Episode II: The Facade of Amidala (Part IV)

by Mr. P

The 4th part in my epic SW adventure - the gang hangs out on Coruscant while the war gets more involved, Sid's plans start to move into action, and Ami and Ani fall in love.

DISCLAIMER: These characters don't belong to me; they belong to George Lucas. I don't claim to own them. I am not making any profit from them. I'm just playing with them, and I hope I won't break them.

This fic is archived at Conceptul Gravity. YOu can also find the first two parts at:

Part I

Part II

I don't have the link for the third part, yet, but just click onto my profile and you can get it there.

Please, R/R! I love feedback.

I present:

Star Wars Episode, II: The Facade of Amidala

By Mr. P

---

Part IV

Amidala got back from the Senate the next day exhausted. The Wagner War Emergency Measure had passed by only a few votes, and there had been a lot of arguing, as the Statistics Rooms had made a few mistakes, again. It turned out that they had had to go through the voting process again. As they left, it had turned out that there had been a small security leak, and the press knew that something big was going on.

Everyone had been stormed as they came out into the hallway, and had been asked a million questions by a million reporters, trying to get an 'exclusive' story on what was happening with the war. It had been so exhausting, Amidala just wanted to lie down and sleep forever. She was that stressed out.

She dropped onto the couch, exhausted from the incredibly slow and redundant movements of the Senate. Why? Why must I go through a crisis right on time with a war? She asked herself as she drifted off to sleep on the couch.

* * * * * * * *

When Ami woke again, she looked at her chrono. Oh, my! She thought. I've been asleep for at least three hours!

Well, what do I have to lose? She asked herself. Nothing. Nothing at all. For all I know, he could be thinking the exact same things as me, not knowing that I feel the same way about him.

But what if he doesn't? I'll be so embarrassed!

A small voice in the back of her head screamed out at her, Hey, you! And what if you never do this, you'll miss out on him forever! He might die some day, and he'll never know! In business sense, you know, you've got to take risks to make the most money. It's the same thing here. So, just go swallow your pride, and go through with it!

Well...I guess I'll just go and do it. It can't hurt, for anything. I'll do it. She mustered up as much courage as she could, and she marched out of her room, heading up to Anakin's.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Damn, thought Anakin. What the heck am I going to do! I'm in love with a Queen, and I don't think she feels the same way about me...how do I tell her?

Just like Ami, he was asking himself, or rather the Living Force what to do. He was much more attuned to it than his Master. Obi-Wan was more attuned to the Unifying Force, and nobody was really sure how Anakin had become so strong in the Living Force with a master who could barely use it. Some theorized that instead of anchoring himself to Obi-Wan when he died, Qui-Gon had anchored himself with Anakin, helping to lead him through the space battle. Anakin didn't really think so. A Jedi Master could anchor themselves to another force-sensitive within a general range, different for each Jedi, to help them remember them when they became one with the Force. If it had been the case that Qui-Gon anchored himself with Anakin, then he surely must have passed along a number of his traits to him as well.

The little voice in the back of his head, instead of whispering to him in riddles as it normally did, screamed out at him. The Handmaidens! Perhaps they know something that you don't... said the voice that Anakin had associated with the Force.

Heeding it's words, as he had learned to do, he walked swiftly through the common room, noting that Obi-Wan was reading that book of his again in the holo-room, and left their apartment. He was sure to heed it, seeing as whenever he didn't, he had always gotten into a tight spot that he would barely work his way out of.

* * * * * * *

Amidala walked up to the help desk for the guest portion of the Temple. "Excuse me, ma'am," she said to the clerk, "but would you please tell me on what floor I could find the rooms of the Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker, and Knight Kenobi?"

"Could I see your identification, young lady? For this information, we need to know who you are and where you're going to be in the Temple. We don't want the whole of Coruscant wandering our halls."

Ami fished out her ID, and showed it to the lady. "Hmmm...this checks out," she said. "All right. Skywalker and Kenobi are on floor number...three hundred fifty six, suite two hundred and two. There should be a lift tube over to the right, there." She pointed

"Thank you, miss," said the Queen as she ran off in the direction that the lady had pointed.

