#(although that's.. kinda the point of a roleswap Au)

[mystiquedrops]

Sorry chat, but I had to. I couldn't resist 😶😔

SPOILERS FOR CANON DT CH2 EP16 KINDA !!

(It's a Swap AU, but even then, ofc it'll have references to canon spoilers)

(And also for those who'd rather read it once I upload it fully on AO3, you can skip if you want-)

[football-in-tuxedos]

A coffee shop AU. There's also one in Mabel (although that's kinda more like a Flower Shop AU? Whatever close enough).

Technically there's also a Roleswap AU and a Romance Contest AU in the Locked Tomb. There's no Roleswap AU in Mabel (the leads do briefly swap roles in Season 3, but that's not an AU just the plot of the show). And they don't have a Romance Contest AU in Mabel, the leads would literally never choose anyone else than each other (this is a plot point).

This one is just for me.

[baka-monarch]

>:0 roleswap pog.

Roleswap gives you ghost dream, it gives you Wilbur in the prison, Wilbur + techno duo bonding, dream in control of the burger van and Ranboo giving him a chance, maybe a dream and Phil almost parental relationship? Unless Phil was swapped partially for puffy or something.

Maybe Wilbur being fascinated by death because his mom is Lady Death?

Roman there are so many options with this idea, you've opened my eyes to magnificent possibilities...

:D

Well first we gotta set up the L'manburg war roles- because obviously the side certain people were on will change because of how loyal some are to Dream and some are to Wilbur (obviously I'm putting Tommy on Dream's side because of self indulgence but yeah-)

Dream's side (making a country)

Dream (obviously)

Tommy (because I'm self indulgent-)

George

Tubbo

Punz

Wilbur (against Dream's country)

Wilbur (Obviously)

Fundy

Sapnap

Eret

Philza

And you're all probably wondering why Phil is here so soon- I'm changing lore for this au, and since Wilbur doesn't have much war experience he's written a letter to Phil to help him since he hasn't been on the server long (also- I really really wanted to balance it out- I know the Canon one isn't balanced but like- please-)

Also- the motive for making L'manburg was different- Dream wanted to make a country so that there would be more order on the smp, so people would have something to keep them safe (although most real governments don't protect people- it is actually the government's job to protect citizens), like laws, and people they could turn to to protect them. Wilbur however was against this, saying that Dream shouldn't be the one to build a government since as the owner of the server this is a way for Dream to get more power and have more control over people- basically he believes that even if Dream doesn't have bad intentions with making a government, it'll corrupt then with power eventually anyways because running a government on the server you own, is kinda a power buff. (Sapnap may be Dream's freind, but he agrees with Wilbur that Dream shouldn't have that much power even with good intentions- which is why he's on Wilbur's side and not Dream's)

So Eret betrayed L'manburg in exchange to become king originally- but obviously he can't become king of the smp if she's fighting with anarchists against the government and the smp owner- so someone else betrays L'manburg and Dream in this....

Tommy

We've all seen how Wilbur is amazing with words (and manipulating people with those words-), and we've all seen how him and Tommy get along- so even though Tommy and Dream are brothers in this (adopted), Wilbur talks Tommy into seeing things his way- seeing that if Dream gets all this power he's going to loose his brother to corruption

It's an easy plan after that, get everyone into the control room and blow up L'manburg while they're all safe... Except Wilbur lied any the control room being able to keep everyone safe, he lied about how nobody would die :)

And yes I'm glad you bring up Wilbur and Techno bonding- because litterally in this version of the dsmp Wilbur is an anarchist too!!! So when the fight against Manburg (idk who'd end up being president during Manburg yet-), starts up Dream Tommy (Tommy has been forgiven by his brother by then- especially since it wasn't Tommy's fault that he was manipulated into thinking he was doing a good thing) and the rest of the revolution Bois, join forces with Wilbur Philza Techno and the rest of the anarchists!

Dream's death.

So there's no parent to kill Dream in this... But there is Tommy.

Dream mainly regrets making a country, and blames himself for it becoming corrupt (he still thinks that it's a good country when the right person is running it-), so at some point after pressing the button to basically reset L'manburg so it can be better then how he made it-

Him and Tommy are alone. He asks his little brother to kill him.

