Authors: rhonderoo and Jedi Trace

Rating: PG

Genre: AU, Anakin lives post-ROTJ

Setting: After Vision of the Future

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to His Flannelledness.

A/N: This is the "Infinities"-style sequel to our Original Trilogy story What Choice Remains, which followed the OT storyline with the exception that Mara Jade was secretly apprenticed to Darth Vader.

Circle of Light is the We-Want-A-Happy-Ending-Darnit AU companion piece where nobody dies.

This story can also stand alone.

Thanks for reading! Feedback is very much appreciated.

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CHAPTER ONE

Docking in the maximum-security bay, the small party followed a Noghri guard down the hallway to the reception area of their intended host. Large paneled doors parted to reveal a dining room with a long table set for a formal dinner. A tall, cloaked figure rose in greeting, "We would be honored if you would join us."

Laughter erupted from the group at the phrase Anakin Skywalker had used to welcome them. Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo stepped into the hall only to be unceremoniously eclipsed by three children who barreled through the doorway behind them, "Grandfather!"

Ten year-old twins, Jacen and Jaina, followed by their younger brother, Anakin, ran headlong past the table and into the waiting arms of their grandfather. The elderly man laughed as the children chattered simultaneously vying for his attention, each trying to be the first to sit on a knee or be wrapped in a hug from the large man.

"I built my first lightsaber!"

"I passed the junior trials!"

"Dad let me fly the Falcon!"

Leia approached, rolling her eyes, "Children, please - one at a time." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek being proffered, "Hello, Father."

She turned to take in the room. Unlike the dining area on Bespin, the dining room was rich with organic material. Natural light streamed in through windows along the walls and sparkled in the small streams that fed exotic foliage scattered throughout the great hall. The stone walls, wood furnishings, many windows and flowers were a complete opposite of the interior of a Star Destroyer or Death Star.

"I really like what you've done with the place," Leia said. "And here I thought you would need my help with decorating."

"I would love to take the credit, but I know it was you who had this all set up, no matter how much you deny it," Anakin laughed. "Everything has your impeccable taste written all over it. And you know very well, if it is not something that involves a hydrospanner or military tactics, I have no idea what to do with it."

"Anyway," he said as slipped an arm around her shoulder, "it gives me an excuse to see my daughter."

Leia returned the gesture by wrapping her arm around his waist, "As least as much as possible."

The thought struck Leia that eight years ago, this never would have happened. It had taken her far longer than Luke to forgive her father, perhaps because the wounds had been deeper...or perhaps because she was just like the man now kissing the top of her head as he let go to pick up "little" Anakin, who stood almost as tall as his elder brother at eight. Finally, she had come to know the man that her mother had fallen in love with, the man that had passed on the good to Luke and herself, and her children.

"How are you, Father?" Luke asked. He had been waiting patiently as his sister and the children offered their greetings.

Anakin clapped Luke's shoulder and smiled, "I am well, son. It's good to see you again."

Unreservedly, Luke reached for his father in an embrace, naturally more open and unreserved than his sister, Anakin noted wryly.

Luke observed that his father looked healthier than he had ever seen him. It had taken many years of surgeries and treatments, but the man that stood before him now could be considered almost whole. His skin had returned to its normal pallor after the redesigned breathing unit gave him the freedom to live outside of the suit. Tatooinians had a natural tan evolved by years in the sun, and most of Anakin's had returned, at least to a lighter brown undertone that was close to the tone that had been his before. He had a natural prosthetic right arm, similar to Luke's.

He still bore some scarring, and his hair would never return, so he always wore a flight cap or the hood of his robe up. As if in rebellion to having no hair on his head, Anakin wore a half-beard similar to the one Ben Kenobi wore when he was older. The hair was blond now, with much gray, but Anakin didn't care. It was a vast improvement over his appearance of ten years ago.

The surgeons had been able to remove the hideous scarring on his scalp and that was enough, more actually than he could have ever hoped. His eyes had been returned to his previous vision and color with laser surgery. He still wore a respirator, but technology now allowed him the luxury of a small unit that was surgically attached to his left side. It also had been designed to be blissfully silent.

