Star Wars: Ashes and Hope
Jan. 6th, 2016 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morgynleriOn Mustafar. After the scene break, I get to rewrite the flashback scene from Dead, Dying, and Living, and what happens immediately after, and then I’m going to switch gears and write the Vaderkin AU version of this same scene.
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On tumblr.
"It looked like a nightmare." Padmé is watching him with worry steadily replacing the confusion in her expression. "And you wouldn't wake."
Anakin wraps his fingers around Zett's hand, feeling him reach out along the thin training bond. Seeking reassurance that Anakin is all right, because he's still worried and confused. "Not all futures are pretty." Anakin grimaces, shivering a moment at the lingering and vivid images from the vision.
"What did you see?" Padmé's worry spikes, and Anakin leans forward, taking one of her hands in his free one, trying to convey reassurance. "Tell me."
"A fight without a clean kill, or any attempt at mercy. It's washed in red and orange and I couldn't see where exactly it was - I assume it's on Mustafar - nor was I certain who was fighting, though both carried lightsabers. One of them, I think, was your Anakin. The other, I never saw the face."
It is true, as far as it goes. That he had been certain the one is Obi-Wan, made into someone he doesn't really recognize, he can't tell Padmé. Especially since he doesn't know how Obi-Wan would know to go to Mustafar, or how he would get there. Perhaps is already there, with the destination lifted from Padmé's thoughts, and the vision isn't a future, but a now already happening.
Padmé smiles tightly, gripping his hand hard, but it's a long moment before she speaks. "Can you really keep him from seeing you? At all?"
"I can, though it's easier if I have somewhere to hide, rather than being out in the open." Anakin tugs gently on Padmé's hand, pulling her closer. He should stand and let her have the pilot's seat again. "It doesn't take long to get from here out to the rest of the ship. Just a quick trip down the lift. I can watch from here, and he won't notice me at all."
"You can't help if things go wrong, though, not quickly." Padmé presses her lips together, the worry and fear fading abruptly as if she's locking them away.
"If it's something that means I have to use a lightsaber, no. But the Force isn't going to be concerned about view ports and a ship in the way, not when I can see what I need to change." He rubs his thumb over her knuckles, smiling up at Padmé. "And if it looks like something is wrong when we land, I can go with you."
Padmé nods, letting out a quiet sigh, and Anakin squeezes her hand before letting go so he can stand, and let her have the seat. Zett is still holding tightly to his other hand, his own worry still not fading, though he feels less confused. Suspicious, though, as if he knows Anakin isn't telling Padmé the whole truth.
He doesn't say anything, and the rest of the trip to Mustafar passes in near-silence only broken by the whirrs of Threepio's servos when he moves. Anakin watches out the front viewport as they come in to land, shaking his head slightly at the glowing, fractured landscape. That there is a piece of land stable enough to hold this building up is a wonder.
There is movement outside, someone robed who is revealed as Anakin's counterpart when he throws back his hood. Anakin draws back a little, drawing shadows around him as much as he wraps the Force around himself and Zett, while Padmé drops the ramp, and heads for the lift.
"What if he hurts her?" Zett whispers, his gaze fixed on the scene below as Padmé embraces her Anakin, holding on tightly for a long moment.
"Unless he runs his lightsaber through her while keeping her close, I don't think there's much he can do that I can't do something about." Anakin shivers a little, the Force around him feeling chilled as the planet isn't. "It's not her I'm worried about."
"What didn't you tell Senetor Amidala?" Zett looks up at him, and Anakin turns his head to meet Zett's gaze a moment before returning most of his attention to Padmé and her Anakin.
"The one who was turned away from me in the vision had Obi-Wan's face. He wasn't anything like the Obi-Wan I know, though." Anakin watches as Padmé takes a step back, and her Anakin frown. Vader, unfolding from the broken shell that Anakin had seen on Coruscant when he first arrived.
Flickers of orange and red dance at the edges of his vision, more than just the lava glow from around the platform, and Anakin shakes his head. Reaching out to the Force, he can only feel Darkness and cold, spinning in a stately dance like the formal court ones he's seen. He draws a shuddering breath, shaking his head again.
Padmé takes another step back, and Vader looks up. Not to the cockpit, but past Padmé, Anakin thinks. He tenses, tugging his hand free of Zett's grip. When Vader brings his hand up, Anakin snarls, reaching out in the Force to pry at the fingers wrapping around Padmé's throat. It doesn't draw Vader's attention to him, though, just gives her room to breathe a little.