Of course Tommy ISN'T going to kill Dream, and talks Dream out of wanting to die- finally they agree to forget about the country and just go live in the woods where it's peaceful, and they start to leave behind the mistakes they made-

Before they can leave the room a Trident kills Dream. Wilbur's tridant.

Wilbur finally killed the tyrant he swore to murder months ago.

And Tommy has a new sworn enemy.

Gream (Dream's ghost), is almost always wearing a flower crown because when him and Tommy were kids they'd always make each other flower crowns.

(I can only think of so many things at once though, so this is all imma add for now)

[yellowocaballero]

Your reverse robin au is such an odd take on Tim? I don't hate it though? I am... confused

YES I GET TO TALK ABOUT TIM. Warning that this is probably going to be long, because Reverse Robin!Tim is probably one of the most complicated characters I've ever written, psychologically. Because Tim is my favorite character in comics, just behind Bart Allen, and I've been in love with him since I was 9. Also I'm going to talk about how we write comic book fanfic I am SO sorry you've unleashed a kraken. I'll put a cut later because Tumblr's bugging and not letting me. Content warning for discussions of suicide, self-harm, PTSD, drug and alcohol mentions, addiction, and homicidal urges.

 How do we write comic book fanfic? It's tremendously difficult. Especially for the Batfam: it's such a soap opera, if you take every single little thing as canon everybody ends up a sociopath. In comics, Bruce has PUNCHED Dick in canon. So we make up our fanon. But if we keep too closely to fanon, then you end up with fairly unrecognizable characters, which is no fun to read. And...a lot of Batfamily fanfic is just Bruce as a great dad with a hoard of adorable children. It's boring to me.  So what do we do? Well, I like to keep a character recognizable while still kind of doing what I want and what I find most nuanced and realistic. You can't completely divorce from canon, but you really should just keep to the essentials of the character. This is subjective - I find it essential to Bruce that he's not really a great parent, but he's constantly trying and working on it. Not everyone feels that way - valid. 

 So what I consider essential to Tim is this: he's a socially awkward nerd. He always feels extraneous and neglected, because he's insecure, because he was a victim of childhood neglect. For most of his life, he really doesn't consider himself Bruce's kid. He's crazy intelligent and good with computers. He's a better detective than Bruce. He has a ton of friends who love him very much, but he shows a different face to them than to his family. He has lost basically everybody he has ever cared about at one point or another and just kinda gotten on with his life, which if you want to be realistic about it was probably hugely traumatizing and a huge sign that Tim kind of boxes himself away. That's Tim to me. Everything else is flexible. And although Tim in the Reverse Robin AU is a COMPLETE FUCKING MANIAC, he is still all of those things.

 I've done it differently in other roleswap aus, but the idea behind the Reverse Robin is that everybody is half themselves, half who they were switched with. Damian is reserved and cold, but he is just as much 'oldest daughter syndrome' as Dick. Jason is intellectual and rough (which is canon!), but he is just as much of a mediator who feels like he has to single-handedly keep the family together as Tim (which is canon especially in very early Tim - check Knightfall, the stupid Gotham Earthquake thing, and his introduction). Dick is loving and hyper, but he's just as reserved and resentful and alien to America as Damian. So, Tim is all of the things I listed, so I can establish that he's basically Tim. But he is as batshit crazy as Red Hood!Jason. He's just as cruel, resentful, self-harming, desperate, alienated, attention-seeking, groomed by Talia and Ra's, and just bugfuck insane because of the Pit. He's also been low-key mentally ill his entire life due to his complete and total isolation and childhood neglect. His life ended through torture and suicide. In 'the prophetic spring', he is at Jason's lowest point in his life - and his own.

 But, and this is important, Tim as Red Hood does not work. Jason became a drug lord because he came from that background. Tim's spoiled and rich. Jason had a motivation, a reason to live, a Bruce to hate and a Dick that always reached out. Tim doesn't have this. Tim is listless and purposeless - and I say several times that Tim is cosplaying this life. He's cosplaying wanting to kill his friends, being an addict, being a supervillain. Without Bruce, without that target of hate, Tim is lost. Without his dad, who loved him, Tim is lost.

