Redemption - A Star Wars Fanfic

Chapter 2

To say Anakin was confused was an understatement. He had been prepared to take out Dooku once and for all, especially after the Sith Lord had knocked his former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, unconscious against the wall. However, only seconds before the highly anticipated fight could begin, and before Obi-Wan could even be injured in the first place, a blinding light had diverted the attention of both the Jedi, the Sith, and the Chancellor towards the sudden disturbance. Once the strange light had cleared, a boy with sandy blonde hair and black robes had appeared at their feet, clutching his head and taking a moment to adjust to his surroundings.

After an awkward and useless tension between the new arrival and the others, pure chaos had ensued. Which was really just a normal mission for the reckless Jedi duo. Despite Obi-Wan being unconscious, the Chancellor now safe, and the strange boy now acting more suspicious than he had been when he first arrived, Dooku's words were the main thought echoing through Anakin's mind as he made his way towards the turbolift.

'I sense great fear in you Skywalker. You have hate...you have anger...but you don't use them.'

Anakin tightened his grip on his new prisoner, ignoring the huff of annoyance from Dooku as he dragged him forward. He would've very much preferred to leave Dooku's corpse aboard the Invisible Hand, but something about the strange boy's words had shifted something inside him. He didn't know the boy at all, yet he still seemed familiar, which aggravated him to no end. Not only that, but Chancellor Palpatine had also been acting strange. The old politician was one of his most trusted friends, but when he had told Anakin to kill Dooku...it had felt like more than just the removal of a war enemy. More like a strategic move. And now here he was saying that they should leave Obi-Wan, one of their own, behind.

But again, there was still the case of the boy.

Sith, I still don't know his name. Anakin thought with a wince.

He glanced at the boy in question and watched as he slung Obi-Wan's prone form over his shoulder. Anakin tried not to worry about his former Master, feeling his injuries through their bond and wincing at the ghostly pain in his ribs from the connection. The mission had been a close call as usual, but it was no different from the Outer Rim sieges they had previously returned from, if not worse. Besides, Anakin figured he could just use it to tease his old Master about saving his neck again. Obi-Wan would of course claim that he had saved Anakin many more times during the war, but Anakin didn't care what he said, peeving him all the same.

Allowing a wistful smile to grace his lips, Anakin quickly cleared his thoughts and pressed the button to the turbolift. When nothing happened, he resisted the urge to curse. "Turbolift isn't working," he said to the Chancellor and the blonde boy when they watched quizzically as Anakin pulled out his commlink and contacted his loyal astromech, Artoo Detoo.

"Artoo, activate elevator 3224," he ordered. No response. The ship abruptly lurched, all of them stumbling forward in search for purchase and stability. Anakin saw the boy struggling to keep Obi-Wan on his shoulders and winced in sympathy. Even with his mysterious background, at least the kid was helping them.

Conveniently, the turbolift slid open from the momentum of the ship and provided an open walkway for them to crawl through while the ship was on its side. Taking a deep breath and making sure he had a solid grip on his prisoner, Anakin crawled in first with Dooku at his heels. He was quickly followed by the boy carrying Obi-Wan and the Chancellor watching the ground warily. They began running as quickly as they could in the hope to reach their destination before the ship moved again, but they didn't get very far before it did exactly that. Anakin yet again resisted the urge to curse loudly and profoundly as his feet slipped out from underneath him, sliding straight down the turbolift shaft with his final destination being a broken heap at the bottom floor. Hoping to slow the group's velocity to prevent death on impact, Anakin began scrambling for a hand hold along the rapidly moving metal wall. His prosthetic hand latched onto a loose wire, and he yelped in pain as the Chancellor and the boy, still carrying Obi-Wan, grabbed at his legs, both of their combined inertia yanking Anakin's legs nearly out of their sockets. Dooku, meanwhile, still in binders, had climbed onto Anakin's back, steadily ignoring the fall below him and wrapping his handless arms around Anakin's neck for stability.