Beyond - Legends Signs of Life - Anakin Lives postRotJ AU - Chapter 37 (July 9, *2008*)

So glad to see more of this! Kalani is cute, but more than that--she's got a lot of latent power, but is fragile and needy right now, too. Poor child, she's been through a lot. I'm glad she has found Anakin, and I bet it won't be long before Luke and Leia love her like a little sister. It'll be interesting to see how this new family comes together.

Like Han's insecurities, too. I don't think he has anything to worry about with Leia, but it's quite natural that he might wonder how he'll fit into the picture now that she's got a family again.

Like the scenes with Biggs and Duria, too!

I know you said not to expect another post before summer, but I hope you mean early summer!

Kristeh

 

Very nice. Please add me to the list of people wanting updates about this.

Very different take on the time after ROTJ. In TaB Luke was up and in command of a strike force less than a week after the Death Star exploded. I think that this is a little more realistic.

Well, now I have to ask, since I've read the whole thing: Is Mara Jade going to make an appearance in this? Or is she a character that you don't like.




S.

 

Thanks, all.

Mara Jade will appear soon. And engage in at least two of her canon EU pasttimes.

 

yay

oh and yeah I've been following Lady of the Sky and I know who it is

hehehe can't wait for reactions once it get revealed though

 

Thanks for reading, JediFalcon.

The speed of story and the speed of posting should pick up soon...

Everything is in place for Total Disaster. All is proceeding as I have forseen. Although the fact that I control the plot helps with that a bit

 

Yay! I loves me my Mara.

...um, but she's still bad, nuh? Probably Anakin still being alive won't improve her mood any either.

 

Arcalian: Yep, she's still bad.

Update should be arriving in the next few weeks, depending on when I get to what. Ep3 gave me bunnies and bunnies and bunnies.

 

Disclaimer: See first post.

...

Chapter 33

Triclops was worried.

Somehow, what he had just felt... It was worse than anything the air had seemed to tell him ever before. Worse than the earthquake the day he?d met Kenda. Worse than the day of the attack so long ago. Worse than all the times he?d somehow known the ?therapists? were coming for him.

Kenda was leading him down a corridor to meet someone. She hadn?t told him who. He trusted her. She knew how vulnerable he was. She knew how skittish he was.

They turned a corner, and a man was standing there, a young woman stretching something across his shoulders.

...

Leia entered the measurement into the small datapad her father had requested. ?That should be it. Need anything else from the storerooms??

Anakin lowered his arms. ?Not for a few days. It will take that long to know what I need.?

?What are you plannning, anyway??

He spun, touching her nose with one finger. ?My secret, for now.?

?Okay, I understand. Now, let me help you back to your room, Father. You?re still shaky on your feet...?

?I am doing better, though.?

She nodded. ?Now, if only Luke was doing half as well...?

?The Force has a plan... if only we knew what that was...?

He straightened slightly, alert, and whirled away.

?Father?? Leia looked where he was staring and tried to ignore the way his hand dropped to what would have been saber-ready months before.

Kendalina was approaching, followed by the somewhat odd man who had followed the medic since her return from the Imperial base.

The next thing she knew, Anakin was wobbling forward, stalking like a wild predator and the odd man was backing weakly, eyes wide. Kendalina was between them, arms spread wide. ?Anakin, down. Stop. Let me explain.?

?What?s going on?? Leia could feel herself backing up towards the wall. Anakin was scaring her as much as Vader ever had when she was a child. This was irrational, senseless. There was no way he could have met the man before...

?Anakin, he?s lived his entire life imprisoned in the Imperial mental health system. He hasn?t done anything to hurt anyone.?

//Kendalina, what is going on?//

//He?s Sithspawn. That was why he was put in the asylum in the first place. Palpatine apparently wanted him completely hidden but available, I don?t know why.//

//He?s...//

//Actually completely harmless. But yeah.//

Leia dashed forward, arms spread wide. ?Father, stop. Let her explain.?

There was an odd breeze in the corridor suddenly. She felt her hair puff up, unbound tresses blown upwards by the breeze even as she moved to get them to lie down again.

Footsteps behind them, running.

Running away.

...

Something was moving nearby.

Luke looked up from his lunch tray. ?Hmm??

Someone was cowering in the doorway. He was in scruffy medcenter pants and a shirt, with unkempt hair.

Wasn?t he the guy Kenda had following her around a little while ago? ?Hi. Isn?t Kendalina supposed to be with you??

The man looked down, shoulders heaving. He glanced around, fear in his eyes.

?Something going on out there??

Echoing in the corridors came Anakin?s voice with a tone Luke had hoped to never hear in it again.

?Hide. The bathroom door is unlocked; get in there and keep quiet.

He heard the door swing shut just as the outer door of the Skywalker family suite swung burst open and Anakin stalked through, followed by Leia and Kendalina. ?What?s going on??

