#Jedi Indentured AU

[misskittywrites]

Ok you’re obviously familiar with tattooine slave culture are you familiar with the Jedi indentured au

ABSOLUTELY I AM! I love those AUs and they were certainly an influence for Tales from the Desert. I'd love to write something in that AU at some point tbh

My absolute favourite is Pull Back the Curtain (Be Ready for the Show) from the Servio Sumus series.

If you have any reccs send them my way! HUGE fan

[primeemeraldheiress]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sheev Palpatine & Anakin Skywalker Characters: Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Jedi as Indentured Servants to the Republic (Star Wars), Introspection, Manipulative Sheev Palpatine, POV Sheev Palpatine, Abusive Sheev Palpatine, Sheev Palpatine Being An Asshole, Ambiguous Age, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse Series: Part 4 of Servio Sumus Summary:

Sheev relishes this moment.

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

The Many Names of Peace (pt.1/?): Mercy

Inspired by Why We Did Nothing by BairnSidhe

Part I | Part II

CONTENT WARNINGS: THE RUUSAN REFORMATION AND HOW IT PUT THE JEDI IN A TERRIBLE PLACE, MANDALORIAN-JEDI HISTORY AFTER THE RUUSAN REFORMATION WHICH INCLUDES PADAWAN HUNTING. THIS INCLUDES:

Cultural genocide (discussed in detail). The Ruusan Reformation is made much worse here, and the Dral'han/Excision is also commented upon.

Child murder (discussed). Padawan hunting, and how Mandalorians killed children and took braids and beads as trophies.

Corpse desecration (discussed in detail). Lightsabers and Padawan braids and beads are taken from their owners. I realize this doesn't seem important for many of us, but it's very important for the Jedi.

Systematic identity erasure of a mixed race character (discussed). Tarre Vizla's Jedi status is barely known by Mandalorians because House Vizla treated it like a dirty secret.

Please mind your headspaces.

"If you hate genocide so much, where were your people at the Dral'han?" Terith asks with a scoff.

The Jetii stops muttering and goes still. Slowly, she turns, with a movement too fluid for a human. She's shorter than them, very slim and apparently frail, and her blond ���almost white— hair is tied in a braided bun. Her eyes, which are a glowing emerald green, are burning.

"Where were we? You're asking me why we did nothing when your people were attacked?" The kage Jedi asks the Mandalorian with a soft tone of voice and a polite nod, looking almost like a respected jaieh accepting a padawan's question.

It is not.

Underneath their buy'ce, Terith's lips curl at her words, at her threat.

Zahara begins to move from one side of the room to another. It's too controlled to be called pacing, but the tension is visible in her movements.

"Not all Jedi are human. In fact, most aren't. There are species with very long lifespans and, considering Force-sensitives tend to live a few decades longer than others of their species, two hundred is far from an uncommon age among Jedi" The Jetii doesn't seem to be answering their furious question at first. "We were not there, Mandalorian, because every sitting member of the High Council during the genocide of your people remembered how Mandalore reacted when they came for us, first."

Drovan, her crechemate, her enishee, her brother of the soul, was a member of the EduCorps. He hadn't wanted to be a Knight, done the math, and decided to free up a space for somebody else. In particular, he was fascinated by the History of the Order. Zahara remembers quiet nights, when she was at the Temple resting after a taxing mission, when she Drovan used to sit down on comfortable cushions and her closest sibling rambled about what he was learning.

She's heard him ranting about the Ruusan Reformation, and the cruel limitations it places on her people even now. She's read it herself, once she began her Shadow training, learning every single restriction in search for loopholes that could be exploited to make the Order's job and life easier.

Her people's memories are long. Kages remember. The Jedi remember. Zahara remembers.

"They vividly remembered when the Republic we served brought down our Temples, when they took us from our homes, when they tried to destroy a whole branch of our Order" Zahara lists, voice cold and eyes blazing, "when they took our armor, our back-up and defenses, when they stole everything but our Lightsabers… and when your people laughed and called it easy hunting."

The Mandalorian pride in Terith's heart wants to protest, to deny the Jetii's words. But she speaks like a scholar in a subject she's clearly well versed in, like a grieving verd mourning the violence against her people they'd known nothing about.

History isn't always kind, Mandalorian history in particular rarely is, but it's always worth learning from. It's something Kyr'tsad and the extremists among the Nu'Mando'ade don't understand, and Terith refuses to make their same mistakes.

So, they swallow the growing lump in their throat, ignore the stone sinking in their stomach and try to listen.

Zahara's voice begins to break away from the calm, even tones of a teacher, and slowly fall into the ragged tones of soul-crushing grief. Her breath becomes shallow and rapid, and air gets stuck in her throat. Still, she continues.

"The Republic had been destroying us for two hundred years by the time of the orbital bombardment on Mandalore, and in that time, the number of Lightsabers and Padawan braids and beads seen on Mandalorian armor as trophies skyrocketed" The Jetii hisses, spitting the word trophies with the same venom he would use to say hut'tuunla or demagolka. "We were trapped, betrayed and dying… and your people murdered our young and desecrated our corpses, and had the nerve to carry the stolen lives of our kin as proof."

The air grows colder, a sharpness in it that's as familiar as her own reflection. The galaxy around her sings with promises of vengeance, of justice. Justice for her enishee, justice for Feemor and his charges, justice for Jaieh Ta'ra's murdered Padawan, for the all Jedi dead during the Mandalorian sack of the Anohrah, for the bastardization of Jaieh Tarre Vizla's story and the systematic erasure of his Jedi identity, for all the Jedi younglings dead at Mandalorian hands.

Not against the Mandalorian that did any of those things, but against a Mandalorian, anyhow.

"Your people sacked the Temple, stole the life and soul of a respected Jedi Master, got two of his Padawans murdered, erased every single hint of his Jedi upbringing, and perverted everything he stood for in life, all because he happened to be Mandalorian as well."

The song reaches a crescendo, the highest notes she's ever heard in a Force song, making her ears ring. The melody sounds off-key, and the final notes become loud and insufferable high-pitched screams. Zahara grits her teeth, and breathes in deeply. The xari in the air slowly dissapears.

She will not take revenge.

She's a Jedi, and revenge is not the Jedi way.

She will not Fall. She will not let her anger act upon her and betray everything she, Drovan, Feemor, Ta'ra and her Padawan, Tarre Vizla and his Padawans have ever stood for.

Zahara will not take revenge because it's not what Drovan would have wanted. It's not what any Jedi would want.

She will not take revenge because it's not as useful and satisfying as the thores of passion lead you to believe.

This Mandalorian is innocent. They haven't done anything wrong. They're angry about their people's genocide and rightfully so. They're ignorant, and ignorance can be fixed.

Words, the sharing of knowledge, bringing understanding when there was previously none. Those are her greatest weapons, and she can wield them freely and with as much efficiency as a Lightsaber.

Terith is frozen in place, mind racing with the desire to be anywhere else, away from this hurting, angry sorceress that sees them as an enemy. The manda in their chest screams, in offense or the pain of dishonor Terith isn't sure.

They wish their buy'ce was recording. That way they could investigate the Jetii's claims.

Everyone and their mother has heard the rumors about the Jetiise. Sorcerers from the Core that don't reproduce like other beings, but take children from their parents and train them to be as emotionless as droids, beings that beat all the love and concern for others out of themselves because they believe attachment is a weakness.

Terith believed them, once.

