always funny to remember darth vader is anakin skywalker. the adrenaline junkie chucklefuck who used to dive head first out of speeders and built a pod racer in his yard when he was like six is now upper-middle management for the evil empire. half of his appearances in the original trilogy are Meetings. vader spends like 80% of his time dealing with bureaucratic bullshit. status updates. team meetings. holo-Zooms. budget rundowns. anakin betrayed the jedi and caused the fall of the republic and his punishment is being CC'd on every email forever. and you know what. he would hate that. the punishment fits the criminal
I HC that Sidious put him in upper management specifically to make that hate flow. He looked at Jedi Anakin and thought to himself: what does this guy like? Jumping out of moving vehicles at 30,000 feet? Well, we won’t be doing *gestures at all of Anakin* that. Put this guy in an office.
a/n: so sorry for disappearing for however long!! this chapter is building for the next part so just trust and follow me on this hahah
part four | part two | part one | part three
pairing: anakin skywalker x jedi!reader (fem reader)
*29 BBY*
“Ani,” the audio of the holopad scratches out of the speakers, your voice muffled under Anakin’s hand covering the speakers, “you would not believe how beautiful this planet is.” You huff out excitedly through your audio message. Anakin and you had promised to send each other secret holo-messages during your time apart to keep each other up to date on your lives. Anakin figured it would be more of you updating him on your new adventures, than vice versa, since he was still stuck at the temple, but he still planned on keeping his promise. The holopad lights up again with the continuation of your message, “it’s all lush and alive here, there’s flora and greenery growing all over the palace, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
Anakin continues to listen to your message, keeping the speaker muffled with his hand to preserve the quietness, and even pulling a blanket over him to make sure the light from the holopad isn’t seen. He’s alone in his room and it’s late at night, but he doesn’t want to catch the attention of any jedis up late near his room.
Anakin didn’t want to admit it to anyone but he was starting to get nervous that he hadn’t heard from you prior to today. It had been a month since you and Master Plo Koon departed from Coruscant and he knew your schedule would be busy on your mission, but still, he had hoped he would’ve heard from you by now, maybe at least just a short message saying you’ve made it and if you were enjoying yourself or not. He had sent a few over the past few weeks, explaining what him and Obi-Wan had been up to, not much admittedly, but he hoped that if he kept you up with his weekly doings, that maybe you would remember to send yours back.
As the weeks started to pass with no word from you, he started to feel more and more anxious, but the small, rationale part of his brain reminded him that someone on Coruscant would have to know if things went poorly, right? It was surface level mission, more for support and diplomacy, then real hands-on work, so if something did happen Obi-Wan would know and tell him, right?
Thankfully, there was no real concern because when he was doing his readings after dinner tonight, he saw the small red alert in the corner of the screen notifying of the outstanding message, and he felt like he could take a deep breath again. Anakin knew he wouldn’t be able to scurry off so early in the evening to listen to your message, but it was itching at him that he had to wait even longer to hear your voice and your update. Luck continued to be in Anakin’s favor tonight though as it seemed as Obi-Wan was also interested in an early night, and let Anakin head off to his room earlier than usual.
Anakin rushed through his nightly routine so he could hop in bed, pull the blanket over his head, and hit play on his holopad, your voice filling the space underneath the blanket. He leaned his head back with his eyes closed, listening in as you continued on with your stories of this past month. The sprawling greens of the palace, the fountains made of marble and stone flowing with fresh, clean water, and the palace itself, with an uncountable number of rooms, all filled with the most soft and luxurious materials you have ever seen and felt. You even had your own room at this palace, it was nowhere near as luxurious as the royal family’s rooms but you swear that the bed alone in your room was the same size as your whole room back at the temple.
You sighed happily as you explained that the skies were clear on this planet, no continuous roar of ships filling the skyline like Coruscant, no smog or heavy smell of fuel, just blue skies with a soft sweet breeze, and sometimes, a rare cloudy day. The noisiest part of the palace was the birds, you explained, early in the morning, their calls awakening you for your morning rounds, and the sounds of calls outside of your window every night as the birds settled during the sunset.
But when the birds were quiet after the sun had settled, and the light had gone dark outside, you could hear the crush of the waves on the shore. You explained to him that initially you hated the early morning shifts for rounds, but within the past week or so, you really grew to love the sounds of the world waking up at the same time as you. Sometimes you would even be up before the birds and would be outside in time to see the initial daybreak across the skyline that alerted the birds.
Anakin was happy to hear about your new adventure and how great the location was, but he couldn’t help the feeling of envy crawling up his spine. He wanted his own adventure like that, he was sold this idea of what a life would be like as a jedi, but for the most part since entering the order, he’s felt trapped within the walls of the temple. How you describe the planet you’re staying on currently reminds of him of his time on Naboo when he was younger during the battle, he itches for that freedom and excitement again.
