Saga Failure--REPOSTED

This is a fic about what I think was going through Anakin's mind during the Tusken slaughter. All characters belong to Lucas.

*****

"I...love..." She struggled to say the words, her breath coming in short, painful gasps around her cracked and broken ribs.

"Stay with me, Mom," Anakin begged, racking his brain for any possible Jedi healing techniques, learned over the past ten years under the careful and methodical tutelage of Master Obi-Wan, that he might be able to use to prolong his mother's life--even for just a short while. Just long enough to get her back to the homestead. Long enough to tell her how much he loved her, and missed her--and how sorry he was that he had not ignored the commands of the Jedi and come sooner.

But no--nothing. Nothing came to mind. There was nothing he could do now. Master Obi-Wan had taught him about patience, control, duty...about not forming attachments. He had not taught him anything he could use to save his mother. Maybe that was one of those lessons he deemed me not ready to learn yet, Anakin thought bitterly, a tear slipping down his cheek.

"I...love..." Shmi Lars struggled again, through bloody and cracked lips, to give her son her final words of affection, a final goodbye--and, failing, she drew her last labored breath and slumped backward in his arms.

At first Anakin was overwhelmed with a horrific feeling of helplessness. He had come to Tatooine to save his mother. She was in danger, and he knew he would save her as soon as he was strong enough to ignore Master Obi-Wan and start heeding his visions. He was strong--he had survived ten years of slavery under Watto, proving himself useful by being able to fix anything that was put in front of him. Why should this be any different? What had stopped him from fixing a situation that threatened the life of the most important person in the world to him?

The Jedi, he thought bitterly. Obi-Wan.

Anakin tenderly laid his fingers over his mother's eyelids, closing them, then gently laid her body next to him and stood. He swallowed back a lump in his throat, with it swallowing down the urge to collapse beside his mother's body and give into his grief. Useless--it wouldn't fix anything. And if Anakin Skywalker could do nothing else, he would fix this, somehow. No one he loved would ever be hurt again, as long as he had anything to say about it. And no Tusken would live long enough to torture another innocent settler.

Anakin felt the rage burn within him like an erupting volcano. It was a new feeling for him--Jedi were not allowed to feel anger. Anakin liked the way he felt--energized, electrified, invigorated. Powerful. He nourished that power, fed on it, nurtured it, allowed it to continue to give him more energy than he thought was possible to have. He knew the Jedi wouldn't approve--they were weaklings, afraid to use their own power. Besides, where had their approval gotten him so far? Following their direction had left his mother tortured, dead from internal hemorrhaging, lying in the cave of a group of savage beasts who took her because they were looking for amusement on a boring Tatooine morning.

The rage burned even hotter in Anakin. He ignited his lightsaber, ran out of the cave, and immediately decapitated the two Tusken guards sitting outside. Several Tusken males rushed at him, their shrill cries echoing in the canyon, their gaffee sticks pointed straight at Anakin--but it was no contest between them and the most powerful Force-user in the galaxy. They also immediately lost their heads to the point of Anakin's blade.

Another voice cried out to him, echoing more strongly than the cries of the Tuskens, a voice forgotten but not unfamiliar. "Anakin! Anakin! NOOOO!"

Qui-Gon Jinn. The Jedi Master who had rescued him from Tatooine slavery and taken him to Coruscant to fulfill his dreams. The Jedi who believed in him when no one else in the Temple would, who stubbornly insisted that Anakin be trained even when no one else wanted him. W

 

I loved tis over in MR... glad you brought it back here!

 

Thanks Breezy.

 

Wow, anakin_girl. That was awesome! I could feel Anakin's rage and grief contained within your words. That was very excellently written!

 

Another one!
You write these so well, it´s kinda depressing .
I think I have to go and look for something happy to read, now.

 

So sad, but excellent vignette.

 

Interesting interpretation -- that hearing Qui-Gon actually instigates Anakin to be even more angry. I hadn't considered that before.

Great job!