Now Terith doesn't know what to believe. The Jetii speaks with too much knowledge and pain to be lying, nobody can fake that well, and the air around them both is mournfully singing as the truth of her words sink into the depths of their runi.

Zahara breathes out slowly. Still hurt, but… determined not to Fall, not to take out her grief and anger on someone who's done nothing wrong.

"So" the kage Jedi flashes a polite but completely unfriendly smile, "why did we do nothing when they came for your world?"

Within their battered heart, stung with the pain of dishonor, with the stain on the manda itself, Terith knows the answer before the Jetii says a word.

"We did nothing because Jedi are merciful, Mandalorian."

(Notes under the cut)

Dai Bendu

Jaieh — Jedi Master (rank and role).

Padawan — apprentice, learner, student. Lit "the one who learns". Please picture a Jedi hearing a politician saying "Padawan learner", and containing the urge to eye twich.

Enishee — crechemate.

Anohrah — Jedi Temple, home. Before the Ruusan Reformation used to refer to the Temple the speaker was from.

Xari — darkness, the Dark Side of the Force.

Mando'a

Jetii(se) — Jedi (add 'se' at the end to make the plural).

Buy'ce — helmet.

Verd — warrior.

Kyr'tsad — Death Watch, lit "death society".

Nu'Mando'ade — New Mandalorians.

Hut'tuunla — coward. Very harsh insult.

Demagolka — someone who commits atrocties, a real-life monster, a war criminal - from the notorious Mandalorian scientist of the Old Republic, Demagol, known for his experiments on children, and a figure of hate and dread in the Mando psyche

Manda — collective soul of the Mandalorians.

Runi — spirit, soul of the individual.

Zahara is a kage Jedi Knight, officially a Sentinel and a Finder, which is used to explain why she can be in places she isn't supposed to and bust slave rings without prior Senate authorization. Unofficially, however, she's a Shadow. It's common practice for the Jedi to register Shadows as Finders in order to give them more freedom of action.

Terith is a Mandalorian bounty hunter, but they're very picky about their jobs and have interest in medicine, particularly "mind-healing". They were born in a New Mandalorian family but found greater calling to Jaster and the True Mandalorians and switched allegiance once they were of age. They are mildly Force-sensitive, not enough to become a Jedi and only gives them good instincts.

The Dral'han is the orbital bombardment of Mandalore done by the Galactic Republic in roughly 800BBY. The Republic used Jedi ships, but there were no Jedi involved. Mandalorians believed the Jedi were guilty at first, but the truth was uncovered only a decade later.

Dai Bendu is not my creation. It's a colang, although the story of the language is something I made up. Dai Bendu is the language spoken by the Order of Dai Bendu and, later on, the Jed'aii Order. It fell out of use after the Jedi joined the Republic in 25,000BBY, but came back in full swing during the Jedi-Sith Wars when it was very useful to speak a language the enemy couldn't understand.

I don't know if it's canon, but in this story Force-sensitives live longer than the average of their species. Those who aren't trained only live a little longer (a decade in humans), but for those who, like the Jedi, have training that lifespan increases (three to four decades in humans).

"Free up a space". Taken from the Jedi Apprentice series, where Jedi age out at thirteen and there are limited Masters, and where those who aren't chosen are sent to the Corps. Drovan knew he didn't want to be a Knight, so he requested to be sent to the Corps as soon as possible to give the chance of becoming a Knight to someone who actually wanted to be one. Unlike Jedi Apprentice, however, this is an imposition from the Ruusan Reformation, and the Jedi try to bend this rule as much as possible.

Kages' memories begin forming almost at birth. Zahara remembers with vivid detail most of her life. She's doing an alliteration: she remembers because she's a kage and because she is a Jedi.

This is the "Ruusan Reformation but make it worse" AU:

"Brought down our Temples". The Ruusan Reformation demanded the centralization of the Jedi Order. Therefore, all Jedi were forced to move to Couruscant, and their other Temples were either destroyed or repurposed.

"Took us from our homes." Although Terith doesn't know it, Zahara is being redundant. The word for Jedi Temple in Dai Bendu also means home. She's putting enphasis on how painful it was for the Jedi to lose their homes.

"Tried to destroy a whole branch of our Order." The Shadows were supposed to be dissolved after the Ruusan Reformation was signed. However, the Jedi managed to keep training Shadows in secret.

The Jedi used to have weapons, armor and many defenses besides their Lightsabers, but the Ruusan Reformation ordered their demilitarization and "demilitarization". Among the things they lost were the right to carry their birth cultures' sacred armor and weapons. A Mandalorian Jedi wouldn't be allowed to have armor, for example.

Mandalorians tend to take trophies from their enemies after a battle. This is done both for, well, bragging rights and to respect the memory of a worthy opponent (similar to their remembrances for their fallen comrades). However, the bragging rights part can overshadow the respect for a worthy opponent part, and many Mandalorians hunt down defenseless "enemies" to steal important objects from them. The Jedi in particular were a favored target for these… individuals, seeing as they had no armor, only carried one weapon and were usually alone or in pairs because that's how the Senate decided to send them in missions. The victims were usually Padawans, hence the name Padawan Hunts.

Tarre Vizla's story shows the greatest difference between how Jedi and Mandalorians (at least in that era) treat different cultures and double cultured children. The Jedi don't hide that Tarre Vizla was Mandalorian, everyone knows that he left the Order to rule Mandalore, and know what happened to his armor and what he wanted to happen to his body and Lightsaber. However, Mandalorians either don't know or refuse to recognize Tarre Vizla's Jedi status.

"Sacked the Temple". Tarre Vizla left his armor to his Clan and his Lightsaber to the Jedi. When he died, he wanted to be burned in the Temple (both cultures burn their death, so little to no issue here) and his ashes to be spread on Mandalore. House Vizla, however, did the equivalent of spitting on Tarre's funeral pyre and sacked the Temple to steal the Darksaber.

"Stole the life and soul of a respected Jedi Master". Tarre Vizla was a Jedi, and the Darksaber is his life. House Vizla, however, had no respect for their relative's other culture and did the worst thing they could do to him: killing and hurting his Jedi family, and stealing a sacred item they knew was sacred.

I headcanon that Tarre Vizla had three Padawans. He finished the incomplete training of the first because their Master died, did the whole training of the second and got promoted to Master as a result, and only started the training of the third before he went to his home planet to unite Mandalorians against the Sith Empire. Two of them were killed during House Vizla's sack of the Temple.

"Erased every hint of his Jedi upbringing." House Vizla replaced the Jedi Order symbol on Tarre's armor with the symbol of House Vizla, refused to acknowledge Tarre's desire to be remembered as a Jedi and forbade anyone from speaking about his Jedi status, and never say that the Darksaber is actually a regular Lightsaber they stole.

"Perverted everything he stood for." Lightsabers are a Jedi's life, hold their souls in the same way beskar'gam holds a Mandalorian's. Tarre. Ever since it was stolen, the Darksaber has been used as a symbol of authoritarian and tyrannical leadership, warmonging, imperialism and military violence. It's so fucked up that the crystal is beginning to break (the white cracks, originally the Darksaber was pure black) and, had those who held it been trained Force-sensitives, the crystal would have bled.

Terith doesn't know they're Force-sensitive, but they know their instincts are rarely wrong, and they can feel the honesty and grief coming from Zahara in waves. They don't doubt her precisely because they know she's not lying, she's seeing things as she sees them and, even if she's wrong, it's something Terith believes to be worth looking into.