 It's important to understand that everything he does in 'the prophetic spring' in self-harm. He thinks of himself as a monster (because Tim was raised by Bruce and he's extremely rigidly moral, and he can't reconcile his morality with what he did while he was pit-mad), and as a result he wants everybody else in his life to think of himself as a monster. He wants to be hated as much as he hates himself, because at least that's real and validates his feelings. He thinks of himself as the lowest of the low, so he performs his image of a spoiled party boy - the kind of person he's never been, and who he always hated, because he thinks of himself as the person who ruined Tim Drake, not Tim Drake. The drugs and alcohol are self harm (and I'd say, in my essential interp, that Tim has an addictive personality). Having sex is self-harm for him specifically because he's sex-averse. Alienating everybody who ever loved him is self-harm. Practically begging Damian to put him in Arkham is self-harm. This is a 20 year old unstable kid who wants to self-harm until he dies or his family kills him, because he is suicidal. He's still clinging on because he doesn't want to do it himself, but if someone kills him no big deal, and if he overdoses he probably deserved it.

 It IS confusing! As readers we are used to traumatized characters who seek catharsis, affection, and safety. We want the hurt and the comfort. But I really wanted to highlight how fucking ugly PTSD is. It can genuinely make you into a cruel and hurtful person. Tim is suicidal and he responds by becoming an addict, rejecting his family and friends so nobody can try to help him, and lashing out nonstop because he wants to punish the people who love him for loving a monster. And because he wants to punish the people he blames for his death - Bruce and Damian. The Joker. But Bruce is dead and the Joker’s dead Damian isn't giving him the attention he wants...so what does he do? He's lost. And so 'the prophetic spring' is the story of someone who is so fucking lost that he tries to destroy his own life because he can't bring himself to end it again. 

 Hope that cleared stuff up. I really love Tim. You probably didn't need that amount of detail but I am psychically compelled to share these things...partly because most people take Tim's incredible trauma and just make him a cute woobie..no guys make him mean. People are mean sometimes. Fiction exaggerates and magnifies - so many hurt people WANT to do the stuff Tim does, but their lives aren't a comic book soap opera so they don't. I wanted to highlight that real pain. Thanks for asking!!!

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

Potential au for the 5 facts thing: roleswap Penny and Nora, please? (Though, please also keep spoilers to a minimum because I'm currently watching V8E1 and don't have FIRST)

*I made up the backstory for Nora in this, so it spoils nothing, but I’m not unconvinced that, in canon, she’ll be eventually revealed to have a deeper connection with Mantle.

1. In this au, Pietro grew concerned at how Ironwood would talk about the PENNY Project.  He wanted his creation to be more than just a weapon, and Ironwood gave him the impression that Penny, if created, would be dehumanized.  Pietro fakes a critical flaw in the project so it would be abandoned and moves away to Vale.  He accepts a practical teaching position at Beacon Academy and eventually befriends Ozpin and joins his inner circle.  After a few years, Ozpin gives Pietro the resources he needs to build Penny.

.

2. Nora grew up as a street orphan in Mantle.  She probably would have slipped into a life of petty crime if she hadn’t suddenly gained strange magical powers one day.  Since she had a lifetime of experience slipping away from the authorities, it took a long time for her to be discovered as the Winter Maiden.  Ironwood only found her because she stepped in to stop a Grimm attack in her community.  Though they did help get rid of the stragglers, the main thing the military did that day was take Nora into custody.

In interrogation, Nora tried to pass off the maiden powers as her Semblance (since, you know, lightning), but Ironwood remained unconvinced and demanded she remain in Atlas for training.  Nora didn’t have any option to refuse.

.

3.  After a few years of living there, Penny enrolls at Beacon Academy.  As Pietro’s daughter, she was brought into the loop about Salem, the maidens, etc. relatively early.  She wants to become a Huntress to help in the fight to make the world a better place.  

Penny meets Ren in the Emerald Forest by accident.  They don’t quite hit it off.  Penny is too enthusiastic and loud and Ren is too quiet and reserved for them to really have good footing with each other starting out (Penny spends a lot of time assuming her partner doesn’t like her because he never seems to want to talk to her).

She ends up having a conversation with Ozpin (like Ruby did in canon about being a team leader), but Penny and Ozpin’s conversation is about how Penny’s worried that her and Ren being partners was a mistake.  Ozpin encourages her to try and understand Ren.

