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Part 21 of My slowly growing collection of One-shots
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2021-10-31
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It runs in the family

Summary:

“I only have my mother’s DNA,” He shrugged. “Like you all. Master Jinn said that I was born to be the Jedi’s Chosen One, destroy the Sith, win the war, all that stuff.”

You could hear a pin drop in the mess, all the Vode frozen and staring at him.

“Sir, are you saying that you’re a clone?” Rex asked slowly, wondering if they had misunderstood or something.

AKA
Anakin only having his Mom's DNA means he's technically a clone, the vode decide that means he's one of them, and this messes things up for Palpatine

Notes:

I hopped onto discord and went 'yo what would happen if the clones found out that shmi is the only other person in SW that asexually reproduced like Fett' and this happened. Bon Apetite

(See the end of the work for more notes and other works inspired by this one.)

Work Text:

Anakin had no idea how the conversation had turned to the subject of parents. It was a particularly strange turn considering that he was eating in the mess with Commander Cody and Captain Rex, with some of his and the 212th men occasionally chiming in on the conversation.

 

“Prime was a terrible buir, but he was all we had,” Cody finished his piece on his thoughts about Jango Fett and the man’s terrible parenting.

 

Anakin nodded, sympathy painting his features. “I’m sorry.”

 

Cody just raised his hand to wave him off, “It’s not your fault, sir, don’t apologize for his actions.”

 

Rex, trying to steer them away from Cody’s complicated feelings on Fett, turned to him. “Sir, I heard that you were taken to the Jedi Temple later than most. Did you know your parents?”

 

Anakin blinked. “Yes, I did. My mother raised me until I was 9, and she died a few days before the war started. I don’t have a father.”

 

“It’s his loss, you’re a great man.” Fives chimed in.

 

Anakin preened at the praise, before realizing. “Oh, no, I meant that I don’t have any father at all. My mom had me all by herself, no other parent involved.”

 

“But your other half of DNA?” Kix questioned, confusion plain to see on his face.

 

“I only have my mother’s DNA,” He shrugged. “Like you all. Master Jinn said that I was born to be the Jedi’s Chosen One, destroy the Sith, win the war, all that stuff.”

 

You could hear a pin drop in the mess, all the Vode frozen and staring at him.

 

“Sir, are you saying that you’re a clone?” Rex asked slowly, wondering if they had misunderstood or something.

 

“Well, technically?” He frowned as he thought about it, “I wasn’t made in a lab like you though. The Force was engineering all of it, that’s why some Jedi call it my father. But, I suppose if you compared mine and my mother’s DNA, I would be considered her clone, just with a few small mutations.”

 

“Mutations?” Kix asked, looking concerned. 

 

Anakin was quick to reassure him, “Just simple things. Hair and eye color, my mom said that her father was blond with blue eyes, and that’s all I can really think of. I’m taller than her, but only by four inches, she was a tall woman who probably got a bit stunted from malnutrition and I started hormonally transitioning when I was ten, so that’s natural height. I don’t remember enough about her to actually note anything different beyond that.”

 

“Oh force,” Rex muttered. “You’re like us.”

 

Anakin shifted awkwardly, “Well, it’s different. I mean, I grew up a slave on Tatooine and now I am a Jedi, you were all being trained on Kamino. I never really got treated like a clone, nobody really ever put it like that for me. The public thinks I’m natborn like them.”

 

The Vode didn’t seem to know how to reply to that, so they didn’t, instead preferring to stare.

 

Anakin didn’t really know what to do. Thinking that he made them uncomfortable by comparing his situation to theirs, he quickly finished his meal and practically ran out of the mess. Hopefully, Obi-Wan was done teaching Ahsoka that new meditation and he could grab them for a spar.

 

--

 

Anakin has been avoiding the Vode for the past day. Which is quite the feat considering that he’s stuck on a flagship manned only by the Vode and three natborns. He’s surprised as to how many vents he can fit in.

 

The way the Vode had been staring at him ever since he called himself a clone had him wondering if he had deeply offended them. The story had spread throughout the Resolute within minutes, and even the shinies were whispering and pointing at him.

 

Unfortunately, Cody and Rex were not above using Artoo to draw him out into a trap, and the traitorous droid appeared all too happy to trick him.

 

“General. There you are.” Commander Cody said, the slightest hints of smugness peeking out in his force signature. “We wanted to talk to you.”

 

Anakin looked at him like an eopie in headlights, “Talk?”

 

“Yes.” Rex confirmed, “Sir, why didn’t you tell us you were a clone too?”

 

“It’s not important,” He said, defensive. 

 

“Not important?” Cody echoed.

 

Anakin winced, “Uh, I mean- It is, but er-”

 

“General Skywalker, you’re one of us. That’s important.” Rex said firmly.

 

“One of you?” Anakin repeated, confused. Are they… not mad at him?

 

“A clone. A vod.” Cody confirmed, nodding. “We thought you were natborn like the rest of the Jedi, that’s why we were keeping our distance. The rest of the vode have been delighted to find out that you’re one of us. We didn’t know clones could be Jedi, much less be a General.”

 

“You’re not angry?” He was bewildered. One second, they were all staring at him and whispering behind his back, the next they were claiming he was one of them.

 

“Angry? Why did you think we were angry?” Rex replied, equally bewildered. 

