Disclaimer:

  I do not own any rights to Star Wars. This is merely fan fiction by a fan and not someone even remotely involved in any Marvel or Lucas Film property. That being said I do hope you enjoy it.

  He spent thousands of credits he won from cheating at casinos, betting on games he knew he wouldn't lose and stole any lost credits in the storage containers he slept it. The memory of how he briefly became a rat god on one particular smuggler ship did bring a small smile to his face. Yet, that smile died immediately as he looked around himself and realised despite all that effort he was now back here on Coruscant after making a net profit of zero distance. Wonderful.

  "I still can't believe I was able to get such a nice apartment on such short notice. Vader make a note to thank the owner with gift basket or something. A nice wine," Padme then gave a look over to Vader and pouted her lips. "Or maybe some chocolates."

  "First of all, I don't drink every alcohol I touch." Padme raised a brow. Please, Anakin was sure that… actually had he? In this loop he probably hasn't ever touched a bottle of alcohol and not drank it. Whatever.

  "Second of all, I thought I was your body guard. Why am I suddenly your receptionist?"

  "At the rate I'm paying you, you should be my court jester, janitor and personal car." As much as Anakin would have liked to say 'you can ride me anytime' he fought against his instincts and took a seat on the large bed.

  "You dismissed your personal security. I know how much top-quality security costs, if anything you actually make money off me becoming your guard."

  "A happy accident I suppose." Padme said half half-focused on him and instead looked around the room. "Huh, there is only one bed."

  "Nothing gets past you does it, with such keen vision, do you even need a guard with such lazer focus?" Anakin sarcastically rolled his eyes, this bed was quite comfy though. True to Padme's words this place was very nice. He could get used to a bed like this.

  "Shut it you. I suppose I'm okay with you sleeping on the couch, I'll ask room service to get a spare blanket."

  "You're okay with me sleeping on the couch?" He scoffed.

  "Well, I can't demand another room. We were a week early! I would hate to be rude after they were so accommodating."

  "So I have to suffer?"

  "I can't suffer! I'm Senator of Naboo, with such a heavy burden I need proper back support that only a heated mattress can provide."

  "What?! It's heated?"

  "Yup." In her hand she held up a remote with all sort of settings, heating, vibrating, able to to do that thing where the mattress's front half curls up so you can watch T.V. It was perfect.

  "I'll kill you for this bed."

  "Bring it bitch." Padme smirked.

  "Oh yes, Master Yoda, I promised you and my dead Master I'd look after the boy. I'll find him, besides, he's just a teenager how hard can it be. HARD! VERY HARD!"

  "Shhhhh." A Jedi Obi-Wan didn't recognise hushed him. At least he thought it was a Jedi, his vision was so blurred from looking at a screen that anything that wasn't made up of blue light was just a blob to him at this point.

  "Oh shut up," Obi-Wan was tired, angry and a little sleep-deprived. Anakin had not made this easy for him.

  Not only had Anakin left the temple but apparently he chose now was a convenient time to stop existing. Which Obi-Wan didn't think was actually possible, everyone leaves some sort of trail. But no, Anakin Skywalker after he left the temple just doesn't exist anymore. He asked detectives to help him, police, private investigators and even fake psychics that told him he should stop looking for his boyfriend and instead find love elsewhere.

  Anakin was not his boyfriend! And if he was then Obi-Wan was going to be very abusive when he finally found him. At least the psychics believed him. Considering they didn't actually do any investigating, but whenever the police or detectives tried looking for Anakin they would respond back to him saying that the only record of Anakin is at the temple and that there were no leads.

  YEAH HE KNEW THAT!

  "Obi-Wan you look tired, you should sleep."

  "Sorry, not now yellow blob, I'm busy. The thingy won't find himself."

  "Anakin my dear."

  "Bless you."

  "No," The yellow blob's eye mass twitched. "Anakin."

  "Isn't that what I said?" What had he said? Whatever, doesn't matter.

  "You've spent literal days in here consistently. And, while at first I was concerned for your health. Even bringing you food and water… I'm afraid I've been enabling you. I think it's best you retire to your room for some rest. You started to stink three days ago honey."