//I was going to introduce Anakin and Trike. Unfortunately, Anakin sensed Trike?s family line before he sensed how hopelessly harmless and vulnerable he is.//

//What?//

Leia?s Force-voice cut in. //He?s Sithspawn, and unfortunately Father seems to have decided he?s a threat.//

//Is he?//

Kendalina broke back in, almost frantic. //Even if he was capable of defending himself... The Imps put him througn shock therapy only a few days ago. He?s lucky to even be walking, much less running from a ticked ex-Sith. As it is, he?s permanently mute.//

//I meant the other bit.//

//Acc

 

Awww Poor Trioclops(?)

*whacks Anakin* Calm down!

*runs in circles about being back online again*

 

wow Anakin is sure ticked off.

kind off confused as to why though

explanations soon I hope

 

INteresting addition. Anakin is so mad he didn't notice that Luke lied to him.

 

Interesting. Seems to be a gut instinct reaction. Wonder if he even stopped to assess the situation.

S.

 

JediStarMoonstruck: He'll calm down. Eventually.

JediFalcon: There will be explanations soon.

RebelMom: He wasn't precisely mad, persay, and if you look at what Anakin said, Luke didn't exactly lie either. Anakin asked if Luke had seen anyone who shouldn't have been there. luke had seen Trike with Kendalina earlier, so he had been given the impression Trike was supposed to be there.

skywalker64089: Yes, it was entirely a gut reaction.

Next chapter is mostly complete and should be up within the next week (trying to avoid 'month without a post' syndrome)

 

Wow... that was unexpected

Anakin... geez...

BTW, I just saw episode three and that seems... very in character with the ugly, evil Ani...

 

Yes! I'm back up to date again!

Hmm, Mara's going to be back to her EU ways, eh? Niiiiice ...

 

Just as a medical note, If Kenda is, say, the same height as Leia, that would mean Trike would be about the same height. Improper nutrition would have stunted his growth, especially since he's ALWAYS been underfed.

 

Jedi_Guard_of_Death: But he would have been more underfed recently, as the funds that once went to the asylum system got shunted off towards the war effort. Remember, the Empire just speed-built a Death Star.

...

Chapter 34

?So now he?s running loose.? Anakin ran a hand through his stubbly hair.

?And with absolutely no clue what he?s doing,? Kendalina confirmed, hearing the worry in her own voice.

?Now I wish I hadn?t reacted that way.?

They were all still gathered in Luke?s room, trying to figure out where Triclops had fled to.

He had been missing for over 6 hours.

It had taken nearly an hour to talk Kalani out of her barricaded position in Anakin?s room after she saw him in full fighting fury--and the fury part of the situation had certainly shocked everyone there. That was after the hour it had taken to calm Anakin down and make everyone in Luke?s room feel safe enough to let Anakin back in. The next four had been spent making sure everyone there knew exactly what was going on and trying to figure out how they were going to get Triclops back out of the vents.

?Yes, not acting that way would have been a smart move,? Kendalina bit out. ?I was hoping you at least could help him adjust. I?ve already tried calling to him in the Force and he won?t answer.?

?Has he ever done this before?? Leia asked.

?When he was much much younger. Asylum vents are too small for adult humans. He doesn?t know the layout of the ship; he?s probably already lost by now.?

?He has to come down sometime, doesn?t he?? Luke asked.

?Not if he doesn?t feel safe. He stayed hidden in a pantry for a month when he was five, chewing his way through the grain meal and juice supplies. After that, he was moved to the adult wards. I can?t remember all of it. I never really wanted to look at that part of his files. He knows how to move silently and keep hidden in the Force. If he doesn?t want to be found, he won?t be.?

?Don?t you have some way to track him?? Kalani asked. ?Some scan??

Kendalina?s hair tickled her cheeks as she shook her head. ?He?s too good at hiding himself. Like he?s some kind of natural locksmith and illusion-master all at once. Unfortunately, he had to learn to do that to survive.?

?So we have a man who isn?t used to trusting anyone running around in the ceiling cloaked in every way imaginable without consciously knowing what he?s doing.? Anakin leaned back in his chair until his head thunked against the wall.

?Basically.?

...

?Medic Branag should be getting rather worried by now.?

Triclops blinked for a moment before he realized she was talking about Kendalina. She has a last name? He had never heard it before. In the asylum only important people had last names. He certainly didn?t have one.

?I?m sorry. I meant Kendalina. I saw you with her when you where being moved aboard, so I assumed you were with her from the way she was smiling...? A warm hand touched his cheek and he wished he could talk, to explain.

The woman was nice. He?d smelled something and fell through her ceiling on accident. She?d been kind enough to share her food with him, even though he knew he was a mess. She hadn?t called for whatever form the asylum enforcers took here... hadn?t tried to get him to leave, hadn?t tried to force him away.

He recognized her; she had stood distant but visible when the medical shuttle had entered the hangar.

Whoever she was, she was important.

?You probably need to head back. Do you remember how to get back??

He shook his head, blushing. He?d been so intent on finding food and getting away from the big man that he had no real clue how he?d gotten here. There had been several changes of level, but he hadn?t kept track on his fingers so he didn?t know how many.

