Star Wars One-Shots

Blood-Ties

Author's Note: Technically, this is a sequel to Blood-Bound and Blood-Touched, but you don't need to read them first to understand this fic. ^-^

PS. This is for the 501st Bingo square of "Confessions". :D

~ Amina Gila

Even though Anakin, and many, if not most, of his clones, are vampires, that alone is not enough to stop the Sith's plans. The Republic may be falling, and an Empire may be rising, but Anakin's first priority is his family, his coven. Padme. Their child. His boys. His fellow vampires. They come first, before the Republic, before the Jedi Order. And then, Order 66 happens.

It's the beginning of the end, the beginning of an end. But it is also the beginning of something entirely new.

***

"You're a vampire," Obi-Wan repeats. Anakin can't read his expression – it's not disbelief, like he anticipated, but more like a completely worn exasperation. Sometimes, it feels like Anakin is the sole creature in the galaxy that can immediately make his master look like the living dead by his simple appearance.

"We're vampires," Anakin corrects, because differentiation is important. Rex is, too, and so are many of his boys now. It's been a month since he turned, since everything changed for him.

Obi-Wan sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I wish I could say I was surprised," he grumbles, "But I'm not."

Anakin smiles unabashed; he's not the slightest bit ashamed of what they are, even if it's not something they can talk about freely. "You already guessed?" he asks, though he doesn't know how it could have been so obvious. He and the boys have been as careful as they can be about it, because for all that they're not ashamed of what they are now, it's still dangerous for outsiders to know about it.

"How could I not have?" Obi-Wan huffs. "I can clearly see your fangs."

Anakin outright laughs. "I'm surprised you didn't ask about them."

"What would I say?" he throws back, drinking another half of his caff cup. "'What happened to your teeth?'"

He snorts, suppressing the sudden and very annoying urge to bite Obi-Wan. Apparently, his newfound vampire instincts find feeding soothing, relaxing, and he wants that with Obi-Wan. He always has, but he won't do that.

"So," Obi-Wan says tiredly, "What does this mean for you, exactly?"

"We're faster," Anakin replies, "Stronger. We're... more sensitive, and we're practically immortal now."

Obi-Wan gives him a look bordering on long-suffering. "That would explain why the 501st casualty rate is at a record low of the entire Republic's military," he sighs. "Do you really drink blood?"

It's blunt, and he sounds slightly disgusted, but from a normal human perspective, it really is kind of gross. Anakin is used to it, though – he stopped finding anything about it odd the moment he turned. It had felt so normal, so natural, even at the time when Echo bit him, and he didn't realize later how that'd changed. "We do," Anakin replies, shifting a little in the seat beside Obi-Wan's – they're in his quarters on Obi-Wan's Star Destroyer, "Only on each other's."

Obi-Wan is clearly trying to distract himself by drinking his... caff-tea-thing, whatever exactly it is. Anakin never asked. "That would explain why I saw a bite mark on Rex," he grumbles.

Anakin shrugs. "We do it all the time." His boys feed on him sometimes, before battle, because it gives them a power boost. It's something a few of them – Rex especially – can control on occasion, and they use it to help them. The only clones Anakin knows who have actually retained Force-sensitivity are Hunter and Kix. And he feeds on them, too, on rare occasions, if he needs to heal faster, if he's been injured enough that his hunger kicked in.