  "Can't, Jedi computers are the only ones that are allowed into private police records and I know he'll slip up eventually. I know he will. I'm this close." Obi-Wan tried pinching his fingers together to show how close he was but the carpel tunnel he got from all this typing paralyzed his fingers wide apart.

  "There was an Anakin Skywalker who died in a by self-immolation on Onderone after a drug overdose who I thought was him."

  "Oh my," the blob gasped.

  "Don't get happy, I was excited too but it was just some random guy who shared the same name."

  "I wasn't happy. A person died… were you happy?" She asked a bit concerned

  "Of course I was! I was this close to finding him," Obi-Wan tried again to pick his fingers together to little success. Whatever. "At this point whether Anakin is alive or not is kind of secondary to me at this point. If you haven't noticed finding him, or his corpse has kind of taken over my entire life."

  "The other Jedi are worried about you."

  "Why? Because I cyber bullied Mandawhore after they commented mean things on my post?" He had tried everything in his search for Anakin, even asking random strangers on the internet for help.

  In hindsight that was a particularly bad idea. It wasn't his fault though! He was a Jedi, they didn't really use social media. He had no idea of the goblins that lurked in the shadows.

  "That was cyber self-defence! He called me a beta cuck. I had to search up what that meant!" Obi-Wan continued.

  "I remember, I had to confront you on your internet history. This is my library and my computers. I get flagged on those kinds of things."

  "Yeah the holonet is a terrible place as I'm finding out, we really need a Jedi cyber squad. This place is a breeding ground for all things evil and dark… O.M.G, could this be a Sith tactic? Of course, a new attack front, we've been fighting the Sith wrong the whole time!"

  "O.M.G? I don't even know what that means and you sound crazy."

  "Quite yellow blob! I must alert Master Yoda immediately. Quick, what's his Spacebook account?"

  "Or you could go up and talk to him in person?"

  "Don't be a cringe boomer, you're being the opposite of based rn."

  "Okay I'm cutting you off the holonet now"

  "No!"

  Even from the temple Anakin could feel Obi-WAN's suffering. Ha! The poor idiot was using the holonet, too find him. Social media is where sanity and any form of intelligence goes to die.

  "Stop smiling, it's not like you." Padme narrowed her eyes at him, placing her hands on her hips despite the several bags in her hands.

  "You don't like my smile?"

  "I like your smile, I just often don't like the reason though. Now put these on." She handed the bags to him and much to his despair they were filled with clothes.

  "I still don't see why I need new clothes." Anakin growled walking into the change room shutting the door knowing there was a waiting Padme outside. No windows either so he couldn't really sneak out.

  "Cause if your going to be seen next to me you can't wear whatever garbage you have on hand."

  "I really don't care much about clothes."

  Most of his time was spent in either robes, armour or a combination of the two. He never really had a chance to just wear clothing, even when he was invited by Padme or his Jedi duties required him to go those to those pointless Senator meetings to boost moral or assure political heads that they would win the war. Even then he would still wear his Jedi robes. Not that it mattered considering he would always sneak out.

  He was needed on the front lines after all, he was a warrior. In all his loops he had never made a habit of pointless talking when more change could be made with a lightsaber then words.

  Padme had sure gone overboard with the clothing though, causal, formal, causal-formal. Ironically she had gotten him all sorts of clothing that wasn't something an actual bodyguard would wear. Not that he'd need it of course, armor was a double edged sword with Jedi. On one hand it would protect them from a blaster bolt or two but armor would often restrict movement making them get shot in the first place. It's why Jedi did adopt some armour in the Clone Wars better never a full set, the only time that was ever worth it was if it was beskar.

  "Yes,"

  "Yes,"

  "Yes,"

  "Don't you think I've got enough now?" Anakin sighed. "Seriously, when am I ever going to need this!"

  By his fingertips dangled a pink floral shirt with blue flowers on it.

  "There are lots of planets that are just tropical islands. Which reminds me, after this we need to hit up a shoe store. We'll need dress shoes, runners, sandals."

  "Cyanide?" Anakin rather hopefully asked earning him a glare from Padme.

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  "Hilarious, but we have to do this. You're appearance is important, there is a reason attractive people have easier lives. Pretty privilege is a thing and while not totally moral, not taking advantage of it is silly."

  "I guess you wouldn't know."

