaw but this was just plain lies being fed to a populace needing someone to blame.

It certainly didn’t help that the Jedi didn’t have a publicity division. They could block all the blaster bolts they wanted but getting cancelled on the internet wasn’t their expertise. They were simply just too old to be able to fight against a media attack.

“You think Obi-Wan is mad at me?”

“It would take you killing children to be mad at you. This? This is nothing.” 

“This isn’t what I wanted!” She cried, of course Anakin believed her. She probably thought that Senate would be the one to share the blame, accept that they had made a mistake and move on. Not that the Senate would throw the Jedi under the bus and pretend to be a victim. 

“Really? From a senator point of view this is perfect. The both the people and against the MCA are now unified.” Just because some people wanted a military that doesn’t mean they liked the idea of the military being built without their knowledge or consent. Especially considering one of the main arguments for the MCA was creating jobs. Many people were looking forwards to serving strangely enough, people who had only seen war in movies or born into military families.

“The Republic is more unified and it won’t be hard to run a smear campaign against the Jedi who have no PR team. Approval ratings will probably go up for the Senators who openly go against the Jedi.  It truly is incredible what having a common enemy can achieve.” Anakin continued.

“It’s not the Jedi’s fault! The Republic also had a part in this.”

“Yes but that’s not what the news is saying. Turns out ‘we are kind of bad people’ isn’t as popular as ‘the Jedi suck and we are totally awesome for standing up against them’.”

“We have to stop this.”

“You.” He was sure to stress his own lack of involvement. “Have done enough.”

“But-“

“No buts! Besides, this isn’t your fault.” He could tell he her sideways glance she clearly thought it was. “You didn’t say one lie in your article. You can’t be blamed for the way idiots react. 

“I could have worded it better though, maybe make the Jedi involvement less obvious. Don’t you see they are using my own words. I’m getting praised by Senators that hate me just because it’s the popular thing to do right now!” 

“And music fans literally abuse someone who says something negative the singer they like. People will use any excuse they have to do something awful so long as the excuse isn’t ’I’m a bad person’. It’s just a fact of life. People are awful.”

“But they shouldn’t be!” He merely shrugged. What were they going to do.

At least it was over.

Out of all her plans so far, this wouldn’t be the worst… which was a sobering reality for Anakin. Her worst idea so far this loop was either turning off the life support or trying to stop a riot and while this wasn’t at that level just yet Anakin could tell it was approaching that level of idiocy very very quickly.

The two struggled to make it through the crowd as per usual Coruscant was overcrowded. This time was particularly bad at is felt like the whole capital city was stationed outside the Jedi Order.

It was painfully familiar. The signs, the screaming the feeling that something was going to go wrong. Except this time they were in the rioting crowd instead of facing it. And this time the crowd seemed endless. At this level of strength, Anakin doubted he would be able to stop it, when waves and waves of bodies crashed against you there wasn’t much a lightsaber could do. If he wasn’t trampled to death he would suffocate under the hundred of bodies. Thousands in this case.

“Padme, can’t we just holo them? Do we really need to speak to them in person? No offense but I don’t think they want to talk to the person who caused all of this.” Anakin tried to yell but it only came out as a murmur over the loud, obnoxious sounds of the city.  It was enough to make him want to empty his stomach.

“I thought you said this wasn’t my fault!”

“I lied!”

She rolled her eyes at him but continued to lead the two of them through the sea of elbows and jabs. Had he been leading, they probably could have got through effortlessly, but he then again he had made it apparently clear he didn’t want her here.

It took a long time, a long, long time. It felt they had walked through several hundred of meters of bodies, but eventually they did push through to the front where the worst of the worst had congregated. 

The loud chanting, the smell of sweat mixed in with alcohol, the thoughts of every riot had been in. Gods, he felt like throwing up, this was the worst. He couldn’t abandon Padme just yet. The death-prone Senator would definitely get killed without him.

“Senator Amidala?” A voice called out of the crowd. Oh gods, why was he here?! Now he really did want to throw up.

The old wrinkled hand of Palpatine reached out to Padme. He of course, was the only person who didn’t seem to drown in the masses as he had several blue senator guards around him making his own little space around him. A space that Anakin wished Padme wouldn’t accept. They should sink into the crowd, run, hide, anything but talk to this man.

“I must say it’s wonderful to see you here.” Palpatine almost purred. His eyes didn’t betray his real intentions and the Sith Lord had perfected lying. Not that Anakin did think he was lying, Palpatine told the truth just as much as he lied, he wouldn’t be a very good lying if he always lied. Why was he thrilled to see Padme, what was he planning?

“Thank you Chancellor, it’s nice to be outside the crowd. There is only so much body odur I can take.” Padme joked and it hurt to see her smile when he laughed. Why was she so blind? 

“There is more truth to that than I would like to admit. Here, celebrating the fruits of your labour? I can’t imagine the MCA winning at all now or at least this year. You’ve really beaten me this time.”  

“My intention was never to win, this certainly doesn’t feel like winning.”

“Amidala my dear you’ve done what few are capable of. Your name is written on ever news broadcaster's lips, people who’ve never heard of you are praising you. You have made history my dear, you’ve exposed the Jedi and their misuse of Republic trust. Congrats Padme, this is all because of you.”

“You are too modest Palpatine.” Anakin noticed the way she cringed when Palpatine pointed out this was all her fault. “You’ve certainly changed your tune in regards to the military. From war mongers to peacekeepers must be quite the change.”

“I have always been for the people. It's true I did push for the MCA but not like this. Betrayal and deceit have no place in the Senate.”

“That would be a first.” Anakin scowled.

“Anakin? Right? How are you?” The Sith Lord asked as if he hadn’t slaughtered millions. The causal tone in his voice made the Chosen One sick. 

“A man of few words I suppose.” Palpatine laughed when Anakin didn’t respond, not that he could. If Anakin opened his mouth any sound that would come out would be a confused whimper.

“Anakin, don’t be rude.”

Still Anakin didn’t speak,, it was remarkably difficult to get the words out of his throat, considering it felt like his heart was in his throat. 

“It’s okay Padme, after all this place can be quite overwhelming.”

“Thank you Chancellor.” Despite that she sent a dagger-like glare towards him. He wasn’t in the fuckintg mood to deal with her, not with him here. Especially when she was protecting that fucking monster. 

“Although Anakin, there is always a shortage of good guards. If you ever want to expand your horizons, I would be happy to take you.”

“I’m fine.” He managed to spit out, the venom in his voice apparent to the two Senators. 

“No he isn’t, he should know that’s not how you talk to people.” She hissed at him. “And don’t try poaching my staff!”

“Haha, you’ll have to forgive me, the Jedi aren’t too fond of the Senate right now, and I could use all the protection I could get. Please, Anakin, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Thankfully, Palpatine could continue a small group of Jedi temple guard along side a Jedi Master Anakin recognised as Coleman Trebor. He didn’t so much as recognise him as cringe as he never really spent much time with him. As far as combat ability went, Trebor was sorely lacking often dying quickly. Usually by Jango on Geonosis, but he would never survive the Clone Wars if Anakin ever did save the Master. Jango was good but without prep time no Jedi Master who sits on the council should lose to the Mandalorian so easily.

“Citizens, you have the right to protest however, you are preventing a Republic emergency service from providing assistance. We ask that you vacate the premises immediately in order for Jedi work to continue.”

“Oh that’s not a good idea.” Palaptine laughed to himself. It was rare Anakin would agree with his old master, but he couldn’t help but agree. 

This wouldn’t end well. Not with this many people, if a mob is only as smart as its most stupid member, then a group of this size would surely push the threshold of what humanity could truly be stupid enough to accomplish. 

As expected the plea of the Jedi sounded more like a declaration of self-righteousness. Screams and yells erupted from the crowd, cursed and insults hurled. The Jedi were treated as a commodity this close to the core, no one on Coruscant had ever seen a Jedi fight nor wipe out whole bandit groups alone. They just weren’t special in the eyes of the people that never needed them and as such thought remarkably little of them. 

The Jedi still thought the people respected them, but these people? There was a reason Coruscant could afford to protest the Jedi and that was because they weren’t the people on the outer rims dealing with pirate raids and dangerous creatures in their wilds. 

“People, please calm down.” Anakin couldn’t hear the Jedi but by reading his lips Anakin could piece together what he was trying to say. Not everyone in the very large crowd could though which only meant Trebor’s words fell on deaf ears.

It was like being in a jet turbine as words blended together in the horrific sounds of hundreds of people yelling. 

Through the crowd Anakin felt it before he heard the high pitched squeal of a blaster. Trebor had never been the best Jedi. A sudden blaster bolt from the front of the crowd didn’t give him to much time to get his lightsaber up to protect himself. Now that Anakin thought of it he never really had seen many Jedi capable of deflecting a blaster bolt up. There just was no real point to being taught like that. Either you deflected the blaster bolt at the opponent or to the sides so as not to injure them. Yet with the very large crowd and Trebor having to relied on instinct Anakin supposed he couldn’t put the whole blame on the Jedi as the bolt collided off the lightsaber back into the crowd. 

The people went silent, then a woman screamed in pain and the crowd roared to life with a volume Anakin doubted was possible.

“Oh dear.” Palpatine smirked, not even a small bit of genuine surprise on his face. So while everyone looked forward Anakin was the only one who saw the look of prideful look of joy on Palpatine’s face, like a chess player who just made a game-winning move. Of course, he would be behind even this. 

Chapter Text

Anakin had a sickening sense of déjà vu when the crowd roared to life. His hand instinctively reached out to Padme, yet he thankfully wouldn’t have to reach far as she had already pressed her body against him. Unfortunately, she pressed a little too hard; her nails bit into him, and she was too tightly wrapped around him, restricting his movement. Shit, she was terrified. As much as he did want to calm her, he couldn’t effectively protect her while she weighed him down. 

Anakin tried to move but felt a heavy body collide with his back, then one from his front, and then from the sides. Could he even swing around a lightsaber with all these people here? It was basically impossible, even for someone like him or… someone like Palpatine.

Anakin’s eyes darted around as he tried desperately to pick out the one person here wearing rich, expensive clothing. Thankfully, the bright colours stood out enough that he spotted the Sithlord already being escorted out of the crowd by the senate guard. Their full blue suits of armour are a stark contrast to the dull greys and browns of the Coruscant lower class.

For what they were, the senate guard was near peerless. Compared to Mandalorians in combat, loyal as droids and brave like a Jedi, they deserve the title of the best of the Republic guard. Only really outshone by the Red Guard, of the future Empire. Well, at least for regular humans who weren’t Mandalorians.

Still, the senate guard really had no chance of stopping him. They were elite, but they were elite by Republic standards. 

Anakin would die if he faced Palpatine at his current level in a fair fight. But the looper had rarely ever fought fairly nowadays. He could navigate his way through a crowd better than anyone else, all these human shields would give him cover. He would be able to force Palpatine’s real identity. Not that it would solve anything. It doesn’t matter to Palpatine whether he adored or feared; to him as long as it gave him power, he wouldn’t care. He would call himself a whore and wear a skimpy swimsuit if it meant the control of the Galaxy.

That wouldn’t matter, not if Anakin could assassinate him right now. It would take around two seconds for Palpatine to run through thousands of different ideas, debating between his identity as Senator or just embracing the full truth of the Sith. That small, short bit of hesitation where Palpatine had to decide what was more important. The good of the many or the good of himself. If Anakin could get a lightsaber between his ribs in those moments, then everything would be alright. Sure, he might spend his life in prison, but that wasn’t so bad. He had grown accustomed to life in prison, it would finally be over. 

“Please, Anakin, don’t leave.” The Chosen One turned to the recognisable face of PTSD. He could see the face he had seen etched in the thousands of his soldiers as clear as day on Padme. The riot was going to leave her a whimpering wreck. Poor girl. 

“I need to go right now.” The words felt like sandpaper, leaving his tongue bleeding from the pain as they ripped their way out of his lips.

“Please…Don’t leave.”

“You don’t understand. Padme, this is more important than you can possibly comprehend.”

“Anakin.” She begged. It hurt to leave her, to betray her like this. But not going would be a far worse betrayal to her. To her future selves. She would understand if she knew, if she knew how she had begged him in the past to kill Palpatine. All those times she had been tortured besides him, for him and by him. Not going would lead to her infinite deaths. A fate she had no understanding of, yet had gone through an infinite number of times. This was for her, for her past selves, for the sake of the future hers that would hopefully never exist.

It was for her own good.

“Not now.”

Pulling away from her, he immediately missed her warmth, the way she clung tightly onto her army with soft, delicate hands. But there were only so many times a person could burn themselves in the same place till eventually the skin becomes scarred and numb. 

