"A New Destiny" -- same universe, different destinies

Uppers!!

 

I'll try to have a post tomorrow.

 

Wow! Wonderful posts, Ami!!! Tae is so cute and I love the way Ani takes care of her! Hey, for a moment there I was afraid you killed Sabé! Don't do that!

My strengths are in languages and arts, I always have high marks in French and English, in my music classes too. Sciences and maths are my death though... *shrugs* I'm just *not* a scientist.

 

I suck so badly at Ani/Ami stuff! But this post was requested, so here ya go!



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Padmé did her best not to grimace as her booted ankle slipped deeper in the dark green muck. Squinting, she looked through the twisted vines, hoping to catch a glimpse of Anakin through the tangled jungle. A furred bat screamed overhead, and she fought back a shiver. While she welcomed real air and ground again, she would have preferred arid Tatooine over the swamp.

The small woman paused, turning her head to look back at Yoda?s hut and the Falcon. Cold fingers tickled her neck when she realized that both were lost from view. ?I can?t get lost,? she told the sleepy-looking snake watching her from a vine. The brown creature blinked slowly. Scowling at the slithering reptile, she continued on her path. Anakin had disappeared this way hours earlier, and although he always returned without a single scratch in the scrapiest of situations, she couldn?t erase her worry. He?d been gone for too long in her mind, and she would rather fend off disgusting creatures with him.

A soft hissing whirled Padmé around. It took every bit of her training to keep her from screaming and running at the sight of the gigantic brown snake curling casually around her. Swallowing hard, she reached for her blaster, ready to fire. //No// a voice said in her mind. //You?ll only attract more of them//

//Then I?ll shoot them too!// she thought defiantly.

//Give me a sec, will you?//

//*Ani*// Padmé did not holster her blaster, but kept tracking the circling movement of the snake. The rough brown scales were nearly brushing against her. How could she stay calm? If Anakin didn?t arrive quickly, she would blast the snake and his friends.

With agonizing precision, the snake continued to slowly wrap itself around her until she could feel it around her ankles and shins. //Anakin!// Padmé raised her blaster as the large head pushed closer, aiming straight between the eye.

In an eyeblink, the snack lashed out. The blaster had disappeared. A vicious hiss rose from the animal, yellow eyes glittered with hunger. Another coil wrapped around her, enclosing her knees. //ANAKIN!// Fighting droids and other soldiers had never frightened her, but as she stared into the predator eyes of the snake, panic began to rise in her throat, begging to become a scream. The snake opened its massive jaws, flashing sharp, venomous fangs. Padmé opened her mouth to scream-

With a sudden yelp of pain, the snake uncoiled, dropping to the spongy floor. Padmé stared at it in shock as a rumbling snore of slumber erupted from the long body.

?Are you all right?? Anakin?s gentle voice whispered behind her ear. Padmé jumped, sagging against her husband in sick relief. He smiled slightly as she buried her head in his chest. He kissed her hair, then repeated his question.

Padmé took a step back, dark eyes flashing. ?What took you so long? Why didn?t you let me shoot it??

Anakin took her hand in his, gesturing at the sleeping snake. ?There was no evil intent from it. It simply wanted to make a meal out of you.?

?That?s so comforting,? Padmé said gruffly. She shuddered and tossed her hair. ?What a way to go, eh? The Fearless Queen being eaten by a snake.?

Anakin smirked. He stooped down and retrieved her blaster, examining the now muddied surface. Padmé holstered it on her thigh. He frowned as he watched her. ?What are you doing out here by yourself anyway??

?Couldn?t I ask the same for you, Ani??

The Jedi might have blushed, but the dark shadows hid his face. ?I was thinking.?

Padmé looped her arm around his elbow. ?About what?

Anakin sighed, a hand brushing her cheek. He supposed that he?d known she would come searching for him. ?Let?s find a less occupied place to speak.? Anakin took Padmé down a winding footpath that appeared to have belonged to a family of land beasts at one time. They entered a large, bowl-shaped arena that Anakin assumed had once been the den or brood nest of the ex

 

So cute!!!

 

Good post.