  "I'll have you know I'm very attractive! I have suitors upon suitors waiting for me at home."

  "Oh please, those rich elitist Naboo nobles? They have the arrogance of being born in a higher class but none of the actual power or wealth that the core planet nobility have. Naboo royalty as far as the galaxy is concerned are basically just rich nobodies. Yeah, I'm sure you are just dying to get married to them."

  "And like you can talk? At least the people I share a bed with aren't whores."

  "Jealous? I have a nice couch we can share, though it's pretty small. 'Oh Padme, there is no room we have to push our bodies together'. Then we spoon but halfway through the night you feel something poke you. You look down and see my-"

  "Shut up!" Padme cried throwing a sweater into his face. Pulling the wool fabric of his face he was welcomed to the sight of a bright red-faced Padme. He couldn't tell if her cheeks were red by anger or by blushing.

  "It was a lightsaber if you were curious."

  "I wasn't." She growled. A literal animalistic growl.

  Despite her poor attitude, Padme continued to bring more and more clothing till eventually she got tired and they decided to leave the store. Though Anakin suspected that this wasn't the end of their shopping trip.

  They would reach their upper limit soon, though. She had bought so many clothes for him, even she had to admit defeat after her arms got sore carrying all the bags. Which of course only meant one thing. He had to carry them. The urge to use the Force was overwhelmingly strong, but even before landing on this planet, he had been suppressing his Force signature.

  If there was one thing that could not be allowed to happen, it's that the Jedi realise he is here. They couldn't 'legally' trap him. Well, that wasn't true, he broke several laws fleeing Coruscant, not that they could prove it. What he meant to say was that they couldn't 'feasibly' trap him. When you spend several decades trapped in prisons specifically designed to keep you contained, you find that handcuffs and zip ties don't really cut it anymore. Still, annoying though.

  "It's only one o'clock, we still have so much time to kill. What do you usually do for fun?"

  "Fun?"

  "Yes, that thing you try to do?"

  "I guess drink? A small amount of microdosing." That's all he's really been doing so far in this loop.

  "What about when you were younger? Surely you didn't come out of the womb with a bottle of Vodka."

  Anakin put a finger to his lips actually taking a moment to think. What had he done before the loops. It was so long ago, he knew he was a slave from the scars he was had on his body before but he couldn't ever remember getting them. His knowledge of being a slave on Tatooine in his childhood was more just a note in his mind then an actual experience. He remembered the Sith slave camps of the loops where Palpatine successfully broke him. Where Jedi from the purge were captured and tortured to the Darkside. He considered himself more of a slave there then in his actual childhood as he could actually remember that.

  "I don't remember much of my childhood, as for hobbies. I don't have any."

  "Not a single hobby? What about training, that counts?"

  "I suppose." Though training wasn't really a hobby. It's not like he didn't enjoy it but to him training was part of his job.

  Every loop. Train, build an army, kill Palpatine. Every single loop. This was the first time he had ever taken a step back, he had started training in his spare time but he was so used to training till his hands bled. He had literally died from over training, so he knew his limits. What he was doing now? That was more like yoga to him then real training.

  "I like to bake. I used to bake every day as a child."

  "Pastries I know, you have a real addiction to cinnamon scrolls."

  "Oh, have I already told you?"

  "Yes… you must have." Anakin hummed.

  Had she told him this loop? He was slipping up, that wasn't like him. Romancing Padme had become… mechanical. There used to be love involved, he knew there used to be. But, he had grown to see Padme as nothing more then a step to get Luke and Leia. She always died so young. In the long run those two were more important then Padme, he needed warriors, not Senators.

  "Oh, sorry."

  "Don't be. It's nice to talk to you without…"

  "Being drunk?" No, without seeing her as nothing more then a breeding mule. Usually by now he would have asked about her parents, then move onto Naboo. A compliment of how heroic she is then a sly comment about her looks. Streamline, optimised and perfected.

  "Yes, drunk." Not this time though, this is his break. He could go back to his loveless romance when he was trying to save the Galaxy.

  Thankfully, the conversation came to an end when they heard a loud commotion as they rounded a corner.

  Coruscant was a highly populated planet, they separated between the rich and the poor areas by height as the cities were so large that they couldn't just designate poor areas. The rich literally lived atop of the poor as while the rich lived with the clouds and fresh air the poor suffered from sunlight deficiency and smog which acted almost like a border being an unofficial line between poor and the well off.