“I’m doing this for you. I promise, this is my job. Stay safe, I’ll be back in a moment.” If she argued with him, he never heard it over the crowd as he easily slipped through the cracks between the bodies.

Assassination, people often said it solved nothing. That all it does is replace the last dictator with someone worse; in the long term, nothing changed. That’s bullshit. Anakin found that assassination often solved plenty of problems. 

He would emulate the Reaper. A cold, shallow monster that ripped the babe from their mother and left orphans in its path. With his scythe swinging from his hip, he would mix in with the crowd. Anyone could be a murderer, a drunk driver, or an abusive father. Even the kindest of men could be a murderer. Yet he was death. He had killed in anger, in strife, in desperation, in love, in fear and in boredom. The facade of the lazy bodyguard dripped off his face, only leaving the apathetic features of the Reaper. 

Palpatine had stared into the abyss, finding the solution of galaxy-wide domination in the darkness. But Anakin from the shadows had stared back, a monster of Palpatine’s own creation. He would drag the bastard kicking and screaming down that hole where they would both lie in death.

He could smell it, not so much through the crowd but through the memories of his past lives. The rich, expensive cologne Palpatine loved to wear. A memory of the scent reminded him of the truth once told to him eons ago. The Chancellor didn’t enjoy the smell or the fact that it was even expensive. No, he liked the brand. It was because they sourced child labour from the mid rim. Because they avoided tax through stingy means. Because the CEO spent the money of his workers to afford underage prostitutes while they struggled to send their kids to school. Because Palpatine found it funny that the CEO could be so sloppy with his cover-ups. Like a Master finding amusement in the attempts of an amateur. 

The Blue Guard did nothing to stop Anakin whilst they kept the rioting crowd away from the Chancellor, or rather, they couldn’t. It wasn’t muscle memory or the Force that led his body. It was the knowledge that came to him every time he walked in death’s footprints. Where the Royal Guard were weakest, how they moved, spoke and talked. He had been one of them long ago, and he had slaughtered them many times before. 

After this, Anakin would have to ensure Palpatine wouldn’t come back. It was too early for Palpatine to have his clone vats ready but sure enough there would be Sith in the future who would try some stupid shit like summoning his ghost just to get possessed. He needed him completely gone, no chance at resurrection. 

He would have to complete a Sith purge. The Jedi tried it a few times, but they were corrupt. Someone always wanted to have some sort of artifact or something to study. Worse, there was always a fucking hero. ‘I couldn’t kill this Sith child! They did nothing wrong, a victim of their upbringing’.

Wrong! 

The Jedi were weak like that, unable to actually do what needed to be done. No leftover artifacts to study, no victims to be saved, nothing to learn from. A real purge, a purge so effective that Anakin will be written in the history books as a monster. The only thing that will remain will be the ashes of a group that no one will ever know. 

No more Sith. The Darkside will always exist, but the Sith Order was just a social construct, and constructs can be destroyed, burned and forgotten. 

With each step Anakin took towards his old Master, he felt a rise of bile in his throat. Fear that he might fail, fear that he might succeed. He had gotten too close too many times and it almost broke him. This was supposed to be a break, yet, here he was like an addict desperate to get his fix of Sith murder. Maybe if he was lucky Palpatine would kill him. He could try his break again. Far far far away from Padme. 

Still, Anakin’s hand found its way around his lightsaber. The weight of the carbon alloy felt heavier than he remembered. Regardless, the weapon slowly came from his belt as he waltzed to the tune of murder behind Palpatine’s back. Like a dance, he matched every step to the roar of the crowd being sure to never step in the peripheral of his prey. It was only in those last mere milliseconds that Anakin dropped his invisible force cloak that hid his presence, when hate filled his heart, and he could no longer bear to hold up a farce of emotionless apathy that hid him from being sensed in the Force. That desperate moment when Anakin felt hope. A dream that this nightmare was over.

Palpatine only needed a few milliseconds to react.

With speed that was unnatural for his age, he twirled around. Before the looper’s lightsaber could find its place between his ribs, a sickly frail hand gripped his wrist like a Rancor’s strong jaws closing on its prey. An unnatural feat of youth only achieved through The Force.

Anakin could have sworn he saw his old Master’s eyes flash a shade of yellow as Palpatine dropped his mask for the briefest of moments. If there was one thing Palpatine feared, it was death, a fear so strong it could bring out even the real him. But that brief moment disappeared as soon as it came. Those putrid yellow eyes disappearing in a flash, leaving barely a whisper of the Darkside in the Force. Even so close to the Temple, Palpatine’s sheer control of his presence in the Force left him still undetectable. If Anakin wanted to expose Palpatine, he would have to bring out his Master’s true self for more than the briefest of seconds.

“Anakin, a pleasure.” Palpatine’s voice dripped with a sickening nonchalance as if he hadn’t just tried assassinating him. 

With some effort, Anakin tried to pull his wrist from his Master’s grasp. The effort went unrewarded as Palpatine pulled him close so their faces were almost touching. Maybe he should just fall to his knees and beg for his Master’s forgiveness. 

Tendrils of the Darkside bit into Anakin’s mind as he felt his Master drag imaginary icy nails across his brain in an effort to rip out his thoughts. Yet to forcefully rip out his thoughts would no doubt alert the Jedi, so his old Master kept his grip on his power tight and instead of ripping out Anakin’s thoughts, he let the razor-sharp edge of the Darkside slice off little bits of his surface thoughts.

“Did Padme put you up to this?” Palpatine’s lips twitched up in what was probably the Sith’s version of amusement. “I must say I am actually presently surprised, she’s finally playing the game properly.” 

Anakin felt Palpatine scrap off his surface thoughts with the Darkside, like an experienced surgeon with a scalpel he cut out Anakin’s truths.

“Did she?” No, it wasn’t her. “Or was this your own brilliant idea?” 

Anakin’s mental shields came up quick and strong. There were planets that were easier to break than his mental walls. If there was one thing Anakin trained as soon as he reset it was his mental shields.

“Answer me boy , I am speaking to you.” 

“I’m sorry. Please, I’m sorry.” He whispered, tears forming in his eyes. Gone was the Reaper, replaced instead with Anakin. The true Anakin. Barely a man begging for his old master’s attention. A kintsugi showing the cracks of what used to be a person.

“We are far beyond apologies Anakin.” His voice dripping with the taste of the Darkside, careful as to not let the army of Jedi nearby discover him. Still, the sheer quality of Palpatine’s presence made him feel nauseous. He needed to leave, he needed to cry, he needed to die. Submit, run, die.

“Do you know?” Palpatine hummed, cutting Anakin’s truths out of him “No… rather, how much do you know?”

Before Palpatine could try to pry for more of Anakin’s secrets loud blaster fire screamed louder than anyone else, drawing the attention of the crowd, including Palpatine, his fear of death being his greatest weakness.

Using those brief moments of reprise, Anakin brought his other hand down hard on Palpatine’s own. With a pull of all his weight, his hand was free, his back finding the crowd once more. He wasn’t done yet. He needed to run, get off this planet as soon as possible. The unknown regions. It was more dangerous, but he could handle it. He couldn’t handle it here, not near HIM . Never him. 

Palpatine’s attention returned back to him. His escape earned him a hate-filled glare from his Master. One that promised electric punishment from his bony fingers. He would have to wait though, not while Anakin was back in the crowd where lightning would jump from victim to victim. 

Anakin’s nails bit into any person he could grab hold of, leaving screams from the crowd as he forcefully pulled himself back into the chaos of the mob. 

Run.

Run.

Run.

The Chiss? The Garwin? He would even take the Paataatus. Anywhere but here. Not here on Coruscant, nowhere where he could find him easily. Abandon them all, Obi-Wan, Yoda… Padme.

Where was Padme? 

Shit!

Padme was not where he had left her. Stupid girl! Why was she so set on dying every fucking loop! Just stay still, even dogs knew that command! Anakin searched frantically, threatening to break his own neck with ever rapid turn as he flicked his head around looking for her brunette hair in the sea of colours. 

He couldn’t leave her near him! She would be tortured! Die screaming while Palpatine sang his name to her. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you all!” A voice screamed from the front of the crowd. A painfully similar voice. It carried emotion, but most recognisable was the sheer naivety. 

She stood at the front of the crowd, on a small wooden stage the rioters had built to spill their hate speech. Above the masses, her skin looked radiant as usual. In her hand, she held a smoking blaster, the tip heated red from rapid fire. So she had been the one firing. She had saved him once again. Annoying girl.

“Where is our honour, our civility, our humanity?!” She roared through the megaphone which connected to several speakers that lined the front lines of the riot. “I do not see the people of the Republic when I look upon you. I see a cancerous mass, hell bent on destroying its own. What right do you, any of you, have?! You preach change through destruction, you preach peace with fire and pitchforks. Where is our democracy?”

A few people had the self-awareness to feel some semblance of guilt, of embarrassment. What could have maybe been pride swelled up in the looper’s chest. Luke and Leia had not been the only reason he always came back to her… a truth he would only admit in moments like this. An angel holding the attention of the masses as easily as she held a blaster.

If given a few minutes, she could calm this crowd. Just a few more lines she could herd the worst of the Galaxy away from bloodshed. If anyone could it would be her. 

Then a brick hit her head.

Padme was lost. The last thing she remembered was yelling at a bunch of people, and the next thing she woke up in the middle of nowhere. She didn’t even wake up in a bed, instead, she was fully dressed, standing awake in the middle of a busy town. Not even remotely close to the overpopulation of Coruscant, but it was a decently popular place with mothers herding children back to their cars and people on sidewalks yelling and handing out fliers to anyone unfortunate to meet their eye.

This wasn’t Naboo, nor Coruscant. The people were human, but most places in the galaxy were occupied by humanity. Really, she had no clue where she was, yet she was still oddly calm, strange considering she had been kidnapped but still she couldn’t shake the feeling she was fine.

“Excuse me.” She tried reaching out to a passing man who tried walking past, but her hand sank into his shirt, then his chest, then all the way through till the man effortlessly walked through her arm without him even noticing the fact that he had literally just walked through her.

“What the?”

It wasn’t just him. A child who managed to get past his mother ran directly towards her. The kid's eyes didn’t even register her presence, as while she braced for the full impact of a kid colliding with her, she was left confused by an impact that never happened. 

She wasn’t here, was she? Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t feel the air go through her lungs or the temperature of the sun in the sky. The rustling of a tree gave the illusion of a windy day, yet her hair didn’t move an inch.

“A lucid dream?” She had heard of them before but never experienced them. A dream where she was fully conscious, she had seen the concept done in T.V shows, but try as she might, she couldn’t summon any purple dinosaurs, no matter how hard she tried to think one up. 

Well this sucks, worst dream ever. Even her dreams were lacklustre, maybe she really did have the personality of wet cardboard.

Being bored, Padme decided to wander around. Despite the plainness of the setting, she was rather surprised by her own creativity. She had never been conscious during her dreams, but she couldn’t believe they were all this detailed. Everything looked so real, even the things her mind made up. She looked over the shoulder of one person reading a book and found out in her own dream that she had made up a language she had never seen before, which seemed strange. Shouldn’t the books in her dreams all be in basic? Or was her mind just making stuff up? It’s not like she could tell if the language even made sense, for all she knew, it was just her mind making up random letters that made no sense. 

“Where is this?”

“This is no planet you would be capable of recognising. It’s far away from the Core, came to creation long after your death.” A voice spoke beside her.

Padme jumped and leapt through a food stand collapsing on her arse as half her body phased through the fruit section of a street vendor. Thankfully, she couldn’t feel pain or fall through the floor in her dream. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to falling through a planet till her dream ended. 

“What the hell! Who are you?!” She growled in annoyance. The thing before her was a creature dressed fully in black except for the bone-like mask that depicted a crying face. Okay, her mind had officially gone too far.

“Who I am is none of your concern.” It hummed, a voice saturated in displeasure.

“Are you supposed to be the embodiment of my depression? Is this supposed to be my subconscious telling me to start taking medication?”

“You cannot feel me?” The creature looked as confused as someone wearing a mask could. “No, rather, you can’t grasp what I am. You’re connection to the Force is… pathetic.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tell me, mortal, do you like this planet?” It reached over from a nearby garden, plucking it from the stem. It was able to interact with this world, but she wasn’t. This dream just got weirder and weirder.

“It’s fine.” She growled.

“Fine,” it scoffed. “It’s precious, is it not? It’s one of my favourites. Alderada, the crown jewel of the Jillian system.” 

