Trial of the Times

Prologue - Rewritten

Author's Note: Okay, so, I never expected that this would happen, but it is. Lol. Since this was the first AUs I wrote, there were many things which I didn't exactly do which I now think I should have. Therefore, I'm going to be rewriting this fanfic. The plotline will be exactly the same, but I'll be adding in a few more scenes, especially more Dooku and Anakin angst. xD

You don't need to reread this before reading the sequel, Dark Legacy, which is being released at the same time. Updates for both should be every other week. :)

Now, for a bit of promotion, here's the plot for Dark Legacy. Despite his personal feelings, Anakin Skywalker is forced to return to Korriban to take the Sith trials. He leaves with cryptic messages and more fears than he came with. The vision he has of killing Dooku upon his return is only the beginning. Is it the future? Or one which he averted? Darker forces are clearly at play, but Sidious is dead, or is he?

~ Amina Gila

Pain. So much pain. It feels like someone shredded his heart. Anakin Skywalker takes a slow, steadying breath to no avail. Nothing can dull his pain. Nothing. Obi-Wan, his brother, best friend, mentor is dead. Gone. From the galaxy, from the Force. He's just... gone. Dead. And it's all so very wrong.

He rests his chin on his palm, staring dully out the window of their apartment in the Jedi Temple. He needs to get away. He can't stand being here, where the memories are so overwhelming. Everything about the buildings reminds him of Obi-Wan. He can't even turn around without thinking about him. This is too hard.

His eyes fall closed. He's tired. Exhausted. How many days has it been since he's slept properly? Too many. Ever since Obi-Wan died. Even sneaking into his brother's room at night doesn't help. It both soothes and tortures him. He needs Obi-Wan right now, but he's not here to help him. Anakin is alone. Completely alone with his grief.

I can't... do this. Anakin opens his eyes, turning away from the window. His only escape. Flying. So, he slips away to the hanger to go find his starfighter. Maybe it will help take his mind off everything. He ensures that his astromech droid, Artoo, is in place before climbing inside and starting the engine. His jaw is firmly set as he flies out of the hanger into the sky.

He wants to fly and fly and fly until there's nowhere else to fly too. If not for his Padawan, Ahsoka, he thinks he'd probably leave the Order. Convince Padme to take a vacation so they can do somewhere all alone and just be together as husband and wife. Being with her, it would help him dull the pain. But it will never, ever, ever go away, because Obi-Wan was part of him and now he's just... gone.

He flies higher until the buildings beneath him are smaller, and he's in the upper layers of Coruscant's atmosphere. Anakin takes the fighter twisting and turning through space, trying to just stop thinking. But his mind – and heart – won't stop screaming in agony. He shakes his head, trying to will away the tears misting in his eyes.

It would be so easy for him to – to – crash his starfighter. Except he doesn't really want to die. Not yet. He fears the thought of death. He pushes the fighter to go even faster. He likes flying so far away from the surface of Coruscant, cut off from the rest of civilization. Who knew that someone dying could be so hard?

No. No. Not someone. Obi-Wan. Anakin chokes back a sob. He shouldn't be dead. It's just not fair. Why did he have to die?! Why did it have to be him? He wasn't supposed to die. He was supposed to stay there... to be with Anakin. They weren't supposed to leave each other. So then why?

He can't answer that question. No one can answer. Obi-Wan. His former master, his best friend, his brother. Gone. Dead. He can hardly bring his mind to accept it. He knows death, of course. He's seen so many people die in the war, but this. This is different. It shouldn't hurt this much. Why does it have to hurt so much?