  Still there were connection points that connected the rich and poor. They were littered throughout the city, and more then often the most guarded. At one of these crosswalks did Anakin see a large group of people being held back by riot shields and guards armed with pepper spray.

  Shit, he was so distracted with his own thoughts he didn't feel the negativity swelling up.

  "What's happening." Padme asked, she wasn't the only wondering what was occurring as a small crowd had gathered on the other side of the police wall pushing back those from the poor areas.

  "A riot."

  "A riot? Why?" Yet, she didn't need him to answer her question as the signs that many people held made it clear.

  'Get them out of here!"

  'The core belongs to humans!'

  'Down with the CIS.'

  And some other words that were poorly spelt along with some poorly drawn pictures of a beheaded alien.

  "A pro-war rally?" Padme uttered the words in shock, as if she couldn't believe the words she was saying.

  Naboo wasn't used to war like The Core Republic was. The Republic always being in some sort of conflict at some time causing the creation of a pro-war culture on some level. As much as Anakin would have liked to believe this was Palpatine's doing, which on some level it was, Coruscant had always had a patriotic issue. That the Core worlds actually believed that they were the center of the Galaxy and because of that they were the most important.

  "It's no secret that another MCA discussion is about to come up again, it's why your here. They probably like the idea of the MCA, after all an army need soldiers. You don't need a diploma to hold a blaster and the military pays well." Anakin shrugged.

  "On Naboo we had rallies, but they were always against war."

  Naboo was always a peaceful planet. Padme's father assured that for his daughter and while Anakin has never met the man he knew Padme's family well enough, or at least her father who she idolised. From the day she could walk she was attending war relief and charity events set up by her Father. He was a good man, or at least he must have been.

  "A riot, not a rally." Anakin sneered. Rallies were peaceful, yet from the brick and Molotov cocktails being thrown this was anything but.

  "We need to get out of here," he continued.

  "They need to be calmed."

  "Look at them. Those things are not people."

  "Because they are poor?" She could her the heat in her voice.

  "Because they are rioters. A group is only as smart as it's stupidest member, group mentality turns those fools into sheep and I can assure you there are some idiotic people in the crowd. People who don't give a shit about anything and they just want to hurt people. Even good natured riots only need one moron in the crowd to turn something moral and good into bloody and hate-filled." One person who pushes past a barrier, one person who decides that they no longer want a peaceful protest, one person who takes it too far.

  As a person who spends his whole life in war Anakin had seen his fair share of rallies, which quickly turns to riots which then turns to looting. When one person starts looting they all do. Anakin at first with a heavy heart had to stop rioting, he really could understand them and in some way supported them. They are victims of war and now we're being treated as property by whoever occupies their planet.

  Yet, you can only see so many children be tramped to death. So many small local businesses get ruined by selfish looters who stole want they want not because they care about any cause other then themselves. When someone thinks they can take anything they want in a panic you truly see how utterly disgusting humanity can be. He no longer had any pity for those that would use a good cause to justify their greed.

  "I will calm them down." Padme proudly boasted not understanding just how dangerous a group of idiots can be.

  "Padme don't," Anakin reached out grabbing her wrist. She looked outright furious at him but he could live with that. "These aren't the peaceful protests you are used to."

  "They need leadership, that's all. I am an excellent leader." With that she ripped her hand out of his grasp and continued moving to the crowd.

  She never did get her chance to try to calm the rioters though, all it took was one drugged up moron to throw himself past the tasers and pepper spray into the police. His system so hyped up on stimulants that even the high volts of the tasers did nothing as he weaved a rusty knife around. He didn't do anything special, he didn't even harm one of the police. But like sheep the crowd saw this as an opportunity and against a wave of people all you can do is close your eyes and protect your head.

  Padme watched as the line of police was breached. Being dressed in full body armour and a riot shield was good against a few individuals but against the mass of people that charged through they could only stop a few before being swallowed by the masses.

  Unlike the police she didn't have any protection, instead, when the literal wave of angry rioters came crashing on top of her all she could do was scream.