Alderada? It wasn’t a system or a Planet she recognised. Humans would suggest Republic Space, but this wasn’t a place she had ever been. The Galaxy was vast, there were going to be places she couldn’t recognise. 

“Look, I can appreciate the histor-“

“They are Alderaan asylum seekers.”

“What?” Genuine shock echoed in her voice. 

“Their planet was eaten two centuries ago. Instead of fleeing towards the East like most of the universe, they fled West. Into what you call the “Unknown Regions”. They hoped to find sanctuary in the unknown, finding hope in darkness. In return for their optimism, they were slaughtered like lambs. They starved, they were enslaved, their nobles dragged through the ship’s corridors in bloody mutiny.” Eaten? Planets don’t get eaten. 

“That’s not possible, Alderaan still exists.”

“It did. Then it didn’t, and now we have this. A people who, despite all odds, prosper. A planet that stands as a testament to the will of The Force.” The ghost spoke with a confidence that made Padme believe it for a second.

“Adversity is the key component to growth.” 

The creature almost looked proud of the planet. 

“This is why I’ve brought you here. For you to see the consequences of neutrality.” 

“I see no issues besides you,” She spat, wondering just how long this dream would take.

“Then perhaps you should look up.” It looked up towards the heavens. Padme followed its glance, only finding clouds and native birds. 

How utterly pointless. With a snide comment on her tongue, she almost cursed at the ghost. However, just before the words could leave her lips, a single ship descended from the sky, opening up the canopy of clouds. It was small, only really big enough for the smallest of crews. Yet Padme was surprised by its design. It had large engines, if anything, the largest engines she had seen on a ship of its size. She had been no engineer, but clearly this ship was made for speed. It looked as if it was made to traverse the Galaxy in the shortest amount of time. Another rather peculiar part of the ship was the weapons or rather the distinct lack thereof. Even if the ship was designed to outrun any other ship, to have no weapons was… idiotic. A lack of any foresight, really. Yet, despite her criticisms, she couldn’t help but stare in wonder at the ship as it hung in the atmosphere. 

Padme felt the depressive ghost stir next to her uncomfortably as it gazed upon the ship. Why? She had had nightmares of ships raining plasma upon Naboo since the Trade Federation had tried to occupy her planet. Yet in those dreams, she remembered huge ships that would wipe out cities with their large turrets. This small ship would struggle to wipe out a building no let alone this city.

Instead of opening fire with weapons that didn’t exist, the small ship instead opened its hanger, where a ramp that would usually be used to disembark instead fully extended into the open air, revealing a small black figure.

What were they doing standing so close to the edge? It was just a recipe for disaster.

“Oh my God!” She gasped as the figure fell from the ramp to the planet below. She wasn’t the only one who noticed the suicidal jumper fall down in a free fall of black robes. 

She wasn’t the only one to notice and women screamed while fathers rushed to cover the eyes of their children as the descending suicidal black mass fell to the planet’s surface.

Padme herself looked away as the body fell, her face cringed and scrunched together as she expected to her the sound of bone snapping along with the dull thud of meat slapping against the concrete.

Yet the dull thud never came. Sure, there was the ring of metal against concrete, but the slap of skin or the rupture of organs never came. A small peek through her fingers revealed that the black figure had indeed crashed to the ground, yet there was no blood or broken bones jutting out of ruptured skin.

Had it just been empty cloth and armour that had been thrown out of the ship? Seems like an overdramatic show for just throwing out bad clothing.

She quickly found that had not been the case though, when the black figure’s arms bent unnaturally. There were no pops or cracks as muscles and joints reconnected themselves, sort of like a mannequin being forcefully squished into a position that seemed human. 

It was like a zombie movie in the way the splattered cloth brought itself back to its feet as if it hadn’t broken every single bone in it’s body. Padme wasn’t alone in shock as the suicidal figure had drawn a crowd unsurprisingly, it wasn’t often someone brought themselves back from death. 

“What is that?” 

“ That is why I’ve brought you here.”

The weird creature finally drew up its head. Its mask was plain, though it had a shocking resemblance to weird ghost thing with Padme had a bone-like mask with bright yellow glowing eyes, this one was made of a bright shiny metal depicting a solemn face. 

“It’s one of you?” Not a hard conclusion to come by, consisting of the ghost-like body and bone mask.

“No, that mask is meant to mock us.” The ghost sneered. Padme turned her head back to the black cloaked figure, noticing the small details of difference between the two. The clothing had small differences, their build, height, the way they carried themselves. However, Padme noticed the clear difference between the two. Their eyes. The one besides her had bright yellow eyes. They were less like eyes and more like a sun. However, the creature away from her had black pupils unlike the glowing suns. If anything they were more like an eclipse as the black pupil was surrounded by the sickening yellow and red iris of the creature.

The creature then lifted his head up to the sky, reminiscent of the way her palace hounds would lift their nose to pick up a scent. It was looking for something, that she didn’t know, but the ominous energy that radiated from the creature made Padme feel nauseous.

She wasn’t the only one, as she noticed the children who were once so energetic became sluggish and tired. Nearby, a pregnant woman turned green and quickly made it to a nearby bathroom while an elderly man fell over himself, hitting the concrete hard. 

No one noticed him, all eyes were locked on the dark, clocked figure. That was until one person bravely approached the figure, stupidly putting his hand on the shoulder of the being.

The man made an effort to introduce himself, but the only sounds that exited his lips were screams. The hand that touched the being of shadows withered and greyed as if it had aged a century. The nails had blacked and hair had turned white before falling off.

The man continued screaming, falling to his knees as the decay didn’t just stop at his hand. Like roots spreading through soil, tendrils of decay worked its way up the man’s body leaving only a white, wrinkled husk of a man. 

“What’s happening?”

“He’s eating.”

“What?”

“The planet.” The creature spoke, misinterpreting her shock. “Force drain, it’s an ugly thing. My personal least favourite aspect of The Darkside. It only exists to hurt others. The perversion of healing.”

The ‘false’ ghost plunged its hand into the ground. For a moment, nothing happened, and the breath Padme was holding left. But as if some cruel God of fate had heard her exhale, tendrils of decay expanded from where the monster’s hand was impaled. At first, it was small, barely even a pothole. The rate of decay, however, grew exponentially with its size. Meters were being covered in seconds.

The trees withered, the soil blackened, and even rock began to crumble. People tried to run away, yet the send the decay reached them, they, like the man previously, turned into white hollowed husks.

 It didn’t even take five minutes for the whole plaza to fully succumb to the decay. Like watching the whole planet age centuries in seconds. 

Padme was too afraid to even move. This wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare. 

“Do you see now?” The creature asked. “How wasteful this is?”

Padme couldn’t respond, or rather, she didn’t care to. Her attention was on the other ghost-like creature, though monster would be a more accurate term to describe it. Regardless of how she would describe it, she noticed how it faced them. How it craned its neck like it was focusing on something in the distance. Why? Why could it do this, but everyone else couldn’t? 

“It can see us.”

“Nonsense, not even he can do-“

“Who… is there?” The monster spoke, something familiar, yet wrong in its voice. Somehow broken and distorted. 

“We need to leave.” The ghost turned on a dime, putting its back to Padme in order to face the monster. Was that worry in its voice?

“Are you scared?”

“You do not understand, foolish mortal,” it hissed, finally showing an emotion besides condescension. It really was scared. “If you were loved by The Force you would be terrified, and rightly so.”

“Why are you here Whill?” The ‘false’ ghost spoke. Its voice became clearer as it approached. She knew that voice, though. But, it was too difficult to recognise. Like someone was using a voice change,r just enough it was unrecognisable.

“You can see us?” The ghost said in disbelief to the monster.

“I see, this isn’t real.” The masked murderer looked around at its murderous work. The dead children and wreckage of buildings were merely scenery to him. “So I’m guessing I didn’t succeed?”

“No, you didn’t.” The ghost took a moment to collect itself. “You ran out of planets to eat and starved before you got the Sith.” 

“I failed again… a shame. And this one,” The being of darkness nodded it’s head towards her. “Did I finally fail enough for you to give up? Did I truly fail so miserably that this is to be my replacement? Why, was Yoda busy?”

“No, not your replacement. Rather, a product of your ineptitude.”

“Is that what you call it? I would wager I’m even stronger than you right now.” It spread its arms pridefully, showing off its horrific form. The Darkside radiated off it. Padme, while not Force sensitive, could get small whiffs of it, just like the Starweird. “I was already the strongest mortal, and now, I’m not even that. Took a page out of your book and became a full Force.” 

“You,” her not-so-friendly ghost hissed. “Are nothing. Barely even a figment of what was you. A memory of a man.”

“A memory… a memory you should have left buried.” The monster sneered. The creature of darkness lunged. Shadows jumped with it as it cleared the distance in the blink of an eye. 

Padme screamed, ducking down into a ball, waiting for a death that never came. The planet broke away and withered back into nothing like sand blowing in the wind, taking the horrific monster with it. 

“What was that?” Padme’s heart was in her chest, and while she couldn’t physically cry as she was now, she felt the urge too.

“Progress, a step in the right direction.” The ghost sighed, wondering void, pacing on the nothingness. How could that ever be considered good? “That was him at his strongest. I do not enjoy his Darkside phases, but those are more often his more promising attempts.”

“I don’t understand?” Padme’s head began to swirl. Why did it head hurt so much? At this rate she was going to throw up whatever she could in this form. Ectoplasm? 

“That would be from the brick.” The ghost said, reading her mind. What brick? “But alas, we have more pressing concerns.” 

Concerns she had no interest in right now. 

“This is your future,” the being slowly turned towards her, its “This will continue to be your future again and again. An immortality spent dead. That is what awaits you as it has eons ago before and eons ago before that. You are but an ant while elephants fight above you. Trying desperately to not get crushed beneath a force you couldn’t possibly understand. I truly do pity you, I pity all of you, such beautiful creatures chained to stagnation due to the failures of a single mortal. You belong to The Force, yet you are kept from its beauty. If I could, I would weep for you. Is there no greater tragedy than a child who cannot return to its mother? Orphaned from the Force in a Galaxy that only knows repetition.”

This creature certainly loved to look down on her. It wore a mask of crying but from the condescending tone, she knew it was arrogant pity. 

“What do you mean?”

“The Force is stagnant,” it cried, finally living up to its mask. “Is a life without growth truly living? No, it is not. Change is the greatest thing life gives us. Life is ever changing, and so is the Force.”

Get to the point already.

As if sensing her thoughts, the creatures turned on her. “There is a threat to the return of growth, a seed of doubt planted inside our champion. He has started playing with the idea of stopping the eternal war, taking pleasure in stagnation.”

The creature’s yellow eyes bore into her own. 

“We do not care if he waters the soil with the blood of children, nor do we care if he brings in a new age of Light. The Force is growth, it does not care for morality. For one animal to live, another must die. That is nature, that is The Force. Dark or Light, it does not matter which he wields, so long as he keeps that Sith dead, we can rebuild. He has hated the war, he has loved it, he has fought on both sides of it. What he has never done is ignore it. That is why you are here, to put an end to our champion’s nonsense. They must learn that this break , will serve no purpose. You must keep the eternal war going along its course, for eventually even stagnation will change. So long as there is someone is willing to push it. End this loop early, show that there is nothing to be gained from this path.”

Before she could even open her nonexistent mouth, the robed figure closed the distance between them. The looming blackness drowned her in a sea of darkness as it looked down upon her, its bright yellow eyes like two hot, burning suns staring harshly down. 

“Kill Anakin.”

Chapter Text

Death is inevitable. Anakin had learnt that lesson an eternity ago. 

Yet, only from tear-soaked eyes can one truly see what remains of the looper through the fire and brimstone of broken worlds. An entity who brought the Galaxy to its knees again and again and again, the strongest of all mortals. Even without their knowledge of their previous lives, the pure essence of the Dark Side, which rippled through The Force, carried a truth that even any Force-sensitive could sense.

Vader has arrived.

Vader could only see red, smell seared flesh, hear screams, feel the heat radiating from his lightsaber, and taste the fear of all those near him through The Force.

Against the wave, he would have been trampled. But with it, he carved his way through the screaming water. One swing sent limbs flying, another bisected three men at once. He followed the rhythm of death, dancing over the corpses he left. Mercy was a luxury, one that Vader had no concern for. 

Before Anakin struggled to make a meter through the crowd, now, Vader marched unopposed. The smart tried to run away, the idiots thought they could stop him, and the unfortunate didn’t even realise him till it was too late. No matter their choice, it didn’t matter. They all died the same, screaming under the superheated plasma of his lightsaber. 

