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Author	Topic: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - A/P romance, AU - updated 9/3
VaderLVR64 Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Feb '04	Date Posted: 3/19/07 1:32pm Subject: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - A/P romance, AU - updated 9/3 - Date Edited: 9/3 4:58am (33 edits total) Edited By: VaderLVR64
	Title: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful Author: VaderLVR64 Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Shmi, more to come soon Genre: Short story that somehow morphed into an epic of sorts. That happens to me a lot. Timeframe: Would be approximately the timeframe of ROTS Summary: A different path is taken, another destiny claimed. Anakin Skywalker, rejected by the Jedi Order, returns to Tatooine to make a new life. A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful “Destiny itself is like a wonderful wide tapestry in which every thread is guided by an unspeakably tender hand, placed beside another thread and held and carried by a hundred others.” Rainer Maria Rilke Introduction There are some men who seem destined to stand out above others from the moment of their birth. There is something different about them, a certain quality that seems to sing of greatness, though they may seem humble for a time. But when a man is fated for different things, for better things, he draws his greatness about him like a cloak and uses it to shield himself from life’s storms. This too shall pass, he whispers to himself when his prospects seem bleak and his future looks dismal. He trusts in his own destiny, believes that he can achieve it through hard work and determination. Such a man might be defeated, but he is never vanquished. On the hot, dusty planet of Tatooine there was just such a man. Born into the most humble of circumstances, the stamp of destiny had been put upon him before birth. The only questions to be answered were how and when, and he always knew he would answer them in time, with his own hands and heart. He had made his own way in the galaxy, and like most self-made men, he had a healthy dose of arrogance. Sometimes his ego had been all that sustained him, it was a part of him, and at times it was his greatest strength. He could be ruthless when the situation called for it. His success had come from the first; his survival had depended on the second. He had learned to dispense both his largesse and his displeasure with a careful hand, for experience had been a demanding tutor. To many, he was an enigma, a man no one seemed to really know. They knew the facts of the man, but not the soul. Fame had come his way through his own skills and recklessness; fortune had swiftly followed as it inevitably does for one such as that. He was one of the fortunate ones who had the discipline and determination to hold onto them both. What he wanted, he claimed; what he claimed, he kept. His cool blue eyes stared out the universe as if daring it to do its worst. What hardly anyone knew was that he had already faced hell and emerged from the other side, and nothing they threatened would give him pause. The scars were hidden, the pain buried, but they remained a part of him, had helped forge him into the man he was. A brash and reckless charm endeared him to both men and women, men who admired his daring, women who merely admired. He took notice of them on the periphery, but did not change his course to suit them. He had only been a boy when he first risked his life to gain his freedom. Only a child, but there was nothing left of the child inside. A slave does not have the luxury of a childhood, and only the strongest survive with their spirit intact. He had been one of the lucky ones, though he had created his own luck rather than waiting for destiny to hand it to him. Luck was for lesser men. What he had not been born with, he earned through his own hard work and risk. Though many with his wealth might have left behind the dusty streets of a childhood of servitude, he never did. He thought of himself as a gutter rat, but wore the label with distinction and pride. He was not ashamed of the place he had come from, he was too focused on where he was going. He had grown up among those who struggled merely to survive. Those wretched souls were his brothers and sisters, and he never forgot where he had started. Now when he passed them on the street, they whispered his name with a blend of fascination and reverence. He had been one of them and he had clawed and struggled his way out of the gutter. Slave turned celebrity; the poor boy had become a man rich beyond imagining. If he could do it, perhaps they could to. And that was why he stayed among them, resisted the urgings of his aides to move to a “more civilized” planet. “This is where I am meant to be,” he would tell his frustrated financial advisors. They would fuss and fidget and storm but they knew that nothing they said would change his mind. He had always done his own thinking and that was not about to change. Those who knew him best still did not know him, but they had at least caught a glimpse into the man inside. What they saw intrigued and intimidated them. A man does not work his way up from the bottom simply by being kind and merciful. It takes hard ways to accomplish hard tasks, and he had been tempered and honed by his struggles. He was a weapon forged out of flesh, finely crafted and with a lethal grace all his own. No one who stood against him had proven victorious, but he had never taken his own triumph for granted. He had never fallen victim to flattery or the delusions to which so many of the successful surrender. A man who had become a legend - Anakin Skywalker. -----signature----- R.I.P John, Alex, Jason, and Christian Never forgotten Soldiers' Angels http://soldiersangels.org/ 2114 soldiers waiting for someone to care
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Anakin_Panda Registered: Nov '06	Date Posted: 3/19/07 4:58pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Wow. I can't wait for more. Every time I read one of your stories, it's like I'm really there. (Does that sound stupid) Your characterization and descripition are...well, wow! I hope you post more soon. ^____^
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merijune Registered: Oct '05	Date Posted: 3/19/07 5:30pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Once again, what a way with the descriptions! I love when Vadey writes Anakin to Vader and then back again. PLEASE PM me when you've updated this one.