Anakin was dressed in an informal tunic, shorter than the older Kenobi had worn, that revealed the trousers underneath. He still wore darker brown robes and black leather tabards when dressed as a Jedi. Old habits died hard, he had jokingly said to Luke when his son asked. "I've never been a beige type of person, son," he'd laughed. Luke had noted a long time ago that the bone structure in his father's face had spoken of the handsome features that once were Anakin's trademark. They even had pictures of the Clone War hero.

Anakin turned to Leia, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, "I have something for the children."

They followed him into a spacious garden where three miniature swoop bikes hovered in the central clearing. The children ran to them, whooping and laughing.

"Oh my stars," Leia murmured. How was she going to keep up with them now?

"They are very safe," Anakin assured her quickly. "I built them myself."

"Can we ride them, Mom? Can we?"

Leia sighed and shook her head, "All right. Just be careful. And what do you say to your grandfather?"

"Thank you!" they chimed, mounting the bikes and speeding away through the garden.

Leia squinted after them for a moment before joining her father and brother in a shaded sitting area beside a clear garbum fishpond. The fish were native to Naboo, like many things in Anakin's home.

Anakin looked at them expectantly, "You have news?"

Luke and Leia laughed. Their father had learned to read them almost flawlessly over the years. Luke nodded toward Leia, who took a deep breath, "We have signed a peace treaty with the Empire." She looked up at Anakin, one of the few men remaining who had witnessed the onset of the decades of galactic hostilities firsthand. "The war is over."

Anakin raised his brow and his face took on a thoughtful expression. For a second he looked at the ground, a far-away look in his eyes. He finally looked up at his daughter, admiration written on his face. "That is wonderful, Leia." He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, "You are so much like your mother. If anyone could bring peace, I knew it would be you."

Leia shook her head dismissively, "Admiral Gilad Pellaeon made the proposal. The Imperial Remnant will occupy their own sector and we will not interfere with each other."

Anakin nodded slowly and clasped her hand even tighter. In spite of her protest, his daughter had spent over half her life fighting the tyranny of the Empire and peace would not have been likely without her.

He turned to his son who was grinning perhaps a bit too wide. "Well," Luke started, "it's not as monumental, but - I'm getting married."

The elder Skywalker blinked in surprise, "That is...exciting, Luke. I didn't know that you were involved with anyone."

"You know her," Luke continued, smiling. "It's Mara Jade."

For a moment Anakin continued to look wide-eyed at Luke, the shock registering in his brain. He tried to keep if from showing on his face and leaned back in his chair, "I see."

Luke's smile faded at the change in his father's manner. He had mentioned Mara to his father years ago when she had first joined the Jedi Academy. Anakin's face had clouded then with the same expression that Luke faced now, but his father had merely said that he knew her and that she would be a good student.

Rising slowly, Anakin walked to the edge of the pond and turned to watch the children. The hum of the bikes and peals of laughter drifted toward them from the edges of the garden.

Noting the subtle shift in his father's emotions, Luke turned to Leia with a questioning glance. She shrugged and shook her head in confusion.

Luke continued hesitantly, "We will have a Jedi bonding ceremony at the temple. I'd like for you to come."

Anakin stiffened. Beneath his father's carefully guarded thoughts, Luke sensed an undercurrent of apprehension and...regret. "I do not believe that she will want me to be there, son."

"Why not?" Luke asked.

Anakin bowed his head, plucking a weed from the low garden wall beside him. He answered quietly, "She was my apprentice."

Luke's stunned surprise resonated through the Force unchecked.

Anakin turned to face him. "For fourteen years, I trained her secretly. Palpatine learned of our alliance and accused her of treason." He paused, eyes haunted by memories that were better forgotten. "And I did not try to save her from his wrath."

For a long moment, they sat in silence with only the sounds of the birds to break the stillness. The quiet was broken by eight year-old Anakin's voice, "Grandfather? I think the shifter broke."

The elder smiled and tousled the boy's hair, visibly banishing the private pain to somewhere deep inside him, "Well, we will have to fix it then." Taking his hand, Anakin and Anakin walked together into the garden.

To be continued...