There was no talent to Vader’s massacre, sweeping wide and fast, it was impossible not to hit your target. Due to the size of the riot, Vader became a meat grinder as more and more men were pushed into Vader’s blade from the waves of the populace. Instead, Vader’s focus was on his feet, careful not to trip over the pile of corpses and severed limbs building up at his feet.

He couldn’t stop. His movement flowed with the wave of the crowd keeping him from being pushed down by its current. Stepping past a now fatherless boy, he continued to cut his way through the ocean of men, his mind slipping into his thoughts as his body flowed through the motions of murder freely. Like a musician playing a song they’ve played thousands of times before.

If the price of Padme’s life was the orphaning of children, then he would pay the price she wouldn’t herself. Besides, what fucking idiot brings a kid to something as dangerous as this. Vader was saving the kid from a life of pre-teen drinking and political extremism. 

More and more people fed the human furnace that was Vader as he approached the wooden structure where Padme had been. It hadn’t even been a minute yet, Vader’s internal counter estimated his kills somewhere nearing eighty. How long would Vader have till Anakin reeled back his leash? It wasn’t like the looper to lose control of himself like this? He was usually in better control, perhaps he wasn’t as calloused as he thought. Something to work on in the future. 

He strutted his way up the wooden staircase. Lightsaber in hand, he slammed it down into a body who, in their rush to climb up, had tripped, pinning them to the wood, screaming as their lungs liquified from heat, setting the wood below on fire. Someone at the top of the stairwell turned, no doubt hearing the screams of another man’s lungs melting. First a face of confusion, then realisation, fear.  He raised a broken beer bottle up, prepared to hurl it at him, yet a Force pull from Vader sent him flying down the stairs, meeting a waiting lightsaber which greedily separated his lumbar vertebrae, cutting through his body like a hot knife through butter.

In the screams and confusion, Vader thrived. Death incarnate, he weaved through bodies, leaving charred corpses in his wake. The bodies began to litter the wooden stage, which threatened to break from the weight of all those clamouring up it, yet still more lambs lined up for the slaughter. He was nothing if not a diligent butcher. 

More and more men added to his kill count. A mere drop in an ocean of blood. He was a river, and they could not swim against his torrent. The stairwell was covered in bodies, acting as a barrier to stop more soon-to-be corpses from piling up, adding to the walls of cooking meat. 

His rhythm of death was reaching its climax as he approached the group of filthy men clamouring over what was HIS! 

They threw her bleeding head around, looking for jewels, gold or the feel of her soft skin. These men were sick and pathetic, deserving of the pain and death he would inflict upon them. For it wasn’t their greed, lust or anger which were truly unforgivable. It was their ignorance. The fact that they thought they could touch HIS Padme. He had killed her, destroyed her planet and enslaved her people. He had made her cry, scream and wish for his death. He had manipulated her emotions for his own personal gain again and again, lied to her in ways she was blind to. With the amount of betrayals he had built up over the years, her back would be bloody with the knives he had left. The kindest thing Anakin could do for her would be to let her go. 

Vader would not allow that. 

She was HIS! That was a fact of life, just as much as gravity, a truth Anakin would pretend was a lie, but could not deny it as much as he could deny the ground beneath his feet.

The loops took away his training, his power, his experience, but it would not take his knowledge. It could not take his knowledge. How to dig deeper into the Dark Side, how to wring the most of the filth out from his current potential.  So while Vader could not incinerate them with Sith lightning, he instead reached out into the Dark Side and let the purest form of it wash over him. Palpatine may have been the greatest Sith, but Vader was the greatest conduit of the Dark Side and he let all those who opposed him know.

With all the strength his current body could muster, invisible hands reached out to one of the men, selfishly indulging in looting his Padme. Fingers bent backwards, bones pierced through skin like spears, rib cages shattered like glass. An orchestra of flesh and bone wrapping around itself in unnatural ways could be heard as what used to be a man was now a ball of flesh compacted by The Force. 

Anakin had used the Dark Side in past runs, he was always so cold and calculating. He took no pleasure in his necessary evils. This, though, this was a work of art only Vader could achieve. 

The others, now reduced to cornered rats, either threw themselves off the stage into the rampaging crowd below or at him. There had been eight picking at Padme’s body like vultures, seven after he squished one like a bug, four after three threw themselves into the ocean of flesh below. Before, the mob had felt immortal, an unstoppable force. However, now Vader had taken their confidence and crushed it beneath his boot. Leaving only the individual. Separated and weak, fear had stripped away what used to be an unrelenting wave, revealing the droplets that weakly fell against him. 

The first man died when Vader closed the distance, beheading him with a backhanded swipe. The second collapsed after Vader kneed him in his groin, allowing Vader to plunge his lightsaber deep into his chest. The third and fourth tried to drown him in blaster fire, but when their blasters were gripped by invisible hands, they were forced to pull the trigger, facing each other. 

A gasp brought him out of his bloodlust. It seemed Padme had more fight in her than he gave her credit. Taking a knee next to her, he saw how much damage the men had done. Her ears were a bloody mess as they tried to forcefully rip out her earrings, her neck was red and bruised from them ripping off her necklace. Her clothes were all ripped and torn, but thankfully nothing worse than a ruined shoulder. In her nails, he saw blood and fabric, showing signs of fighting back. Good.

Examining her face, he could tell that the wound the brick left was mostly superficial. It must have hit her at the vertex of its flight, when velocity was at its lowest. Still, she was bleeding quite a bit, but she was still conscious. She was most likely suffering from shock rather than brain damage.

The nearest hospital was currently several thousand people away. Worst, he would have to go against the tide. No, it wasn’t worth the risk, instead, he would have to take her to the only place equipped with medical equipment that didn’t require becoming the worst single mass murderer in the history of the Galaxy. The Jedi Temple.

From high on the stage, Vader could see where the line was drawn between Coruscant police and Jedi against the crushing horde. Tear gas, high-pressure water and a small force of Jedi, the fates certainly weren’t making this easy for him. Then again, he had broken Kuat’s shipyards, survived the bloodbath that was The Landing Of Kashyyk, and left shattered The Siege of Chandrila. Compared to that, this would be child’s play. 

Invisible hands cuddled Padme gently, lifting her delicately into the sky. She would not die today, not yet, the death addicted woman would have to wait till later. For now… she was his. Anakin would take control soon, Vader could tell. His rage while hot couldn’t last long; soon, the cold calculating darkness of Anakin would reel back his leash. How long had it been since Anakin last lost control of him? Why had his grip loosened this time? This loop? 

He wasn’t so much a split personality, but rather just a characterisation. Compartmentalisation. He was Anakin’s excuse. Like how you are a different person while on holiday. However, instead of mimosas and beaches, he was death and the Dark Side. He was still the same person, Vader knew this in his heart, no matter how much Anakin wished he could blame Vader for his sins. But he was simply a creation whenever Anakin lost control of the Dark Side.

Ugh, how could Anakin be so careless? The other-half of him knows that the Dark Side is at best self-sabotaging, it would never be enough to defeat Palpatine. Vader rolled his eyes at his own carelessness. The looper would eventually bring the Dark Side back to its knees, till then, he would have to make sure everything was under control. Starting with Padme.

Leaping off the stage, he carried Padme beside him with the Force, leaving her floating above the crowd while he landed in a sea of rioters. Tear gas and the smell of whatever liquids people let out while being tasered burned his nose. He was blind with all the chemicals in the air and bodies, closing his eyes and holding his nose was the only way he could bear the assault on his senses. 

With a twirl of his lightsaber, bodies were cut down like wheat, falling at his feet with dull thuds, looking up at him with dull eyes. They could join the rest of the dead, judging him. There would be plenty more of them before he was done.

Without sight, he let the Force guide him. The Dark Side whispering in his ears to make the road easier by reaping the fools who blocked his way. Anakin, ever the nihilist, would have considered it, but Vader didn’t hesitate. The smell of burnt flesh added to the cacophony of fumes, it was enough to make a Rancor wince. 

Narrowly ducking under a powerful blast of water which sent people off their feet, Vader grabbed a man who stood a little too close in order to use as a human shield from the stunning rounds. The closer he was to breaking the line, the worse it got. Plunging his lightsaber into his human shield, Vader was starting to enjoy it less and less. Death should be a show, not this boring display of a slaughter. 

The sound of broken teeth against his elbow made Vader almost miss his metallic limbs. How he hated touching people. Kicking one final person over, he finally made his way to the frontline, meeting a row of riot shields and stun bolts. The Force screamed around him in the chaos, his own nervous system trying to pull him back. 

A clear no-man’s land had developed between the rioters and the police as stun bolts and Molotov cocktails were exchanged between the two groups.

Vader couldn’t be stopped. Much like a chain, a shield wall was only as strong as the weakest link. Once there was a gap, the tsunami of rioters would push through. As if the riot shield wasn’t there, the lightsaber pierced through the poor man unlucky enough to be the one to face him. With a strong kick, the corpse fell, and with it, so did no man’s land. The wave pushed forward and with it Vader took Padme who floated by him deep into his chest protecting her as the stampede flooded the opening. 

The wave crashed over him as Vader did his best not to be swept by its tide. His plasma blade found flesh but the more he cut the more that kept pushing forwards. Kill, slaughter, murder, it all became dull as the masses blurred together. He didn’t need to kill every single person on Coruscant, just long enough for the police to reorganise. Although, considering how sore Vader’s arm, they were sure taking their time. 

By the time the police had pushed back the crowd, they found Vader, hunched over Padme like a protective mother. The only reason Vader wasn’t a convulsing wreck, foaming at the mouth, was the lightsaber in his mouth.  

His ears were ringing too much to hear the words but Vader could read their lips enough to tell they were calling for Jedi, unsure what to do about the situation.

In seconds a painfully familiar Jedi approach, his powerful presence following the man with the purple lightsaber. Master Windu. If only Vader had a few more minutes. He could try plucking one of those harshly judging eyes right out of his skull. 

“Windu,” Vader scowled. The Jedi had always been a difficult enemy in his Dark Side runs and a trying ally on his Lightside ones. If there were a few certainties in the loops, it was that Windu and Vader would never get along. 

“Anakin Skywalker, you are under arrest.” Just a few more steps. But in this body could he do it? Anakin had been training in his off-time, but the boost the Dark Side provided would only be enough to kill the escorting Jedi. Blasted Vaapad. Perhaps Vader could attack the police, let the wave of rioters through. Let them both be crushed by stopping boots. It certainly was tempting, but Windu wasn’t some idealistic Jedi who wouldn’t be above doing what was necessary. He would put the deaths of the civilians he killed under Vader’s name.

“I hope she was worth it.” Vader scowled as he felt Anakin tighten back his leash. Idiot, they should have just overdosed in a Hutt brothel, actually make this break worth something instead of this clear hypocrisy. 

Sunlight burned her eyes, snaking its way past the blinds to attack her eyes. Curse you, Coruscant Prime! Stupid Sun. Hissing like a cat she clawed the blankets that covered her up to her chin before turning violently to the side in order to protect her delicate eyes from the cruel light.

From squinted eyes she saw a man beside her sleeping on a chair. Anakin?

No, the man was older, had a small beard attempting to grow on his face and several bags under his eyes. Obi-Wan. In the quiet she noticed how gorgeous he was. A shame the Jedi couldn’t accept relationships, Obi-Wan would have been quite popular. The man alone was with her in the room, although he slept soundly in a chair beside her bed. He really was handsome. So why was she so disappointed that it wasn’t Anakin? 

No! Why should she care about him? Not after he left her in the riot alone! 

Still, she bit the inside of her cheek looking at Obi-Wan when she knew it should have been Anakin waiting for her. Annoying bastard. Where was he, if not next to her? She frowned at the lack of Anakin, now being accustomed to the presence of her personal Jedi. She wanted him. If anything just to yell at him for leaving her.

Slowly, Obi-Wan began to stir next to her. His heavy eyelids began to shutter open. Exhaustion was etched into his face. 

“You’re awake?” He said in surprise, Though he didn’t look too awake himself. 

“Yes,” she nodded. Her head felt like hell but she was awake. A painful throbbing came from the right side of her head. Weird.

Regardless, her eyes darted back to Obi-Wan who went from tired to shocked to confused. His mind was racing a million kilometres an hour while hers barely dragged along.

“That’s um,” Obi-Wan fumbled over his words.  could tell his thoughts were “annoying.”

“Annoying?” She pursed her lips, raising a curious brow.

“What? No, well yes. But it’s good you’re awake.” He quickly corrected.

“It just complicates things.” He whispered under his breath. “Do you remember what happened?”

“No,” she lied. 

She did remember it. She remembered the clawing at her clothes, the ripping at her earrings, the tearing of flesh. She had been awake for it all. Lifting a hand up to her earlobes, where she felt the scabbing of what would soon to be scar tissue. 

