Fic: White Rabbits (Star Wars, 27/?)
So, I got back from Chicago last night. Had lots of fun on the trip. But now I finally have the chance (and energy) to write.
Title: White Rabbits
Chapter: 27/?
Author: Diana Michelle (butterfly)
Warnings: Spoilers for Revenge of the Sith.
Pairings: Anakin/Obi-Wan; Leia/Han.
Rating: PG/PG-13.
Summary: Luke might be getting a bad feeling about this.
Disclaimer: Not Lucas, don't own a thing, not making any money.
Chapter Index
Chapter Twenty-Seven -- The Slip
Luke walked ahead of Obi-Wan and Anakin on the pathway, left hand rubbing the bruised connection between his right arm and mechanical hand, making sure that his mind was shielded and closed off from Anakin.
Not that he thought Anakin would try to look. Anakin hadn’t reached out to probe Luke’s mind since they were both onboard the Falcon. Luke was definitely getting the impression that Anakin didn’t like him all that much.
And Luke was still trying to wrap his mind around the reality of Anakin. Some things were what he’d expected - Anakin’s lightsaber technique had been very much like Vader’s, though more acrobatic, and Anakin’s initial shocked reaction to hearing that Luke and Leia were his children had made sense.
But this didn’t.
Anakin had wanted to kill him in that fight. For just a moment, Anakin’s lightsaber at Luke’s throat, all that existed in Anakin had been hate, fierce and aching.
Then, the moment had passed, and Anakin had smiled, anger melting to arrogance and victory. Luke didn’t think that Obi-Wan had noticed - the surge of emotion had been almost blinding in the Force, but Anakin’s expression had barely flickered.
In some ways, Luke was glad that those two were going to be staying here at the headquarters instead of back on the Falcon. It would give him a chance both to think some things over and to talk Han into letting them back onto the ship in the morning.
Luke did plan on sticking with them, until they went back or at least found out how they’d gotten here in the first place, but when he sensed one of Mothma’s aides, Jual Todana, just behind the door back inside the building proper, Luke realized that he felt more than a touch of relief at spending some time away from Anakin.
Jual opened the door for them, gesturing them inside.
“Master Kenobi,” Jual said to Obi-Wan after they entered, bowing slightly. “It is my honor to inform you that a room has been made ready.”
“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, inclining his head in return.
“Master Skywalker,” Jual said, turning to face Luke. Luke felt a flash of emotion from Anakin, too quickly hidden to categorize, though anger seemed a fair guess, from what he’d seen so far. “Minister Mothma has requested to speak with you in the Hall of Records. I believe that you already know the way.”
“I do,” Luke said with a smile. Jual’s broad, battle-worn face creased briefly with a return smile, before returning to his customary neutrality.
“Then I would be pleased to show the Jedi to their room,” Jual said, bowing to Luke.
“Thank you,” Luke said. He turned to Obi-Wan and Anakin. “I’ll come back tomorrow, after the Minister meets with you. And I want you to know that I do want to help you.”
“Thank you, Luke,” Obi-Wan said.
“And we’ll see you in the morning,” Anakin said, shading his words with an implication that Luke didn’t feel like examining too closely. Obi-Wan shot Anakin an irritated glance, but didn’t say anything. Luke remembered, earlier, Obi-Wan’s inability to describe just what his relationship was with Anakin, and the memory filled Luke with an odd sense of foreboding.
Some part of him was uncertain that he should leave them alone.
But they were already walking away and it was only the shadow of a warning, one that Obi-Wan wouldn’t have believed in any case. Obi-Wan trusted Anakin, hadn’t yet been betrayed by Anakin. There really was nothing that Luke could say that Obi-Wan would trust, especially without the Force there to inform him of his future bond with Luke.
And Minister Mothma was waiting.
Luke turned away, taking a route that wouldn’t pass the guest suites. Today, the walls seemed to be pressing in on him, just a little. He knew that Mothma wanted to keep the building plain, but a splash of color in the halls wouldn’t hurt anything.
Maybe he’d ask Leia to say something to Mothma. They had a certain closeness and often spoke for hours on politics and matters of state. Luke’s relationship with Mothma was much more tenuous, centered as it was around the formation of the New Jedi Order and just how much that Order would have to do with the New Republic.
As he neared the room, Luke passed another of Mothma’s aides, Rau’a Tuwa, a native of Coruscant. She was in a hurry, her right hand clenched in a tight fist, the dark blonde bun of her hair slightly messy, clear green eyes focused on her destination. Mothma’s aides were generally rushing about, but this felt different somehow.
Luke filed the thought away to deal with later, and knocked lightly on the door.
“Come.” As Mothma spoke, Luke pressed his left thumb lightly on the panel at the side of the door. The door slid open with a gentle whisper of sound.
