Chapter 1: Guilty As Charged Chapter Text
Anakin gripped the arms of his chair with such force that he was surprised he didn't snap the wood. What was taking the jury so long? It had been hours since they had withdrawn. Was it just because of the overwhelming multitude of crimes Palpatine had been charged with?
He locked his gaze on the withered old man. At the beginning of the trial, he had acted triumphant. His attitude had changed after Anakin's twins were born with no complications and he began to testify against him. Anakin wasn't naïve enough to believe that Palpatine would be here, with a significant chance of being charged, if he hadn't testified to so many of his crimes and manipulations. Five's neglected report of inhibitor chips, the confession of being a Sith Lord, the many, many things Palpatine had recommended that went south for some reason or another, his manipulation of Anakin, the hitherto undiscovered Sith compulsions that had driven him mad believing Padmé was about to die… For what he had done to Anakin alone he deserved to be put away for life. Then there was the testimony of Nute Gunray and Darth Maul, and the Nabooians that charged Palpatine with the murder of his own family.
"What's taking them so long?" Anakin said through gritted teeth.
Padmé put a hand on his mechanical arm. "It's alright, Anakin. They have a lot of evidence to consider and a lot of different crimes to deliberate on."
Obi-Wan placed a hand on his shoulder from his other side. "Be patient, Anakin. We've waited this long. We can wait a few hours more."
Anakin nodded stiffly.
The door opened. Anakin rose to his feet with the crowd as the jury walked through. Come on, the verdict has to be guilty…
He sat back down and gripped the arms again. The spokesman for the jury rose. Anakin drew a deep breath and pulled strength from the Force.
"The jury finds the accused, one Sheev Palpatine, guilty on two thousand eight hundred and forty three of two thousand eight hundred and forty five counts of first-degree murder, thirty-seven of forty-two counts of second-degree murder, twelve counts of manslaughter, all but three counts of conspiracy to commit murder, all counts of attempted mass murder, all but one count of torture, all counts of kidnapping, all counts of child abuse, all counts of reckless endangerment, all counts of medical practice without a license, all counts of medical experimentation without a license, all counts of medical experimentation on sentients without their consent, all counts of bribery, eighty-seven of ninety-three counts of accessory after the fact, and the enslavement of 1.2 million sentient beings. On all other counts we declare Sheev Palpatine not guilty."
Anakin relaxed. He wasn't guilty on all counts, but he was guilty on enough counts to be put away for the rest of his natural life. He was still hoping for the death penalty, but Padmé had warned him that was very unlikely, seeing as Palpatine was already a fairly old man. He took Padmé's hand and rested his head on hers, not paying attention to his surroundings until the judge gave the sentence.
"This court has decided to have mercy on you, such as it may be. For the multiple crimes which you have been convicted, this court now sentences you to six hundred and forty-three years in prison without the possibility of parole."
Anakin relaxed. No death sentence, but Palpatine would be in jail when his great-grandchildren had great-grandchildren, if he could live that long, which he couldn't.
Palpatine's guards led him out of the courtroom. His gaze locked on Anakin in a sort of predatory glare. Anakin shook it off. Palpatine couldn't hurt him anymore.
STAR WARS
Several years later…
Anakin picked up the diaper bag and slung it over his shoulder. They really needed to start working on potty-training Jinn. He could walk now, after all. He was one, which was plenty old enough. "Leia, come on! We're going to be late!" He checked his chrono. If they didn't leave right now, he'd be late for the first class he had to teach, which would push all of his classes back and make him late for the Council meeting this afternoon, unless he took time out of his lunch.
"I haven't finished my hair yet!" his seven-year-old daughter called back from her bedroom.
"Have Luke finish it in the speeder," Anakin said.
"What?" Luke exclaimed from where he was already waiting by his side. "Why me?"
Padmé rushed through the apartment, cup of caf in hand, Threepio hurrying beside her. She stopped by Anakin for a kiss, bent down to kiss Luke and Ben on the cheek, said "Be good," then ran out.
"Vote well!" Anakin called after her.
She raised her hand in acknowledgement.
Anakin sighed, but didn't protest. He knew she was late for a vote. Getting five children out of the house every morning was a nightmare. "Leia! Come here! I'm not going to say it again."