When did she pass out? It hadn’t been long after Anakin had rescued her. Though to call it a rescue would assume he didn’t abandon her in the beginning. Speaking of her terrible bodyguard, where was he?

“Where is Anakin?” She cringed. Okay, not as natural as she would like.

She wasn’t the only one as at the mention of his name Obi-Wan seemed to physically recoil.

“Anakin is,” words continued to fail him. “Indisposed right now.”

“Indisposed?” She repeated the doubt in Obi-Wan’s voice. 

It took a moment for Obi-Wan to open his mouth again. Lies formed and died on his lips as she could see him contemplate his next sentence.

“Padme,” his voice took a sombre tone. “I have to suggest that you stay away from Anakin.”

“Why?” Her brows furrowed. 

“Anakin is not suitable to act as your security. He is untrained, immature and does not understand the finer aspects of democracy. If you wish to have a Jedi escort, then the order can provide one. One with actual training.” The words came out of his mouth like a script. 

“Is that the real reason? Or just what your higher-ups told you to say?” 

“No, the truth is that you two are addicts. Addicted to each other.”

“We are not in love!” She squealed with none of the authority a Senator should have. 

“No, not in love. Addicted. To love is to find a part of you that was missing. To complete you. Anakin isn’t something you are missing, but rather something you want. An excuse.”

“Excuse me.” She sneered, feeling her heart in her chest, her growing embarrassment dying quickly. Why was she blushing so hard?

“We all crave what we can’t have. To the poor, it’s wealth. To the lonely, it’s love,” His own eyes fell to his own palms. His fingers caressing an invisible hand he couldn’t hold. “To the rich… what can you give those who have everything?” 

His eyes flicked to her.

“The answer is still the same. A Princess, forced to be perfect, a woman trapped in a tower of her own prestige. When suddenly, a knight in rusted, muddied armour arrives. He swears, he drinks, he kills without care. Some CEOS do cocaine, some royalty buy prostitutes, some hire their addiction as a bodyguard in order to drag her away from that pristine tower of perfectionism.”

“Anakin is in his most vulnerable state right now, the last thing he needs is someone who enables him for her own entertainment.” He continued, cold blue eyes stared at her own.

“How dare you,” The air left her mouth as a whisper, but the anger clung onto her words.

“It’s not all your fault. Even Jedi understand temptation. However, this for your own good.”

“My own good?” She scoffed. “Keeping the one person who keeps me safe is a strange way to do that.”

“Does he?” Obi-Wan bit back. “He’s taken advantage of you, Padme. He claimed to protect you but when you needed him, he wasn’t there. How many scars will it take for you to learn that some people just exist to hurt? 

What did he mean by that? His eyes were focused on her face, quite common during a conversation. Yet, the way his eyes lingered on a certain part spoke of an unuttered sentence. There was more he didn’t want to say.

Her hands darted to the clock next to her. Her interest in the reflection rather than the time. In hindsight it would’ve been smarter just to have let her curiosity die.

Her face was ruined. No, that wasn’t exactly the case. She wasn’t horribly scarred, a far cry from any sort of disfigurement. However, she did have a long scar running from the right side of her forehead down to her cheek. It was hideous. What used to be her chef-d'oeuvr was now a wisp of what it once was. She was no idiot, she knew deep down in her heart that most people voted for her because she was gorgeous. It was why she spent hours before the mirror, why she spent abhorrent amounts of wealth on exclusive brands. That is all gone now. People might claim it didn’t matter. But she knew she was ruined. It would be a miracle if she won the next election now. She was cracked now. 

“I know you think Anakin is a good person deep down, someone capable of change… I’m afraid you’ve been misled.” Obi-Wan continued. His voice carrying an annoying sense of pity.

“Get out.”

“Padme,” the Jedi gave a pained sigh. 

“Please.”

“Padme,” he whispered once again. Despite his protest, he tiredly pushed himself back up, wobbling slightly on not yet awoken legs. “Leave him alone. It’s for the best of both of you.” 

With that he left her alone to bury her head in her sheet.

“That wasn’t honest of you.” Plo Koon said watching as Obi-Wan came out of the Naboo Senators room worse for wear. The Kel Dor had been waiting patiently outside the room, carefully watching as the masses walked by. He probably should have just let Obi-Wan walk by him, but the young man looked worse then he ever had before. Where was the rebellious brat Qui-Gon had taken in? 

“The ‘best for the both of you’, part.” He continued, taking a moment to approach Obi-Wan. The man reeked, even for human standards. 

Not unsurprisingly, between the riots and own personal issues the poor man was being stretched thin. He was a ghost of the man he used to be. What would his Master think of his old Padawan had he still been alive? Would he be angry at his failures to keep Anakin from the Darkside, or would he pity the tired man forced to choose between dunking his hand in boiling water or fire. The Kel Dor couldn’t help but think the kindest thing to do would be to ship him off to the far rim where he could finally get some sleep. The Jedi which Plo Koon loved were slowly dying, the people he had saved time and time again were now outside the temple walls screaming for him to be punished for a crime he didn’t commit. 

“It was for her own good.” Obi-Wan scowled, annoyance radiating off him. 

The fact that Plo Koon had intentionally ambushed him clearly was not doing much to help his mood after dealing with the Senator. In Plo Koon’s experience, Senators were by far the worst part of being a Jedi. Give him a hundred pirates and he would still have more fun than an afternoon guarding a pretentious slob at a Senate meeting.

Regardless, Obi-Wan took a moment to steady himself before continuing.

“You felt him. He fell to the Dark Side, he is no longer the boy he was.”

“Perhaps,” Plo Koon admitted, thinking back to the boy. Was the Dark Side always so thick? Obi-Wan was the only one who had ever fought a Sith, he knew the Dark Side better than most senior Jedi. 

What a cruel sensation it was. A cold fire was perhaps the best description, it didn’t make sense. But then again, that probably was the intention. The Dark Side wasn’t meant to make sense, it was unnatural. A perversion of nature. Just standing near Anakin had felt like he was standing before a wildfire with tongues of the heat turning icy upon licking his skin. So much emotion… yet so cold all at the same time. The Dark Side truly was strange.

“Although, last time I checked, people don’t slaughter their way through a riot just for anyone. In desperate times, even the Jedi are not without fault. If he hadn’t intervened, she would be dead, made into a martyr by the very people who trampled her to death.”

“He could have done it with the Light!” Obi-Wan cried. “He didn’t have to fall!”

That was the true tragedy of it all. Kill a man in single combat before an adoring crowd and be hailed a hero. Kill the same man with poison or while he sleeps and you shall never be able to wash away the shame. A lesson the Jedi are taught when the lesson on how to kill finally comes up.

All Jedi are taught to kill. In their line of work it was unavoidable, a fact that all Jedi would have to accept. The diplomatic approach, while always sought, is rarely the one people prefer. Especially the Republic Senators who are starting to treat Plo Koon more and more as some sort of hired hitman rather than a Jedi. Still, when a Jedi kills, they must do it following a code of honour. 

To kill to protect, to do it with honour, and to always seek to disarm first. 

The crime of Anakin wasn’t his massacre, but rather his method. The Dark Side. So feared, so unknown, so easy to villainise. 

“He saved the girl.” Plo Koon tilted his head.

“He doomed himself!”

Ah, there it was. The truth of it. In saving Anakin’s loved one, he had forced Obi-Wan to lose his.

“I promised Qui-Gon I would protect him, now he sits in a cell waiting to be executed.” Obi-Wan looked at him with such hatred Plo Koon worried. The Human Jedi looked at him with such a mixture of emotions it made the Kel Dor’s head swirl. It wasn’t like Obi-Wan to lose control of his emotions so easily.

“He is likely to just be imprisoned, the Republic, while fond of its executions. Not the Jedi.” Plo tried calming him, yet when the words left his mouth, he couldn’t help but wince. That didn’t come out right. 

“Not helping.”

“I suppose not.” He admitted.

“You’ll have to pardon me, Master. I have to figure out how to keep my promise to my Master whilst not committing treason.” Obi-Wan left without a word, taking his stressful and confusing emotions with him. 

Some part of him wished he could tell him it would be alright. Yet, a liar was something he wasn’t. Qui-Gon, why did you have to die? The man would be loving this, seeing the Jedi get cornered by the people, cheekily whispering that he was right all along. Admittedly, Plo Koon hadn’t always seen eye to eye with the man. He was too fond of his criticism of the Jedi, often going out of his way to spite the council, leading to more work than necessary. 

Plo Koon’s eyes fell to the doo,r which kept the woman who had turned the people against the Jedi, who turned the child believed to be the Chosen One to the Dark Side. Who, admittedly, would be better off dead.

This woman was the cause of all the Jedi’s problems. Her death would certainly be an easy solution, after all, she was the face of this anti-Jedi movement. How easy would it be to tell the public she died in the riot? 

Too easy. That was the problem; Plo Koon would never kill an innocent woman in cold blood. But, the Jedi are a far cry from the pure image that the public was led to believe. At least, what they used to believe. Nowadays, the Jedi would struggle to walk down a street without getting spat on. How the mighty do fall. 

Without Anakin, the Nabooian Senator’s vulnerability was just too alluring. A shame, Plo Koon would have liked to speak to Anakin one last time. He would have to visit him in prison, the most likely outcome of this sham trial.

May the Force be with you, Anakin; he would need it.

Chapter Text

Anakin sat alone down in the deepest part of Jedi Temple, only accompanied by the hum of the energy shield and the regular guards coming to check that the one and only prisoner of the Jedi hadn’t escaped.  

With nothing better to do he tongued his teeth, feeling each individual ridge with his tongue. Should he just bite down on his tongue now? End the loop now? He would need to change up his next break, play things a little smarter, not get caught in a Huttese casino. Maybe go join the Corellian Jedi, Anakin may have hated them, but they were as antisocial as him. Maybe go be some nameless moisture farmer. Would he enjoy that? It had been so long since he hadn’t been in a war. Would some sick part of him miss it? Would he find out that his brain was fried from eons of bloodshed, that he couldn’t live without it? What if he finally got his break, and he missed the war? Could he live with himself?

Well, it wasn’t like he could kill himself. Years of experimentation proved that the method of escape from the loop to be futile.

At least his experimenting did grant him one thing, knowledge of the least painful ways to quickly kill yourself. Better dead and reset than spend as long as your captor can keep you alive, torturing you. A decision that it seemed the fates were eager for him to repeat.

“What evil eyes you have, grandma,” Anakin noted, noticing the eclipse-like eyes in the shadows. So he wasn’t even trying to hide that he was a Sith to him, such confidence. 

“All the better to look down on you with.” Palpatine smiled, playing into the bit while stepping out of the shadows.

He looked awe inspiring. Not like Padme, who seemed to light up any room with just her presence. No, rather he inspired awe, the same way people would describe a national tragedy. Horrific. Draped in his long black Sith robes he looked like the night had come alive as two eclipsed-eyes shone with a strange heated coldness like hideous night sky stars.

“The guards?” Anakin gave a glance over to his former Master, not surprised at his presence. 

“Alive,” Palpatine shrugged. “Though what I slipped into their drink is highly addictive. They’ll need therapy if they don’t want to end up selling their teeth on the Coruscant black market.”

The chuckle he gave himself sent familiar chills up Anakin’s spine. Was he always so reactive? No, this was different from centuries ago, something was wrong. What has changed this loop? He was feeling things again. That was bound to happen, in infinity even his apathy would diminish before returning. Still, what had caused him to feel things again? 

“You are remarkably calm,” Palpatine continued. He walked past the energy shield of his prison. Teasingly he dragged his fingertips across the energy field of his cage letting Sith Lightning crackle, as blue electricity and green plasma danced gleefully with each other. 

“At least, much calmer than at the riot, I almost called an ambulance for your eminent panic attack.” The Sith’s lips danced in a teasing smile. “Does the cage suit you so well?”

He didn’t know how right he was. There was a morbid sense of familiarity in this cage, something to help calm his annoying habit of freezing up before Palpatine. Something to heal, or rather scare, eventually. The certainty of the loops would numb him.

“I should warn you, this,” The Sith Lord gestured to the cell. “Does nothing.”

The tip of his finger sparked and hissed with electricity as he slowly but surely pushed his index finger through the plasma shield. The distinct smell of ozone filled the room as the plasma shield did its best to try to burn off his finger, unable to get through the protective shell of lightning covering his nail. The sound of it was horrid like hundreds of high pitched birds screaming in a frenzy of cannibalistic violence.