“Thank you for seeing me,” Luke said as he entered the room. The Hall of Records was much in the style of most of the rooms in the building, with one exception - the walls of the room were lined with drawers, each containing data slips of historical information. So many databanks had been wiped during the Clone Wars and their aftermath. This was one of the safeguards to prevent that from happening again, by having the information in a concrete form that existed outside the internal databanks of the main system.
Mothma was standing by the left wall, one drawer pulled out from the wall. She glanced up at him with a soft smile.
“It's my pleasure, Master Skywalker,” she said warmly. “The New Republic remains grateful for all that you have done for us. I look forward to working with you and your New Jedi Order.”
Luke inclined his head and Mothma paused, looking uncertain for just a moment, and he noticed that she was twisting a data slip over in her hands.
“However, at the moment, I think you’ll agree that we have a more pressing matter to discuss,” she said, her conviction returning.
“Anakin and Obi-Wan,” Luke said.
“Precisely,” she said. “They do appear to be the men that I knew, those many years ago, but I’m sure you can understand why I might have some doubts. What proof do you have to offer that they are the Kenobi and Skywalker of time gone by, and not impostors or even clones?”
“I have nothing solid,” Luke said. “I would suggest a genetic scan but a well-made clone would pass one, we both know that. All I can tell you is that, as a Jedi, I know the truth of who they are.”
“The Jedi didn’t see the last disaster coming,” Mothma said. “How can you be certain that you’re seeing enough of the pattern this time?”
“We can never be certain, Minister,” Luke said. Mothma nodded thoughtfully.
“Then, for now, I just ask that you keep an eye on them while they’re not in this building,” Mothma said. “They are too valuable or too dangerous to lose, depending on the truth of what they are. I will be relying on you, Master Skywalker.”
“Believe me, I plan on staying near them,” Luke said.
“Good. And we shall speak more of your ideas on searching out Jedi for your new order after next week’s celebration,” Mothma said. “I’m afraid that my schedule is far too busy to work in another meeting before then, and I do have to head out to an appointment soon.”
“Of course,” Luke said, bowing his head, pushing away his frustration at this particular discussion being postponed again and suppressing the urge to ask who else she would be speaking to, this late in the day. He started to turn away and then Mothma held out her hand, and he paused.
“Wait,” she said, a data slip gleaming in the palm of her hand. “Before you go, I’d like to give you this. This data copy contains all the surviving information on Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. There isn’t much there, I’m afraid, but it’s a start.”
“Thank you,” Luke said, reaching out to take the slip. He closed his fingers around it, the slip still warm from Mothma’s hand.
This time, when he turned to leave, she let him.
~end chapter twenty-seven~
Title: White Rabbits
Chapter: 27/?
Author: Diana Michelle (butterfly)
Warnings: Spoilers for Revenge of the Sith.
Pairings: Anakin/Obi-Wan; Leia/Han.
Rating: PG/PG-13.
Summary: Luke might be getting a bad feeling about this.
Disclaimer: Not Lucas, don't own a thing, not making any money.
Chapter Index
Chapter Twenty-Seven -- The Slip
Luke walked ahead of Obi-Wan and Anakin on the pathway, left hand rubbing the bruised connection between his right arm and mechanical hand, making sure that his mind was shielded and closed off from Anakin.
Not that he thought Anakin would try to look. Anakin hadn’t reached out to probe Luke’s mind since they were both onboard the Falcon. Luke was definitely getting the impression that Anakin didn’t like him all that much.
And Luke was still trying to wrap his mind around the reality of Anakin. Some things were what he’d expected - Anakin’s lightsaber technique had been very much like Vader’s, though more acrobatic, and Anakin’s initial shocked reaction to hearing that Luke and Leia were his children had made sense.
But this didn’t.
Anakin had wanted to kill him in that fight. For just a moment, Anakin’s lightsaber at Luke’s throat, all that existed in Anakin had been hate, fierce and aching.
Then, the moment had passed, and Anakin had smiled, anger melting to arrogance and victory. Luke didn’t think that Obi-Wan had noticed - the surge of emotion had been almost blinding in the Force, but Anakin’s expression had barely flickered.
In some ways, Luke was glad that those two were going to be staying here at the headquarters instead of back on the Falcon. It would give him a chance both to think some things over and to talk Han into letting them back onto the ship in the morning.
Luke did plan on sticking with them, until they went back or at least found out how they’d gotten here in the first place, but when he sensed one of Mothma’s aides, Jual Todana, just behind the door back inside the building proper, Luke realized that he felt more than a touch of relief at spending some time away from Anakin.
Jual opened the door for them, gesturing them inside.
“Master Kenobi,” Jual said to Obi-Wan after they entered, bowing slightly. “It is my honor to inform you that a room has been made ready.”
“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, inclining his head in return.
“Master Skywalker,” Jual said, turning to face Luke. Luke felt a flash of emotion from Anakin, too quickly hidden to categorize, though anger seemed a fair guess, from what he’d seen so far. “Minister Mothma has requested to speak with you in the Hall of Records. I believe that you already know the way.”