[epicmusic42]

Me: innocently working on next installment of Werdlaar

Asajj: doesn't want to leave Rattatak before freeing everybody

Me: expected that, already planning for Ky to explain that she's all of *twelve* and not staying

Ky: casually implies that Tahl's blindness was an intentional thing that either she or Qui-Gon caused so that they had an excuse for leaving a 13 year old Obi-wan in a war zone

Me: o.O I'm sorry what did you just say?

[mylordshesacactus]

The Barrissoka Fusion You Never Knew You Wanted

So in celebration of FINALLY rounding out the originally-planned slate of barrissoka Disney AU/fusion challenge fics, I thought I'd put together a masterlist for those of you who are new, returning, or just never got around to them when they were first posted!

By sheer good luck, there are an even split of AU types--three fusions (ie, Star Wars characters adapted to a non-GFFA setting), and three alternate timelines (where the core setting is the same, but events developed differently--in this case, in a way analogous to the core plot of the movie the challenge was based on.).

Fusions

Through The Darkness And The Shadows

Setting: Fantasy-Medieval AU: Beauty and the Beast

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young princess lived in a shining castle…

It'll Sound Like A Promise

Setting: Fantasy-Medieval (Scotland Redux) AU: Brave

A clan leader’s heir had to strive for perfection. That was why Ahsoka was currently hiding in a tree.

Look To The Sky With Hope

Setting: Pirates/Fantasy Age of Sail AU: Pirates of the Caribbean (62k, 5 chapters)

Anakin Skywalker. Every sailor knows that name. Captain of the ghost ship Twilight, ferryman of the dead. Some say he preys on merchantmen, out of vengeance for the loss of his ship and crew; others that he and the charred black phantom are an honest sailor's friend, a protector in the dark and the mist. According to Ahsoka, the truth is both and neither. But the Twilight is...well, it's not real. Barriss Offee may be new to this whole pirate thing, but she knows that. It's a legend, a story, a sailor's superstition; like mermaids and Fridays and the Kraken. The ship of the dead and its captain, they're just a myth. Aren't they?

Alternate Universes

Going My Way?

AU: Aristocats Podfic: By Writers_Block, available here.

Shipwrecked and stranded on a remote agricultural planet, Barriss Offee doesn't dare reveal her identity as a Jedi for fear of drawing unwanted attention that might endanger the younglings in her care. Enter the charming, compassionate young spacer Ashla, who drops everything to take the group under her protection and asks nothing in return, as Barriss grows more and more unhappy with the necessity of lying to a young woman who's been nothing but honest with them. Meanwhile, Ahsoka Tano and her master are on an undercover mission. She really wishes she could tell the scared young mother she's taken in that she's a Jedi, but, well. The mission has to come first.

Back To The Wind

AU: Cars. (I cannot emphasize enough that this is an AU and not a fusion. They are not cars. They are people. For the love of god. It's just a plot adaptation. Please stop asking me if they're supposed to be cars.)

A hyperdrive malfunction strands Ahsoka in a nearly-abandoned trading settlement in the Outer Rim. That's not the problem. While she works off her community service sentence, she ends up in the unofficial custody of a weirdly hostile Mirialan who won't stop giving her these long, searching looks and talking about the failures of the Jedi Order like she knows something Ahsoka doesn't. That's not the problem either. The problem is...Ahsoka's starting to wonder if she really wants to go back.

When These Moments Have Passed

AU: The Fox and the Hound

Jedi Master Plo Koon was sent to Shili to retrieve a Force-sensitive youngling...and arrived just a few hours too late. Years later, a Jedi padawan and an indentured bounty hunter find themselves in the same spaceport. They shouldn't be friends, not really, but...they're more alike than they are different, straining under the weight of roles they can't escape. That bond is stronger than the galaxy's expectations. Until it isn't.

Bonus

While these are NOT part of the very specific "I can turn any classic Disney movie into a barrissoka AU, fucking try me" original challenge that spawned all this, they're some very nice AUs and if you're into AUs in general, you'll probably appreciate:

Iced Offee, Caramel Twist

AU: Coffeeshop AU

(What? Someone had to write it.)

Mirror, Mirror

AU: Sith AU

(Series/Duology)

[maybeebeee]

Won't You Stay With Me, My Darling?

weeeee i'm writing again? i started writing this like two months ago and finished it at 1am so...do with that information as you will haha but I've been thinking about this au for aaaages and am glad that i finally finished writing something for it! hope you love it like i do :)

Pairing: Layla El-Faouly/Marc Spector, implied Layla El-Faouly/Steven Grant

Rating: G

Characters: Layla El-Faouly, Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Jake Lockley (mentioned), Khonshu (mentioned)

Tags: AU - Star Wars universe, Jedi Layla El-Faouly, bounty hunter Marc Spector, mutual pining, fluff, first kiss, idiots in love

Word count: 2301

Summary: A Jedi and a bounty hunter face a moral conundrum. In other words...Jedha is a cold planet, and Layla doesn't do well in the cold.

Read on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite being a desert moon, Jedha is freezing all the time, which Layla had not been expecting the first time she had stepped out of her ship onto the planet’s surface. It’s been six months since then, and every time she’s come back it’s been just as much of a shock — and yet she still finds herself coming back again and again.

Of course, that’s mostly thanks to Marc. Or more specifically, Khonshu demanding that Marc keep coming back. The skeletal avian creature keeps promising just one more contract, and then the bounty hunter will be free, but there’s always something else, and Marc is bound until Khonshu decides to withdraw whatever hold he has on his already-fractured mind.

Layla still feels uneasy around the alien — ever since their first meeting when she had sensed the way the very air around him was almost stained with the dark side, she hasn’t trusted him. She trusts Marc, and Steven, and even Jake now that she’s met him a few more times, but not their…employer. Anyone who uses the dark side to indenture people can’t be trusted, no matter how “beneficial” the work they send them to do is.

And it’s true that Marc’s work is generally for good, it’s why Layla joined him on his travels in the first place. Taking down Imperial cells across the galaxy — especially those operating their own further very illegal and unethical programs within — is what she had already been doing herself, as a way to honour all of her fellow Jedi that had given their lives trying to do the same before the purge took them away. 

It’s nice to have someone else to fight alongside again, even if his employer is an untrustworthy bird creature who fell off the Jedi path centuries ago and has been using the dark side to bring people back from near-death and force them to serve him as his own personal bounty hunters until he feels like letting them go. 

It’s not like that’s Marc’s fault. 

In any case, Layla doesn’t mind coming back to Jedha regularly. It’s one of the few places in the galaxy she feels truly safe as a Jedi these days, and the hum of the Force through her veins when she’s here is always a source of comfort.

She’s trying to focus on it now, sitting on the floor of the small, draughty room she and Marc are staying in this time, but the cold nips at her even through her layers of clothes and makes it hard to keep her mind fixed on her meditation. It’s been hard enough to meditate since Master Taweret was killed — though Layla had been a fully-fledged Jedi Knight for several years before the purge, the loss of her old master had left a hole in her heart that she’s still not sure will ever fully heal, and reaching out with the Force had been almost impossible for weeks after Taweret’s death. She’s still getting used to it now, though it’s been nearly three years. 

People always spoke of how hard it could be to reconnect to the Force after the loss of their master, but nothing could have ever prepared her for how hard it would be after the loss of her entire Order. Not only is Taweret gone, but so is anyone else who could have helped her through this.