When Obi-Wan appears, Anakin stops trying, turning instead as he wraps shadows tightly around him, and bolts for the lift. Zett skids in before he can slam the door shut, and Anakin takes a moment to make sure his new apprentice - no point to denying that now - is as well hidden as he can be. The lift opens into the little space just in front of the ramp, and Anakin is surprised that, despite all his hiding, neither Vader nor Obi-Wan notice him.
Too focused on each other, and the words they're exchanging. Anakin moves to the corridor that wraps around to the cabins, making sure Zett is out of the line of sight from the ramp before he shoves the boy further. "Go get Master Windu."
Zett doesn't argue, and Anakin turns his attention to the outside.
"I will do what I must." That's Obi-Wan, and he hears resignation and regret there, but it's not going to be enough, Anakin knows it.
"You will try." Vader's voice is rich with heated fury, and Anakin winces.
The sound of lightsabers being activated, and battle being joined makes him grimace, and he steps out onto the ramp. Neither Obi-Wan nor Vader show any sign of seeing him, and he hurries his steps, bolting across to Padmé. She's breathing, at least, though unconscious.
Zett comes with Master Windu on his heels, both coming when he beckons, though Master Windu looks past him to the fight that Anakin is trying to ignore. Whatever he had seen doesn't happen here.
"She's alive. Get her back on the ship." Anakin looks up now, turns to look at Obi-Wan and Vader for a long moment. "There's not enough room here to stop them. Only to get in their way. I have to find another way down."
"Down?" Master Windu meets his gaze when Anakin turns back, staring at him with open surprise. "And go where? To do what?"
"To where I can make a difference!" Anakin pushes to his feet. "And that's not here. You and Zett can take care of Padmé, but you can't stop those two from killing each other."
"Kenobi is doing what needs to be done. Skywalker has fallen to the Dark Side."
"That man doesn't know how to kill cleanly!" Anakin clenches his jaw, the images from the vision dancing across his vision a moment, strongly enough that they blur out reality for a moment. The best warning the Force can give him here, where everything feels wrong. "He'll leave Vader to burn, rather than kill him himself. How is that what needs to be done?"
Anakin doesn't give Master Windu time to respond to that, turning on his heel as he reaches for the Force again, sluggish and darkened as it is, dragging from it a sense of direction, and running. He needs to be in the right place to make the vision that keeps crowding his thoughts nothing more than that.
First Part | Previous Part | Next Part
First Part | Previous Part | Next Part
On tumblr.
"It looked like a nightmare." Padmé is watching him with worry steadily replacing the confusion in her expression. "And you wouldn't wake."
Anakin wraps his fingers around Zett's hand, feeling him reach out along the thin training bond. Seeking reassurance that Anakin is all right, because he's still worried and confused. "Not all futures are pretty." Anakin grimaces, shivering a moment at the lingering and vivid images from the vision.
"What did you see?" Padmé's worry spikes, and Anakin leans forward, taking one of her hands in his free one, trying to convey reassurance. "Tell me."
"A fight without a clean kill, or any attempt at mercy. It's washed in red and orange and I couldn't see where exactly it was - I assume it's on Mustafar - nor was I certain who was fighting, though both carried lightsabers. One of them, I think, was your Anakin. The other, I never saw the face."
It is true, as far as it goes. That he had been certain the one is Obi-Wan, made into someone he doesn't really recognize, he can't tell Padmé. Especially since he doesn't know how Obi-Wan would know to go to Mustafar, or how he would get there. Perhaps is already there, with the destination lifted from Padmé's thoughts, and the vision isn't a future, but a now already happening.
Padmé smiles tightly, gripping his hand hard, but it's a long moment before she speaks. "Can you really keep him from seeing you? At all?"
"I can, though it's easier if I have somewhere to hide, rather than being out in the open." Anakin tugs gently on Padmé's hand, pulling her closer. He should stand and let her have the pilot's seat again. "It doesn't take long to get from here out to the rest of the ship. Just a quick trip down the lift. I can watch from here, and he won't notice me at all."
"You can't help if things go wrong, though, not quickly." Padmé presses her lips together, the worry and fear fading abruptly as if she's locking them away.
"If it's something that means I have to use a lightsaber, no. But the Force isn't going to be concerned about view ports and a ship in the way, not when I can see what I need to change." He rubs his thumb over her knuckles, smiling up at Padmé. "And if it looks like something is wrong when we land, I can go with you."