“I do,” Luke said with a smile. Jual’s broad, battle-worn face creased briefly with a return smile, before returning to his customary neutrality.
“Then I would be pleased to show the Jedi to their room,” Jual said, bowing to Luke.
“Thank you,” Luke said. He turned to Obi-Wan and Anakin. “I’ll come back tomorrow, after the Minister meets with you. And I want you to know that I do want to help you.”
“Thank you, Luke,” Obi-Wan said.
“And we’ll see you in the morning,” Anakin said, shading his words with an implication that Luke didn’t feel like examining too closely. Obi-Wan shot Anakin an irritated glance, but didn’t say anything. Luke remembered, earlier, Obi-Wan’s inability to describe just what his relationship was with Anakin, and the memory filled Luke with an odd sense of foreboding.
Some part of him was uncertain that he should leave them alone.
But they were already walking away and it was only the shadow of a warning, one that Obi-Wan wouldn’t have believed in any case. Obi-Wan trusted Anakin, hadn’t yet been betrayed by Anakin. There really was nothing that Luke could say that Obi-Wan would trust, especially without the Force there to inform him of his future bond with Luke.
And Minister Mothma was waiting.
Luke turned away, taking a route that wouldn’t pass the guest suites. Today, the walls seemed to be pressing in on him, just a little. He knew that Mothma wanted to keep the building plain, but a splash of color in the halls wouldn’t hurt anything.
Maybe he’d ask Leia to say something to Mothma. They had a certain closeness and often spoke for hours on politics and matters of state. Luke’s relationship with Mothma was much more tenuous, centered as it was around the formation of the New Jedi Order and just how much that Order would have to do with the New Republic.
As he neared the room, Luke passed another of Mothma’s aides, Rau’a Tuwa, a native of Coruscant. She was in a hurry, her right hand clenched in a tight fist, the dark blonde bun of her hair slightly messy, clear green eyes focused on her destination. Mothma’s aides were generally rushing about, but this felt different somehow.
Luke filed the thought away to deal with later, and knocked lightly on the door.
“Come.” As Mothma spoke, Luke pressed his left thumb lightly on the panel at the side of the door. The door slid open with a gentle whisper of sound.
“Thank you for seeing me,” Luke said as he entered the room. The Hall of Records was much in the style of most of the rooms in the building, with one exception - the walls of the room were lined with drawers, each containing data slips of historical information. So many databanks had been wiped during the Clone Wars and their aftermath. This was one of the safeguards to prevent that from happening again, by having the information in a concrete form that existed outside the internal databanks of the main system.
Mothma was standing by the left wall, one drawer pulled out from the wall. She glanced up at him with a soft smile.
“It's my pleasure, Master Skywalker,” she said warmly. “The New Republic remains grateful for all that you have done for us. I look forward to working with you and your New Jedi Order.”
Luke inclined his head and Mothma paused, looking uncertain for just a moment, and he noticed that she was twisting a data slip over in her hands.
“However, at the moment, I think you’ll agree that we have a more pressing matter to discuss,” she said, her conviction returning.
“Anakin and Obi-Wan,” Luke said.
“Precisely,” she said. “They do appear to be the men that I knew, those many years ago, but I’m sure you can understand why I might have some doubts. What proof do you have to offer that they are the Kenobi and Skywalker of time gone by, and not impostors or even clones?”
“I have nothing solid,” Luke said. “I would suggest a genetic scan but a well-made clone would pass one, we both know that. All I can tell you is that, as a Jedi, I know the truth of who they are.”
“The Jedi didn’t see the last disaster coming,” Mothma said. “How can you be certain that you’re seeing enough of the pattern this time?”
“We can never be certain, Minister,” Luke said. Mothma nodded thoughtfully.
“Then, for now, I just ask that you keep an eye on them while they’re not in this building,” Mothma said. “They are too valuable or too dangerous to lose, depending on the truth of what they are. I will be relying on you, Master Skywalker.”
“Believe me, I plan on staying near them,” Luke said.
“Good. And we shall speak more of your ideas on searching out Jedi for your new order after next week’s celebration,” Mothma said. “I’m afraid that my schedule is far too busy to work in another meeting before then, and I do have to head out to an appointment soon.”
“Of course,” Luke said, bowing his head, pushing away his frustration at this particular discussion being postponed again and suppressing the urge to ask who else she would be speaking to, this late in the day. He started to turn away and then Mothma held out her hand, and he paused.
“Wait,” she said, a data slip gleaming in the palm of her hand. “Before you go, I’d like to give you this. This data copy contains all the surviving information on Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. There isn’t much there, I’m afraid, but it’s a start.”
“Thank you,” Luke said, reaching out to take the slip. He closed his fingers around it, the slip still warm from Mothma’s hand.
This time, when he turned to leave, she let him.
~end chapter twenty-seven~