 

“I don’t know! That I get to be a Jedi and not deal with half the prejudice you do? That I can hide this part of my history? That I get treated as human and not a flesh-droid? Everyone was staring at me and the shinies were whispering about me. What else was I supposed to think?” His face was flushed, his gesturing defensive.

 

“You thought we were jealous? We’re proud. A clone, just like us, is our General. Our Jedi. The shinies are whispering in awe.” Rex said, reaching out to lay his hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “Sir. We may be different, but we’re the same. You’re one of the vode, we all want you as our vod.”

 

“Vod?” Anakin repeated, voice breaking.

 

“If we’ve overstepped, sir, then we-”

 

Anakin cut Cody off by hugging them, slinging both arms around the two brothers. They didn’t hate him. They want him as their vod. They accept him. 

 

“Woah!” Rex grabs him back gently, “Sir?”

 

The Temple-Ingrained lesson of never hugging or reaching out to others suddenly rears its head and he scrambled off them. “Sorry!”

 

“None of that,” Cody grabs him and pulls him back into a hug. “I know natborns have a thing against touch for some reason, but not the vode, sir.”

 

“It’s Anakin.” He corrected, before he shyly offers a bit more. They’re family. “Actually it’s Anahkeen Ekkreth. But don’t call me that in front of anyone else.”

 

“Anahkeen,” Rex tests the word out. “Is that your actual name?”

 

“In my birth culture, only your family and your people can know your true name,” He explained, gently resting his forehead against Cody’s paladron as he leaned into the hug. “We’re very secretive like that. The rest of the Galaxy doesn’t even know it exists. Obi-Wan and the Jedi don’t.”

 

He can feel them startle in the Force. 

 

“My real name is Kote,” Cody offered. “Only a few of the vode and Fett know that.”

 

“Thank you for trusting me with your name, I will honor it.” He responds, pulling back so they can see his smile and how he was grateful.

 

“I only have Rex,” Rex spoke up. “No fancy secret names for me.”

 

Kote snorted, “Don’t lie, I was there when you picked it. You wanted to be fancy with spelling ‘wrecks’ because you were always wrecking the training droids.”

 

“Hey!” Rex elbowed his brother, “I was six!”

 

Anakin laughed as the two brothers started to roughhouse, until Kote managed to grab Rex in a headlock and give him a vicious noogie. 

 

“If it makes you feel any better, I thought you named yourself ‘king’ in Old Basic.” Anakin said, “And that’s not so bad. First time I named someone, they got called Ameikka, which roughly translates to ‘child of parent.’”

 

“Actually, being named king is so much better, I’m telling everyone that’s where my name comes from,” Rex states, managing to push his older brother off.

 

“You were naming people?” Kote asked.

 

He shrugged, “Skywalkers, The Ekkreth, we were kind of the spiritual leaders of our people. The closest thing we get to a monarch, with a bloodline and everything, but we don’t actually rule or make anyone kneel. I have been helping my mom whenever she acted as a midwife or a singer since I was four, and taking part in the naming ceremony since I was five.”

 

“Like the eldest sibling,” Kote nods. “The eldest sibling is responsible for the youngers, and they teach them how to paint their armor and sometimes we choose or help choose their names. I am the eldest sibling of the 212th, Rex is for the 501st.”

 

“Oh,” His eyes were round with that fact. “I knew you had your own culture, but I didn’t know any specifics.”

 

“It’s secretive, we don’t want any natborn or kaminoan catching wind and sending us to get decommissioned or reconditioned,” Rex explained. “You’re a vod, we can share it with you now.”

 

Like the Amavikkan, Anakin thinks to himself, before that thought makes him freeze in place. Cultures developed in secret are to hide from depur. 

 

Who are the vode’s depur? The Jedi? But the Jedi are mere overseer depur for the Republic. The Republic? The Republic is the puppet of the senators. The Senators? Anakin has heard enough of Padme’s complaints about the power of the senate. They are at the whims of the chancellor. The Chancellor is Depur. 

 

The thought makes his heart pound. Chancellor is his friend, isn’t he? But he is Depur, his smiles are false and his grip on Anakin’s chains is behind his back. Keep your friends close and your slaves closer, that is something the depur on Tatooine do, even Watto pretended to be a kind depur at times to make them double-think running.

 

The Chancellor is Depur. The only way to stop Depur is to kill him. Ekkreth is the slave who makes free. If Anakin wants the vode, his family , to be free, he has to kill their depur.

 

Anakin has to kill the Chancellor of the Republic and steal the vode away.

 

“Anahkeen?” Rex prodded after a few moments of silence on his end.

 

“Sorry,” He shook his head and smiled, hiding the steely edge of determination behind his eyes. “I’m honored to learn as much as you are willing to teach me. I can’t wait to share some of my own culture with you.”

 

“Glad to hear it, Anahkeen.” Kote slapped his hand on his shoulder and started leading them away. “You’re aliit. Now, I know Fives has called dibs on teaching you our nonverbal communication, but I think he just wants to teach you all the insults and swears.”

 

Anakin laughed, and it wasn’t forced or fake. He found a family, and he won’t let anyone hurt his family.

 

Not the Chancellor. Not Depur. Not the Jedi. 

 

He was a vod, and the vode were Sky Walkers.

Notes:

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