Coming Home (Luke, Anakin AU)--UPDATED 2/9

I'm writing a post tonight. I think I'm going for a Wednesday/Sunday schedule.

Glad folks are liking it so far.

 

Never make plans against Darth Real Life Gala... still I'll be up early tomorrow morning to check this story

 

Okay, and I'm breaking my plan on the first night I was going to try it. I'm tired and I don't seem to be writing. Tomorrow night, without fail, I'll get back to Obi-Wan and Siri and the isolation bubble.

 

This is an awesome story, can't wait to read the next post

 

You're doing an awesome job JG. I can't wait to read the next post! I'm sure it will be just as wonderful. Obi-Wan and Siri are both infected...what a delicious plot twist. I know that sounds evil, but I hate predictable stories. You've blown me away so far...keep at it!

 

Obi-Wan understood the meaning of the crackling sound as soon as he heard it, but momentum carried him forward anyway. All he'd been able to concentrate on had been Siri's weakening presence; he'd given no rational thought as to what might have caused it.

She cracked the hatch on the fighter's cockpit before she looked down and saw him, and he saw her hands go to her face. Blood streaked her long, graceful fingers. Her hair was clotted in brownish red clumps.

She shook her head back and forth in tight arcs, as if to deny what she'd seen.

Obi-Wan just leaned against the side of the ship. If she was contagious, he had already been exposed. There was nothing to do about it now but wait--set in motion the process of containing the virus here while getting them both to the medical facility, let the droids work on the cure, and hopefully a vaccine...

Something hot fell on Obi-Wan's thumb and began to slide down his wrist. He stood back to look.

A drop of blood had fallen from Siri's hand, which was now hung limply over the side of the fighter. She had passed out. She'd been so weak that he hadn't even felt the change.

She looked young and tired and old and haggard, all at the same time. The face of his childhood friend was the face of a graveyard ghoul.

Something huge and violent tried to push its way up from his core, some thunder-laced storm cloud whose winds lashed at his mind.

Siri.

Siri Tachi, who had always been in his life, against whose sharp tongue and biting personality he had shaped his own quietude. Siri, who had held him to high standards, and who had not forgiven his transgressions until he earned it. Irritating, perfectionist, maddening Siri.

She was dying.

Alone.

He was less than a meter away, but she was dying alone anyway.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he scrambled up onto the flat wing of the fighter, and pulled her broken body out of the cockpit. She stirred as he gathered her in his arms.

"Are you insane?" she whispered. A bit of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "You'll catch it. It's the Naboo strain. It..." She ran out of strength and closed her eyes to breathe in deeply a few times. Obi-Wan let her. When she opened her eyes again, the right one was partially obscured by a flow of blood, leaving her iris split between vivid, too-bright red and the cool, icy blue that Obi-Wan had always known. "I tried..." she coughed, then regained herself. "I tried to get the isolation field up. I didn't set course. I... the lab... something... a body..."

"It's all right, Siri. You don't have to talk."

"Don't... be absurd. How else would you know?"

Obi-Wan felt his arms tighten around her, a quiet laugh surprising him. Siri--she was determined to die in the middle of lecturing him. He didn't realize that he meant to kiss her forehead until his lips actually touched her skin. Her blood smeared across his cheek. "We'll get you inside. I'm sure they're deploying the isolation droids already."

"Doesn't matter. I've been sick for two days now. It moves fast. Someone... a needle... body..." Her eyes moved in random twitches, and Obi-Wan understood that whatever vision she'd had left when she landed was fading quickly. "Body was treated with something," she murmured. "Passed out. And then... a needle... and then my ship. I was coming in toward Coruscant when I came to."

"Dooku is trying to infect the Temple."

"Haven't... established... "

Obi-Wan put his finger over her lips and nodded. She didn't need to finish the lecture. They hadn't established Dooku. Fine. But he knew it, and he could feel that she knew it as well. Siri's had not been a random infection. She had been targeted specifically. "Someone is trying to infect us," he amended. "Was that more precise, Siri?"

She tried to smile. "You're doing better."

A shiver ran through her body, and Obi-Wan pulled off his cloak, wrapping it around her to ward off the chill. "We have to get you inside."