And then there’s the Marc issue. 

Her whole life, Layla had been taught detachment. Never letting her feelings compromise her work as a Jedi. Loving people and being compassionate but never allowing deep attachment to one person to occur. Even her very familial-like relationship with Taweret was on a knife’s edge of being too attached in the Council’s view, which was partly why she had been pushed through her Trials at only nineteen. And romance was absolutely off the cards.

Now though…the Order is gone, and Marc is here. Marc, and Steven, and Jake. But mostly Marc.

Layla’s been drawn to him from the first moment they had crossed paths, and it seems fateful to her that they’ve stayed together this long since then. The Force drew her to him, she’s sure of it, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still conflict in her mind about it. 

She loves him, she has for some time now. She hasn’t admitted it out loud, but she senses that he knows, and it’s clear that he feels the same too. And although she’s made her peace with it, it’s something she’s still unsure of navigating, something that brings…not fear, per se, but an uncertainty that she’s not used to.

The Jedi had tried to keep everything so black and white. Light side and dark side. Since the fall of the Order she’s seen so many ways that it can co-exist and intersect — like in Khonshu even, someone who is so far into the dark side the Jedi would have written him off a long time ago if they’d known he was still alive, and yet he wants the Empire gone as much as anyone Layla would see as more typically light would. Granted, he has very questionable ways of going about his work, and she’s certain it’s more out of self-interest than the greater good, but…he’s still helping, in some strange way.

Layla’s grown less afraid of her feelings in the past months. She knows she’s doing work that the Jedi would be proud of, even if she’s not necessarily doing it the way they would’ve wanted her to. She’s confident, not afraid of igniting her lightsabers and fighting in the name of peace and justice; and not afraid of admitting, at least to herself, that her feelings for Marc are there. 

That doesn’t make it any easier to act on them, although her own hesitation is starting to drive her mad. It’s like she just can’t shake the hands of the Council on her shoulders, warning her that acting on her feelings could be a path to the dark side. She knows it won’t be — if losing Master Taweret taught her anything it’s that love has only made her more determined to stay on the path of the light, but…maybe it’s just that this kind of love feels like a violation of rules she’d been directly instructed not to break.

“You’re thinking so loud,” Marc comments from the doorway, where Layla knows he’s been standing for at least a few minutes, “I thought meditating was supposed to stop the thoughts.”

“It’s supposed to clear the mind,” She corrects, not opening her eyes, “But I can’t concentrate when it’s so cold.”

He finally moves toward the makeshift bed they’d set up in the corner when they’d arrived — it’s his turn to sleep on the floor, and thankfully he’s not complained as much as usual this time — and plops down on the pillows. He’s quiet for long enough that Layla finally gives up and peeps open one eye, enough to catch him staring at her.

She sighs and leans back to lay on the cold floor before she can think better of it, and a shiver runs up her spine immediately, “Alright, I give up. How long has it been anyway?”

Marc shrugs and holds up a tracking fob before just as quickly tossing it into his bag. “Long enough to debrief the bird and get my next job. We can go in a few days. Steven wants to get some supplies from the markets, which probably means he wants new clothes—” 

His gaze shifts towards the window for a moment, where Layla can sense Steven’s presence and almost picture his indignant expression, “Yeah, I’m onto you, no more ponchos…” Marc shakes his head, “Fine, but it better not be on me when I come in, ever. Anyway,” He glances back at her, “I think we’re all overdue for a good sleep. So…let’s do that first.”

Layla stands up and stretches out her stiff limbs — sitting down for that long really doesn’t do wonders for the joints, she thinks. “Good idea. Meditation is rest, in a way, but it’s still…taxing on the mind and spirit.”

“Again, thought the point was to clear the mind.” Marc imitates her with a half-smile, to which she shoots him a withering stare as she sheds her outer layers of clothing and climbs into the bed, “Sorry. Yeah, you get this look when you’ve been meditating, like you’re awake but you’re not really there again until you’ve slept. I do notice things sometimes.”

She purses her lips at him, fighting the heat rising to her cheeks at the notion of being so known by someone. By Marc. “So you do.” She muses and drops her head to the pillow, “Good night.”

“Sleep well.”

Layla tries, she really does, but it’s so cold. There’s several blankets piled on top of her and she’s still shivering despite her best efforts to stay perfectly still in the spot she’s already warmed with her own body heat. Thoughts of warmer planets swirl in her mind, of deserts with actual desert heat, or jungle planets with humidity that makes her hair frizz up something terrible but at least keeps her cocooned in warmth and relative comfort — at least compared to the bone-biting chill of Jedha.

It’s probably been twenty minutes by the time Marc speaks up again from his spot on the floor.

“Layla, I can hear you shivering.”

“I’m fine.”

Layla hears the telltale rustle of blankets and knows that Marc is standing, staring. She pointedly keeps her own gaze fixed on the ceiling. A beat longer, and another pile of blankets is dropped on top of her, on which she can faintly smell Marc’s familiar metallic, smoky scent. The man himself is still standing beside the bed, so she finally turns her gaze towards him. Even in the dark she can see how earnestly he’s looking at her, and it makes her heart leap up into her throat. Neither of them say a word. 

Layla is a little shaky as she lifts up the covers in silent invitation, never mind the cold air it lets into the bed with her, if only for a brief moment. Any hesitation she had been dwelling on before is gone, throwing caution to the wind and deciding for once in her life to follow her heart. Stars, the Council would be so disappointed in her. But it’s now or never.

Marc nods, wasting no time slipping in beside her and pulling the blankets tight around them both. Layla finds herself drawing close to his warmth immediately, curling an arm around his waist as his own hand presses tentatively into the centre of her back. They’re chest to chest, sharing the same breath in the almost nonexistent gap between them, and it’s so warm. 

Layla can sense his nerves — although she doesn’t need the Force to tell her that, with the rabbiting of his heartbeat thrumming through her so clearly she might’ve thought he’d pressed his own heart right into her chest in silent offering. It’s clear that their unspoken line has been crossed, they’ve gone beyond the threshold without even having to say out loud, “Come in.”

She reaches up with her other hand to trace her fingers over his cheekbone, and he lets out a long breath as he leans into her gentle touch.

“How long have you—” He starts hoarsely.

“Since the beginning,” She breathes, “Always.”

Marc leans in to press his forehead against hers, bumps their noses together with a quiet, disbelieving laugh, “The whole time. I was thinking this whole time that I was the galaxy’s biggest idiot, falling for…well, anyone really, but especially a Jedi who wouldn’t love me back. Hell, even Steven’s been telling me that. He’s…sort of in on this too, but it’s not like he would’ve done this, right? Honestly, I’m surprised I did it.”

Layla smiles warmly, presses a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth, “I’m glad you did. I’ve been trying to work up the strength to tell you for so long, but you know it’s…complicated, with the lessons I had drilled into me by the Council for so long. But,” She punctuates with another soft kiss to his dimple, “This Jedi does love you back.”

His exhale is shaky, but he tilts his head to catch her lips with his own, and oh, Layla is well and truly done for. His hand is strong on her back, his mouth soft and warm and tasting vaguely minty — she never wants to taste anything else if she can help it — and all too soon he’s drawing back, though now his other hand is cupping her cheek just as she’s doing to him. She wonders vaguely if he can feel her blush under his fingertips, just as she can feel his. 

“You’ve stopped shivering.” Marc points out, but pulls her closer all the same.

She huffs out a laugh, “You’re warm.”