Padmé nods, letting out a quiet sigh, and Anakin squeezes her hand before letting go so he can stand, and let her have the seat. Zett is still holding tightly to his other hand, his own worry still not fading, though he feels less confused. Suspicious, though, as if he knows Anakin isn't telling Padmé the whole truth.
He doesn't say anything, and the rest of the trip to Mustafar passes in near-silence only broken by the whirrs of Threepio's servos when he moves. Anakin watches out the front viewport as they come in to land, shaking his head slightly at the glowing, fractured landscape. That there is a piece of land stable enough to hold this building up is a wonder.
There is movement outside, someone robed who is revealed as Anakin's counterpart when he throws back his hood. Anakin draws back a little, drawing shadows around him as much as he wraps the Force around himself and Zett, while Padmé drops the ramp, and heads for the lift.
"What if he hurts her?" Zett whispers, his gaze fixed on the scene below as Padmé embraces her Anakin, holding on tightly for a long moment.
"Unless he runs his lightsaber through her while keeping her close, I don't think there's much he can do that I can't do something about." Anakin shivers a little, the Force around him feeling chilled as the planet isn't. "It's not her I'm worried about."
"What didn't you tell Senetor Amidala?" Zett looks up at him, and Anakin turns his head to meet Zett's gaze a moment before returning most of his attention to Padmé and her Anakin.
"The one who was turned away from me in the vision had Obi-Wan's face. He wasn't anything like the Obi-Wan I know, though." Anakin watches as Padmé takes a step back, and her Anakin frown. Vader, unfolding from the broken shell that Anakin had seen on Coruscant when he first arrived.
Flickers of orange and red dance at the edges of his vision, more than just the lava glow from around the platform, and Anakin shakes his head. Reaching out to the Force, he can only feel Darkness and cold, spinning in a stately dance like the formal court ones he's seen. He draws a shuddering breath, shaking his head again.
Padmé takes another step back, and Vader looks up. Not to the cockpit, but past Padmé, Anakin thinks. He tenses, tugging his hand free of Zett's grip. When Vader brings his hand up, Anakin snarls, reaching out in the Force to pry at the fingers wrapping around Padmé's throat. It doesn't draw Vader's attention to him, though, just gives her room to breathe a little.
When Obi-Wan appears, Anakin stops trying, turning instead as he wraps shadows tightly around him, and bolts for the lift. Zett skids in before he can slam the door shut, and Anakin takes a moment to make sure his new apprentice - no point to denying that now - is as well hidden as he can be. The lift opens into the little space just in front of the ramp, and Anakin is surprised that, despite all his hiding, neither Vader nor Obi-Wan notice him.
Too focused on each other, and the words they're exchanging. Anakin moves to the corridor that wraps around to the cabins, making sure Zett is out of the line of sight from the ramp before he shoves the boy further. "Go get Master Windu."
Zett doesn't argue, and Anakin turns his attention to the outside.
"I will do what I must." That's Obi-Wan, and he hears resignation and regret there, but it's not going to be enough, Anakin knows it.
"You will try." Vader's voice is rich with heated fury, and Anakin winces.
The sound of lightsabers being activated, and battle being joined makes him grimace, and he steps out onto the ramp. Neither Obi-Wan nor Vader show any sign of seeing him, and he hurries his steps, bolting across to Padmé. She's breathing, at least, though unconscious.
Zett comes with Master Windu on his heels, both coming when he beckons, though Master Windu looks past him to the fight that Anakin is trying to ignore. Whatever he had seen doesn't happen here.
"She's alive. Get her back on the ship." Anakin looks up now, turns to look at Obi-Wan and Vader for a long moment. "There's not enough room here to stop them. Only to get in their way. I have to find another way down."
"Down?" Master Windu meets his gaze when Anakin turns back, staring at him with open surprise. "And go where? To do what?"
"To where I can make a difference!" Anakin pushes to his feet. "And that's not here. You and Zett can take care of Padmé, but you can't stop those two from killing each other."
"Kenobi is doing what needs to be done. Skywalker has fallen to the Dark Side."
"That man doesn't know how to kill cleanly!" Anakin clenches his jaw, the images from the vision dancing across his vision a moment, strongly enough that they blur out reality for a moment. The best warning the Force can give him here, where everything feels wrong. "He'll leave Vader to burn, rather than kill him himself. How is that what needs to be done?"
Anakin doesn't give Master Windu time to respond to that, turning on his heel as he reaches for the Force again, sluggish and darkened as it is, dragging from it a sense of direction, and running. He needs to be in the right place to make the vision that keeps crowding his thoughts nothing more than that.
First Part | Previous Part | Next Part