Penny opens up to Ren about her feelings, and he slowly begins to open up to her in turn.  The fact that their teammates, Jaune and Pyrrha, are extremely friendly helps strengthen their team bond too.

(since Ren never had Nora in this au, he struggles a lot more with building relationships, and it takes a long time for his friendships with the rest of JNPR to form)

(JNPR is still the team name, but with Pyrrha Nikos as the ‘N’ and Penny as the ‘P’) 

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4. Nora is allowed to travel to Beacon for the Vytal Tournament, to test her skills.  Although, as a maiden, she’s under strict instructions not to wander off, which she does, every chance she gets.

Nora never really got along with Ironwood.  The way he’d brush off Mantle always bothered her.  Despite being told Atlas is her home now, she never forgot where she came from.  So, she seldom, if ever, does what she’s told.

During her exploration of Vale, Nora comes across Penny, who’s hiding in an alleyway.

Earlier that day, in training, an accident with Pyrrha’s semblance revealed Penny’s true nature to her teammates.  She’s scared what they’ll think of her now.  Penny doesn’t tell Nora this at first, but, when Nora sat down next to her to comfort her, she saw Penny’s hands (and the revealed metal beneath her artificial skin).  Nora sort of figures it out.

To make Penny feel better about that, Nora reveals her own secret (that she’s a maiden) to Penny.  They end up having a long conversation where they start to become friends.  Nora eventually convinces Penny to return to her teammates, saying that if she, a complete stranger up to that day, can accept Penny for who she is, so can her friends (and they aren’t true friends if they don’t - and also Nora will blast them with lightning too, which she has an endless supply of, if that happens).

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren all do accept Penny though.  They start to become more careful with how they handle themselves so Pyrrha using her semblance never affects Penny in combat.

Nora quickly becomes friends with the rest of the team too, even starts to have a crush on Ren.  Penny sees it as her duty to play matchmaker between her partner and her new friend.

.

5. I kinda like the idea of Ozpin still approaching Pyrrha about becoming the Fall Maiden, just because that would go massively different (since Penny would probably likely fill JNPR in on Salem and everything and their friendship with Nora would let them know about maidens a lot sooner), but I also kind of like the idea of him approaching Penny about it (because he knows her more).

Either way, that whole conflict is addressed by JNNPR as a whole (Nora has been unofficially accepted as a fifth team member at this point).

[disneydreamlights]

Across the Stars: Chapter 6

AO3 | FFN

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Summary: Tensions between the Separatists and the Republic are climbing as the Senate debates whether there is need for an army. Anakin Skywalker, Senator of Tatooine, has recently returned to Coruscant to speak against its formation, resulting in an assassination attempt that forces him to reunite with long time friends Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and the newly knighted Padme Naberrie for his own protection. [Anidala]

(Or, an Attack of the Clones Roleswap AU)

A/N: Kinda tired proofing this  (first time in a while a Disney trip has left me so drained feeling. lol) so there might be some errors. If that is the case please let me know and I will fix asap.

Padmé sat down at the comm system and immediately entered a few commands, faster than Anakin could follow as he watched her input the information. Seconds later, a blue hologram of Obi-Wan appeared. "Padmé. I need you to transfer this message to the Jedi Council immediately." She didn't hesitate, immediately putting in more information to have it play to the council. Who was seeing it, neither of them were sure. "I have tracked the bounty hunter Jango Fett–" Was that the name of the one who was trying to have him killed? "-to the droid factory at Geonosis. The Trade Federation has started production of the Droid Army here."

"Droid Army?" Anakin felt his stomach drop, but Padmé shushed him before he could say anything more, clearly intent on hanging onto her master's words.

"It is likely that the viceroy Gunray is behind the assassination attempts on Senator Skywalker. The commerce guilds and the corporate alliance have pledged their armies to Count Dooku. And are forming a–" Obi-Wan cut off, pulling out his lightsaber in defense. "Wait–" He vanished from the projection moments later, a Droid appearing in his place before the message stopped.

Anakin looked over to Padmé, who was looking at the projection in a numb state of shock.

"Knight Naberrie, are you alright?" The voice of Master Windu seemed to shake her out of frozen state, as she focused on the council rather than her own worries.