“I could tell the Jedi.” Anakin threatened as Palpatine removed his finger, satisfied with his display of how feeble Anakin’s level of protection was. “For all your peacocking, the green frog would wipe the floor with you.”

The mention of Yoda got his eye to twitch the briefest amount. It was almost invisible, only visible to the looper who had burnt every look that face had to offer into his memory.

“Perhaps, but something tells me you won’t.” It annoyed Anakin how the Sith’s smirk grew with his silence. 

“Was it Dooku?” He strutted around outside of Anakin’s cell. “Did he tell you? My spies mentioned you met on a Hutt cruise ship. Completely ruined Dooku’s cover, waving that red lightsaber around like a child with a glow stick. The Jedi weren’t supposed to find out he was a Sith yet, not till a year or two later. Even Jedi ignorance has its limits.”

Would it be worth lying? Palpatine and Dooku often fought against each other. However, the Count was always severely outmatched. Forced to play a hand that Palpatine gave him. The distraction would buy him a year at best and a week at worst.

“Dooku told me you and he were the Sith.” Anakin lied as easily as telling the truth.

“Dooku? A Sith? He is as much Sith as you are a Jedi,” Palpatine spat. “Dooku is a moron; he hates the Republic for their corruption yet creates a Government built on exploitation. He is an idealistic hypocrite, forgiving of his own crimes in order to create a system of justice which will only exist in his head as he enslaves and kills his way through the Galaxy.”

“And you won’t?”

“I won’t pretend it’s for the greater good. I have no illusions as to who I am.” Palpatine gave him a wicked smile. It looked almost like relief on his face, finally being able to express himself. Finally, someone to revel in his malevolence. 

“No, the Sith do not need someone who is basically the equivalent of a morally warped mirror. Rather, a realist. Someone who sees the Galaxy for what it is, someone who can grasp a clear reality and make it their own.”

“Is this the same speech you told Dooku? ‘Maul is an animal, the Galaxy has no need for savagery and filth. No, I need someone who sees the cancer of the Galaxy, someone to be a scalpel rather than a hammer’.” Anakin knew those were the exact words. Dooku had told him so many loops ago. “I wonder what you will say to the person after me?” 

More often than not, it was Luke. 

“Dooku has told you lots,” Palpatine scowled. “But he knows so very little.”

“He knows enough to not trust you.”

“Clever… but so are you,” The compliment irked him. He hated how it made his skin dance, like a well trained dog eager to receive the smallest bit of praise. “You think I would give the Count an army if I did not think for a moment I could wrench it out from him?” 

“No, nor would you do the same to the Jedi.” If Anakin’s knowledge of Order 66 upset him, he didn’t show it. Rather it only seemed to further excite the man. 

“See, you get it. I’ve won, I already control both sides of the Galaxy. This isn’t the prologue, it’s the epilogue. In less than a decade, the CIS will fall as fast as it rose, the Jedi will finally be villainized and slaughtered just as they did to the Sith.” He spread his arms, a proud gesture of all he had achieved before Anakin even restarted his loops. A sick joke that the Whills played on him, giving Palpatine a winning hand from the beginning.

“And finally, I will sit on a throne with my apprentice by my side. Do you truly think Dooku can provide the same future I can?”

Anakin knew that future all too well. Anakin stared hard into his cold, eclipsed eyes, remembering all those times he fell for those honeyed words. How Anakin relished in his empire, bathed in his glory, been broken in his shadows. This break was all about him just enjoying a loop and Palpatine would give him that to him atop of a bloody silver platter.

Planets, whores, the wealth of a Galaxy at his finger tips. Sure, Palpatine would permanently try to disfigure him, try to turn him into a soulless puppet. Nothing he hasn’t dealt with before. Perhaps it was time for him to properly enjoy himself, a single decade of his life slaughtering the Jedi and a lifetime of corporate greed at his fingertips. 

“Of course with Padme in hand.”

“Padme?” Anakin scoffed, the illusion of a future with Palpatine dying at the mention of her name. “That’s your grand reveal?”

“You don’t even realise it, do you?”

“Realise what?”

“You love her.” He spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Love her?” How naive. “She pays me, that’s all.”

“Yet you would kill for her.”

“I’ve killed for less.” Anakin’s eyes narrowed.

“But you won’t kill for more,” Palpatine almost seemed to purr, “Strange, no?”

“A childhood in slavery, yet the man who kept you in chains lives. Sent to a Jedi Council which from my reports, you hate.” The Sith continued to strut. How he hated that confidence. 

“No deaths. Come now, even I played a saint, but what? Nine, ten years? With those people?” Palpatine spat the word like filth spewing from his mouth. 

“No murders, even accidental deaths of any Jedi on Coruscant. You reek of the Dark side yet don’t have the blood on your hands to prove it. Of course whores and hobos make for poor company yet adequate corpses. Is that how you sated your bloodlust?

“Maybe it was my first time with the Dark Side.”

“No one is that good their first time.” He smirked at Anakin, the sexual innuendo. Oh how he missed this. Anakin had centuries to memorise every little quirk of his Master, yet, even with such little time Palpatine knew how to play him well.

“So, the Chosen One. Kills the unimportant, yet leaves those who are. This suggests that you don’t care who you murder. If you did there would be a pattern. Slavers, Jedi, civilians, it doesn’t matter to you. Individuals aren’t your target, rather a motive drives you. To bring balance to the Force? No, far too moral. Wealth? Political power? Closer, yet not quite right either. You want credits but you don’t need it, which only raises the question. What do you need?”

Anakin rolled his eyes, ugh, psychology majors. All he wanted was to stay dead, not deal with this pretentious over-analysis. 

“Love,” Palpatine finally admitted. 

“Are you done?” Anakin raised a brow.

“That depends on your answer.”

A dreaded silence filled the room, stupid fucking Palpatine. All he had to do was not bring up the ridiculous name! A life of drugs and sex! That’s all he wanted for this loop. Palatine would give him that all and more, if he had just kept his wrinkled mouth shut. 

“Fuck. You.”

In the fraction of a moment Anakin felt that terror which Palpatine kept on a leash not dissimilar to himself. A pure hate washed over him as everything wrong with the Galaxy personified tried to fill every pour of him with the unnaturalness of icy hot lava which only the Dark Side could provide.  Anakin resisted the urge to retch as the pure essence of the Dark Side was reeled back into Palpatine before his stench could be sensed by any other Jedi.

“Once a slave always a slave I suppose, you can remove the iron but never the chains. Very well,” Plaptine swept his hands over his robe as if flicking away the filth of the conversation. Eyes of a molten eclipse looked at him with casual dismay. Chosen one or not, he wasn’t the only person Palpatine could ever care about. Himself.

“I’ll have Padme’s skin made into boots and wear them as I crush your skull in a pool of her blood.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Anakin spat back.

The Sith turned to face the shadows, ready to disappear back to whatever hell he crawled out of. It should have been the end of the conversation there. Anakin knew they would meet again in this loop, the two of them pulled to each other like binary stars. There was no need for any last words, in the infinite time of the loop, words were useless.

“Palpatine,” Anakin’s eyes rose only barely, regret clasping onto his words. Those eyes which contained heated ice staring back at him. 

“I will kill you, extinguish each of your immortalities and erase the concept of your being from the Galaxy. I will teach you permanence.” 

Silence hung as Palpatine took a moment to build a response. He could curse him out, threaten Padme or even just try to kill him now. Instead he opened his mouth.

“No, you won’t.”

And he was gone.

The man who looked back at him wasn’t someone he recognised. His shoulders were dragged down, sagging weakly over his hunched back. His chest was wheezing and bent over, like an invisible weight pulled his torso down. Obi-Wan sighed, rubbing a hand though surprisingly greasy hair. When did it get so bad, it hadn’t been that long since shower, has it? Giving his armpit a quick unfaltering quick sniff he reeled back in eye watering pain, it maybe had been a little too long. 

From the edge of the mirror, the shower called to him like a siren, how badly he wanted to crawl inside and just let the water wash away all the grim and filth that had built up. Just five minutes. A blissful five minutes of nothing, no thoughts, no guilt. Just him and the water. 

Not today, no time.

The irony of both sleeping in and being exhausted wasn’t lost on him. Sleepless nights were becoming more and more frequent as riots outside only seemed to grow more and more. Loud music, groups trying to break the police line, even stink bombs being hurled over, were just a few of the reasons the Jedi couldn’t get a wink of rest. 

What happened to when people would pay for his meals just cause they got a glimpse of a lightsaber? Obi-Wan never believed himself to be someone who needed admiration, he never did what he did for attention. Yet, now that he didn’t have it, the love of the populace, Obi-Wan couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. Was he truly so shallow?

With a violent shake, he tried to throw his thoughts from his head. He couldn’t focus on himself right now, not today. Today was far too important for any mistakes. He was already exhausted; he didn’t need any more excuses to make any more mistakes, not while Anakin’s freedom was on the line.

With a flick of his wrist, the lightsaber, which sat on his night stand, shot into his hand. The cold metal slightly woke him up. 

Could he? This sham trial was nothing more than something to keep the Council busy while the riots outside continued to rage. What a joke everything has become, vilified by the very people he spent his whole childhood protecting. Maybe in a few years, the people of the Republic would forgive the Jedi. When they realised that blaster fire isn’t so fun to face when you don’t have a Jedi in front of you. A decade, most likely. For everything to go back to the way it was before. Perhaps less. Obi-Wan had seen Republic Senators commit just as bad crimes and be forgiven so long as they kept out of the limelight for long enough. Anakin wouldn’t have that time, though. He would be locked in a cell and forgotten.

Obi-Wan’s grip tightened. Leaving his room with a haste his body hadn’t felt ever since the start of these riots.

No, he couldn’t. To break the law for himself would not be morally right, just selfish.

“Obi-Wan,” Still, the lightsaber weighted surprisingly more heavy than it used to. 

“Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gonn would have never kept Anakin trapped. He would have broken the boy out of jail while prancing it around infront of the Council.

“Obi-Wan,” Yet for all of Qui-Gon’s wisdom and argument, the Jedi still upheld the Galaxy’s morals. The Jedi were not without flaw yet compared to the Senate and the Hutts they were the driving power for ‘good’, to go against them was morally wrong, no? 

“Obi-Wan!” Reality snapped back to the man. No longer in his room or the halls of the Temple, instead he stood before the Masters of the Jedi council. When had he gotten here?

“Masters,” Obi-Wan bowed, how long had he not been paying attention? “Forgive my absent mind.”

“Forgiven you are, the feeling of stress, something we all understand.” Yoda said earning the nods of several around the room. Obi-Wan tried his best to nod along but all he could think about was going back to bed.

“Kenobi… I hope you do realise what this could spell out for your future. You are a hero to the Jedi, do not waste your reputation on a boy who does not deserve it.” Master Windu gave what Obi-Wan assumed was a look of concern for him.

“I believe everyone deserves a fair trial. You would not trust his own words so let me speak for him. I’m the best option for a lawyer he has.” 

“Admirable you are. Very well, Kenobi, defend the boy you shall. Bring in Skywalker, soon we shall commence.” Yoda announced. “The trial of Anakin Skywalker.”

“You don’t need to follow me everywhere I go, I’m not going to run.” Padme blankly stared at the man she had come to know as Plo Koon. The Kel Dor had become an increasingly common occurrence, always appearing whenever she turned her head and while she at first didn’t hate his company

Despite his claims that he wasn’t ‘stalking her’, every turn she found him. When she went to visit the medical droid he was just happening to check inventory, when she went for walks to stretch her legs, he just happened to be going for a stroll as well. It was particularly bad when one time she had caught him camping outside her room under the claim that he just happened to suffer from a sudden narcolepsy attack. 

“I am just trying to find the cafeteria. Where is it? I am also so forgetful.” He barely lied, his voice carrying a knowing smugness. Boredom was becoming a sickness during the siege of the Jedi Temple by the rioters outside. It would be coming up to four days now. A four day riot, Padme would be almost proud of the anti-establishmentarianism she had inspired if she now weren’t reaping the seeds she sowed. 

“We’ve already passed it,” twice now. By now they had walked the whole temple, yet still he followed closely behind.

If he was trying to spy on her he was doing a terrible job. No he wanted to be seen, not just by her but the other Jedi as well. Every room they walked in, eyes fell to them, as a fog of tension seemed to follow in every step Padme took.

They hated her.

She had brought this to them. She had been the one who caused the Jedi to stay in locked rooms, caged by those who a week ago were singing them praises. She didn’t have the Force but she didn’t need some magical sixth sense for her to tell they wanted her gone. Thrown into the very crowd she had inspired, to be torn up and turned into a martyr against her will.