"No."

"Siri, the droids--" He

 

*wipes tears from eyes* I never thought I would care if Siri died, but seeing how her death affected Obi-Wan was too sad. I liked the way he couldn't let go of her body, and was thinking back to how he wasn't able to let go of Qui-Gon's body, either. I also liked the way that Obi-Wan couldn't see Luke, that he was just part of the gauzy form of Anakin, which seems to be true in more than just a physical sense. Excellent details.

 

"I've been sick for two days now." And now she is dead -OMG, it's so fast, Obi Wan has got too little time- everyone has got too little time to find out something... Terrible!!

The emotional-level of this story is amazing! The pain, the love, the happyness, the suffering- they come through so intensely from the characters and they literally hit us, the readers... So powerful!!! We know that Gala can do it, though I usually praise her characterization only. In all of her previous stories there are scenes of intense feelings- but never before I've seen like this: every single post is almost blowing up- Gala's using so well the colors, the tastes, the memories, the tears...

I SIMPLY CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!

 

Siri dead!!!!!!






no this didn't just happen

 

Okay, so I broke my usual rule about "not reading any more new stories until I have time" and ended up reading through this in one go....it was *that* impressive.

I've read AU's where Anakin trains Luke, or rather, Vader does, but I don't recall any like this (unless this just means I need to read more fics, which I probably do)

Loved how you portrayed Obi-Wan. I really feel for him, and only you and Cyn seem to make me be able to do that.

For some weird reason Anakin as a Master reminds me quite a bit of Qui Gon. Maybe that's just me, but for some reason I could really picture Qui and Ani's interaction as similar to Ani and Luke's, had Qui lived to train him.

Oh, and I love the idea of a Sith Chick...hehe.

Always enjoy your stories, even if I tend to be a horrible lurker (I remember getting away from AOTQ for a week or so and coming back to find several pages of posts in the interim) and I owe you, when SOTJ is back up, a review for The Penitent which I read a couple days ago over there.

I'll be back,

-Tim

 

Woot! Just found this story and its simply amazing.

Yet I find it difficult to think that Leia is dead.

 

How did I overlook these posts? They were wonderful, JG. They were beautiful and touching. You write Obi-Wan perfectly, and your Anakin-Luke interaction is exquisite. I'll have to pay closer attention to make sure I don't miss any more posts in the future!

 

[face_shocked]

No...she died...poor Obi-Wan...

Somehow I was able to believe that Obi-Wan cared that much for Siri, whereas I'd never really thought about them like that before. Just shows how amazing you are JG. *sniffle* Can't wait for the next post.

Up!

 

To help Gala to find this "cat" easier

It's almost Sunday here...

 

*cries softly* Poor Obi-Wan... the Jedi just can't win when it comes to love, can they? Anakin got his way for a while, but in the end, he lost Padme and Leia. Now Obi-Wan loses the woman he all but admited that he loved.

Wonderful post, JG! Very cool stuff!

AQ

 

Up...

 

I think I'm going to go with Monday-Thursday. For some reason, I'm not feeling like writing on Sunday and Wednesday. Shrug.

Thanks for all the responses, and I'm glad people are enjoying it.

Tonight: Anakin has a minor disagreement with Obi-Wan's plan...

 

Oooo...new post coming, new post coming!

Can't wait, JG! It'll be great I'm sure!

up!

 

Decided to explore this fic, and loving it! It has the same scary sadness as By the Grace of Lady Vader, very captivating. Looking forward to more on the disease!

 

I'm working on the scene. It's sad that at the moment, writing about a hemhorragic virus is a relief...

 

Chapter Two

Anakin was already packing when Mace Windu arrived at the suite. Whatever the Council directed, he was going to Kedarou. If he had to fight them to do it, he was going.

The door was open--Luke had left it ajar while he took his bag down to the crèche--and Mace came through it without signaling. "Anakin?"

"I'm going to Kedarou," Anakin said. "I'm going to find out who's done this."

"The Council chooses your missions, Anakin," Mace said. "You have not been away so long that you should have forgotten that."