I really need to learn to count. He wasn?t even sure if he could. What if he was too old, or that part of his mind had been damaged so long that it didn?t look like damage?

What if he never could?

What if that was why he had been cast aside?

His shoulders started shaking, and he felt

 

Aww Poor Triclops. At least Mon Mothma didn't go on a rampage when she figured it out. *grumbles about Anakin*

At least he's calm now.

 

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww poor Triclops

and Anakin really was mad, it took over an hour to get him to calm down?


more soon

 

Well done job at portraying Trike. I always did know he was just a scared, little boy under that big, adult exterior.

Awww...

*huggles Tricolps* Everyone huggle Trike. You know you want to.

And good job coming up with a last name for Kenda. I feel like I've heard it before... hmmm... de ja vu...

BTW, how did Kenda get away with being pregnant in an Imperial Asylum? Assuming that Trioculous was there, as well...

 

Catching up.

Don't know Triclops from Adam, but I get who his daddy was and I feel sorry for him.

 

Disclaimer: See first post.

...

Chapter 35

Kendalina walked in. ?Trike??

He bounded at her faster than Mon could see. That alone gave support to her theories. He moved too quickly, too subtly, for someone who had lived life under the kind of control he must have. He was too physically in control of himself for someone who had likely never run under an open sky.

Has he ever even seen the sky?

?Thank you for taking care of him, Lady Mothma.?

?It was a pleasure.?

...

//Well, how did you enjoy your little escapade, Trike?//

//?Escapade??// Kendalina saw his forehead scrunch under his hair.

//Adventure. Usually a reckless one.//

He blushed, lowering his head. //She was nice. But he was really scary.//

//?He??//

//Big, wide-shoulders. Yells a lot.//

//Anakin?s not that bad, Trike. He just got startled and over-reacted.//

//Over-reacted to what, Kenda? I was with you...//

She carefully moved in front of him, trying not to spook him. //Trike, what do you actually know about where you came from?//

//Someone important, one of my parents, didn?t want me and threw me in the asylum. People beat me up enough when I was little that I figured it was someone everyone was awfully angry with...//

Oh, Force.//You don?t know.//

//Know what?// He stopped, stock-still and looking inquisitive and quite confused.

//Let?s get back to the medcenter...//

He followed.

...

Luke was curled up against Anakin?s side, propped up by a few spare pillows. It was the first time he had been allowed out in the common area, but someone needed to watch the entire suite and carrying him out there had seemed like a better plan than having over half of those looking for Triclops clustering in one suite. Besides, he?d be safe enough. Even though the gunner who had apparently come after Biggs was still completely unidentified and raving in a language that no one in the Rebellion could understand, nothing else had happened. It seemed to be an isolated incident. Besides, Anakin was slowly patrolling the closest of the exam rooms: the heavily secured one the asylum inmates had been moved through the night before and that morning, and well within screaming distance if the need should arise.

?I can?t believe I acted like that.? Anakin?s chest rumbled against Luke. Luke closed his eyes; it felt so good to finally have a father, even if he was big and scary from time to time and had done horrible things in the past.

It was good to finally feel like a son.

?How did you even figure out who he was?? Kalani asked.

?Force-sense and that hairline. Some humans within the Jedi Order did have high widow?s-peaks, but I?ve only seen one that high, that steep, or that pointy on one person before.?

Quiet.

Luke opened his eyes to find Leia pacing, thoughtful. ?There could be a resemblance there. Not so sure about the facial structure.?

?Doesn?t surprise me.?

?Hmm?? Luke grunted.

?Ever seen the Senate tapes from the first Empire Day, Leia??

?A few times. Papa...? She paused, visibly blushing.

?Leia, it?s okay. He raised you. And he did a wonderful job doing it. I respect that.?

She nodded slightly. ?Papa made me watch it during the yearly holonet celebrations, pointed out how fragile democracy was, that it could die with such applause from those who claimed to serve it.? Luke could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. ?It was our little ritual.?

Luke felt Anakin?s hand lift off of his shoulder. A moment later Leia squeezed in beside Luke and Anakin?s hand lowered to rest across both his children?s shoulders as Leia?s shoulders heaved.

Luke carefully reached for both her hands and weakly held them in his own. Empire Day was a touchy subject. Palpatine had kept Alderaan?s destruction secret from the general public of the galaxy for nearly a month and a half, spreading rumors of various epidemics, natural disasters, and other such things to keep ships away.

He finally let the galaxy know what had happened on Empire Day.

Han and Chewie had been on

 

Glad to see that Luke got out of bed anyway. I hope he heals up quick and starts to feel more useful.

 

Oh... poor Triclops.

And poor Leia too, having to talk about the Empire like that...

Though it was kind of funny that she still calls Bail Organa 'Papa'.

Got a little screwy there at the end, though: kind of odd formating...
And just as a warning, be careful when you spell 'holocast'. I saw the word and did a double take: "Wait, did she just say HOLOCAUST?"... eheh... yeah...

 

I wonder how far this story deviates from ROTS. Daddy sure don't wanna tell the kids of the grisly details of what HE did on the first Empire day.