Author: Lady Moonbeam
Date posted: 7/14/2003 8:56:10 PM
Lady Moonbeam's Comments:

Thanks to obaona, my most excellent beta-reader, who helped me in every way possible, and Digizord, who offered such a wonderful critique of this work.

I have to say that I'm honored to have this piece in the Archives. Of all the one-posts I've written, this stands as one of my true favorites, and I hope that you will enjoy it, too. Certainly I enjoyed writing it.

Author: padme skywalker
Date posted: 7/15/2003 8:10:40 AM
padme skywalker's Comments:

I loved it it was brilliant. Anakin was a great character he seemed just as if he were young again. I only hope he doesn't really kill padme.
Great Work!

Author: sniperhunt
Date posted: 7/15/2003 8:20:42 AM
sniperhunt's Comments:

Great story. I enjoyed reading it. Makes you wonder about what could happen....

Author: Nade_Naberrie  (signed)
Date posted: 7/15/2003 8:53:54 AM
Nade_Naberrie's Comments:

WOW.... just....wow. I...you...it's... wow. Very good.
*composes self* One thing I must comment on: I DO NOT think Anakin will kill Padme, let alone her family.
Other than that... well, you know... ;)

Author: Naboos_Princess  (signed)
Date posted: 7/15/2003 9:31:55 AM
Naboos_Princess's Comments:

This is a very profound story, Lady Moonbeam. Well done!

Author: Tycalibur  (signed)
Date posted: 7/15/2003 10:30:07 AM
Tycalibur's Comments:

A very poignant, thought-provoking piece. I would very much like to see a sequel to this, if you have one in mind.

Thanks for a great read.

~Tycalibur

Author: pencilnek
Date posted: 7/15/2003 10:36:21 AM
pencilnek's Comments:

I agree that this is a very very VERY powerful peice! It has such a realistic twist in it! You don't try to keep out any of the bad feelings at all! I love the twist in the plot too, making me wonder if it would have been better had Anakin not come home. It was very very very good.

Author: Destiny  (signed)
Date posted: 7/15/2003 12:21:58 PM
Destiny's Comments:

I'm so glad this got in, Lady Moonbeam! I really enjoyed reviewing it, and I found it heartbreaking.

*sniffles* Time to find a story with a happy ending. :p

Keep writing - you're doing a wonderful job!

Author: JediPug1  (signed)
Date posted: 7/15/2003 7:38:43 PM
JediPug1's Comments:

That was so good, it's beyond words... Thanks for a truly amazing and creative "what if" story.

Author: Jenos  (signed)
Date posted: 7/15/2003 8:33:17 PM
Jenos's Comments:

*is utterly speechless*

WOW! That, most certainly, was brilliance. A wonderful fic!

Author: LuvEwan
Date posted: 7/16/2003 9:56:24 AM
LuvEwan's Comments:

Wonderful work! An interesting alternate to Anakin's fate, with beautiful insight into Obi-Wan's amazing character. I especially loved this line:

Because he was dead, you see. His old clothes were in boxes and his lightsaber was in the chest in my room, next to my Master's. And once he returned, I had to cut all the box strings and face all the facts that came with the harshness of the snapping twine.

What a fantastic way to show his renewed pain.

Good job! ;)

Author: daniel skywalker
Date posted: 7/16/2003 11:40:12 AM
daniel skywalker's Comments:

this is a really good fan fic, intersting and entertaining. if only that really happened.... killing palpatine and returning to the light earlier i mean. hope he doesnt kill padme

Author: Gina  (signed)
Date posted: 7/16/2003 1:42:56 PM
Gina's Comments:

A beautifully written, heart-rending piece! Well done!

Author: Greenleaf from LakeRetreat
Date posted: 7/19/2003 12:57:41 AM
Greenleaf from LakeRetreat's Comments:

very sweet and heart-rending. Thanks.

Author: Zilya Vader
Date posted: 7/19/2003 10:49:37 AM
Zilya Vader's Comments:

Just to puff your feathers (do you have feathers?) a little more, I agree that this was a fantastic bit.
Thank you for sharing.

Author: Archangel
Date posted: 7/19/2003 2:23:09 PM
Archangel's Comments:

Wow.
Whoa.
How else can i put it?
That was really, really good.