He sneaks another kiss before replying, “No more cold nights for you, hm? You let me in once and you’re probably not gonna get rid of me, or Steven when he finds out, just so you know.”

“I can live with that.” She smiles, “You’re all good company.”

Marc’s expression mirrors Layla’s, and it’s a while longer trading kisses and whispered stories of their many realisations of love for each other before they finally start dozing off, clinging to each other like they never want to be separated again. The galaxy is a tough place, and there’s still so much fighting to be done for the Jedi and bounty hunter pair before all this will truly get easier. But for now?

Layla is warm in Marc’s embrace. And that’s enough for her.

[kitkatt0430]

A Star Wars Sequel series AU idea

Ben Solo wasn't Han and Leia's only child. They had a daughter too, but around the same time that news broke that Leia was Darth Vader's biological daughter, that little toddler girl was kidnapped. They never found her and it was the first big crack in the foundation of Han and Leia's marriage. When Ben turned to the dark side, they ended up drifting apart. Leia becoming more involved in the political movement opposing the First Order and Han returning to his smuggling roots.

TFA events are largely unchanged, but Rey doesn't immediately head out after Luke. They wait for Finn to recover, then Leia sends Rey with Finn, Chewie, Poe, and R2 to track down Luke.

Now, Luke is not the 'last' of the Jedi. Not only is Leia trained as a Jedi, but there are various others who are members of a new Jedi Order. It's not what the old Order was, but so much of that history was deliberately lost that they couldn't recreate the exact same thing from before. Ben Solo's defection killed off a number of the order, so they're all currently spread across the galaxy. Some searching out new force sensitives to teach, others using their abilities to help people in need...

Luke, specifically, went in search of the origins of the Jedi. He entrusted his flight plan to very few in order to keep the growing First Order off his back... but also to keep his other objective from being found out. He didn't want to give Leia false hope after failing to find her missing daughter all those years ago. But new clues have surfaced recently and there are a handful of planets where they might be able to pick up clues to his missing niece's whereabouts.

One of those worlds was Jakku where Luke's friend - but not a Jedi himself - Lor San Tekka has been scouring for records of a girl matching Breha Solo's description having been taken through one of the many spaceports some sixteen or seventeen years ago. And he's not only found that evidence... he thinks that girl is still on the planet.

He gives this information along with the map to Poe, as the First Order has been taking an interest in Jakku and it's only a matter of time before they show up... a matter of time being mere minutes in this case.

When R2 wakes up and displays the map, he keeps the other information private. it's coded specifically for Luke. But Leia, and even Han before he died, felt a connection the young woman from Jakku.

Leia wonders, if her daughter was still alive, would she be something like Rey? Han wishes he'd been the kind of father who could protect his children, but maybe there's still something he can do to make this girl's life better?

Luke's been setting up his secret enclave Jedi school in a system similar to the Corellian system (as in, it's artificially created and maintained) where he has reason to believe the Jedi originated in the time following the fall of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, long before the rise of the First Republic. The Ancient precursors to the Jedi believed in, and taught, the balance between the light and the dark and the necessity of followers of both paths, something the Jedi eventually lost. For all that they believed in balance, by making the dark side something forbidden and taboo they may have inadvertently created an imbalance of the Force. He still has a lot to learn about the origins of the Jedi, though, so a lot of what he's deciphered is still speculative at best.

This is where Rey and Finn find him, along with R2, Poe, and Chewie. And Luke welcomes them. Though of course he's especially excited to have two more students to learn the ways of the Force. And then R2 delivers his second message from Lor San Tekka.

He found the girl, Breha Solo. He's sure of it. She was brought to Jakku and sold as an indentured servant to one of the local scrapyard owners: Unkar Plutt. She'd earned her freedom at the age of sixteen but was rumored to still be on planet, living as a scavenger. Going by the name Rey, which Tekka suspected was a child's derivation of Breha.

Rey, the girl that Leia just sent to Luke for training...

[workingchemistry]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Rape/Non-Con

Categories: Gen Other

Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types

Relationships:

Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine & Anakin Skywalker

Characters:

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Bail Organa

Additional Tags:

Jedi Indentured AU, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Anakin recognizes he’s not free, and it causes ripples, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi

Summary

Watto hadn’t been a bad Master, but that certainly didn’t make him a good one either. As much as Anakin loved pod racing—and as determined as he had always been to win—Ani always knew he wasn’t meant to. He was just another piece in all of Watto’s many cons. Find some newcomer down on their luck, convince them that he really could win, get them to bet on him against Watto, and then lose. Anakin hadn’t been supposed to win, and he wasn’t supposed to be free.

So, he supposes, he can’t be too upset that he’s not.

[agentofscifi]

Hey, I’m looking for a Star War: The Clone Wars fanfiction piece/series. It’s an indentured jedi au where the clones find out and take over the republic to protect the jedi. If anyone remembers the name please mention it below. Thanks!

[kittonafoxgirl]

[Podfic] Pull Back the Curtain (Be Ready for the Show)

AO3 Link: Pull Back the Curtain (Be Ready for the Show) [Podfic]

Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

Writer: @primeemeraldheiress​

Text: Pull Back the Curtain (Be Ready for the Show)

Reader: Kittona

Rating: T+

Length: 11:37

Content Warnings: implied/referenced rape/non-con; implied/referenced dub-con; implied/referenced child abuse

Summary:   She doesn't understand.

Obi-Wan had greeted her so warmly — if cautiously — bare weeks ago. He and Anakin had even appeared to be trying to out-flirt each other. Seemingly eager to gain her attention.

Now he treats her so coldly. Padmé just doesn't know what she's done to deserve his anger.

[writing-is-thorapy]

ooh ZinTI (Zygerria in Tatooine + Jedi Indentured AU) for the WIP ask?

“M-mom?” He hates how his voice cracks and how tears gather in his eyes but it’s her and she’s here and suddenly he feels like a little boy again with sun-bleached hair running back to his mother’s welcoming arms after a hard day at Watto’s shop. 

“Ani?” She sounds exactly the same and he wants to sob.

He can’t cry, can’t waste water, but allows himself the weakness of running into her arms, of being drawn into her warm and welcoming embrace.

Here’s the link to the published work (WARNING: IT IS RATED M): The Absence of Salvation!

[primeemeraldheiress]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Jedi Indentured AU, yep you read that right, Omega Obi-Wan Kenobi, Omega Anakin Skywalker, Angst, Hurt, Whump, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage, Mentioned Qui-Gon Jinn, Omega Qui-Gon Jinn, Implied/Referenced Mpreg, Crying, Lots of Crying, Dai Bendu (Star Wars) Summary:

Everything hurt.

He didn’t know where he was but nothing smelled right. Too many mingled scents, too many harsh sounds. Danger hung in the air, in the Force, but he couldn’t make himself move. The world blurred around him.

What had happened? What was—

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

The Many Names of Peace (pt.3/?): Communication

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Child murder (discussed).

Rape/Sexual assault (discussed)

Slavery and sistemic oppresion (discussed)

Human/Sapient rights violations (discussed)

Ruusan Reformation (derogatory) (discussed in detail)

The mission was nothing complicated, just a standard corporate dispute. However, the intel didn't say a word about the pirate blockade on the orbit of Quarzite, not a single sound about how both corporations were using slave labor, or about the genocide going on on the planet.

Because the mission wasn't about those things. It doesn't matter that both corporations were using child slaves right in front of their noses, or that the planet belongs to the people the belugans are subjugating, oppressing, killing and enslaving.