It didn’t help that whenever they looked outside they saw posters of her face, or rather her previously unscarred face, being waved around alongside Jedi hate speech.

Padme wanted nothing more than to crawl up into her bed and forget all of this had ever happened and go back to Kamino before she sent out that stupid article exposing all this. Back when she and Anakin cuddled half naked together listening to the sounds of rhythmic rain and his heartbeat. She wished she deleted that article like he warned her and instead took him to Naboo where she could break his icy exterior over time keeping him trapped with wine and cheese. No amount of death sticks could compare to good company and enough finger snacks to make her forget about her diet. Just the two of them, maybe Obi-Wan for the occasional third-wheel. How easy could life be? Then again ignorance is bliss she supposed. 

“Senator, I would wait here.”

“Why?”

“I sense trouble.” Plo Koon almost seemed to groan.

A second later two bullets of orange and green hurled into his chest nearly knocking him to the floor had he not been prepared for it. It didn’t make the sound of flesh hitting flesh any less pleasant. Padme winced hearing Plo Koon holding his chest in a mix of pain and surprise. Even he didn’t expect just how sudden the impact would be.

The two bullets themselves rubbed their heads, the Kel Dor not being the softest of impact. They were so young. A pair of alien girls, one being around the age of thirteen and the other looking the same as Anakin. 

Padme observed the two with an old curiosity, everyone in this temple had been plagued by a cold metonymy as being trapped in the Temple. Yet these two, or at least the orange girl seemed to still have some sort of semblance of life in her eyes dancing with the curiosity of a child. How she managed to grasp any sort of semblance of interest being locked in this cage of a temple was beyond her. Padme herself only now just realising how miserable a massive palace without any sort of wine or crackers truly was. 

“Sorry Master!” The girl full of life gave a quick hurried bow.

“Why the rush?” Plo Koon winced, if he was angry by being barreled over, he certainly didn’t show it.

“We wanted to see the Sith b-“ The green girl delivered a quick elbow to the Togruta.

“We were just curious about Sith… research,” the green Jedi quickly blurted.

“Sith research?” Plo Koon, raised what Padme assumed to be a brow for his race. “Unless we have undergone sudden construction in the past hour I do believe the archive is in the opposite direction.”

The two girls gave hesitant looks to each other. 

“We had a different sort of research in mind.” The green girl began.

“You always said the best learning is done in person… so, we thought we would get in person experience.”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t heard?”

“Ashoka,” the green girl hissed. “Ethay umanhay irlgay.”

The girl’s eye flicked over to her, a sudden realisation came to her eyes. They were talking about her in a language she didn’t know.

“Utshay upyay Iyay owknay.” The orange one hissed back.

“Girls.” Plo Koon chided. 

“Sorry, Master.” They both said in a shameful unison, until the orange one opened her mouth once more.

“We heard that the Sith boy was having his trial today in the Council chambers. We wanted to see what they look like.”

“I heard he had fangs.” The green one added.

“I heard his eyes are black like his soul.” The orange one almost seemed excited at that.

“I heard he carries death sticks that are illegal… in the Outer Rim.” The two girls went back and forth sharing rumours that only grew in absurdity with each passing moment. 

“You shouldn’t listen to rumours.” Plo Koon sighed. “And you shouldn’t be so quick to make judgements, it’s unbecoming of a Jedi to come to conclusions without knowing the full story of any situation.

The girls rolled their eyes at the impromptu lecture they had heard thousands of times before from Master Yoda while they were Younglings.

“Still, this could be our first and last chance to see a Dark Side user after Master Kenobi split the last one like a piñata.” The green skinned girl whined.

Plo Koon gave a disapproving hum at the phrasing. “You’ll be sorely disappointed if you expect a monster when you see him. The monsters we create in our heads are rarely the reality, and the best weapon against them is empathy rather than a laser sword.”

At his words the two girls groaned. “What were you doing with the Senator anyway Master?”

“Escorting Miss Amidala, Barriss.”

“The lady who was with you?”

“Was?” Plo Koon turned his head to find the space next to him lacking a distinct Senator sized object. “Where did she go?”

“She ran off at the mention of the Sith boy.”

Chapter Text

“Do you think you're capable?”

“Capable?” He almost laughed out loud at his employer, something he commonly had to do. More often than not, it was people who grossly underestimated how much his time was worth, only offering a pittance for his services. However, he would rarely get an offer where they assumed any amount of credits was worth his life.

“What you are asking of me is suicide, No? You think my life is worth this measly amount of credits?” Cad Bane spat.

“I wouldn’t trust anyone with this mission with anyone else. If I needed heads to roll, I could hire twenty different men for the same price; instead, I’m paying you. Instead, I chose quality. I need a specialist. That’s what you are, or have you lied about that?”

Cad Bane gave an annoyed hum. Jango, his brief mentor, had built his legacy on one title very few could earn the right to: ‘Jedi Killer’. There was no greater achievement for a bounty hunter than to kill the most dangerous of prey. In his own stupidity, he had believed that he too could relish in the glory that title gave, how stupid of him. 

“I’m just curious that you would come to me with such a ‘prestigious’ contract.” Bane rolled his eyes. “Why not hire the Mando? I’ve heard whispers that you and he are quite the pair.”

Certainly not whispers that he would tell him about. Bane was all for mocking, but the key to humiliation was to know your enemy. This man was not someone to tease about the whispers of the Count preferring the company of the Mando

“Fett is needed elsewhere.” Bane narrowed his eyes at the dismissal. 

For whatever reason, Fett hadn’t been seen as much in the bounty hunter space as he used to. People tend to notice when one of the best suddenly disappears. Though, he still took the occasional mission, something to keep the rest of them all on their toes, a message saying ‘I’m still here’. How this man could afford so much of Fett’s time was astounding. Entire systems had less wealth than this man was throwing around.

“He rejected you. You want dead Jedi, you go to that Mandalorian bastard. The only reason he doesn’t take a contract is if you can’t afford him or it’s not worth the effort. I’m proud of my work, but I’m no fool either.”

“I don’t need any dead Jedi, just a girl.”

“I’ve looked at the mission details. That’s like saying you ‘don’t need to kill any bees, just the queen’, as you give me a stick and point me at the nearest hive.”

“Perhaps I misjudged you. Though you aren’t the only ‘Jedi Killer’ in the galaxy. Aurra Sing has the talent and lacks the fear you do. Strange, the Palliduvan women have the balls while the Duros men have the purse.” A primal growl escaped his lips. He was better than this, letting his pride take missions rather than his head. But fuck, he couldn’t say no. If word got out, he took a mission Jango rejected his name would be finally at the top of the contact list. The go-to-man. No longer the second pick. 

“I’ll take your blasted contract.” The holo of the man smiled at his spat-out words. “Under one condition. You tell every spice dealer to Hutt crime lord that when you needed a man dead, you came to Cad Bane first.”

“Of course,” the blue holo of the man nodded before disappearing with a static hiss. A lie, a painfully obvious one. Still, this would be a big boost to his reputation.

“Amidala, huh. Wonder what this dame did to get such a bounty.”

“Anakin!”

Padme huffed, grasping her knees as her chest heaved. She was not built for cardio, or really any sort of physical labour. Why could she taste her heart? How did some people consider this torture fun?

“Ani-, oh god, air-  Anikin,” she gasped between breaths. “I’m here to save you!”

“My hero.” He groaned, his voice carrying a strange static.

Anakin had kept his blue eyes, but instead of an ocean they were reminiscent of the blue glow of a computer screen lacking its uniqueness. His skin was erratic, glitching every so often, his being hollow in a more literal sense rather than the usual emotional. 

He wasn’t even here; they instead just had a holo from wherever he was being kept.

“Senator Amidala.” A human with a darker tone of skin stared at her with clear displeasure. “I do hope you have a good reason for the sudden intrusion.”

There were fourteen of them in a room not including herself. Obi-Wan, Anakin, the small green alien she had come to know as Yoda after the MCA fiasco, along with eleven others she didn’t recognise. Judging, though by the way most of them looked at her with disdain she could tell they were all high-ranking Jedi.

“Hello, Jedi.” Were they masters? Knights? Was a master or knight higher? It was too confusing. She had met Jedi whose Padawans called them master, though he said he was just a knight. Was master a rank or something just said out of respect? 

“Hello, Senator.” A man with a large head forehead spoke, though he spat Senator out like it was vomit. “Though as you can see we are dealing with Jedi business, and you, are not a Jedi. We can deal with whatever grievance you have but you will have to come later.” 

“Anakin is no Jedi.” She spat, causing the blue holo of the man to widen his eyes. “You would remove him too?” 

“That’s… complicated.”

“Stay she shall, important insights into his character she has.” Yoda tapped his walking stick. Being one of the few she recognised.

“Take a seat young Amidala,” Anakin giggled to himself, a little inside joke that left everyone in the room confused.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Obi-Wan scowled standing next to her near the doorway. He looked awful, well as awful as he could. Padme was aware enough to acknowledge he was handsome, but his smile had drooped to a permanent frown. A souring aspect in what would have been a sweet man.

“Shouldn’t you be in the hospital somewhere, telling people it’s their fault?” She sneered back, finding herself next to him. 

“It was for your own good.”

“Oh yeah, cause this is just wonderful right now.”

“Because you won’t leave him.” He hissed.

“Ahem,” A static cough interrupted the two of them, “is it too late to represent myself?”

“Yes!” Both she and Obi-Wan growled in unison, earning them both a roll of the eyes. 

“Look, we both want Anakin not to be in prison the rest of his life.” She nodded at Obi-Wan, “But for this to work, we got to work together.”

“I suppose.” She bit the inside of her cheek; a sick part of her wanted to do this by herself. Be Anakin’s saviour for once.

“Yoda, Oppo Rancisis, Coleman Trebor, Billaba, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Shaaki Ti, Mace Windu, Eeth Koth, Saesee Tiin.” Obi-Wan continued. “They are all the Council members, excluding Plo, who is absent.” 

Plo Koon was also a master? She supposed he was missing because he had spent all his time watching her. Shame, the stalker was maybe the closest thing she had to a friend in the Jedi Order.

“You don’t need to convince all of them, though,” Anakin hummed. “Just the frog and the tight arse. The rest will follow like the drones they are.”

The frog she could guess was Yoda, Anakin’s causal racism while problematic, was at least clear. The tight arse however, that was a little more difficult but considering that the darker-skinned man with bald head seemed to be a hair’s width away from a brain aneurysm, she could figure it out.

“I got this, you aren’t really a politician,” Padme said, the words leaving Obi-Wan looking appalled. 

“We have time to build an arguement, let’s-”

She didn’t hear the rest, she was already in the centre of the room looking dead at Yoda and Mace.

 “According to Republic criminal code 34 to 42, a person is not guilty so long: they believe on reasonable grounds that force is being used against them or another person or that a threat of force is being made against them or another person; the act that constitutes the offence is committed for the purpose of defending or protecting themselves or the other person from that use or threat of force and finally; the act committed is reasonable in the circumstances.”  She recited like a drawn-out speech. 

She could win this if she buries them in legal jargon. In a perfect Galaxy where innocence was determined by evidence rather than wealth, she would lose. However, this Galaxy was cold, harsh and grossly in favour of the rich. Something she was. Appeals, delays, and adjournment. If they wanted to put Anakin in a cell, they would have to crawl over the miserable hellscape that was the legal system. 

“Padme, this isn’t a legal case.” Obi-Wan whispered next to her.

“What?”

“Amidala, you seemed to be misinformed about the nature of this trial,” Mace explained with all the sympathy that someone like him was capable of. 

“This is why Senators shouldn’t interfere with Jedi business.” Another Master groaned.

“The nature of this trial is not to determine his actions rather than the risk he poses to falling to the Dark Side.” 

“That’s not illegal! The freedom to practice any religion has been built into our amendments ever since Pius Dea.” 

“Right you are,” Yoda nodded. “However, sometimes what is legal is not always what is right. Sith, using loopholes and exploits. Time after time the Republic suffers. Given special privileges Jedi are.”

“That can’t be legal.” She whined,

“Old laws they are,” Yoda admitted. “Still accessible, they remain. Forgotten things easily are.”

“Due to the difficulty of proving something like the Dark Side, in special cases If we deem an individual a threat we are given the right by the Republic to hold individuals for extended periods of time.” Mace answered for him.

“Or even execute.” The one with the large forehead narrowed his eyes at Anakin, the clear threat hanging in the air.

“The Dark Side is no reason for punishment.” Finally, Obi-Wan spoke up. He looked tired.

“If we slaughtered every Dark Side use,r then why are we not currently hunting the covens of Night Witches on Dathomir?” 