Author: obaona  (signed)
Date posted: 7/19/2003 6:40:02 PM
obaona's Comments:

Moon, you know what I think of this fic. ;) I remember talking with you about your fanfics, and you mentioning this one - so I read it while we talked, and I remembering admitting to you that I was crying.

And then when I reread it to beta it a mere fifteen minutes later (in an attempt to get you to submit, of course ;) ), I wept again.

Because that's how beautiful this is.

I loved your premise. So many fics present Anakin as turning away from the dark and returning to the light . . . but in this, Anakin really did neither. He wants to stay in a world where everything is as it was, where he is carefree and happy. One cannot be happy in darkness, but can one be truly happy in the light, knowing the wrongness of past actions?

You write Obi-Wan so beautifully, too. I've always felt Obi-Wan cared for Anakin deeply, and you show this in this story. Obi-Wan loves him so much that even as he tries to get Anakin to truly turn to the light, he tries to give Anakin what he can of that world that Anakin wishes for. He loves him enough to care for Anakin, with his broken mind, and simply devote himself to making his former Padawan happy, with cake and sunrises.

I also loved the little things you didn't mention too much. Obi-Wan not thinking of Anakin as Vader, how when Anakin came back, Obi-Wan had to admit Vader and Anakin had been the same person. It bring such new meaning to the line in ROTJ where Obi-Wan tries to explain to Luke what he told him. I loved how you showed all the little moments between the two of them, simply being together. I loved how you avoided going over all the action - Palpatine's death, or Padme's. You just presented it the fact that it had happened with perfect emotion, and left it there, for us to imagine for ourselves.

This is simply beautiful, Moon. It was one of my favorite fanfics, and most definitely my favorite angst one. Amazing job. I'm so glad I stumbled upon your work. I cannot heap enough praises on it.

Author: Laura
Date posted: 7/20/2003 12:03:00 AM
Laura's Comments:

This story brought tears to my eyes. It was absolutely amazing. Congradulations on writing an amazing piece of fiction.

Author: puetschi
Date posted: 7/20/2003 3:10:17 AM
puetschi's Comments:

Certainly one of the best fanfics I've ever read. Very well written and with NO obsolete action-scenes. I like it how you portray OB1 and Ani becoming something like the "crazy-old-wizard"-tag team and the introduction of Han Solo(?).

Author: jabg
Date posted: 7/20/2003 8:16:46 AM
jabg's Comments:

A very interesting premise. Well written and thoughful, i really enjoyed it!

Author: Kat
Date posted: 7/20/2003 9:41:10 AM
Kat's Comments:

Amazing fanfic. It's heart-rending and so, so touching. I wish I could do fics like this! Congratulations!

Author: Bountyhunter928
Date posted: 7/20/2003 6:54:33 PM
Bountyhunter928's Comments:

that was great. really great.

Author: Shadowknight  (signed)
Date posted: 7/21/2003 7:30:49 PM
Shadowknight's Comments:

Nice. I loved the line:
"We found a flight with an older pilot and his young, somewhat brash copilot, a boy with loose brown hair and a quick, cocky smile. Anakin liked the boy. I insisted that he pushed my limits."
Not saying outright that it's Han Solo but I just know that that's who it is. I think that Anakin and Han would've gotten along. I love this story. Poor Ani.

Author: The Demon Clown
Date posted: 9/2/2003 10:26:43 PM
The Demon Clown's Comments:

Wow...that's really all I can say. I want to be a writer (I'm currently writing a pretty big--4 books--storyline that I'll probably never even post anywhere, LOL) and it's fanfics like this one that make me think, "If I could only write something as (insert adjective like "emotional", "scary", "intense", etc. here, depending on subject) as that, man..." And usually, that sentence is either finished by "I'd probably be writing for a living" or "I'd actually have the guts to ask George Lucas if I could write an actual SW novel". Okay, I'm rambling, which I tend to do, but that's what good writing does to me: it makes me think at a 1000 mph, so good job, Lady Moonbeam, my hat's off to ya. :D

Author: ALICE IN WONDERLAND_07
Date posted: 10/8/2003 12:44:12 AM
ALICE IN WONDERLAND_07's Comments:

WOW!!!!
It's great!!!