* * * * * *

As quickly as she headed toward Anakin's room, she got lost twice as quickly. Taking a wrong turn at one point, she ended up all the way across the Temple from Anakin's room. Right...left...right again...left twice, and she was lost. Incredibly. She had no idea where she was, and finally decided to ask for directions, and a young Knight of thirty showed her the way, almost to Anakin's door.

She was surprised at how long it had taken her, if only delayed by her little...detour around the whole three hundred and fifty sixth floor. It truly was a confusing place. She mustered up her courage as multitudes of people passed her by, for what seemed like forever, and finally knocked on the door. It was...

Kenobi.

"I was wondering how much longer it would be before you would knock on the door, Your Highness."

"Please, just Amidala in private. It's really too much to call me 'Your Highness' or 'Your Majesty' or 'My Queen' all the time. You know, kind of gets on your nerves. Anyway, is Anakin here?"

"No, not right now. He went somewhere, I'm not sure where. He kind of sneaked out on my, you could say. But what kind of host am I to keep you waiting at the door? Come on inside."

They sat at the wooden table in the center of the common room, Amidala taking Anakin's chair, Obi-Wan sitting in his. "What's this?" she asked, nodding towards the unfinished dinner on the table.

"Oh, that's dinner. We usually eat out here, it's a nicer setting than the kitchen. Anakin finds it...confining. But it's nice to eat in a setting like this. We rarely do, as we're almost always on missions."

"Well, I must admit, your place is...nice," she said, noting the artwork on the walls and the beautiful view of the Coruscant cityscape that their room allotted to them. "So, do you know when Anakin is going to be back? I have some things to discuss with him." The unsaid words were 'about the slavery on Tatooine issue.' She knew that it was just an excuse, a poor one at that, and she also knew that Obi-Wan would turn his nose at the words, and ask her not to talk to him about it, to upset his training even more than she had. Speaking of that, she thought, I need to talk to the Chancellor about that. Now that he has control of the Military, I could probably call on a few favors to get this on a roll...

"I'm not sure. As I said, he kind of walked out on me. I don't know where he went, and I'm not sure when he'll be back."

* * * * *

Anakin made a beeline for the Handmaiden's quarters, guided by the force. He had never gotten lost on Tatooine, because he always just knew where to turn. The same thing had happened here, and he had gotten his bearings with the whole temple in less than a day. Now, all he needed to do was follow the force to find exactly where the Handmaidens were staying.

The security lady had let him in automatically, because he was a Jedi, or at least an advanced apprentice to be a Jedi, and so he had free run of the whole temple except restricted areas and the Council Chambers. When he reached the Handmaiden's quarters, he knocked, and Yane' answered the door. "Oh, hi, Anakin," she greeted. "We've been wanting to talk to you for a little while, now."

"Really?" asked Anakin. "What about?"

"You'll find out," she said.

By now, they had entered the Handmaidens' common room, and Rabe', Sache' and Eirtae' were sitting at the table, reading the tabloids. "Hey, look, 'Tae'," said Sache'. "Did you see this?" she showed her the picture that was in the tabloid, which they had acquired from who knows where, and they let out a stifled laugh.

"Oh, hi, Anakin," said Rabe', noticing him.

"Well, I need to talk to you guys," said Anakin.

"Yeah?" said Sache', cocking her head in an almost knowingly way. "What do you need to talk about?"

"Well...." said Anakin, "I think that I'm in love with the Queen." He was much more up-front than the Queen had been, even though they were her best friends, not counting Anakin, and they weren't that for Anakin.

"Really," said Eirtae'. "And so..."

"Well, I don't know if Ami feels the same way about me. I want to know what you know. I figured that you have known her for longer and know her better, and you might know."

The handmaidens threw each other long glances, and Rabe' spoke up. "What do you think we know?"

"I want to know if the Queen feels the same way about me. I think she does, but I think that it might be just a figment of my overactive imagination teaming up with the wishful-thinking portion of my brain."

"Well..." said Rabe', "We don't know a thing. She hasn't told us anything that you need to know."

