perfidy | anakin skywalker

eight

trigger warning: mention of depression and reference of suicide

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WORD COUNT: 1K

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4 Years Later

On one strange and ominous night, for only a handful of seconds, the Force was still. It was as still as the tree’s that refused to whisper and sway. It was as still as the ocean that ever so gently coiled in on itself repeatingly, it’s usual raging persona abandoned.

It was as still as Gal Skywalker, an old Jedi Master who had just learnt the horrible news; She was the last Jedi Master in existence, for Master Yoda had passed onto the Force. 

All the knowledge of the Jedi lived within her and Harley, but who knew where the younger woman was. It was Gal's responsibility to pass it onto future Jedi, or it might live and die with her. 

She had never truly felt more alone than in that moment.

+

Obi-Wan's Force ghost watched Gal as she continued to walk around, collecting rocks in her bucket for what was the third time that day.

She glanced up at him and asked him why he was following her. 

"Why are you collecting these rocks?" He asked her as she dropped to her knees in the dirt and ran her hands across the ground, her fingers spread widely as they raked the dirt. 

"Why are you hassling me? You could be elsewhere you know?" She muttered and glared up at him. 

"I'm worried about you, Gal."

Gal's laugh had no humor behind it, nor did her face show any expression. She only continued shoveling handfuls of unturned rocks into the bucket, briefly pausing to inspect a broken one before tossing it over her shoulder. 

"Well you shouldn't be. I've made it the past two decades on my own with only Harley by my side. I don't need anybody to start worrying about me now." 

Obi-Wan sighed loudly and crossed his arms, "I feel as if you're falling into a depression you will not be able to pull yourself from, and I fear I won't be able to help you either." 

She looked up at him and rose to her feet in a rush, her muddy hands grabbed her onto her robes.

"I never wanted this life, Obi-Wan! I never wanted to live in exile for two decades. I never wanted to give up my children and miss out on raising them. I never wanted my husband to fall to the dark side and I never wanted to have the entire history of the Jedi rely on me! Of course, I'm falling into a depression. I hate my life. Some days I just..." Gal sat back down on the ground in defeat, her shoulders heavily hunched over. "I just don't want to live this life anymore. If my life doesn't have Anakin or the twins, or Harley, then- then I don't want it."

Gal was sick and tired of feeling sorry for herself, but it was the only thing she could do. She really had no purpose anymore, she was just existing.

"I don't know why I ever listened to you, or any of the Jedi. If I knew I'd be spending half my life like this, I would have ended it all years ago," she said, crossing her arms and putting them on top of her knees.

Obi-Wan was silent for a little while, and it made Gal wonder if she had been ranting to thin air this whole time like she had been when she saw Master Gallia.

"My intentions have never been to hurt you, Gal. Ever. We had to do what was best at the time-"

"Best for who exactly?" She asked pushed herself onto her feet. Her turn towards him screamed violence and anger, but she took several deep breaths the calm herself. "Best for you? Best for me? Luke and Leia?" As Gal hounded him, she couldn't help but become emotional. The lump in her throat grew. "You won't ever know how it feels to see your child, that you never were allowed to raise, completely grown up. You don't understand how much it hurt me to lie to Luke's face day and night. Not being able to tell him the truth, hurt me, Obi-Wan! I want things to go back to the way they were, I need them to."

Obi-Wan shook his head softly as Gal wiped her hands on her robes before wiping the tears from her face. 

"You and I both know the fate of the Jedi are resting in your hands… Luke needs your help," he told her, watching as she looked up at him quickly. 

"What? Why?" She asked and walked towards his Force ghost, almost rolling her ankle in the small hole in the sand.

"He will not be deemed a Jedi until he faces Vader again, and I feel he doesn't have the strength to do that on his own yet. You need to go and help him, or Vader will destroy him and the Emperor will win," Obi-Wan said to her. 

Gal frowned and looked down at the ground.

"Luke knows…" She muttered in realisation. She looked up at Obi-Wan who gave her a small smile. "Luke knows about everything. About Vader, Leia, Anakin, everything! W-Wait, does Vader know?"

Obi-Wan nodded once. "I believe Vader had sensed it when they first confronted one another," he told her quietly as she nodded, taking in the news.

Vader knew he had a son. Whether he knew about Leia or not concerned her greatly, she didn't want her to also become a target of the Emperor's.

"Did you tell Luke about me?" She asked, eyes widening in hope as she took a couple more steps forward.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "everything, but you." Her shoulders slumped a little but they perked back up when he continued to say, "you have to tell him yourself."

"What planet is he on?"

"Oh, it's no planet…" 

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short chapter but y'all better get ready for the next one !!