"I'm fine, Master Windu." She smiled, although it was clearly tense judging by the way the corners of her smile pulled, almost like she was trying too hard. Anakin wasn't much better, if he was being honest. Obi-Wan was practically his hero, and the man was clearly in trouble. "We need to get going, we can't leave Obi-Wan like that."

"Wrong you are not." Yoda agreed. "In danger, Knight Kenobi is."

"What do we do?" Padmé asked, looking to the two Jedi Masters for guidance.

"Stay with the Senator, do not let him out of your sight for any reason. Now that they know we're looking into them, the Separatists might become much more bold in their attempts to take him out," Master Windu answered, Anakin frowned and felt Padmé tense beside him.

"Master Jedi, with all do respect I can take care of myself, Obi-Wan is–"

"Senator Skywalker." Master Windu turned his attention to Anakin, much to his discomfort. "I understand that you and Padmé both may want to help, but as of right now you're too much of a target. We can't leave you alone. It's likely Jango Fett may attempt to strike at you, not to mention while you may have some skills, you aren't trained." He shut down any discussion.

"I understand." Padmé nodded.

Normally, Anakin would be thrilled for his time alone with Padmé to be extended once more. Right now, it was the last thing he wanted if it came at the expense of their friend. "Padmé, you can't let them–"

"Anakin, please." Begrudgingly, Anakin backed down at Padmé's plea for him to be quiet. "Please keep us in the loop, Mace."

"We will. May the Force be with you both." With that, the communication between the Jedi Council and the two came to an end.

For a moment, they were silent, neither of them speaking. "So that's it? Because of me you're just going to let Obi-Wan die!" This was the woman he was in love with? He'd thought she was a brave Jedi Knight, not some coward who chose the safe option when her closest friend was at risk.

"Anakin–"

"No, I get it. The Council is in charge and I get that, but that doesn't mean we can just leave him there. You can't actually–"

"Anakin! I'm not leaving Obi-Wan to die."

Anakin shook his head. "You aren't? What if the Council doesn't get there in time. He'll be as good as dead. You're the only Jedi who can get there in time for sure!"

"I know." Padmé was so calm, which threw Anakin off. How could she be so calm when Obi-Wan's life was in danger. This wasn't a time to be calm. This was a time to be trying to save him. "Anakin, what did they tell me to do?"

Anakin paused, trying to remember what Master Windu had said. "He told you to stay here with me?"

"He told me not to let you out of my sight." Anakin caught onto what Padmé was saying with a grin. "So if you choose to go to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan…"

"You have to follow me." It was a shortcut around their orders, around the rules Master Windu had set. If it wasn't for the boundaries that Padmé had decided they needed to set last night, if they hadn't agreed not to fall in love, he might have kissed her right then and there.

Padmé smiled, although it still seemed less genuine than her smiles over the week had been. "So Anakin, how do you feel about saving a Jedi?"

Anakin turned to R2, the little blue droid having faithfully waited while they retransmitted the message to the council. "Artoo, ready one of my ships." The two of them would get there faster, if he flew after all.

They had a rescue mission to get started.

-x-

Three hours had passed since they'd left Tatooine to rescue Obi-Wan, and Anakin hadn't seen anything of Padmé since they'd left the planet behind for their mission. She'd stated she'd needed to meditate, to release her emotions into the Force, and he was happy to respect that, but admittedly even Anakin was starting to get bored piloting a ship through hyperspace. There wasn't a lot to do while the ship travelled to Geonosis, and he could only lose games to R2 so many times before it started to get old.

"I'm going to go check on Padmé." He stood up from the game table.

The Astromech beeped at him, reminding him that Padmé had asked for space during the trip. "I know Artoo, but I can't just leave her there. I'm not Obi-Wan's former Padawan and I'm worried, she only became a knight about a month ago. She can't be happy to just sit there alone." His mom had taught him that emotions were easier to process if you had somebody to confide in about them. Right now, Padmé had nobody, or at least she was acting like she had nobody. But even if they weren't together, they were still friends. "Just watch the ship." He ignored the droid's further protests, stepping into the bed chambers built into the ship that Padmé had made her temporary meditation space.