The ade, Terith observes with concern, are terrified of them and the Jet'verde. One of them, a girl of near-human species, is clinging ont the Jet'ad for dear life and watching the adults surrounding them with mistrust. Terith's heart breaks a little.

"Agisti, Kenobi" the kage Jedi greets the Padawan-brother of her Shadow-brother. "It seems you found trouble again."

Kenobi sighs, looking a strange mixture of proud and exasperated. "It was all my Padawan this time, Jexha…"

Zahara smiles, a little amused. "Valehnan Jexha Zahara."

The Jetii approaches the scared ade, and kneels in front of them in order to put herself on the same level. She whispers something in a language Terith doesn't understand, but some of the ade seem to. The little girl clinging to the Jetii'ad relaxes once she hears the language, and calmly lets go of the boy's arm. Then, she turns to the other kids.

"She's a Warrior, she's Kin" the little girl says, switching into Basic, "and a Jidai. She doesn't mean us any harm."

The Jetii'ad looks surprised and confused, and a few other emotions that cross his face too quickly to be identified. However, the children immediately relax at hearing the girl's words. Apparently, whatever Heliost said was enough to make herself trustworthy.

Zahara smiles softly. "Don't worry. None of the people here will hurt you" she promises, and the look she gives Terith makes the clear threat of or else. "Do you have homes to return to? Kin?"

The children and Zahara switch to Kage again, and she manages to gather information about some of the children. She turns to the others.

"Most of these younglings are kages from Quarzite" she says in Basic, to make sure nearly everyone understands what she's saying. They'll be discussing these younglings' future, the least they can do is make sure the younglings understand them. "They are all from different Caves —homes, families—, and… some of them don't exist anymore. We have to make sure they all have places to stay in."

Then, she swallowed. "Others were stolen from families and homes in the Outer Rim, or bought from the Hutts. The others were taken too young to remember where they come from."

Anakin flinches slightly. He hopes nobody notices, but they all seem to be busy discussing what to do with the child- younglings.

They finish returning the kage ade to their homes and aliit a full standard day later. Now, the only thing left to do is return the remaining ade to their people or, in case they can't, find them a new home.

There is a tense silence in the subtram back to their ship. The recently freed younglings are wary of the three Jedi and the Mandalorian, even after Anakin freed them, and Zahara and Obi-Wan are obviously uncomfortable with a Mandalorian so close. Jedi and Mandalorian animosity runs deep.

The little kage girl that spoke to Zahara is roughly four standard, but turns five —according to her— in a few months. She's Force-sensitive, judging by her question of why Terith doesn't have "colors".

Zahara swallows a relieved sigh, but her shoulders still relax. Anakin hates it, how nobody cares about slaves unless they are Force-sensitive, how the Jedi do nothing about the planets in the Outer Rim or even the Couruscant underwold. So much for compassion.

There is tense silence as Obi-Wan, Boma and the Mandalorian sit around the table on Terith's ship, drinking slowly from their cups of tea. Hadia, the kage girl, has already drunk her whole cup, while Anakin's sits on the table untouched.

Is this what everyone does? Drinking tea instead of freeing slaves?

"How did you end up working with a Mandalorian, anyway? I thought, well, after…" Obi-Wan says, attempting diplomacy to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Not every Mando'ad is the same, even within the same faction" offers Terith. "Two verde, five opinions, as they say."

"It was you two, especifically" Zahara explains. "Terith despised the idea of a missing youngling, and I needed help to find you."

"Children are the future" adds Terith, sounding like they are quoting a sacred tenet of a creed they are part of. "If it helps… my clan will take care of any child we cannot bring back to their families."

Zahara clenches her jaw. "How wonderful for those you see as children."

The kage Jedi says it in a low mutter, but not low enough to avoid being heard by the Mandalorian.

"Look, you don't owe me the story of your pain" Terith tells her, having a silent conversation Anakin isn't privy to. "But Jaster's faction, the Haat'Mando'ade? We don't kill children. Nu draar, not ever. We are not Kyr'tsad."

Zahara sighs, but doesn't reply immediately. Instead, she turns to the younglings. "Anakin, Hadia, I'm about to explain something gross and disturbing to Terith, okay? I think you should leave. It's not a burden I want to put on you"

Hadia nods, and Anakin has to swallow the sharp retort that wants to come out of his lips. "Alright."

Hadia, still holding Anakin's hand, drags him out of the dinning room.

Whatever Knight Zahara said to the Mandalorian —Terith, they'd introduced themselves— was enough to make them feel disturbed. Anakin can feel their horror, even with their Force-presence muted through the armor.

"Mister Terith, are you okay?" Hadia asks.

The Mandalorian takes off their helmet and smiles, ruffling Halia's white hair gently. "I'm okay, just… learned something a bit upsetting. I'll deal with it."

Zahara and Obi-Wan come next. Obi-Wan squeezes Zahara's arm, and she smiles and squeezes his. They let each other go, and walk up to Anakin.

"Anakin" Obi-Wan begins, and swallows. "Can we speak alone for a moment?"

Anakin hesitates, not sure if he wants to deal with a lecture after the day he's had, but… Obi-Wan seems tired and worried, about him, and his chest tightens.

He hadn't wanted to worry Obi-Wan. He swallows the lump in his throat. "Yes, Master."

Zahara raises a brow at the form of adress, but doesn't say anything. Together, she and Obi-Wan lead Anakin into the dinning room of Terith's ship.

Anakin and Zahara sit down, as Obi-Wan pours his fellow Knight and himself a cup of tea. Anakin doesn't understand the Jedi's obsession with tea.

Zahara takes her cup to her lips immediately, while Obi-Wan leaves his on the table, waiting for his tea to cool down a little before drinking it.

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence, with none of the Knights knowing what to say and Anakin expecting the scolding to begin any time soon. Finally, Obi-Wan starts.

"What you did was very brave, Anakin" His Padawan flusters at the praise. "You did what was right even when it was hard, and I'm very proud of you."

Anakin's cheeks turn hot and red. He… hadn't been expecting the praise.

"But it was also reckless" Obi-Wan goes on. "There are many things that could have gone wrong, things you didn't consider."

Anakin feels anger rising. "I was trying to free the slaves!"

Knight Zahara sighs, suddenly looking exhausted. "Do or do not, Skywalker. There is no try." She leaves her cup of tea on the table.

"You're very lucky Hadia is Force-sensitive and under the age limit" Obi-Wan explains to his Padawan, with slowly dying calm. "You could get into great trouble if we don't thread carefully."

Anakin's anger explodes, and with it so does Zahara's cup of tea. The Valehnan barely shields herself and Obi-Wan in time to stop the hot water from burning them. "I was freeing slaves! I shouldn't need a justification for that! I don't need to tell the Council what I'm doing every second of my time so they can argue about everything and waste my time!"

Zahara picks up the broken teacup, using the Force to avoid cutting herself, and throws it into the trashcan. She's projecting calm into her expression, but the kage doesn't manage to hide her frustration in the Force.

"There is no could, there is no should, only what you must do." The kage Jedi says, words of wisdom beyond Anakin's reach flowing through the air and the Force. "You're right, you shouldn't need permission to do the right thing and free slaves. But we don't live in an ideal galaxy, and right now you do need authorization to fight slavery."

"Jedi must follow our mandates, Anakin" Obi-Wan tells him honestly. "We can't act however we wish, even if it's right."