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Jturtle Registered: Jun '06	Date Posted: 3/19/07 5:34pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Great start! Looking forward to more. PM me? -----signature----- "If we bottled their bad luck, we would have a weapon of mass destruction on our hands."
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VA_Parky Registered: Aug '05	Date Posted: 3/19/07 5:37pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Woohoo! Another Vadey story! Man, this day just keeps getting better and better! I LOVE AU's and yours are always top notch. You have such a unique way of looking at the SW universe and making me see things that could-have-been. I can't tell you how much I enjoy it! Needless to say, I'm anxious to see where you take us on this journey. Please put me high on the PM list. Can't wait for the next post, my friend! Yay! -----signature----- Currently on hiatus Awash in Broken Promises (RotS AU): http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/23913704/p1/ Our 1st - Matthew - arrived 1/1/08
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JediMasterRev Registered: Dec '04	Date Posted: 3/19/07 5:41pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Interesting beginning. Look forward to reading where you will take this. Great as always! -----signature----- "This above all, to thine own self be true." Polonius, Hamlet, Act I, Scene III For the Love of the Queen: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/24151408/p1/?0 The Naboo Chronicles: http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/18644312/?162
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dianethx Registered: Mar '02	Date Posted: 3/19/07 5:52pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Very interesting. I have no idea where you are going with this but please PM me when you update. Great setup! -----signature----- Betrayal - http://boards.theforce.net/s/b1/10935143 updated 11/2/09 jedidas3's Master Merlin - Diplomatic Immunity - http://boards.theforce.net/nswff/b10808/30459852
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HandmaidenVeme Registered: Jun '04	Date Posted: 3/19/07 10:23pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	I love the SW universe you bring us to and I'm willing to go there again and again! Please add me to your PM list -----signature----- Angel #1 the "Mischievous" one "Anakin Skywalker's Towel Girl" Team Edward!
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palpyisgod2 Registered: Aug '05	Date Posted: 3/19/07 10:46pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	ohhh...PMs please! -----signature----- "Oh, Janette...I didn't know you could do that... I think I feel an election coming on..." -John Howard "Keating" - The Musical We Had To Have
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KELIA Title: The Pretty in Pink Fan Fic Manager Registered: Jul '05	Date Posted: 3/20/07 11:31am Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Wow what an intriguing beginning. Poor Ani - rejected by the Jedi Order. I can't wait to see how he deals with it. If you have a PM list, please add me? Looking forward to more -----signature----- "Do or do not, there is no try." Master Yoda A Light In The Darkness: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/28150602/p1/?8 NaNaWriMo Progress: 32,105
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Gina Registered: Jun '03	Date Posted: 3/21/07 1:16am Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	You certainly have my attention! And you know I expect to be PM'ed regarding updates. Can't wait for more, K. -----signature----- A long time ago in a house far away, there was a mother who was strong in the ways of the Force. She "forced" her sons to clean their room, she "forced" her sons to behave. - Part of a story written by my 9 yr. old sons I found while cleaning their desks
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Jedi_Master_Cazz Registered: Sep '05	Date Posted: 3/21/07 2:46am Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Intreging! Pm me! Cheers_Cazza -----signature----- "People of Earth! I come with good tidings of Peanuts... and beer!" --- Proud Padawan to Master VaderLV64!