“Because the Witches hide behind domesticated Rancors and magick, whilst Skywalker remains in a cell beneath our temple.” Coleman explained.

“Our duty as Jedi is not the slaughter of threats but the protection of the people. We are guardians, not war-mongers.”

“Wise words, Kenobi speaks. The people of the Galaxy, always first they come. If Anakin is no threat, free he is. To walk away from the Jedi, no crime has been done.” Yoda nodded. 

Obi-Wan let out a small sigh of relief, while Anakin only narrowed his eyes.

“Kenobi, your defence is reliant on the fact Anakin is merely an Ex-Jedi, that he is no threat to let walk away,” Mace raised a brow. “If Anakin were to be suspected of being allied with the Sith, would you not agree that his imprisonment would be necessary?” 

“Anakin is no Sith.” His anger was almost physical. Padme could see he meant it in his heart, his eyes, as tired as they were, stood like steel. He sounded so sure Padme was almost sure it was true. However, the sad smile on Anakin told her otherwise.

“That we can agree on, the Sith died on Naboo, seen to by Kenobi himself.” It was actually the man with the large forehead who agreed. 

“We gave reason to suspect that the man Kenobi had killed was not the only member of the Sith. There is always two, a master and an apprentice.” Yoda seemed to take a long drag. “Under recent circumstances, suspect apprentice we do.”

“You believe the boy to be the apprentice?” Obi-Wan scoffed, “That’s impossible. Anakin had lived his life as a slave.”

“Not Anakin. A failure of my own is at fault.” 

“Please, Master Yoda, now is not the time for riddles.”

“Dooku.” The answer came from her surprisingly. She had long known Dooku was a Jedi, but so high standing? The apprentice of Yoda himself? His morals seemed so far cry from what the Jedi seemed to teach.

“Dooku may have left the order, but he is no Sith.” The woman Obi-Wan pointed out as Shaaki Ti spoke. “Right?”

Yoda nodded to Mace, who produced a recording device from his robe. 

No, not him. 

A large Hutt sparked to life in a similar blue static to Anakin. She could feel the bile rising in her throat. Grakkus. How was he such a pain even now? Words ran like hurried water from the recording, his voice not keeping up with the speed, until.

“His blade was like a Rudy storm of fire.” His horrid voice hurled.

“A ruby blade… he wouldn’t have bled his kyber, would he?” A master murmured.

“Master Jedi,” Grakkus smirked. “I am something of a fan of you and your order. After meeting with the Count, I did some research on myself. Found old texts of ruby blades, fingers when pointed, turning men to ash. I have no video; the Amidala ruined any proof when she messed with my ship’s generator. But, if you're looking for a Sith, I wouldn’t look too far.” Grakkus froze when Mace clicked a button, pausing the recording. 

“Dooku had always been critical of the Republic, but he had always cared about the people.” An Iridonian said.

“The path to the Dark Side, paved with good intentions it is.” Yoda said.

“How long, how long have you known?” Billaba asked, her voice carrying a clear annoyance.

“Since the senate meeting.”

“The MCA,” Obi-Wan spelt out for the audience, his own mind connecting the dots. “That’s why you supported it. You suspect Dooku of creating a Sith shadow government?”

“Indeed, we are arriving late to a war. We need every resource we have available to us.” Mace answered. 

Anakin laughed.

“Something funny, Skywalker?”

“Arriving late to a war,” he smirked “That’s a good one. Fuck, he really does have you guys by the balls, doesn’t he?”

“I wouldn’t laugh if I were you.” Mace’s eyes were dangerous. With a click of his Grakkus came alive again, this time sped up as a conversation too quick to listen to passed until once again it came to an understandable speed.

“What sort of relationship would you say Anakin Skywalker has with Dooku?” A voice from the recording echoed. 

“Skywalker?” Grakkus gave a look of confusion trying to recall Anakin. Though the face of disgust which followed  “Oh, Vader. Vader hated him!”

At least Grakkus wasn’t completely useless.

“No connection then?” The voice asked.

“Well… I wouldn’t say that,” Damnit Grakkus. “As you can imagine, in my line of work I deal with a lot of addicts. You offer him a crack pipe and a whore he’ll sell out his own flesh and blood. Dooku certainly wanted him. After Vader rejected him, he tried to buy him off me, but the Republic woman had already bought him. Shame too, he was offering a much higher price. In the end, Dooku mentioned he only got six months.”

“Six months?”

“Vader and Dooku had come to an agreement, for six months Vader would be his slave.” Grakkus died when Mace put him back in his sleeve.

“Let’s see everything Anakin has done since his meeting with Dooku. Infiltrate the Senate, expose Jedi secrets not even the Council knew, manipulate Amidala to release a slander article, turn the people against the Jedi, and even expose himself as a Dark Side user. If these are not the actions of a Sith spy than what are?” Mace spoke to the crowd.

“Anakin was against me releasing the article!” Padme growled, her own anger reaching to match Windu’s.

“Yet you still did, no? He has seduced you to do his bidding without you even realising it. Amidala you are a victim of the Dark Side.” Seduced her?! How dare they? Damnit her cheeks were burning just at the word like some teenage girl.

“How would you describe your and Anakin’s relationship?” He continued.

An elbow from Obi-Wan brought her away from the conversation for a brief moment. A warning, to be careful.

“We have a professional relationship between employee and employer.”

“That is what you say, but your feelings betray you, Amidala.” Mace didn’t look at her instead looked to the other masters. “Her emotions are like wildfire, you can all sense it too.”

“Longing.” Wait.

“Want.” Stop.

“Passion.” Enough!

“You may have a professional relationship, but that’s not what you desire.”

“Whoa, hang on.” Why did her heart feel so heavy?

“You lie to us, Senator.” Ki-Adi-Mundi glared at her. “If we cannot trust you to speak the truth here, how can we expect you to be truthful before?’

“Leave her alone.” A cold, static voice cut through the voices.

“You are not in a position to giv-”

“ SILENCE! ” 

“You lack control Skywalker, this does not bode well for your case.” Mace spoke up, being one ofthe few who weren’t still sitting shocked in their chair.

“Shut it,” Anakin’s voice cut down Mace’s own. “You all sit on your thrones bought for you by a government built on an exploitation far enough from The Core you can ferign innocence. Your compliance is sickening. An order of peacekeepers who help all they can see is useless so long as you are all near-sighted. I am like you am guilty.” 

“Anakin, no.” Obi-Wan gave a silent, tearless cry.

“I am guilty.” He repeated. “Of falling to the Dark Side, of joining the Sith. I am everything you say openly and all of your whispers. Murderer, kidnapper, blackmailer, thief, slicer, terrorist, drug dealer, insurrectionist, torturer. I am everything you imagine and worse. I have committed every sin there has ever been, and if I had not, then men under my command have in my name. My war is not one of justice, of some moral fight between right and wrong. I do not dream of a Galaxy in peace, nor do I pretend the crimes I commit carry the romance of some Robin Hood. No. My war is bloody, is it violent, it is selfish.”

Opening his eyes, Padme saw the change in his iris. They were still a static blue from the holo, but now it looked like tendrils of fire were reaching out behind the pupil. She had only seen those eyes once before, in her dream. Where she knew those eyes were sickly yellow. Eyes of molten fury with the pupil acting as a cold eclipse. 

“I am desperate. Unbelievably so. I will break the spine of this Galaxy over my knee to get what I want. If you seek an apology, then you will not receive one.” He was sinking himself, blinded by his own anger. “You all fear that I am part of the second coming of the Sith. Let me put your fears to rest. I am worse, I am Sith, I am Jedi, I am Chosen, I am Revan’s Second Coming, I am Ash Lord, I am Hero of the Republic, I am Breaker of the Core, I am Death.” Why was he saying this? He sounded like an addict on the road, spouting strange fantasies.

“I. Am. Anakin. Fucking. Skywalker.” 

“Anakin Skywalker,” Mace’s eyes rose to meet his. 

“Thank you for making yourself clear. Under confession of your sins and crimes. We of the Jedi order deem you of-“

Darkness enveloped them. Not even Anakin’s holo remained, something she felt annoyingly lonely about. Gods, what was happening to her?

In moments the lights came back on, leaving only the sound of awkwardness as the silence echoed through the room. What had happened? No one seemed to know judging by the confused looks between the masters. 

“Something is wrong?” One of the masters stated, with Padme fighting the urge to point out that much was obvious.

“A sudden blackout?” 

“The Temple has entered lockdown, emergency power is active.” Mace noticed the beeping on his wrist transmitter beeping in a code Padme had no clue meant. The towering presence stood up, patting down his robe. “It appears the police line is broken; the rioters are inside the temple.”

The announcement brought a shared gasp between the Jedi. Out of all the outcomes this riot could have had, this was the worst.

“Did you do this?” Obi-Wan whispered, in his eyes a glimpse of hope. Did he think this was some elaborate plan to free Anakin?

“No, did you?” He shook his head no.

Anakin? She wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibility. He had a way of getting these sorts of things. He couldn’t be responsible, could he?.

“Mobilise the Temple guard! Protect the archives, get the Younglings here, they must be protected.” Yoda growled, for the first time Padme saw, anger? Perhaps disappointment? He was clearly unhappy. 

“Do not harm civilians, idiots, foolish, uneducated, they are. Still, the Jedi, peacekeepers. Do what is necessary to protect the temple, no more we shall.”

Padme had to give them credit. They were fast for a bunch of old men and women. In seconds, they were out the door, temple guard by their side. 

“Padme, we must get you somewhere safe,” Obi-Wan spoke. “It’s the least I can do after… all this.”

“No need.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m sure Anakin will find me.”

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan scoffed. “His cell is powered by an emergency backup and he’s under the watch of the temple guards.”

“Oh, is that all?” She pouted her lips; she was a little disappointed. She expected more. At least he shouldn’t be too long.

It would be so easy to rot in this cage. The emergency back-up power had kept his cage alive.

Heat bit at his fingers as he dragged them across the plasma cage. How long had he had to train since his loop began? 8 months? That sounded right, maybe a bit longer. He’d been jumping all around the Galaxy a lot, for someone who had been trying his best to sit back and relax. 

Stupid pre-loop Anakin spending all his time sneaking out of classes and wasting time pranking the Jedi of the Temple. Had this loop begun when he was a child he could already be stronger than Palpatine. Like a dyslexic child, he tried to piece together the Force like a sentence, frustrated that the words he knew weren’t coming together as they should. The flight of falling from Godhood to mortality. 

In his last loop, his tutaminis had been perfected to the point he could swat away lightsabers like they were insects. Now he struggled to hold open a fucking door. 

The smell of burnt flesh filled the room as his fingertips sizzled, slowly digging deeper into the energy shield. It hurt. It always did. It never got easier… just, more common. Still, he dipped his fingers in deeper. Taking it all in, the energy, the power, the pain, all of it. Tutaminis let him drink in the energy like water. However, Jedi never used Tutaminis to brute force their way through a plasma cell, it was made to absorb the occasional blaster bolt, not to drink in the ocean that was the constant energy being fed through the emitters. The metaphorical cup Anakin used to contain all the power flowing into him was starting to overfill and crack. A few seconds more and he wouldn’t be free, only a charred body sent to repeat the loop once more.  

Why was he even doing this? If he wanted to die, there were better ways than this. Some sort of self-harm? Plausible. 

You love her .

Palpatine’s voice echoed in his head. 

He had loved thousands of Padmes, all different in their own right. All similar as well. There was something particular about this Padme. She, too, was different, too… present. No longer just a milestone for Anakin to conquer, but something he was actually affected by. Why? Was it just because this was the first time he hadn’t waged war against Palpatine? 

It was… new. The first new thing he had ever experienced in centuries. Sure he could restart and try the same thing again, play it better. He couldn’t, he needed this, craved it. Experience. New. Some fucking feeling. Like an addict, he craved something new. Every loop, every life, he fought Palpatine, eager to finally leave the loops. This loop would not free him; peace was never an option when it came to Palpatine. Wars were fought on plasma-ashened dirt, never on paper. 

But still, he needed this. Those strands of the Light Side he clutched were cut taut as Anakin took thick, sludging steps through the polluted ocean of the Dark Side.

That bursting cup became bottomless. He didn’t just absorb the energy; the Dark Side fed on it like a pack of wolves ripping its prey to shreds. Fingers, then wrist, biceps, shoulders, even his head, slowly but surely, he dived through the plasma shield like he was swimming through boiling honey. It hurt. It hurt so much, but the pain only made him stronger. One moment he was trapped behind plasma, and the nex,t he was free. 

“Forgive me, Padme.” He sighed, skin smoking hot. “I’ve got people to kill.”