"You sound like we are slaves at the orders of the Council! Jedi are free, we should-!"

Zahara grabs another cup and pours herself some tea. While she does that, she cuts Anakin off. "We are not, Skywalker."

Anakin's anger quickly turns to confusion. "What do you mean…?"

Obi-Wan sighs tiredly. "What do you know about the Ruusan Reformation, Anakin?"

Anakin blinks at the sudden change in subject.

"It's a peace treaty signed after the last Jedi-Sith Wars."

"In theory" Zahara allows. "In practice, it's… something else."

The kage Jedi and Obi-Wan exchange a glance. Then, all emotion disappears from their faces, but their Force signatures grow… louder.

"At the end of the New Sith Wars, a thousand years ago, the public view of the Jedi had shifted." Obi-Wan explains slowly, carefully. "Most of the galaxy doesn't understand the difference between a Jedi and a Sith, and coming from a centuries long war that caused a technological regression we are still recovering from…"

Anakin finishes his Master's sentence, sounding hesitant and almost hoping he's wrong. "People blamed the Jedi?"

Zahara sighs. "Yes. We were blamed for things we didn't do and for things we couldn't do even if we tried. That's why the Ruusan Reformation was written in the first place: to limit the power that Jedi could wield" The kage Jedi swallows the lump in her throat. "First thing they did was take away our power to participate in the political process, which means we cannot be representatives for any planet or system in any government, have representation in said governments, nor are we allowed to vote."

Anakin's face turns a shade paler. "But… isn't voting a right for all citizens of the Republic?"

"Yes" Zahara replies, and doesn't elaborate, lets Anakin reach his own conclusions. The Padawan doesn't like the conclusions he's reaching to.

"Next was… the demilitarization of the Order, right? I remember Quinlan talking about it" Obi-Wan adds.

Knight Zahara nods. "They took our armor, back-up and defenses, basically everything but our Lightsabers" She takes a sip of her tea. "This means that zabraks and kages, for example, cannot own their cultures' traditional weapons."

Anakin remembers an old male zabrak slave, who had always lamented the loss of his staff, and feels sick to his stomach.

"It gets worse" Zahara warns him.

"How…" Anakin swallows. "How does it get worse?"

"Jedi must follow their mandate, in theory to prevent abuse of power" Obi-Wan explains.

"In practice, it means the Senate can… request favors from us, and we are not allowed to refuse" Zahara tells him. Anakin's anger resurfaces.

"You mean they can use us as Blood Slaves, Pleasure Slaves and… they don't suffer consequences" Anakin says between gritted teeth.

Zahara, notably, doesn't deny it. "They also added other impositions, such as not allowing members of the Corps to carry Kaitahj or nevi padib being sent to the Corps if a jaieh hasn't chosen them once they turn their species equivalent of thirteen."

"Our ability to free slaves is one of those things they restricted" Obi-Wan adds mildly, but Anakin can feel the frustration underneath the calm surface prickling on his skin. "A Jedi cannot free slaves without prior Senate authorization… unless there is an enslaved Force-sensitive youngling, and the Jedi in question is a Finder."

"The youngling must also be taken into the Order" Zahara adds.

Anakin feels the weight of guilt and anger sink its claws into his stomach.

Jedi aren't free, he isn't free, and now he's condemned Hadia to the same fate.

"I wonder what it says about the galaxy that the Order is still the safest place for a Force-sensitive youngling to grow up in" Zahara mutters.

"Jedi can leave the Order and get the full rights of a citizen of the Republic" Obi-Wan adds softly.

Anakin feels anger curl up in his stomach, the familiar frustration that comes with powerlessness. That's not a choice, that's only cruel. Nobody should choose their culture, their traditions, their identity, or their freedom.

It's like the ghost of a choice he and his mother had in working in Watto's shop, the same choice Dancing Girls have in their outfits. Just an ilusion.

He remembers his mother's words, Elder Tena's soft explanation, what they had never managed to teach him because he didn't want to understand, because he'd been afraid of understanding.

There are a hundred ways to be a slave. Gold and jewels can still be chains.

Anakin's heart hurts. He wants… he wants to do something.

"Is there anything we can do?" Anakin asks, voice soft and timid.

Zahara nods and gives him a quick smile. "Yes, I have a plan" She drinks her tea, and adds: "I'm registered as a Finder, and Hadia is four standard, which is within the age range imposed by the Senate. We can simply say that I was on planet and Hadia was enslaved there, so after she was freed I took her to the Order."

"It's the truth." Obi-Wan replies, face in a cold mask but with amusement and defiance coloring his Force signature.

"From a certain point of view" Anakin is certain that Zahara takes her teacup to her mouth to hide her smirk.

Anakin is familiar with these games, these half-truths and careful lies told in order to hide dissent, the keeping of secrets done to get whatever smidge of freedom one could get. He knows the Tongue of Slaves intimately, even if he's never been good at it. Perhaps it's time to start learning another language.

His life dream of freeing all the slaves hasn't changed. It only has one more step. He and the Jedi will break their chains, and together they will free the slaves from the Outer Rim.

No chain or cage can hold a Sky Walker forever.

Dai Bendu

Agisti — hello, hi, a greeting between equals

Jexha — Jedi Knight, title.

Valehnan — Jedi Shadow. Lit "Master of physical darkness" Zahara is introducing herself as a Shadow who has completed her training.

Xari — Darkness, Dark Side of the Force. Although in this context Zahara doesn't mean it literally.

Imkai'ans — murderers without sense or cause, people who kill without good reason, for its own sake. The worst thing you can call someone in Dai Bendu (it's very accurate for Death Watch and the Finder-slayer though)

Enishee — crechemate

Kaitahj — Lightsaber(s)

Nevi padib — the Initiates

Mando'a

Ad(e) — child(ren)

Jet'verd(e) — Jedi Knight(s)

Jetii'ad — Jedi child, Padawan or Initiate

Buy'ce — helmet

Mando'ad(e) — Mandalorian(s)

Jetii — Jedi (singular)

Aliit — family, clan

Verd — warrior

Haat'Mando'ade — True Mandalorians, followers of the Super Commando Codex and the Rewritten Canons who recognized Jaster Mereel and later Jango Fett as the rightful rulers of Mandalore

Kyr'stad — Death Watch. Lit "dead society"

Nu draar — a very strong no, not on your life, absolutely not, not ever, rather cut my eye out with a fork than do that. Lit "not never", since Mando'a uses double negative for emphasis

Jetiise — Jedi (plural)

Mandokar — epitome of Mandalorian virtue: courage, tenacity, loyalty and lust for life. Although in this case they're praising Zahara's guts

Shig — spicy Mandalorian drink similar to tea

Demagolka — someone who commits atrocities, war criminal, someone who hurts children, a real life monster. From the scientist from the time of the Old Republic, Demagol, known for his experiments on children, a figure of hate and dread in Mandalorian culture

Mand'alor — leader of the Mandalorians

Kage Language

Jidai — Jedi

"The mission wasn't about those things". Jedi cannot act without explicit Senate authorization, in theory to prevent abuse of power. In practice to keep them on a leash.

The belugan corporations were using enslaved kages as employees because that way they don't have to pay salaries. Anakin Anakined the whole thing and decided to free the slaves. He freed most of them, mainly the children, but others were killed.

Zahara doesn't have a last name because Kage Warriors don't do surnames the same way we do. They mean something, such as a vocation or an experience you went through, and Zahara hasn't decided upon one yet.