He also itches to see Padmé again. As you ramble on about the royal family you are serving, his mind travels to the previous queen of Naboo and what she may be up to now. Is there a possibility of him going to Naboo for diplomatic reasons and seeing her again? The same way you are with your mission? He wouldn’t mind that. Going back to Naboo, showing Padmé the jedi he has become. He had been wanting to keep up to date with the news of Naboo and the new senator, but Obi-Wan’s training schedule has kept him busy.
Your voice brings Anakin back to his surroundings as he listens to you continue on, “I’ve even been able to join the queen and the princess to the town center for their shopping trips, and with the chefs and handmaidens for their trips to farmer’s markets. I haven’t seen anything like it, it’s not like the markets in Coruscant at all. I think you would love it here…I wish you could join me. Maybe I could sneak a few pictures of the grounds to you? Will have to do it when no one’s around though, don’t think I could really explain away why I am taking pictures with my holopad to the rest of the guards or Master Plo Koon.”
Anakin can’t help but close his eyes again and rest his head back as he relaxes in for the night, listening to your voice carry on. Tomorrow morning he’ll regret not pausing your voice message, but for right now, your voice is exactly what he needs to get his first restful night of sleep in a while.
…
*3 months after departure*
“Ugh Ani,” your groan crackling over the speakers of the holopad, “it’s so boring out here, it’s just round after round, every dayyy-yuh,” Anakin chuckles at the tone of your voice, your message from last night playing as he gets ready for his day on Coruscant.
“Nothing’s really been happening, every day seems to be the same out here…at least I get some outside time, it seems a lot of their staff is stuck inside with them. None of the royals really seem to leave the palace, it’s like…a rare occasion for them to even go out to their gardens. Which is mind boggling to me, they spend alllll this money on all of these luscious gardens and luxurious items and they don’t even use them a majority of the time.”
Anakin can hear the sounds of your shoes shuffling in what he assumes are loose stones in the background of your call. You continue on, “I will say though, I have gotten closer with some of the princess’s handmaidens and some of the groundskeepers, it seems like a lot of the workers here are very kind.”
You pause, some more shuffling from your feet, and you weren’t wrong, the birds really are loud around you. “I even went on one of my rounds the other night with Sella, she’s one of the princesses’ handmaidens, and at the end of the round, she asked if I had seen the tunnels. And I’m like the tunnels? I had no idea they had existed, but she walked me through this hidden door behind one of the shelves of the hall, and showed me the emblem on the shelves to show which shelves are actually hidden doors. The tunnels were crazy though, there had to be dozens of them that we walked by on the way to the tunnel near my room. Apparently, there are some that lead to the royals’ rooms. It’s good thing I had Sella with me thought, because I could’ve easily gotten lost in the maze they have built within this place.”
“But also, Sella was telling me about this rumor of a hidden hangar under the palace. She had never seen it herself, because I asked if it’s the same as the one we had flown into outside of the grounds, closer to the town, but apparently, along with the hidden hangar there’s also a hidden bunker accessible through the tunnels” your voice pauses over the speaker, before adding “wait, don’t tell anyone I said that though. I told Sella I would keep it a secret…but it’s not like you’re here anyways.”
“but yeah, apparently there’s all of these hidden passageways and tunnels buried all throughout the palace. I only know about the one so far, but Sella said that there’s a lot more, all built to keep the royals safe and to let them escape if there’s ever an attack or something, which makes sense, and you know…it makes sense that everything would have to be kept hush hush.”
“I told Sella though that we have got to get something like this back in the Jedi temple, imagine how easy it would be to sneak out if we had some tunnels? That would be cool huh?” You pause, catching your breath from talking excitedly, but continue on “oh but yeah, as I was saying there’s not much going on around here right now.”
“I feel like most of my work out here has just been being on call, going on rounds, and going to the town for some of the chores, like shopping or picking up their new wardrobe pieces. Which is fine, I guess, at least I’m not just stuck inside all day, but like, I really thought I would be doing something here, not just playing chaperone for these royals. They have their own guards, so it’s not like I’m doing much of the work, I’m just tagging along with their rounds, but they’re kind of jerks. It’s weird, it’s like they don’t even acknowledge the rest of the staff of the palace.”
“I’ve been here, what? A couple of months now? And I swear the handmaidens and groundskeepers are closer to me than they are the guards, and it’s like the guards refuse to even acknowledge them…there’re only a few handmaidens that the guards will talk to or acknowledge more than a grunt. There’s Vitiia and Mala who are the queen’s handmaidens, I think they have been here the longest… and then I know they sometimes will talk to Sella, but when it comes to the caretakers or the groundskeepers, I swear they don’t talk to anyoneee.”
“My friend Anvril, who’s the son of one of the older groundskeepers, said his dad used to be close with some of the guards since they’ve been here for so long, but now? Nothing. It’s just ugh, so weird…”
…
The sun feels warm on your skin this afternoon, but it’s a welcomed change, having been stuck in the palace all morning with Master Plo Koon, working on some trainings and meditations. Not much has been changing on these palace grounds these past couple of months, but going outside at least gives you a break from the cold marble and stone floors and walls inside the palace.