Anakin couldn't bring himself to regret his decision as he stepped into the room. It was clear Padmé had given up on meditating, and was instead sitting on the bed, playing with something in her hands and looking rather dejected and alone. She jumped as he sat down next to her, startled. He put one hand on her leg. "Credit for your thoughts?"

Padmé frowned. "What are you doing back here?"

"Artoo can watch the ship in case of an emergency." He smiled, hoping he came off as more reassuring than he was. "I figured right now, you've done enough meditating, and anymore would do more harm than good."

"I haven't done enough." Anakin was surprised at her admission. "Not until I've managed to work through all of my fear for Obi-Wan."

"Work through?"

"It's how we deal with our emotions. We're supposed to figure them out and understand them, and then release them into the Force." Padmé smiled.

Another time, Anakin might have asked for a lesson, but this wasn't about him learning about the Jedi. It was about giving Padmé an outlet to talk about it. "And you haven't done that?"

"I'm...struggling with the working through them part." The fact that she admitted it probably meant that she was more worried than he'd thought. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose Obi-Wan, and every time I think I've finally worked through it, I just keep getting worried all over again."

How he'd thought only hours earlier Padmé could've left Obi-Wan to die on Geonosis, Anakin wasn't sure. He pulled her into a hug, knowing he was probably ignoring her request for space to some degree, but also knowing right now she needed some kind of steadying force more than either of them needed space to get over their crushes. (His crush? He still wasn't one hundred percent sure if it went both ways.) "We'll make it in time. Count Dooku can't do anything to Obi-Wan without sparking an intergalactic war, and right now, the Separatists want peace as much as we do." He hoped they did anyways, but now wasn't the time to doubt it.

Padmé nodded, hugging him in return. "Thank you, Anakin." The more realistic, but less positive outcome and suspicions remained unsaid between them, and he continued to hold her, hoping to provide any reassurance she needed. "I hope you're right."

"I will be. Obi-Wan isn't dying, not today." Neither of them could afford to lose the Jedi Knight right now, so they wouldn't. It was that simple.

For a few more moments, they held onto each other, not saying anything as Padmé simply breathed in the comfort, and Anakin enjoyed her presence in his arms, but they had to return to the very real reality at some point, and so Anakin let go, and Padmé followed, a shaky smile on her face. Anakin couldn't help but feel proud that he'd managed to provide her with a stability her meditation had failed to give. Or at least he hoped it was stability.

"So, what were you looking at anyways?" he asked. Padmé looked up at Anakin, startled. "You were playing with something when I came in, remember?"

"That's...not important." She put her hand into her pocket, and Anakin noticed a chain in her hand as she put it away before taking her hand out of her robe.

"Sure it's not, so that's why you're hiding it."

Padmé sighed, realizing she wouldn't be able to get away with it. "It's the necklace you gave me."

"You still have it?" It was a gift from a nine year old to the girl he was crushing on, and Jedi weren't supposed to have a lot of personal belongings. If he was honest, Anakin was surprised she still had the Japor Snippet.

Padmé nodded. "The Jedi don't believe in luck, but I wanted to have it on me anyways, just in case." It took all of Anakin's power to not try to kiss her again, but she'd asked, and they'd both agreed that love wasn't on the table. "I can't wear it in case it gets damaged, but I can always keep it near me."

"I'm glad." And he meant it. It was something that kept them together, even when everything else wasn't so fortunate. "Why don't you come with me for a bit? I could use the company, and I don't think you'll get any farther in your meditation while you're here."

"I might, you wouldn't know." Padmé stood up anyways, following the same logic as him in that her meditation was done anyways, and Anakin led the way to the cockpit, hoping to continue to provide a distraction the rest of the way there.

-x-

Three games of Dejarik, a round of Sabbac, and a still victorious Astromech later, the ship's navigation systems went off, signifying a return to the real space around them. Anakin took up the controls of the ship, leaving Padmé to check the rest of the systems as he grabbed the wheel, navigating them to the surface of Geonosis.

"We need to be careful where we land," Padmé suggested. "Somewhere out of the way and in cover, so the Geonosians and droids don't notice us."

"They won't." Anakin smirked. "You know I'm better at flying than to get us caught."

Padmé laughed. "It doesn't matter if we get shot down, we don't want to be the reason a war breaks out between the Separatists and Republic, or do your words against creating an army mean nothing?"