Baby Anakin is suffering from severe imposter syndrome and is trying to make himself fit into the Order. He's hiding his Tatooine accent, he doesn't tell anybody about the culture he was born in and tries to immitate the Jedi he meets. What he hasn't realized yet (partially because of internalized biases, partially because of Palpatine) is that the Jedi want him to keep his culture and traditions, that many Jedi have accents from nearly every planet and that they don't know he was a slave.

The atmosphere of Quarzite's surface is Type IV, which is incompatible with any form of life (save for perhaps some kinds of bacteria). However, its caves are deep and, just like some caves in real life, have their own atmosphere, where sapient life is possible. Most ships are not equipped to the pressure, winds or storms of the Quarzite atmosphere, so people have to take subtrams to travel from one breathable space to another.

Jedi are a culture that drinks tea often, since many of them tend to find the flavors and/or textures soothing. Anakin doesn't know this, but Zahara and Obi-Wan made different teas with different flavors for everybody, because they have different tastes. Terith, on the other hand, is drinking shig (a spicy Mandalorian drink).

Anakin is still a baby and doesn't understand that freeing slaves is not something that can be done just like that. It requires careful planning, money, manpower and resources that the Jedi don't have. The restrictions of the Ruusan Reformation don't help, either.

If you've realized, Terith uses a lot of Mando'a words, even when they know Zahara doesn't speak Mando'a and neither does (as far as they're aware of) Obi-Wan. However, Zahara and Obi-Wan do not speak Dai Bendu in their presence save for a couple words, and they are speaking to each other, not to Terith. This is because Terith, like most Mandalorians, is not used to people not speaking the same language, Basic is their second language, and they're not fully fluent yet. However, Zahara and Obi-Wan are well trained diplomats who have dealt with people who didn't speak Basic, people who didn't want to speak Basic, people who couldn't speak Basic and are used to switching languages when necessary.

Terith doesn't know what enishee means. However, they can guess that it's either sibling, friend or the name of weird Jedi relationships like Padawan. But they can understand thanks to context. Basic sucks.

Jaster is still alive because I said so. He's a massive nerd too because I love that characterization for him.

My intention with this fic is, aside from spiting the Jedi-hate and Mando-worship of the fandom, adressing the horrible history Mandalorians have with Jedi. Despite this, I'm intending to be kind to most Mandalorians that show up on screen. Terith is a decent person that's horrified by everything they're learning (spoiler alert: it's bad) and I intend to give the same kindness to many other Mandalorian characters because, in the end, I believe most people are good (or at least not evil) and many Mandalorians would want to fix things and make amends however possible (giving braids and Lightsabers back, giving those who murdered children to justice, etc).

"A bit upsetting" AKA it's really bad and I'm barely holding on, but I don't want to worry you.

Most Jedi only call their Masters that word in Basic when there are people they don't want to find out about Dai Bendu (politicians, mainly) or when they're upset. Hence Zahara's reaction.

In case anyone's curious, Quarzite is an Inner Rim planet and as such is connected to Couruscant by a public transport network, despite its proximity to Mandalorian space (in this fic, I did artistic lisense on the GFFA map). Zahara didn't want to draw attention to herself while searching for Anakin, and it's standard procedure for Shadows to hide their Jedi status whenever a Jedi goes missing, because it's assumed there was a Jedi hunter involved until proven otherwise. However, now that she's found Anakin, Obi-Wan and the half a dozen or so slave children that tagged along, she's not willing to go by public transport and draw attention to the children they're smuggling out of the planet.

"There is no could, there is no should, only what you must do." A kage saying. What's done is done, it is what it is, and you must do your duty regardless. In this context, she's telling Anakin that it's useless to dwell on what should be happening, because it's, by definition, not happening. There are things that should be but aren't, and Jedi must act according to the present, not the past, possible future or alternate reality.

"Blood Slaves" Slaves whose masters use them as assassins, the very common fate of Force-sensitive slaves.

Elders are, in my version of Tatooine slave culture, slaves who have survived hardships and passed trials, for a lack of better word, and are revered by other slaves for their wisdom. Their role is similar to that of a Jedi Master (because the role of wise mentor is present in many cultures, and not all slaves have parents or guardians), but not quite the same. Anakin will, like many other Jedi, learn to balance his birth culture with the life of a Jedi.

"There are a hundred ways to be a slave." Saying in Hutt Space, where slaves make up over half the population. Not all slavery looks the same, some kinds are worse than others, but all in all it's the same shitty situation. The second part of the idiom, "gold and jewels can still be chains", means that even the people that look the most privileged can still be enslaved to something. Jedi live in a pretty Temple, but that doesn't mean they are free or the elite. In fact, as Anakin realizes, they are the complete opposite.

"Tongue of Slaves" AKA lying, misleading, deceiving, flattering and keeping secrets from slaveowners.

"Sky Walkers" is what the slaves from Hutt Space call themselves. It's a reference to a long extinct red bird species native to Tatooine, wiped out when the Hutts took over. The saying "no chain or cage can hold a Sky Walker forever" is born out of a sentiment of hope and defiance, a way of telling themselves they will be free one day, even if what gives them freedom is death. It's used as a last name for slaves who don't have one.

I'm not very satisfied with this one, so if it suffers any surprise editions you know why.

[inferior-fairy]

Ten Trails- Costume Party 2020 Masterlist

This series is unfinished as of now, though I have some ideas! However, these can be read as standalones. 

These works is in the same/similar AU known as the "Jedi Indentured AU"- Another series under this au would be Servio Sumus by EmeraldHeiress, and the fic The Memory of Innocence by steampunkunicorn

However, the general gist of this au is that after the Ruusan Reformation the Jedi slowly became more and more like slaves beholden to the Senate. By the time of the Clone Wars they are slaves in everything but name- how do you refuse Senator's requests when they have the power to turn off the heat to your creche, or stop sending medicine to your old? To stop feeding you?

You can't say no.

forced upon my hand (and hidden away)

There was a tattoo every Jedi was forced to get, when they came of age. Other sentients might look forward to their name day, throw a party or go out with friends when they could now be called an adult. Padawans huddled in fear and cried for what would be coming. When they would finally be of age for- whatever was requested of them. Being children afforded them some protection (protection that some senators ignored and violated anyway), but it would finally be taken away from them.

Porcelain

Anakin had known what was coming when the senator had stared after him just a bit too long, let his gaze linger in all the wrong places. Still, he hoped that he'd been wrong. He'd known he wasn't when the package had appeared in his apartment. Brown and unassuming, hiding a horrible gift. A white and pink dress and a note. Tonight, 2200. Wear this.

[mylordshesacactus]

Jedi Master Plo Koon was sent to Shili to retrieve a Force-sensitive youngling...and arrived just a few hours too late. Years later, a Jedi padawan and an indentured bounty hunter find themselves in the same spaceport. They shouldn't be friends, not really, but...they're more alike than they are different, straining under the weight of roles they can't escape. That bond is stronger than the galaxy's expectations. Until it isn't.

REMEMBER THAT FOX AND THE HOUND AU I PROMISED LIKE SEVEN YEARS AGO?

HERE WE ARE.

Mind the tags, everyone.

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

Although I guess. For a darker take on Qui Gon. Him thinking Anakin being trained as the chosen one was more important than him being free and bringing him straight into another indenture situation while Obi Wan and the council are like, dude. Tell me you did not. Definitely would be a dick move on his part but