Leia ran out of her bedroom, half of her hair braided and half not. "I'm not ready!"
Anakin sighed. He picked up Jinn with one arm and his surprisingly cooperative three-year-old Shmi with the other. She kicked him in the side and shouted, "Put me down!"
I spoke too soon. "I don't care, Leia, get in the speeder. Jedi have to learn to get ready on the run. Do you have your holobooks?"
Leia stopped, bolted back into her room, and emerged with a backpack. "Now I do."
"Put me down!" Shmi shrieked.
Jinn shrieked wordlessly along with her.
Anakin hauled the children to the speeder and strapped them into their child seats. Luke jumped into the passenger seat and swiftly buckled himself in.
"No, Luke, it's my turn!" Leia whined.
"You promised you'd let me ride there!" Ben pouted and turned to Anakin in protest.
"I got here first!" Luke protested.
Anakin sighed. "Leia, Obi-Wan, get in the back now."
The two brunettes sighed and climbed into the back.
"It's not fair!" Leia protested.
[The red-headed younglings are drooling on me,] Artoo beeped from the back.
Anakin jumped into the pilot's seat and restrained himself from another sigh. He glanced back. Shmi and Jinn were indeed drooling on Artoo. "I'm sorry, Artoo, but you're just going to have to put up with it." He started the speeder and merged into Coruscant traffic. He was going to be patient and calm. Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. That's my life now. Chaos, yet harmony.
As he headed towards the Jedi Temple, he glanced back. Leia was braiding the rest of her hair, Jinn was sucking on his toes and babbling the few words he knew, Shmi was shrieking for some unknown reason, Ben was trying to do katas in his seat, and Luke was playing the new hologame his grandfather had sent him. Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force. He pushed the accelerator as fast as he dared with the kids inside and began weaving throughout traffic. This was going to be a long day.
STAR WARS
Anakin finished the last bites of his lunch on the way to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. He had intended to take a short nap during his lunch break but had gotten drawn into a long conversation with Obi-Wan, Siri, and Mace about their ongoing success in destroying slavery in Outer-Rim territories. When do we focus on my Outer Rim territory? Tatooine had suffered for far too long. Yet he knew in the Council meeting this afternoon, he'd probably be assigned to clean up the last of the Zygerrian mess.
His moving meditation class was already mostly gathered. Once the few stragglers strode up, he started them on an exercise they could do on their own for an hour. As the students fell one by one into a moving meditation, he smiled. They'd all been working so hard, and they had finally managed to figure out Anakin's favored form of meditation. At last, the last student managed to reach a shallow form of moving meditation, and Anakin sank back onto the grass, satisfied. He buried himself in his favorite form of regular meditation—the thirty-minute nap.
STAR WARS
Wake up… wake up, Ani!
Anakin sat up swiftly. Screams rose up through the Room of a Thousand Fountains. A few of his moving meditation class were still standing in front of him, but they scattered. Blaster bolts and the hum of lightsabers filled the air instead of the sound of running water. A dark presence crept into his mind.
He jumped to his feet and drew his lightsaber. Palpatine stalked towards him, dark robes flaring, brandishing his red lightsaber in his hands.
His hands. How had he gotten prosthetic hands? Anakin distinctly remembered cutting off his hands in his office seven years ago.
"My boy, it doesn't have to be this way," Palpatine purred.
Anakin settled into a ready stance. "You have nothing to offer me that I want."
"Oh, but I do," Palpatine purred in his mind.
Anakin charged at him. As their lightsabers met, a blaster went off behind him. His body went numb. His lightsaber slipped from his fingers and he fell to his knees.
Stunned. It was all a farce…
Palpatine's lightsaber deactivated. He caught Anakin as he went completely limp. "I'm afraid this would have been much easier if you had taken my offer the first time."
Anakin's eyes slid closed. He reached out into the Force weakly as he passed out. Obi-Wan…help…
Notes: The person calling out for Anakin to wake up was the Force warning him of danger. He should have woken up earlier in the attack, but he was very tired, so the Force had to shout at him. I didn't know how many murders to charge Palpatine with, and I feel like whatever number I give will be too small, so I just keyboard smashed. Brace yourself, this is going to get dark. Next, prepare for some Obi-Wan angst!