“Anvril!” you happily call out to your friend from the foot path, spotting Anvril crouched in one of the voluminous flower beds sprawling along the most inner fence of the palace walls. His head whips to stare at you, eyes wide.
“Stars above, you scared me…” Anvril sighs standing up and stepping away from the fence, he looks around dusting his hands off on his pants, “what are you doing out here? You and the guards out on a round?” He steps out of the flower bed and crosses the manicured lawn to meet you on the stone pathway, his eyes scanning the area.
“Oh no,” you wave your hand at him absentmindedly, “just me out here.” You don’t notice how Anvril’s shoulders seem to relax, “my Master got pulled into a meeting with the royal guards and told me to go do a quick round…so that’s what I’m up to.”
You look around him, peering at the bag of tools near the fence and then back up at him, “what are you up to?”
Anvril scratches the back his neck, looking between you and the bag, before sighing out and saying “uh, my dad mentioned that there seems to be a rodent problem on the grounds again, so he’s been having me…check for weaknesses in the fences.”
“Really?” You ask a bit incredulously, “I haven’t seen anything.”
“Ah well, you know, you’ve been on the morning route recently, and these rodents…well they seem to be coming out more right after dusk.”
“Right, yeah” you nod, “huh, well, better you than me.” You laugh up at Anvril before adding, “I don’t really like rodents, there was a small cluster of mites in the temple once, and I swear we could hear the scurrying all night…woke up and there was one in my bed, blegh.” Anvril laughs alongside with you at your anecdote and miming.
…
*7 months after departure*
“Hey Ani,” He hears your voice and then some shuffling around in the background, “sorry I haven’t been sending as many messages, everything is still fine here…well I guess kind of fine. I don’t really know.”
“We had to close the gates to the town center recently, and there’s been some more guards put in place along the fences, and even some guards on rounds now, which is kind of annoying because they’re always just awkwardly walking behind me…but that’s beside the point, Master Plo Koon told me there’s some fears of civil unrest starting to spark up in the town, and I even overheard from the guards that there’s a suspected terrorist group in town now.”
“Nothing’s really happened so they can’t do anything about it yet, but we’ve pretty much been locked down in the palace yards now…which I guess is fine all things considered. Like if I am going to be stuck somewhere, it might as well be a palace, right?”
“I feel like even the royals are starting to get antsy being stuck here, I would like never see them before, and now? Even the king and queen are doing rounds around the greens…which don’t tell anyone I said this” you pause, your voice lowering a bit before continuing “but it’s so annoying because when they’re out no one’s allowed to do anything fun out there. Like it’s bad enough when the guards are out on ‘rounds’ and lurking around the greens too, but at least they’re cool with giving me space and we all kind of do our thing in our own areas, but when the royal family is out? Everyone has to stop what they are doing to keep an eye on them.”
“The first time I noticed they were out on a walk, well it was technically before I even noticed, I was doing my normal route on the stone path following the path a snail was taking, and Master Plo Koon literally had to grab my shoulder and pull me back before I accidentally walked into their group of guards surrounding, but like how was I supposed to know out of the almost year we’ve been out here, that that would be the first day they choose to go outside? And in my path no less? Ugh.”
“The princess comes out sometimes too, and she’s pretty nice, a little weird, but it’s fine I guess, it’s nice to have to someone who’s not old to chat to every once in a while…I’ll keep you updated on anything else going on around here though. Fingers crossed something cool happens and I can finally show all of these boring old guards my training.”
the next part alone is almost the same amount of words as all of the other chapters combined so far, and it’s not even close to be done or edited yet 😵💫😭
I really like the next chapter and I hope you guys do too when it comes out bc it really is setting the foundation for the reader’s characterization in the rest of the story, and the reader is technically still so young in the next part so to have it told through a teenager’s lens and perspective I think is so fascinating and fun to write
Okay see you soon! It’s coming together smoothly and I hope it will be out soon, but like I said the one will be lengthy so hopefully it’s worth the wait!
Watching Star Wars in chronological order is so funny.
Obi-Wan Kenobi really took one look at R2D2 in the middle of the desert and said “No, Luke, I’ve never seen this fucking droid in my life. Looks like a real bitch though. Not that I’d know. This is my first time meeting the asshole.”
No one in that whole franchise was Gatekeep-Gasslight-Girlbossing quite like “Ben” Kenobi, regular human-man.
I appreciate The Empire Strikes Back for being the only time I can think of when a character just shot their enemy as soon as they saw them without pausing or having a dramatic moment beforehand.
#"i have no idea where he gets it from," says area jedi knight still picking glass out of his robes from leaping out of senator amidala's window earlier in the evening.
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