Author: MutantJediBouer
Date posted: 1/26/2004 10:26:23 PM
MutantJediBouer's Comments:

WOW. What an odd, but very good, perspective. I never would have thought about anything like that. What an amazing story. The way it was narrated by Obi-Wan was great, Ani's action's, the portrayal of feelings and emotions... Wow.

Author: solojones  (signed)
Date posted: 7/17/2004 1:24:32 PM
solojones's Comments:

That was a really awesome story! I've read some of your work before, and never failed to be impressed. I think you're one of the consistently best fanfic writers I've come across. This is a really sad AU, but at the same time, kind of happy. Horrible things have still happened, and they've clearly scarred Anakin especially badly.

But right now, he's happy. The opening and closing comments by Obi-Wan were just brilliant...he's come to realise that some things, you never get over. Maybe it's just better for Anakin to live in blissful ignorance now. Awesome, moving AU piece!

Author: ninjaking
Date posted: 10/6/2004 7:54:29 PM
ninjaking's Comments:

i loved it shows that even a man like vader needs forgivenes

Author: Ani-maniac
Date posted: 11/12/2004 11:30:14 AM
Ani-maniac's Comments:

That...was...incredible. Wow. As an Anakin fan, I have thought of several...well, million stories about Anakin and the different results his actions could have created. But I never thought of one like this. It was awsome. You did a great job of showing what could have happened to Anakin if he lived with such guilt. I was curious to see if you had other ideas concerning Anakin. If you do, PLEASE comment. I'd enjoy hearing... well reading them. Keep writing such great stories!!!!!

Author: Rhaya  (signed)
Date posted: 6/3/2005 4:14:31 AM
Rhaya's Comments:

Amazing...absolutely brilliant. I have been sitting here staring at a blank screen for well onto 20 minutes trying to write something. I came to the site to find inspiration and you've certainly given me that.

Author: Enigma_X
Date posted: 7/2/2006 11:05:41 PM
Enigma_X's Comments:

I think I've read this story at least half a dozen times, and every time I do, I cry. Sometimes I bawl, and sometimes I just get wet-eyed. It always- always- affects me. I've never been able to figure out exactly why, but it does.

Author: jarogue
Date posted: 8/30/2008 6:21:17 PM
jarogue's Comments:

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww poor crazy anakin. way to pull my heartstrings, man!!

Author: Rachel
Date posted: 9/14/2009 5:36:35 AM
Rachel's Comments:

Hey, I just wanted to say that this was the first fan fiction I ever read when I was 11 and I didn't know what fan fiction was. I thought this story was beautiful and I didn't understand why it didn't correspond with canon but I loved it and I read it so many times that I actually knew it off by heart (because when I was 11 I was an even bigger nerd than I am now). For six years I've remembered that first line and I suddenly thought, hey why not look it up? It's still amazing. Well done.

Author: andaere
Date posted: 6/19/2010 6:57:19 PM
andaere's Comments:

Wow. I'm just sitting here, stunned and spellbound, trying to keep the tears away and write something coherent. Even though I finished this minutes ago I'm STILL fighting back tears (and I'm only fighting them because there are only people in the room).

This is such a heart-wrenching story. And it's one hundred percent UNIQUE, which is really saying something. I love the world that you've crafted with just a few words. I love every glimpse of crazy!Anakin and caretaker!Obi-Wan. Every sentence of this story is indescribably beautiful. As is the idea. It's not too hard to believe that if Anakin had turned back to the Light (well, earlier than he did), he would have gone insane. Or at least hidden himself from everything, staying in the safety of childlike innocence and insanity instead of facing what he'd done.

Obi-Wan's situation was heart-breaking, too. You portrayed his feelings really well - how at first he separated Anakin and Vader, but when he found out they were one in the same he wanted to resent Anakin. But then he still loves Anakin, and as much as he sometimes wants Anakin to face up for what he's done, he'll still give Anakin cake and sunrises. And now you've got me tearing up again.

Long review short, this is definitely the best Star Wars oneshot I've ever read (and I've read a lot). I think I'm going to put this on my eReader, even though I promised myself I'd only put full length stories on it.

Thank you for writing this. :)