 

Great post!!

 

And finally, after two weeks, I can catch up on one of my favorite stories. Amidolee will wonder why I can write this, but I can't come to school. I like reading this story. The rest is bettter left unsaid. Don't you dare slow down.

 

Heather? What the devil has happened? PM me, please? I'm at dad's this weekend, so I can't call. Will you be at MYF?

 

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Obi-Wan had never been one to sleep well when he was worried. After only a few hours of sleep, he was awake and trying to comfort his fussy daughter. He tried the bottles, but it was obvious that Taesara would have none of it. By the time she?s worn herself out with her wails, Master Yoda entered the cabin. ?I don?t like it,? Obi-Wan told him, gesturing to Sabé?s sleeping form. ?She needs to eat. Both of them do.?

Yoda nodded. The tiny Master limped to the side of the bed, knarled had reaching out to touch the woman?s forehead. ?Awake she will be,? he said. Then he was gone.

?Wonderful,? Obi-Wan told his daughter. Tae moaned. The infant suddenly tensed in his arms, straining to turn her head at an awkward angle to see her mother. A soft coo escaped for her small mouth, which was smiling. ?Do you want to see Mommy? You best be quiet, though.? He carefully sat on the edge of the bed, cradling Taesara so she could see her sleeping mother. Obi-Wan thought he imagined it, but her eyelashes fluttered. Then a finger twitched.

Obi-Wan shifted so Tae was held in one arm, which the tiny baby fit perfectly. With his free right arm, he reached out and touched Sabé?s hand, squeezing it. More movement appeared behind her closed lids. Taesara squealed, wriggling in his arms.

?Look what Yoda made!? Luke shouted, hurrying into the room. The small boy proudly produced an offending concoction of gruel. Behind him, a rather nauseated Leia and a chipper Yoda entered the cabin, quickly filling the small space.

?Work this will. Alert the senses it does.?

?I have no doubt. Luke, would you hold her for me??

?Yes!? Luke quickly shoved the gruel at his sister, who grimaced before accepting the mug. Luke settled on the floor, forming a cradle with his arms as Sabé had taught him. Obi-Wan placed Tae in the boy?s arms, then relieved Leia of the gruel.

?Forgive me, love,? Obi-Wan apologized as her lashes fluttered and she shifted. Placing the mug under her nose, he brought a choked gasp and cough from Sabé. Taking the mug away, he squeezed her hand. ?Good morning, sunshine.? When it looked as if she would fall asleep before being awake, he returned the gruel under her nose. Sabé sat up on her elbows, sputtering as her eyes flew open.

?Are you trying to bloody kill me?? she demanded, coughing and sneezing.

?Worked it did. Trust me you should,? Yoda announced, almost grinning.

?Welcome back, sweetie,? Obi-Wan greeted, kissing her forehead and placing a hand on her back to support her. She trembled slightly against him. ?Drink this,? he instructed.

Bewildered and confused, Sabé accepted the proffered drink. As she swallowed the lumpy, foul drink, she felt her eyes water. ?What the Sith are you trying to do to me?? Sabé cried, shoving the mug back at her husband.

?Waking you up,? Obi-Wan answered precisely. His eyes were serious as he studied her face. ?You?ve been asleep ever since we arrived on Dagobah. We?ve been here for nearly two standard days.?

?Two days?? Sabé scowled; she didn?t like being inactive. Slowly, she realized that Yoda, the twins, and her little urchin were watching her. A deeper scowl imprinted her lips as she realized she felt weak and dizzy, leaning against Obi-Wan for support. She sat up, leaning away from him in hopes to convince herself that she felt fine. Then her eyes widened. ?What about Tae? Is she alright??

?Fussy and impatient, but fine,? Obi-Wan said. With a devilish smirk, he offered her the mug again. ?How about another sip??

?How about I make a mess of your robe?? she retorted.

Obi-Wan chuckled and kissed her. ?I think you?ll be fine.?

?Why no one like my cooking?? Yoda grumbled, taking the revolting substance from them. He tapped his cane on Sabé?s knee. ?Rest you will.? The Jedi Master bowed and gestured for the twins to follow. Obi-Wan relieved Luke of Taesara (who had just been lectured about farm droids), and returned to his wife. Sabé leaned back against the stack

 

Down already?

