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Clone Trooper CT-8370 or Guide to his brothers, had been hoping for an easy patrol to take their new batch of shinies on, and up until that point he'd gotten just that.
no unruly citizens, no angry Senators, in fact it had almost been too smooth, so of course something had to happen.
But running into a tiny distressed blonde haired Jedi who looked like he was barely big enough to be a cadet was not what he had been expecting. And he was in the middle of the city, miles away from the Temple. They had been so close to a clean run, but if Guide was honest, it could be worse. He really hoped it wouldn't get worse.
"Hello, hi, umm… I think I'm lost, I was going on a walk with my master but then he disappeared and I can't find him or my way back to the Temple, could you help me please?"
The boy looked up at the tropes with wide eyes and Guide tried to resist, he did, but he'd always had a soft spot for Cadets, they were expected back at the Senate building in a quarter hour, but perhaps they could dispatch a brother or two to help the boy back to the Temple after that, they really couldn't afford to get in trouble after all and leaving a Jedi Shiney out in the middle of the city was a sure fire way to do just that.
"We're on our way back to the Senate building right now Sir, you can follow along if you wish and we can dispatch some men to take you to the Temple when we return." Guide told the boy, who nodded.
The nervous energy evaporated as he began to shadow the patrolling squadron, and Vaunt mentally cheered, maybe this would still be easy after all. Then, just when he thought the situation was solved, the boy started talking.
"I haven't seen anyone like you guys on Coruscant before, did the Blue Guards get new armor?"
Guide blinked, perhaps he had spoken too soon. Was the boy was playing them, there was no way a Jedi, Padawan or no wouldn't know about the Troopers, Coruscant guard or otherwise.
If the boy was playing them though he was doing a good job Guide though ruefully, the kid seemed completely genuine. Either way it was probably better to just play along, better safe than sorry after all.
"We're Clone Troopers, Coruscant Guard. not the Blue guards sir" He told him, then watched as the boy's face screwed up in confusion.
"What's a Clone Trooper?"
The boy was definitely playing them, he had to be, there was no way a Jedi Padawan didn't know what a clone trooper was. What was this kid playing at?
"The Grand Army of The Republic, shipped out from Kamino to Defend the Republic from the forces of the Separatist Alliance." Guide told him, if the kid was going to play dumb, it was best just to go with it.
"Oh, ok." Was the Little Jedi's only response, a quick side glance showed that the boy still seemed very confused, but at least he'd stopped asking questions.
"I'm Anakin, What's your name?"
Or not.
……
Anakin didn't know the Republic had an army, he also didn't know what the Separatists were, or why they were suddenly at war with them. He did know that the Clone Trooper he'd been talking to's force presence had done something weird when he'd introduced himself though. Like shock or surprise, but he didn't show it on the outside, if Obi-wan hadn't been teaching Anakin to read force signatures then he'd have had no idea that the Trooper had felt anything at all.
"CT-8370 at your service sir." The Clone said.
That sounded like a droid code. Anakin though, but that didn't make sense because he knew that droids and People felt completely different in the force, and CeeTee - Eighty-Three Seventy and his 7 other friends all felt like people did, even if they could probably be mistaken for droids with how they moved around all in unison like the battle droids he'd seen during the battle of Naboo.
But even still, it couldn't hurt to be sure, maybe he'd misunderstood the question.
"That's your name..?"
"It's my designation Sir, Clone Trooper CT- 8370."
The clones' words were flat and matter of fact, like he thought it was obvious and wasn't sure why Anakin was asking.
There was definitely something wrong about that, Anakin though, what kind of person had a designation instead of a name?
He looked down the line of Troopers, marching in their two lines of four dressed in identical armor down to the paint jobs, and this close up Anakin was sure it was paint because he could see where spots had been scuffed off.
He abruptly turned his attention to the Trooper next to the one he'd been talking to.
"What about you, what's your name?"
Anakin felt the sudden surprise and nervousness coming off the second clone as he realized he'd been asked a question before he hurried to answer.
"CT-2531 Sir."