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Blue_Milkshake Registered: Nov '05	Date Posted: 3/21/07 1:19pm Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU
	Anakin Skywalker, meet Citizen Kane. Oooh, I'm hooked. Can you PM me when you update this one? -----signature----- Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer. --Dave Barry
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VaderLVR64 Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Feb '04	Date Posted: 3/27/07 7:00am Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU - Date Edited: 3/27/07 8:55am (1 edits total) Edited By: VaderLVR64
	First, I want to explain that this chapter isn't in my usual style. Think of it as a very long prologue. Hopefully, it will keep your attention and give the necessary background on Anakin and his life. Second, this is my 20,000 post! So I guess that means I have no life. Anakin_Panda Thank you! That's one of the best compliments a writer can get. merijune I will and thank you! Jturtle Sure! And thanks for reading. VA_Parky I must be bribing you well. And thank you. JediMasterRev Thank you! It was a little plot bunny I've been contemplating for a while. dianethx I see the destination. Let's hope I get us there okay. HandmaidenVeme Okay! Glad you like it. palpyisgod2 Sure thing. KELIA I will and thanks for reading. Gina All right, if I must. Jedi_Master_Cazz Glad you like it. Blue_Milkshake Nice to see you here! I'll PM you. The next chapter will be more typical. Chapter 1 He had been a mere boy when the Jedi had first arrived on his planet and offered him that first tantalizing glimpse of the future that just might be his. Just a taste, a hint of the scent of freedom on the wind, but he had been intrigued and determined, ready to fight to claim what was his. On a blazing hot Tatooine day, he had raced from slavery to freedom. A boy, suddenly freed and with his whole life stretching out before him. The shock of it had made him giddy. “Will you take him to become a Jedi?” his mother had asked the big Jedi Master. Always, his mother’s first thoughts had been of him, of what was best for Anakin. “If he wishes,” Jinn had answered. And of course he had wished! To be a Jedi was his ultimate and most cherished, the one he had nurtured almost as long as he had been alive. It had been only a dream, a vision of things to come, but he had known that the dream would eventually find him. And it had. Out of the blue, on a day like any other, and it had arrived on his doorstep. But then had come the horrible realization that he would have to leave his mother there – a slave. Anakin would be free, but Shmi would remain a slave, the property of another. There was nothing that Anakin could do about that, and the Jedi would make no promises. Had that been the moment when he had first doubted the Jedi? Perhaps, though it hardly mattered now. Leaving behind his mother had cut into his young heart, leaving him wounded though no one seemed to notice or to care. Only his mother had known how much it cost him to walk across those hot sands, fearful that he might never see her again. It had taken courage that he did not know he possessed, though his mother had known. And so she had let him go. The ultimate sacrifice, Shmi had given him up to his new future. Coruscant had been a revelation to the boy, who stood with mouth agape and a hungry heart. He wanted what he saw there, not just the trappings of it, but the luxury of knowing his place in the galaxy, the security of belonging someplace where he was not owned but welcomed, at least by one. Then he had gone to Naboo and he knew at that moment that there could never be another world as beautiful as that one, or a woman as lovely as Padmé. She was perfect in every way. One day he would marry her, he told himself. That he could not be a Jedi and a married man troubled him not at all. He was destined to do both, he told himself. And given the chance, he would. With the Force as his ally, he had destroyed the Trade Federation ship and given the victory to the Naboo, and to the Republic. But like most triumphs, his was laced with sadness. The great Jedi Master who had first seen such promise in him had fallen on that same day. So Anakin was left to wonder what would become of him. Obi-Wan Kenobi, apprentice to Qui-Gon Jinn, had promised him that he would become a Jedi. Then the Council had had their say and even though Kenobi was willing, even eager to train him in tribute to his fallen Master, Anakin had learned that his destiny would take him along a different path. The Jedi Order had not wanted him. They had given many reasons, citing the anger and fear that warred in his heart. At that time, it had all just been noise that sang of rejection. Now, as a man, he could look back on that boy and understand. A boy, newly taken from his