 

Good post.

 

I shall hear no more of this sucking. No part of this story sucks. Take a lesson from Master Yoda: ?Destructive, doubt is.?

 

I shall hear no more of this sucking. No part of this story sucks. Take a lesson from Master Yoda: ?Destructive, doubt is.?

 

I shall hear no more of this sucking. No part of this story sucks. Take a lesson from Master Yoda: ?Destructive, doubt is.?

 

Posting three times sucks. Leave it to the professsionals.

 

I feel as if something's being beaten over my head . . . Ah! Some Advil!

Strange inspiration hit me last night I was up late writing a post for this thread. It's good Better than the last two, and it's going to be leading to some action soon! Yaya!

'Course, I'm not good at action, put I'll try!

And don't you go into Yoda's "do or do not" speech!

 

Can't wait to see it!!

 

Chapter 14

Obi-Wan did his best to bite back a grin of remembrance as Luke Skywalker adjusted his grip on the blunt stick held before him in a defensive stance. The small tongue caught between a mouth curled in a fierce scowl of concentration was a perfect image of his father at nine. The Jedi held his stick lightly in his hand, waiting patiently to see if Luke would remember his previous lessons.

The boy had begun another growing streak, much to Leia?s dismay. Boys tended to grow in leaps, several in fact, while girls seemed to lag behind. Luke was now precisely eight centimeters taller than his twin, which also?too his mind?meant he was the boss twin. Leia was determined to not be the minion, and her sharp tongue had earned her reprimands from even Yoda. When it came to tactfulness, Leia scored well, except for when she felt someone needed to be put back in their lowly place.

Obi-Wan figured that this trait had been inherited from her mother.

Luke?s added height marked his remarkable potential and already grasped skills. Leia doggedly tried to keep up, but it only caused her frustration. The girl could not compare herself to another individual. It was a common mistake that children made?Obi-Wan included?to weigh their success and failures by those of others. When told this, Leia blatantly brushed off the wisdom and simply tried harder.

While this handicapped the girl at times, the effect on her brother was somewhat startling than what was to be expected. Luke felt guilty for his progress and skills. Obi-Wan had caught the boy more than once holding back and helping Leia. It was good that he helped, but it was the *way* that he helped that bothered the Jedi Knight. Luke would subtlely push his own powers into Leia?s, thus making her believe she had accomplished the feat. And at the same time, Luke would purposefully fail at a lesson to heed his sister.

Thus, Obi-Wan had completely separated their lessons. He could have forbidden the twins to speak of their lessons to each other, but it was oppressive and would have been immediately disobeyed.

It had seemed to have worked for the most part: Luke was improving remarkably, without the alarming pace that Anakin had taken. Leia seemed to be growing past her frustration and concentrating on how she did, rather than how Luke was doing better.

Sabé?s contribution was an immense help as well. With her limited training, she was able to demonstrate to Leia that learning quickly wasn?t everything. Leia was pleased without gloating that her power exceeded Sabé?s by a tenfold. Obi-Wan was also happy to note that while rearing a baby and look after Force-sensitive twins could sometimes wear his wife to a dither, she also glowed when busy helping Leia.

At least, until Leia had taught Tae to lift food crumbs and fire them at Luke.

No one knew quite how it had been accomplished. The princess must have drawn from Tae?s unruly, unreined power and placed the idea in the two-month-old child?s head. Obi-Wan wasn?t sure what to make of the situation. Leia had obediently stopped trying to train the baby at her parents? request.

The soft scrape of Luke?s boot on the natural arena?s smooth floor brought Obi-Wan sharply out of his thoughts. Luke?s movements were still too exaggerated and deliberate to take the Jedi Knight by surprise, but it was never fun to be caught napping.

With a lunge, Luke struck out, aiming with a large, sluggish swing for Obi-Wan?s knee. The Knight batted it away with his stick, nodding approval that Luke follow through. The boy clenched the stick until his knuckles turned white. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he shifted, deciding to try simply hitting Obi-Wan?s hand.