Anakin, just to be sure, probed her mind a little, only to find that he couldn't, her mental armor was just too strong. Probably an after-affect of all the training they've had. She probably a little force-sensitive, too.

"If you don't know anything, I best be going," said Anakin. He offered his thanks for their hospitality, and walked out of their suite.

At the moment that he closed the door, Yane', Sache', and Eirtae' broke out into unstopping laughter. When they finally could control themselves, Sache' spoke up. "What was all that about?" asked Sache'. "Were you trying to ruin their relationship?"

"No..." said Rabe'. "In fact, I probably just saved it."

"In what way? If you told him, it would probably have accelerated it, if anything," said Yane'.

"No, it wouldn't. Anakin would have known that both of them were in love with each other, but Amidala wouldn't. It's like a piece of a puzzle. Both pieces have to fit. With Anakin knowing all the information, and Amidala only knowing her part, it just wouldn't work."

"But couldn't we just have gone and told Amidala the second he left? Now that you haven't told him, you can't tell her, on what you're saying!" exclaimed Eirtae'.

"But if we told him," said Rabe', "he'd go straight to Amidala. Besides, we are in the perfect situation, now. They are in a perfect situation for a romance. Just like in that movie we saw the other day. We all love romances, right?"

"So? What does us liking romances have to do with anything?" asked Yane'.

"We're in the perfect situation, I said it," said Rabe'.

"Yeah?" asked Sache'. "Explain away."

"Two words: blind date."

********************

As quickly as she could, Amidala strode over to greet Chancellor Palpatine as he was leaving the Senate meeting the next day. "Excuse me, Chancellor, "She said, "I would like to have a word with you."

"Of course, Your Highness," he said, dismissing his guards, who were now clad in red upon his request. "I only have a few minutes now, I have to look into a good many things regarding the War."

"Well, that's what I've wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering, now that you don't have to go to the Senate to deal with the military, can you call for other missions that don't necessarily have to do with the War?"

"I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, Your Highness," he said. "Are you asking me if I am allowed to order the military to do things that they don't need to do? Am I understanding you correctly?"

"Um...yes. I was wondering...a friend of min, Anakin Skywalker, you know him?"

"Oh, yes I do. I remember him very well."

"Well, he used to be a slave on Tatooine, ere Qui-Gon Jinn freed him. I brought this before the Senate, the proposal of a mission to free the slaves on Tatooine, but it was overturned by a large margin."

"Oh, yes. I remember that. A very hot topic, it was. And so...you are asking me if I could send the army to help you on this little crusade?"

"Kind of," she said meekly. "I mean, with the clones and all, I figured that you could spare a few soldiers?"

"Well, I always was in favor of this particular escapade, so I'll think about it. You just have to understand that a military buildup, which could lend some soldiers and ships, takes a while to happen. It will be at least a couple of months, you see. At least forty shipyards in the core are building our star destroyers, and about a hundred fifty construction droids are building the cloning facility now on Corula." Corula was one of the moons of Coruscant, so it would be generally protected from attack by the protection that Coruscant received.

He continued: "But we still need to build up the military a lot before we can even spare one or two clones, even at the rate of one hundred thousand clones a week and a few hundred ships a month. It'll probably take a month to build the cloning facility itself before we can begin to clone. We also have to chose the soldiers to clone, and all that.

"But anyways, I'm pretty sure that within three months, you can go through with your plan with a little help from me. I can probably help you get other volunteers to help with negotiations and such. Perhaps you cold go through with this without any bloodshed. I would think, at least with you at the heart of this crusade, that fighting would be a last resort."

"Yes, that is true, Chancellor. They might not even need to fight us. They might free their slaves willingly. Fighting is the last option, always. Also, any military would help us in the negotiations. Thanks for anything in advance."

"You're welcome, my Queen. But understand that this will take some time."

* * * * * * *

Anakin Skywalker dueled with Ang'mar Kratil, another advanced padawan, in the arena in the Jedi Temple the morning after his dealings with the Handmaidens. Light from the rising sun streamed in through the windows in the high ceiling above, making it look like streamers flying down, piercing the dust that was in the air. The Jedi Council sat at the High Table, watching the spar as the two padawans showed off their agility, speed and finesse as well as skill to the observers. Off to the side stood their masters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Mo'jo Krill, a rodian.

