Anakin walked sadly and slowly as he went down the street.
People clearly recognized him.
He heard the whispers.
"Hey, it's Skywalker."
"Oh really?"
"Why does he seem so...broken?"
"Who wouldn't be after learning a close friend stabbed you in the back in such a way?"
"Do you think he left the Jedi?"
"Wouldn't be surprised, they seemed more than happy to give him up."
"Why was Admiral Tarkin so set on proving him guilty when he was innocent all along? Actually, how could the Senate themselves believe it?"
"Even the Chancellor? How horrible."
"And I thought the man was good, but he's just as bad as Valorum was, if not worse."
That stopped him momentarily.
Yet.
He found he couldn't help but find it true.
Why hadn't Palpatine done anything? After Anakin was exonerated, the man didn't reach out to check on him like Anakin thought he would.
Hadn't made any attempts.
...
So has even Palpatine just essentially said 'screw him' now?
...
Great.
He noticed a few clones...
But then the blue striped armor.
...
Crud.
He recognized Jesse, Kix, Fives, and Hardcase.
Hopefully he could...
"Huh? Oh, general Skywalker wait!"
Kriff, never mind.
He stopped and turned to look at Jesse.
"What is it Jesse?"
"Commander Tano just called. Please sir, you...you can't leave."
Anakin smiled sadly.
"I can, not like anyone will stop me."
"With all due respect sir, that's not true." Fives spoke up.
His tone no longer the usual and more comical one he was known for.
"Look boys, I just...there's too much going on right now. I just found out that one of my friend's former padawans betrayed me, the Senate wasn't really helping things, and the Jedi council, well...self explanatory."
"To hell with Flora Vizsla, and the Republic Senate, and Chancellor Palpatine, and the Jedi council, sir. We've always had your back and we are not stopping now. So with all due respect general, we're stopping you whether you want us to or not." Kix added seriously.
...
Of course they'd kidnap him.
Well not technically kidnapping.
He sighed.
"Not going to take no for an answer are you?"
"No sir. Besides if we know one thing, it's how to find a Jedi." Hardcase said, adding in a nervous laugh for good measure.
Anakin found something about that statement oddly unnerving, but shrugged it off.
"Fine, you'll probably just stun me anyway."
"Oh yeah." Fives grinned, displaying his blaster which was set to stun.
'how'd I end up with these idiots? Well, they're my idiots.' Anakin thought fondly as he couldn't help but smile.
And so he didn't contest when they guided him towards the direction of the barracks, the 501st barracks specifically.
He found he felt much more at home with them than he did the Jedi, funnily enough.
Then again, the clones are known very particularly for loyalty.
*A shorter chapter here. Now I realize I could have made it where he went on some journey of self discovery and all that, kinda like Ahsoka did in canon. But ultimately I liked the idea of the 501st taking him in too much, plus we gotta see the boys.
And yes, Hardcase is still very much alive in this one because...my boy, 😭🥺.