TFA-era, mysteriously corporeal dead guy

[forceimbalance]

The interesting about this place is that, even if on the other side of that excellently placed door he is distinctly lacking in corporeality, here Anakin gets to have his own body back again. Completely back, as he hadn't even since the start of the Clone Wars (let alone the darkest years of his life).

So there is a man who looks to be in his mid-thirties (he looks young for the age he died) with a few fairly nasty looking scars and a powerful presence in the Force sitting in a corner, tinkering away. In point of fact, he's working on a lightsaber design--Ezra Bridger's gun-saber specifically. An interesting idea, but clunky.

And so Anakin, perfectionist that he can be, is enjoying this chance to try to make it work.

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[forceimbalance]

"She was," Anakin agrees lightly. "Did him proud in the wars, holding her own against Grievous and buying her padawan enough time to escape."

The problem with pre-Vader is that he knows about the Rebellion, the Death Star. On the other hand... well.

After a moment Anakin puts down the half-constructed saber to give this alternate grandchild his full attention. (Leia and Han only had Ben, in his world--and Anakin is nursing whole worlds of guilt about how that boy turned out.) "What's your name?"

[notmygrandfather]

Anakin nods, smiling faintly. Depa Billaba, the little he's managed to read about her-- well, she's a personal hero.

He glances at the half-built 'saber -- he's genuinely interested in its inner workings, how someone could use the same battery pack to power a lightsaber blade and a blaster pistol without conflict -- but he tears away his gaze.

"Anakin Solo," he answers, and lifts his chin pridefully.

[forceimbalance]

Only one can be used at a time, but it is definitely an interesting idea at its core.

The name makes Anakin start slightly, staring at the boy with a nonplussed expression. The idea that Leia of all people would ever name a child of hers for him... Luke, maybe--the more forgiving of te two, more like Padme in that respect--but not Leia. Not after everything he had done and stood for.

"I should warn you, then," he says after a moment, "that we come from different variants of the timeline. Han and Leia's boy was named Ben, where I came from." Implying there's only one.

[notmygrandfather]

Anakin pauses, here. Looks at his grandfather, looks away at the door that's already taught him time travel and alternate universes are possible, then back at Grandfather.

"Ben," he whispers.

"They only had one kid?"

[forceimbalance]

Little Anakin's world just gets more and more interesting by the moment.

"You have siblings?" he counters.

Just to clear that up.

(Leia, with more than one child. Maybe one of them didn't suffer Ben's fate. Maybe none of them did, or will. Anakin can hope that part of his legacy missed them.)

[notmygrandfather]

Anakin ducks his head; when he brings it up to finish the nod, his smile is bright again.

"Jacen and Jaina, twins. Jaina's older by five minutes, she likes mechanics and ships. Jacen likes animals."

[forceimbalance]

Hah.

Anakin smiles wryly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Mechanics and ships were always my thing," he agrees. He's glad that stayed in the family. "I never got the hang of dealing with animals. That was more Obi-wan's area."

Just in case little Anakin really needed confirmation this is exactly who he thinks it is, that's about what he gets.

[notmygrandfather]

At first, Anakin grins because he has something in common with his grandpa-- then he bites his lip and shakes his head. Maybe he should like animals, too? But no, they're kinda gross.

"I guess Jacen would get on really well with Master Kenobi."

[forceimbalance]

"It took more than that to get along with Obi-wan." Anakin glances briefly to one side. It's hardly any secret--especially if, as he suspects, the boy knows the history--that there was more than a little bad blood between him and Obi-wan for many, many years.

"Besides, he really needed someone who knew how to fly."

Anakin is a snob about flying. Ahsoka and Obi-wan never met his standards. (No one met his standards. Except maybe Luke.)

[notmygrandfather]

"I can fly."

But not as well as Jaina, he can't keep himself from thinking.

[forceimbalance]

Anakin gets the sense of that--that feeling of not being as good as someone--and just smiles encouragingly. "We all have different strengths. You'll find yours, if you haven't already."

And he generally trusts people related to him to be great--not always good, certainly, but there really was no escaping being far above average.

(Just because he's dead doesn't mean he's humble.)

[notmygrandfather]

"I'm good with computers," he decides after a second, a little too eager to please his grandfather (despite still being wary of him). "Jaina might build better cages for Jacen's pets, but I'm the one who reprograms the alarms so Dad doesn't realise there are snakes in the apartment."

(He'll find his real strength -- leadership -- in about five years, and promptly die of it. So we'll give him computers for now.)