Anakin's POV
There was a large rock that shot up into the black inky sky that was dotted with tiny stars. We continued to walk towards it and as we got closer I saw that it was made out of the sharp black rock that covered the ground, the crystals were bigger as we got closer. The force swirled strongly around the area and once we were right up next to the massive jagged rock I saw that the crystals were about the same size as lightsaber crystals. Qui-Gon raised his hand and closed his eyes and used the force to open and crack the door in the rock. It swung open and as we walked in I frowned. This place seemed familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
"Do you recognise this place?" Qui-Gon asked searching my face for any sign.
"It feels and looks familiar but- I don't know why," I replied looking around the cave that we were in.
"It's the Ilum caves, this is the afterlife version of that. Without the ice and snow of course," he explained.
As I looked around I couldn't believe that I didn't notice it, now looking at it I couldn't believe I didn't notice it.
"How is this here?" I asked.
"We create the crystals and we place them in the spots according to what the force tells us to do. Each and every person who is destined to have a lightsaber has a person here that made their crystal, it can have multiple people make it but there is always one main person that will place it," Qui-Gon explained, "I made your first lightsaber crystal that you used for most of your life and Cala Brin, Ters Sendon, Garon Jard and a few other Jedi made the crystal you have in your lightsaber right now."
I reached down on my belt for my lightsaber and sighed once I remembered that I didn't have it. How come I have Kol's lightsaber but not mine?
"There are two crystals that the force is calling you to make, do you feel it?" he asked.
I paused and reached out into the force, searching for the answer. I found two small but bright and powerful beings in the force. They seemed familiar but also different, it was like when I was trying to figure out where we were when we first walked in here.
I pushed further with the force and that's when I saw Padme, she rubbed her hand over her pregnant stomach before the vision faded away.
"Twins," I mumbled.
"I'm sure you would've liked to find out another way, but yes. She's having twins, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that they're both going to be powerful in the force. The force is calling you, listen to it. Let it guide you."
I sat down cross legged on the ground while Qui-Gon wandered around the caves. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting the force surround me. I followed the pull and let my mind go blank as I listened to what it was telling me to do whether it was to force pull or push or spin around the object that was floating in front of me.
I paused for a moment when there was no more pull in the force. Nothing was calling me, I gently probed but couldn't find anything. I opened my eyes and saw two lightsaber crystals in front of me with bits of chipped and broken bits of crystal around it. I put my hand out and the two crystals slowly floated into the palm of my hand.
With a flash I saw two teenagers standing in the training rooms on Coruscant, I couldn't see their faces or hair but I made out a girl and a boy giving some friendly teasing banter as they sparred with lightsabers, even for their age they were probably at the standard of a new Jedi Knight. The boy held a bright green lightsaber and was dealing strong but slow blows while the girl wielded a bright blue lightsaber and her movements were more quick and involved more twisting and moving of her body and lightsaber. Both, however, were evenly matched.
I snapped out of the vision and took a few deep breaths. We were having twins, a boy and girl. Padme was having twins, and I wasn't going to be there. The warm feeling in my heart deflated and I stood up holding the crystals in my hand.
"Something's troubling you," Qui-Gon stated.
"I saw a vision of them. I couldn't see their faces but I saw them. I'm not going to be there when they grow up, Padme's going to be all by herself with raising them and I'm not going to know who they are in person."
Qui-Gon gave me a sad smile and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I need to show you something else. But first, you need to place those crystals in the correct spot. Just let the force guide you there, but you might recognise where to go."
I reached out with the force and followed the direction it was pulling me. As we went deeper I began to realise where we were. We were heading down to the pedestals where I found my latest lightsaber crystal.
I dropped down the hole and landed on the floating island. I walked across the thin ice wire between the island and small cave in the wall. The whole place was glowing in there and made out of ice. I reached the cave and saw all the pedestals around the cave and then the main 9 pedestals against the back wall with initials carved at the front of them. I looked at the spot where I had taken my crystal from the middle pedestal with A.S carved on the front of it. In the wall either side of my pedestal there was a square carved into the wall, they were both identical with a place for the crystals. The initials L.S was carved on both of them. I looked down at the crystals in my hand and the force guided me on placing the correct crystals in the right spots. They shone brightly for a second, one of them shone bright green and the other a bright blue before they dimmed down and turned to the neutral colour where they still shone brighter than the regular ones.
"They'll find them when the times right. It may not be their first crystal they find," Qui-Gon warned.
I nodded and I look one last look at the crystals before leaving the caves with Qui-Gon. I didn't know what to say on the walk back, I stayed silent just trying to comprehend what had happened.
"What did you have to show me?" I asked finally.
"I didn't want to get your hopes up, but there may be a way for you to go back," Qui-Gon hesitantly explained.
"What? Why didn't you tell me that as soon as I got here?"
"Like I said, I didn't want to get your hopes up. It only works for 1 in about 5 billion people. It's rare if it happens."