  She felt the hair on her scalp get ripped and heard the tear of cloth as she could only hope people were just trying to take her clothes and nothing more. Yet when then she felt some peoples hand try to creep to areas they shouldn't have but she did her best to knock them aways.

  It couldn't have been more then a couple of second but it felt longer as she soon became drowned in a sea of people. At some point she was knocked to the floor, she hadn't even lost her footing just she was in the way of these people so she had been literally thrown to the ground.

  Then it started. The onslaught off boots upon her body, she tried her best to curl up and scream. Trying to let the people who were using her organs as a floor mat but to no avail as all these people could here was the sound of their own roars. Maybe some people noticed her, she could tell when an extra heavy boot came crashing down on her leg. To them she wasn't a person, a rich bastard who lived atop of them finally knowing what it's like to live below. And they let her know it as steps became stomps and her screams became cries.

  Eventually the stomping stopped, but the damage had already been done. It hadn't been long enough to bruise yet but she would be covered in particularly nasty purple spots soon.

  Despite the fact that no more blows came to land on her she didn't dare look up afraid that if she uncovered her head someone should take the opportunity to kick her teeth in. It was only when she felt the familiar heat of a lightsabre did she dare peak upwards.

  "I SAID STOP!" Vader roared with such emotion she had never seen from him. It felt similar to the screams of a Starweird except their was no voice in his voice. Their was anger but it didn't carry the darkside malicious, but instead paralzyed her with authority.

  He was standing over her, literally she laid between his legs and he stood over her in a wide stance.

  "Next one who hurts her loses their head." He growled. Vader wasn't very loud but the sound of his voice rang in her ears. It was the first true thing she had ever heard, he spoke with such venom in his voice, such an honesty that everything up until now felt like a lie.

  Yet, Vader had been right as one idiot charged him proving that some people couldn't think while rioting. When one charged five more followed proving that that this was all the riot needed to keep going as while on the far sides the looting continued, the presence of Vader had halted the main center group. The moment Vader would be swallowed by the riot was the moment they would decend upon them again. Trampled to death nothing to stop the angry mob of attackers.

  Vader wouldn't fall though, true to his word the first idiot that charged soon found himself a few feet from Padme headless, then the next found a lightsaber in his chest and the third found that his legs had kept running without the rest of him.

  These were not the movements that he used against Shifu. That had been a duel, with elaborate movements to break down the defense of his opponent.

  These people weren't like Shifu though, every blow Vader stuck was killing. For a sheer moment, she forgot how much she detested murder as watching Vader move wasn't like watching a murderer. It felt so routine, like a gymnast running though the motions of a performance. Every kill perfected, hitting vitals and cleanly executing the people that dared approach them. Could this even be considered murder? There was so little emotion that it looked so… boring.

  After the three had been so effortlessly killed by Vader the crowd finally realised that their were going to be consequences for their actions. She could see a greedy glint in a few of their eyes, wondering if they all piled onto him like the police they could trample him and properly start their looting spree. Though, Padme was was unsure if they could.

  Potentially they could drown him in a sea of flesh, but there was one key issue. No one wanted to be the first, these selfish monsters would never sacrifice themselves for each other. Whoever charged at Vader would die, that was just a fact. How many he could take down before they got him was something they didn't want to find out so now they were forced into an awkward standstill.

  Heads were drawn as someone from the crowd tried to make a run for it. Not at Vader but at a nearby store, though they never made it far as with a single hand outstretched by Vader in the silence of his presence, everyone heard the pop of two knees as the man fell to the floor, screaming grasping as his legs which no longer bent at a proper angle.

  "I do not care if you loot, I do not care who you trample to death, I do not fucking care. You are all so worthless in the grand scheme of things I'll forget you all before the time this lifetime even ends," Vader started, Padme felt like she was in the presence of an adult schooling their children after they were caught doing something bad. "But this one is off limits. Do you understand?"

  Some nodded but most were in shock. Vader true to his word didn't seem to care as he delicately scooped her off the floor carrying her in his arms. The crowd literally parted for Vader as he walked with her in his arms and while Padme did notice some people continue to loot the majority had lost whatever fire they had in them.

  Despite the pain she had in her body, despite the tears that still moistened her cheeks, despite the fact she was in the arms of a murderer. She couldn't help the small bit of relief she found against Vader's chest.