This time, Obi-Wan let the boy strike him. Wincing at the sting, he dodged left, then pointed his stick down. Luke quickly repeated the gesture, then turned attentive eyes to his Master.

?Your intent was to disarm, not kill,? Obi-Wan said quietly. ?That is good. Your weapon is not used to harm others, but to deflect harm from yo

 

up?

 

I loved the twins'insights!Good work!

 

Great post! Up!!

 

Good post.

 

Good stuff.

 

Would anyone like to trade cars? I think I'll call mine the Millennium Falcon now instead of the Blue Kitty. It's on its last of the nine lives.




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Anakin?s ears pounded with the staccato beating of his heart as he followed Yoda deep into the tangles of the swamp jungle. He had not reason to be afraid for he had not been told precisely what would transpire?only that it would either destroy him or give him strength and knowledge to defeat the Emperor.

Wiping his clammy hands on his cloak, he tried to find that peaceful place inside of him that he?d only recently discovered. It was wonderful to be able to meditate as Obi-Wan could without hearing the voices of the galaxy crying out to him. Dagobah was overflowing with purity in the Force, and he would gladly drown in it that face the cruel reality of the galaxy. Despite its ugliness to the eye, Dagobah was a beautiful paradise for him. Here, he was simply Anakin Skywalker: father, husband, apprentice.

Darth Vader felt like a ghost here, not the black shadow following his thoughts and actions despite his best efforts to fully banish the demon.

Anakin?s breath suddenly caught, as if passing through the cracked ice over an unstable pond. He fell through the icy water to an even colder death, his breath freezing before him as he watched.

The dark side.

?No,? Anakin breathed, stepping back as the presence ebbed, then sought to choke him. It wanted him. It wanted to seek black tentacles of anger and hate deep down his throat, clench his heart, and pull his soul into its inky depths. The cold was such a contrast to the burning heat that would course through him when manipulating the tempting power. Anakin did not know what was worse: the death of ice or the torment and agony of heat so intense it was like reenacting his fall into the lava pit.

Anakin shivered and stepped back even further.

Yoda turned, his eyes emotionless. ?Go you must.? The twisted cane lifted and pointed.

Slowly, Anakin followed with his eyes. He shrank back further, feeling the power threatening to explode around him. //How come it doesn?t push Yoda like it does me?// Another tremor ran down his tall form. The Jedi wrapped the cloak around himself as he stared at the first form of true ugliness on the planet. The tree was pure evil; the wide, cavernous black trunk yawned into a deep, even blacker cave. It beckoned to him, as if welcoming the Sith Lord Darth Vader home.

//I am NOT Darth Vader!// Anakin shouted mentally at the tree. //I am Anakin Skywalker. I am a Jedi!//

The tree sulked, then began to laugh.

Anakin blinked.

The tree was as dead as before.

Anakin turned to Yoda, who was watching him without unrevealing eyes. ?What am I to do, my Master?? he asked in a whisper. Every cell in his body wanted to beg ?not the tree!?, but he knew what Yoda wanted. He wanted to back down, wanted to plead. But then it would only prove he could not conquer his fears. Anakin would never surrender again. He?d promised his wife, his children, his Master, and himself that he would not succumb to the dark side again.

Yoda simply stared at him, waiting for Anakin to settle the argument with himself. Anakin held onto his last train of thought as he stared at the evil tree and cave. There was no anger, no fear, no hate . . . only him, the Force, and the love of those not far from him. Padmé?s soft brown eyes and loving smile kissed his mind. Luke?s bright blue eyes gazed up at him, his face filled with adoration and unquestioned loyalty. Leia, her stern face mirror her mother?s, the strength in her brown gaze accented by an internal gentleness that she could not extinguish despite a fierce exterior. And there was Obi-Wan, a father?s pride and a brother?s love in his eyes as his eyes fell upon his apprentice trapped in the black armor of hate. The pain was only a factor that Obi-Wan would deal with as the Knight refused to look upon his apprentice with any anger or ill sentiment.

How loved and lucky he was.