Anakin could sense an odd nervousness radiating from the group, Even as nothing else about them changed at all.
Which was weird because all he'd done was ask for their names, that wasn't something to be nervous about, names were important, they were the one thing that you could have control over, even when you couldn't control anything else, and yet asking about it made them nervous.
"..you.. don't have names?" He asked softly, trying and failing to keep the confusion out of his voice.
The troopers must have sensed some of his feelings and confusion because Anakin could sense the string of surprise in the force, but before he could figure out why they were surprised, the second trooper replied.
"Names are unnecessary Sir."
Anakin blinked, staring, he opened his mouth to tell them otherwise but something made him hesitate, maybe it was the way they had reacted to his initial questions, besides, he didn't even know where these people had come from, what right did he have to question them, maybe it was just there way.
That didn't stop the uncomfortable feeling that settled in his chest though.
"Oh,ok.."
……….
Life as a wartime Senator could be as exhausting and stressful as it was exasperating. Senator Padme Amidala thought to herself as she made her way back to her rooms, She had just finished a frankly fruitless meeting with the Senator of Ryloth, and she was looking forward to returning to her quarters when she saw the two Coruscant Guards. They were making their way towards the front exit of the Senate building, a young boy in what was definitely Padawan robes in-between them.
Unlike some of the Senators, Padme always tried to leave the guards to their business unless absolutely necessary. She'd seen several dozen too many Senators giving the clones a piece of their mind for things that she personally found ridiculous, but there was something about these two that caught her attention, them, and the small child in Padawan robes that walked between them.
Quickening her pace Padme caught up with the two Clones.
"Good afternoon Troopers." Padme called as she made her way up behind them, seeing the two soldiers stop in their tracks to allow her to reach them. She never made it that far however, because the Padawan they had been escorting turned around and Padme stopped dead, her eyes widening and mouth falling open in shock.
Suddenly she was 14 years old again in a Junk shop on Tatooine, while a young boy in dusty said coated clothes struck up a conversation with her.
"..Anakin..?"
Her voice came out as a squeak, but the boy's eyes widened as he seemed to come to the same realization she just had. "Miss Padme? I didn't know you were coming to Coruscant!" The boy's sudden excitement seemed to dim slightly as he took a closer look at her. "You… you look different?"
"I… yes, I suppose I would, Ani, what are you doing here?" If she was being honest, How was he here, was probably a better question. Anakin had left the city only a few days before, having finally healed up after the disaster with Boba Fett. So how was he here in the middle of Coruscant now, and why was he a child? Something about this wasn't adding up.
"Eighty-Three Seventy and Twenty-Five Thirty-One are taking me back to the Temple. Me and Obi-wan were going to go to Dex's but I think I got a little bit lost, they found me." Anakin told her. Despite the sheer insanity of the situation before her, Padme couldn't help the soft chuckle and bubble of affection that she felt as Anakin listed off the two guards designation codes the same way she'd seen him do with Artoo and Threepo and the other droids he'd met when he'd come to Naboo with them. It was kind of sweet.
The Guards in question were standing unmoving on either side of Anakin, watching them. And Padme had a hunch that despite their seeming lack of attentiveness, they were watching her every move.
However they probably had work to do and perhaps she could make things a little bit easier for them in this matter.
"I am sure you both have work to do, I can take Anakin to the Temple if you would like."
Neither clone reacted to her, however Anakin's face split into a grin. "That's ok with me."
He skipped over to Padme's side.
"Thanks for helping me guys, you can go back and help your friends now."
One of the clones nodded. "Yes Sir, thank you Ma'am." Then they both began to head back into the Senate building, likely towards the Clone barracks.
"Bye Guys!" Anakin called after them, waving, before turning to look at Padme, confusion on his face.
"..Padme, When did the Republic go to War..?"
Padme suppressed a sigh as she looked down at the young face staring up at her. This was going to be a decidedly difficult conversation, she thought ruefully.
"How about I explain on the way?"
……….