mother and his home, was bound to be angry and afraid. Given time, he was sure he would have found his way among the Jedi. But there was too much time and not enough. He had lived too long outside the Temple, but they could not give him time to adjust to the life of a Jedi. Anakin bid the heartbroken Kenobi farewell and wondered if their paths would ever cross again. Somehow, he suspected that they would. The harsh words that Kenobi had spoken were forgotten. They both grieved for Qui-Gon Jinn, and regretted the Council’s decision. A fondness for Kenobi was born in Anakin at that moment, a genuine respect that still held true. So he had returned to Tatooine, disheartened but not defeated. After all, he was still free. There was magic in the word and he was determined to loose that magic, use it to create a new future. He had only to discover the means. Anakin found his path in the very thing that had set him free in the first place. Racing had always come easily to the boy with Jedi reflexes. The road ahead, every obstacle, every turn, even the actions of those whom he raced against, all were laid out in front of him like a giant map and all he had to do was read it. He had already run the race in his head before the signal to start sounded, and in his mind he had already won it. His confidence was as wearing on his opponents as his skill. A young boy, a human child, was defeating all those who had been famous in the racing world for years, sometimes decades. “Too lucky,” some muttered but there was envy in their voices. “Sold his soul,” another might answer, though anyone could tell that he considered a soul a paltry payment for what the boy had. The races were small ones to begin with, with small purses that he had to split with the Toydarian who had given him enough to buy what he needed for his own pod racer. So the owner helped the owned to freedom. It is whispered even now that old Watto lives a soft life, surrounded by the luxury that his former slave had bought him. Perhaps the Toydarian even laughs about it now, though who is to know? Watto, having missed the boy more than he suspected he would, had offered the newly freed slave an opportunity. “I’ll free your mother now, boy,” Watto said. “I should have done it to begin with because she’s not good for much moping around like she is. She costs me more to feed than she’s worth.” But Anakin had seen the kindness behind the Toydarian’s words and vowed never to forget them. Like most great men, he never forgot a kindness – or an injury. All such moments were filed away in his mind. “You race well…for a human,” Watto said begrudgingly. “So I’ll tell you what. I’ll free Shmi now and for the first three years you race, we split your winnings.” Anakin did not have to take time to consider the offer. Though he was quite sure he would make Watto far richer than he deserved, it was worth the credits to free his mother immediately. “You’ll be getting the price of a dozen slaves,” Anakin noted slyly. “But you have a deal.” And so the two had become partners and Shmi Skywalker was a free woman for the first time in her adult life. The lifting of that terrible burden shone in her face and Anakin knew that every credit had been worth it when he saw her carefree smile. Now they were two free souls, searching for a destiny – with Anakin leading the way. His reputation grew victory by victory and the boy was soon teetering on the edge of manhood. Anakin had been matured by hardship, grew wise with success, which is the mark of most self-made men, the ability to learn from both adversity and achievement. -----signature----- R.I.P John, Alex, Jason, and Christian Never forgotten Soldiers' Angels http://soldiersangels.org/ 2114 soldiers waiting for someone to care
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Blue_Milkshake Registered: Nov '05	Date Posted: 3/27/07 7:24am Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU - updated 3/27
	I love it! This chapter is even better than the first! Such a great "what if" story. Congrats on you posting achievement! -----signature----- Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer. --Dave Barry
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dianethx Registered: Mar '02	Date Posted: 3/27/07 8:50am Subject: RE: A Tapestry Wide and Wonderful - Anakin Skywalker AU - updated 3/27
	I love the way you've laid out his past, keeping part of it canon but diverting quickly after TPM. Watto was wily enough to realize that he could make a lot more this way! Loved it. Looking forward to more. Congrats on your achievement and yep, you have no life...LOL -----signature----- Betrayal - http://boards.theforce.net/s/b1/10935143 updated 11/2/09 jedidas3's Master Merlin - Diplomatic Immunity - http://boards.theforce.net/nswff/b10808/30459852
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