"No, I mean them." Anakin turned to him. "But you do know the reputation I have."

"I guess we'd better be ready for a war by the end of the night." Anakin went to defend himself, but stopped, realizing she was teasing him.

He was definitely going to need a lot of time away from her after they rescued Obi-Wan if he wanted to get over the crush he'd had on her since he was nine, that was for sure.

"Do you have a weapon?" she asked, turning serious. Anakin nodded, pulling out a blaster. "Good. Stay close to me, and if we get separated, find some place to hide. I'll find you once Obi-Wan is safe." And with that, the ship touched the ground and the dock extended, and it was time to get moving onto the surface of the planet.

Padmé took lead, her blue lightsaber in her hands and Anakin followed after her, happy to do so and finally get a chance to see her fight now that she'd finished her Jedi training, if it came down to it at least.

She led them between the rocks, indicating to him when they'd need to hide and when they'd need to keep moving as droid sentries passed them by, using the Force to sense when they were getting close to keep them safe. Not that he needed the signals. Anakin may not have been nearly as well trained as Padmé, but he was strong, and able to tell what was going on around him with little effort when needed.

It wasn't long before they got into the factory itself, made obvious by the less natural walls and metal floors, and the oppressive feeling surrounding them that something was very wrong, that they were on the precipice of an inevitability, of something dark. They kept moving, hoping to avoid detection or trouble from anything that might be around.

"Wait." Padmé put her hand out, and Anakin sensed it too, a change in their surroundings, and before either could react two Geonosians jumped out of the shadows, flying at the two of them. Padmé turned on her lightsaber and immediately swung it, cutting the Geonosians in two before either of them could get hurt, and Anakin shot the other, not checking to see if he'd simply left it unconscious or dead.

"We need to go, now." Padmé didn't disagree with him, and the two started running down the hallway, Padmé's speed more than making up for the edge his height gave him as the two managed to keep pace with each other before reaching what looked like a doorway.

Anakin stopped short on the edge of an incomplete bridge, followed by Padmé as they looked down into the depths of the factory below. "We need to go back."

"There's no other choice." And before either of them could process anything, Padmé jumped, landing on a conveyor belt on the ground below her. "Anakin, come on!" He closed his eyes and put his faith in her before making the same jump, feeling the Force catch him as Padmé gently lowered him down safely.

"Are you okay?" she asked, and for a moment, her brown eyes softened as she looked him over, checking to make sure he was alright. They stood there unmoving, and though Anakin was desperately trying, he still found himself drawn in.

The crashing sound of the machinery surrounding them pulled both of them outside of the spell that was seemingly cast around them, bringing them back to reality once more. A large metal arm crashed into the treadmill, crushing whatever metal was surrounding it into a thin plate. "I'm fine, we gotta get off this thing."

Padmé nodded, but before either of them could do anything more, Anakin found himself pushed off the platform and into a vat beneath the treadmill, and he watched as Padmé helplessly got stuck on the treadmill. "No! Padmé!"

"Anakin! You have to get out of there?" The fear in her voice spoke volumes to say that whatever was possibly coming for him if he didn't get out of the empty trap might have been worse than it was for her.

He tried climbing up the walls of the vat, attempting to pull himself out of there, but there were no footholes or small ledges he could use to get a grip, just smooth metal. "I can't get out! There's no grip."

He looked over in her direction to see Padmé, hoping she would be doing better, but from what he could see, she appeared to be struggling with her casings, even with her lightsaber, unable to get out of them. There was no time. They had to think of something. A way out, where they could both survive. It had to be possible, it had.

A beeping noise overhead clued Anakin into a single idea as a familiar astromech droid appeared overhead above the vat. "Artoo?" The droid lowered down, allowing Anakin to climb on before he used his boosters to get Anakin out, evidently just in time as not moments later was the vat he was trapped in filled with some kind of molten metal, hot and likely to kill him had he let it. R2 let out a sarcastic comment, and Anakin smiled. "I know, thank you for saving my life bud. Now come on, we have to go help Padmé."

The droid dropped him off by the control panel, and Anakin removed his blaster to shoot at any droid's that came near, while the data probe extended into the panel. He just needed to provide cover until the droid could slice into the system and gain control. Thankfully, It wasn't long before the treadmill stopped. Padmé, no longer in danger from the risk of having her body crushed by metal, turned to encasing around her arm and began trying to pull free.

