What Could Have Been Part III: The Destined Warriors

Obi-wan

      Um so hi guys... fair warning, you may cry...

                                                                         -Starwarzgirl

       Anakin

      Your nothing but a coward.

      Anakin shook his head as he began to exit lightspeed above Mandalore. Ever since his son and daughter were born, they were the most important things to him. He had always treasured their admiration toward him and wanted nothing more than to protect and love them. But his good intentions had gotten the best of him once again. He didn't trust his son, and now Luke hated him for it. Not in the way a young child hates their parents for trivial things like making them eat vegetables- Anakin was used to that. Now that his son was a grown young man, his indignation was strong and intense and lasting. It was different now.

      I've failed him. I've failed them both.

      In three days he had allowed the Temple to be destroyed, he had lost one of his best pilots, and ruined his relationship with his son. That had to have been a record.

      As Anakin's ship hung in orbit over Mandalore, he gazed down at the dusty brown planet. He wandered what he would tell Padme. He had been in such a rush leaving that he hadn't even told her he was going. He didn't want to think about how she would react when she heard about his encounter with Luke on Onderon. And Obi-wan. What would he say about this? It was while Anakin pondered these things that Anakin realized something was very wrong. He had never noticed how peaceful Mandalore looked from orbit.

      The blockade.

      Where was it? Dozens of ships had been floating above the planet when he had left just hours before. If they had followed him, he would have passed them at some point. What had happened?

      It was then that Anakin's communicator finally picked up on Mandalore's signal. He had an endless number of messages from the Alliance and an incoming call from Padme.

     "Anakin where have you been?!?" Padme asked immediately as her image appeared via hologram. She looked completely worn out with her wild curls trying to escape her braid and a tear in her sleeve. Anakin began his ship's descent through Mandalore's atmosphere; something in his stomach wouldn't settle and he knew it wasn't hypersickness.

      "I went to find Luke... He was- Padme what's going on? Are you okay?" Padme shook her head quickly. "Anakin we've been attacked. It was Rett's men. You need to get down here!" Anakin forced the nose of his downward, plunging it through the thick layers of clouds above Mandalore. "I'll be there soon. How many injuries do we have?" he asked, trying to sustain a steady voice. Padme only shook her head again. Her curls swirled like lose flames around her head. "We don't know yet. But Anakin I think you should know-"

      "Padme, listen to me. It's gonna be alright."

      "Anakin, it's Obi-wan!"

      **********************************************

      Static followed between the couple as Anakin comprehended the information. But instead of sinking in to his brain, the words seemed to just sit there on the surface of his conscience; suspended as a set meaningless letters arranged into useless words that formed a sentence Anakin refused to accept. He coaxed every last once of power out of his accelerating ship until he finally reached the Alliance camp.