Mace Windu had a headache, this was not an unusual occurrence, but this one had come on suddenly and out of nowhere about an hour ago. He felt very confident that the sudden shift in the force had something to do with it, but as of yet none of the masters had figured out what had caused it, and they couldn't really check, because apparently master Yoda had called for an emergency council meeting, which right now, ment himself and masters Koon, Unduli and Mundi, because everyone else was off world.
He'd really hoped being back on Coruscant would be relaxing, but that might have been wishful thinking.
"What is it that you have called us here to discuss Grand Master?" Master Unduli asked. Looking around at the small crowd.
"A situation we have to handle." Yoda told her. "Received a Message from Senator Amidala I have, on her way she is."
Senator Amidala? Yoda had summoned an Emergency Council meeting for a Senator?
"Summoning the council on the whim of a Senator? That is highly unusual." Master Mundi said, stroking his chin.
"Highly unusual this situation Is, if the Senator speaks true. Understand you will, when she arrives."
Before any more questions could be asked, the door to the council chamber slid open, revealing three figures, a young teal skinned Rodian Knight, Senator Amidala and a young boy with blonde hair wearing Padawan robes. At first Mace didn't recognize the kid, but then the boy's shields shifted and he felt the very familiar Force signature of someone who definitely should not be on Coruscant and who was notorious for being a walking headache.
"Masters, Senator Amidala and" Here the Knight looked a little bit perplexed. "Padawan.. Skywalker?"
Yoda let out a gruff chuckle as the other masters began to mutter among themselves, surprised.
"Surprised to see you, we are young Skywalker, Know why you?"
Young Anakin looked down, his fingers playing with the ends of his sleeves. "I'm not supposed to be here." The boy said eventually, looking up at them. "Padme says that I'm in the outer rim right now, fighting the Separatists with Master Obi-wan."
The boy seemed surprisingly calm about all this, Mace though, unusually so considering Anakin's History with strong emotions, whether or not this was a good thing Mace was unsure.
"Correct you are, Youngling" Yoda said, nodding.
"Senator Amidala, would you explain what exactly is going on here?" Mace asked, deciding that this was not a conversation to have with a Padawan barely old enough to be a Senior Initiate.
"According to Anakin he and Obi-wan were coming back from a trip outside the Temple, one minute they were walking home, the next he was alone. Then he was found by a patrol squad and brought back to the Senate hall. I was on my way back to my apartment when I saw him with two of the guards, apparently they were going to bring him here."
The strange shift in the force was suddenly making a lot more sense now, Mace though ruefully, but having an explanation was not exactly helpful in this situation, if anything it just made things worse, and the fact that Youngling Padawan Skywalker somehow had more shatterpoints around him then adult Knight Skywalker did was not helping with that.
"You understand, that we do not send Padawans out into the field until they are at least 13 years of age." Master Unduli said, her expression serious.
"We can not send you out to be with your master, and Obi-wan can not come back to Coruscant to teach you as he is needed at the front."
Anakin nodded, still fiddling with the edges of his sleeves.
"What are you going to do with me then?" The boy asked, the force around him beginning to swirl with a nervous energy that brought back memories of the boy's tests and the debate with Master Jinn over whether or not he should have been trained.
"Perhaps you could stay in the Initiates dorms young one." Master Koon suggested. "Perhaps it would do young Skywalker good to spend some time with children closer to his age, perhaps we can temporarily enroll him in some classes as well."
At master Koon's words Skywalker's impending worry seemed to evaporate. And Mace had to admit that it was a good idea, in his own time the boy had jumped straight to Padawan, and it had done little to help with the ego the boy had developed, perhaps putting him in with other students his age would help null out that peculiar flaw.
"A good idea that is, With the Initiates you will go Young Skywalker."
"Knight Zulet," Mace added, looking at the Rodian. "Show Padawan Skywalker to the Initiates dorms, Senator, Thank you for your help, you may take your leave. this council has matters to discuss."
The Senator nodded, before turning and heading out after the two Jedi, once the door closed Mace let out a sigh as he met the eyes of the other masters, they had much to talk about.