"Come on, let's go." Artoo flew over to where Padmé was, and Anakin jumped right over the control panel, quickly following in the droid's path as he ran over to the Jedi. R2 began working on the panel, and it wasn't long before Padmé's hand was free after the droid managed to melt through the metal holding her arm down.

"Ani." She looked like she wanted to say more, but held back anything more than her appreciative thanks. "I was worried you wouldn't get out in time."

"I'm fine and you're fine. Where's your lightsaber?" Padmé indicated the crushed pile of metal on the ground, a frown on her face as she did so. She used the Force to grab the small blue crystal within the wreckage. It seemed as though the power source to her weapon survived, even if the metal shell didn't. "I guess it doesn't matter. Come on, we have to get going."

"I know." She was the defenseless one now, but that didn't matter. The two were smart. They could make it through, so long as they didn't get spotted. Maybe not the easiest task, but far from the hardest they'd face. "We've got to be in the center of the Droid Factory...we have to be close to where they're hiding Obi-Wan."

Anakin nodded. "Then let's keep moving."

"Not another step." The two turned around to find themselves face to face with a Mandalorian man, surrounded by a few dozen battle droids. He had a blaster pointed at the two of them, and had Padmé still had her lightsaber, they might have been able to fight their way out of it, but without it, they were both powerless. He kept the blaster aimed at Padmé, but despite that he appeared to be more focused on Anakin. "Well, I suppose I owe you my gratitude, Jedi. You just made my life that much easier."

-x-

The rescue attempt was a complete failure, but the fact that he and Padmé had gotten themselves captured made Anakin feel arguably worse, given he'd been as insistent on going as Padmé had. Now he'd arguably caused her to fail her mission, and gotten themselves both killed in the process. A fantastic job, if he was honest with himself.

He glanced over at Padmé as she stepped in the chariot. Despite the fact that she was so small, she stood defiant. She looked every bit the Jedi she was, and he couldn't help but feel a flash of pride at how even a death sentence like the one they were facing couldn't bring her down, wouldn't stop her. He beat down the affection with everything he had, instead focusing on what was going on now. "I guess this is it." He let out an over dramatic sigh, noticing the slight twitch of a smile on her determined face.

"So it is." Padmé's response was so quiet, Anakin had to struggle to even hear it. "I'm sorry, Anakin."

"You did your best." Anakin wished more than anything else he could touch her, give her some amount of reassurances to go with his words, but with his hands bound together, there was little he could do. "Even Jedi have their limits to what they can do."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what is?" He looked at her, and the moment before she answered stretched to what felt like an eternity.

"I lied. What I told you earlier, it was wrong. I love you." Of all the things that could have been said, that was probably the only one he'd never imagined, never even thought to imagine.

Without realizing it, the words that plagued Anakin's thoughts escaped him. "You love me?" He looked away, unable to see her response. "I thought we'd decided not to fall in love. That the lies we'd have to tell, have to live through, that they'd destroy us."

"I think we're about to be destroyed anyways." He looked up at Padmé, startled, but unable to refute anything she'd said. The chances of them surviving the arena were low, almost nonexistent. She was right. If they were going to die anyways, then there wasn't a point in pretending anymore. It didn't matter if they were caught. Nobody in the Senate would hear about it, and the only Jedi who might likely wouldn't survive the night. No one left to find out. No one left to use it to ruin their lives. Their eyes met, and suddenly neither Senator nor Jedi wanted to look away from each other. To break the moment. "I truly, deeply, love you. Before we die, I wanted you to know."

Anakin wasn't sure whether it was Padmé or himself that first moved to close the distance, but it wasn't long before their lips met. Despite coming from a dire situation, the kiss was soft, hardly more intense than the one they had shared on Tatooine, but much more meaningful. Because more than anything, Anakin loved her, and that was all he wanted her to know.

They pulled away, and Anakin rested his forehead on Padmé's, not wanting to let the moment between them end. Neither said anything, instead simply holding on to what was likely the last chance they would have to be together. So much they both wanted to say despite knowing they would never get the chance.

The chariot began moving, causing them to pull away from each other.

Their execution had finally begun.

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