We stopped in front of a large rock tower that just seemed to disappear into the dark sky. It had some chunks of ice and glowing lightsaber rocks in it but other than that I didn't know what we were looking at.
"You see this circle on the ground? If you can step in there, the force will give you another chance of going back when you touch the tower. But it doesn't let most people in the circle," Qui-Gon explained.
He tried to put his arm over the circle but a tinted blue shield appeared and rippled but blocked his hand from going through.
"Just don't get your hopes up."
I nodded and swallowed as I moved my hand towards the circle. I looked at the line on the ground and held my breath as I went over the line, I quickly the breath out and moved my arm further. I stepped into the circle and nothing happened. I looked at Qui-Gon who broke out into a massive smile.
"Of course, if anyone gets to go back it would be you," he said.
I stepped back out of the circle and Qui-Gon place his arm around my shoulders.
"We should go tell the others before you go."
I nodded unable to comprehend what was going on. I just found out I died, made lightsaber crystals for my twin children who I thought I was never going to see grow up only for me to be able to go back. It's a lot to take in.
We told the others but after I had told my mum a seed of doubt was placed in my mind. If I left I'd be leaving my mother behind again, the last time I did that she died many years later all alone on Tatooine. She quickly washed away my thoughts saying that if I stayed behind for her she'd ever forgive me.
Before we went back to the circle she handed me three necklaces.
"Give these to Padme and your two children. This one is for Padme, it was mine. Cliegg gave me money to buy it to celebrate being freed, it'll help me keep watch over her," she said passing me a gold necklace with a swirl as the charm on the end.
"Give this one to your daughter, it's the Skywalker symbol. All the Skywalkers will be watching over her when she wears this, we'll give her guidance and strength when she needs it," she continued passing me another gold necklace with a circle and multiple lines crossing over in the middle.
"And this is your son's, it's made out of some parts of your old pod, the one you raced for your freedom. The small crystal at the end of it is part of Cala Brin's lightsaber crystal, she'll be watching over your son and she'll help him."
"Thanks Mum, I'll give it to them. Thank you for everything Mum, I love you," I said as I hugged her for what would probably be the last time.
She gripped onto my tightly and it reminded me of our last hug on Tatooine.
"Now go, don't dwell on me. We'll see each other again one day. I love you so much and I'm so proud of you. Tell Padme I love her too," she whispered.
I nodded not trusting myself to speak because I knew my voice would be shaky. I pulled away and put the necklaces into a secure pouch on my belt. I looked at her one more time before turning around and stepping in the circle.
"Alright, you'll have 3 tries to get it. As soon as you touch the tower a portal will open above the tower and it will start to close as soon as it opens. You need to try and jump through the circle before closes," Kol explained.
I nodded and took a deep breath as I looked up at the tower. I took a ran up and used as much force as I could to fly up into the air and onto the tower, a black hole opened up with an electric blue ring around the edge of the hole that was slowly closing. I quickly began jumping and scaling up the tower, not caring about how the sharp black rock was digging and cutting into my hands and arms as I climbed. This was my only shot at getting back. I can't stuff this up.
I reached the top and just as I jumped up to go into the portal it closed in front of me. I began to fall back down and used the force to slow my fall to land softly back on the ground. With some encouragement from the Jedi Masters and Grand-masters I tried again 2 more times.
I looked up at the tower with my hope fading faster. I can do this. I took Kol's lightsaber off my belt before pulling my arm back and launching it into the sky using the force to push it to the right height before holding it there. I ignited the blade and stabbed it into the side of the tower.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I ran forward and used the force to jump high into the air. I had jumped about halfway up the tower where the lightsaber was sticking out of it, I began jumping up the tower until I was a quarter away from the top. I looked up at the portal and knew I wouldn't have time to climb up the rest of the portal, I looked down at the lightsaber and jumped off the tower towards the lightsaber. My hands gripped onto it and I swung around and back up where I let go. I shot up into the sky and I used the force to pull Kol's lightsaber into my hand and onto my belt as I shot up through the portal just as it closed.
It felt like I was doing front flips in the empty blackness before I landed on a hard surface. My eyes snapped opened and I sat up gasping for air. I looked around and saw that I was in the ruined Jedi Temple surrounded by people who were on stretchers with sheets covering them. I looked down at myself to make sure I was actually alive, I had my mechanical arm back and Kol's lightsaber was still on my belt and the necklaces were still in the pouch on my belt.
I heard lasers being fired and ships exploding around me everywhere. I quickly scrambled to my feet and ran through the Jedi Temple, I jumped over a pair of stunned clones carrying a dead body on a stretcher and ran down the middle pathway before I was outside.
There were ruins everywhere and the air was full of smoke and fire and fighters and ships exploding everywhere. On the ground it was just chaos, the droids were overpowering all the Jedi and clones and they were being forced back. This was the final battle. This was the end.
But I was alive.