Anakin continued packing. "Then I respectfully request permission to go to Kedarou. I still have a Naboo transport in the hangar if a fighter can't be arranged. I plan to leave within the hour."

"Permission granted."

Anakin stopped and looked up. "I was expecting an argument."

"May I sit down?"

"Yes, of course."

Mace chose a small footstool beside the window and sat down on it in a cross-legged meditation posture. "Siri told Obi-Wan that you need to go. Obi-Wan agrees. I called the Council into a brief session to present their case, and the mission was approved."

"Thank you." Anakin bent to resume packing.

"And you must bring your padawan."

Anakin stopped. "What?"

"You are a Jedi master, Anakin. Luke's master, to be specific."

"He's been in training for a week. He isn't ready for a mission."

Mace frowned. "Anakin, this is a directive from Obi-Wan. He says you are not to leave without your padawan."

Anakin felt his jaw clench. The image that had been haunting him came forcefully into his mind: Leia, her poor small face bloody, holding out her arms to him, whispering, Fafa, where are you? Only now it was Luke and he just looked puzzled and frightened. "Is Obi-Wan symptomatic yet?" he asked.

"No. Siri was infected directly, apparently by a needle. The incubation period appears to be longer with Obi-Wan, and the medical droids are administering anti-virals. They're not stopping it, but they're slowing it down, hopefully long enough for the labs on Kedarou and Naboo to find a cure. They're close, Anakin."

Of course. They will save Obi-Wan, but not Padmé and Leia.

He pushed the thought away. "Then he isn't sick yet?"

"No."

"Good. I won't feel as guilty going down there and telling him what I think of his directive."

Mace didn't respond to this fit of pique. He hadn't changed in the ten years Anakin had been away from the Order--he still seemed to believe that Anakin was a problem that would eventually solve itself if studiously ignored. "You know there is concern about your level of personal involvement in this, Anakin. And you know there is reason for that concern."

Anakin snapped his trunk shut and lifted it onto the table. Before leaving, he had confessed to the Council what had happened on Tatooine the night has Mother died. They had investigated the war between the Tuskens and the settlers and realized that there was no authority to which they could remand him, and it had been left alone. But he should have realized that it would still be with them.

It was still with him, after all. It would never leave him.

"It has nothing to do with Luke," he said. "Luke is outside of that."

"We know. And we also know that you are prone to greater discipline when you are caring for someone."

Do not strike out. Do not throttle him.

"You want me to take Luke with me to a plague infested world in order to be an off switch on my temper?"

"In essence, yes." Mace steepled his fingers and regarded Anakin over the peak of his hands. "The Kedarou plague has been contained. The lab where Siri was infected was incinerated. They've found an effective anti-viral to combat the Kedarou strain of the disease, and Siri's was the only case of the Naboo strain. The anti-viral in its diluted form has also proved an effective vaccine. The danger on Kedarou has been contained."

"Unless there's someone with another needle walking around."

"You will need to exercise caution."

 

Oh how sweet I love your little luke and the over protective father shines through Anakin how cute.

waiting for next post
Kithana

 

It is a relief that you didn't write more about the "hemhorragic virus"... And it's also great that Obi Wan has more than just 2, short days...

Sure, I don't envy Master Windu and the Council- in OT at least only poor Imp. officers had to deal with Anakin's temper...

Hm, Anakin, Leia would have been safe with you, don't leave Luke behind!!! I'm sure, he won't

 

Then Luke was before him, and the instinct came too quickly to deny it. He folded his son into an embrace and kissed the top of his head.

I am absolutely admirative of how you seem to effortlessly reach an emotional pitch that resonates with the reader. Excellent stuff!

 

I like! Well written as always, and it looks like Anakin's overprotectiveness is going to figure in...and as usual, he's ready to defy the Council (who just happened to agree with him - one one point, if not another- this time)

I wonder though...

1. What convinced the Council to let Anakin back in?

2. What convinced them to let him train a Padawan, much less his own son?

Or is it just early over here and I'm completely forgetting something important and obvious? (not impossible nor unlikely)

(pictures an older Luke telling Anakin a la Obi-Wan to Qui Gon in TPM "if it weren't for your stubborness, Master, you would be *on* the Council..." LOL.)

-Tim