Ang'mar was not as skilled as Anakin, in fact, pretty much nobody at the same level as Anakin was, due to his power in the force, but she was faster, more agile, and could use the surrounding environment to a better extent than Anakin. She often took to hiding, and death-defying jumps to evade Anakin.

Anakin, on the other hand, used his ability in the force more than his body, searching for his opponent always, and using his upper body strength in conjunction with the force to disarm his opponent. But even as he struck out, he came back again, always letting Ang'mar make the first move, even though she was always hiding, or attempting to. She would jump out of nowhere, engaging Anakin and retreating again.

Now, Ang'mar jumped out, and caught Anakin totally by surprise. He had closed down his lightsaber, trying to find Ang'mar so he could defeat her. Their sabers were powered down, so that if one were hit with it, they would only be burned, and so nobody could be seriously injured or killed in practice. She flipped, and used more of the extravagant movements that Obi-Wan preferred.

Anakin was struck with fear as she came flying out of nowhere. Unconsciously, he turned his lightsaber back on, and jumped up, attaching his left arm on a rafter, anchoring his left foot at the attachment of the rafter and another. Flipping down, he landed behind Ang'mar, who sent her saber back to block her, and twirled around to face him, but he was no longer there. Behind her again, he struck, only to have her jump up and have him miss her.

He was now enraged at the fact that he couldn't hit her, even when he had her right in her sights and she had no defenses. Without thinking, he ran at her, standing about ten feet away in a defensive position, and sent an onslaught of strokes up, down, everywhere. She blocked every hit, but eventually, she tired, and fell down. He placed his saber at her throat. "Kill point," said Anakin.

"Good that was, except one thing," said Yoda.

"Yes," said Master Windu. "You called upon your anger in that last attack. Have you learned nothing from us?"

"You should control your anger," said Depa Billaba. "Not use it to attack."

"I didn't call upon my anger!" yelled Anakin. "I was angry, correct, but I didn't draw upon it. And after a momentary flash of anger, it subsided, and then I attacked."

"Yes, he did," said Ang'mar's Master, Mo'jo Krill. "He controlled his anger, to a point. You used it to attack my student. That was the Dark Side. You should not do that."

"This is all correct, Anakin," said Adi Gallia. "You had a brief flash anger, and then it subsided, to a point, as Master Krill pointed out. Then, with a little bit of anger, you attacked. Not as much as initially, but you were afraid. Afraid that you would not be able to hit Ang'mar at all, even with a clear, open shot."

"Yes! Listen to Master Gallia, should you," said Yoda. "Anger leads to hate. End up hating Padawan Kratil, you could, for not having the ability to strike her down, because she is too agile. And hate is the Dark Side. Always, calm you must feel. Not good this is. Much it forebodes. Not face your trials you will, until face this you can."

*******************

Darth Sidious looked across the cityscape of Coruscant from his balcony, glittering in the waxing sunlight of the noon hour. He strode alongside his friend, if one could say that, and apprentice, Darth Vader, contemplating his plans. He suddenly turned to face Vader, who dropped to one knee as Sidious began to speak to him.

As cloud cars, taxis, and starships zoomed past, Sidious said: "I trust that you do not doubt that our plans will not fail, my young apprentice?"

"I do not doubt a thing, Master."

"Good. At this time the only thing that could thwart us from the completion of our plans is doubt, besides the possibility of us breaking up, and going in separate ways." If that did happen, they'd end up fighting each other, and soon enough, a disaster such as happened in the Great Sith Wars would occur between the Sith: they'd destroy each other. It didn't take Skywalker to do that. "But enough of that, do not let that thought enter your mind. I have news from our spy in the Senate. It appears that Amidala has appealed to the Chancellor for help in a crusade to free slaves on the outer-rim planet of Tatooine."

"And how should this help us?" asked Vader. He was always looking for ways to take the movements of the Enemy and turn them on them, to use them for his own advancement and gain.

"It is interesting to note that Tatooine was the place where the Queen and her cronies sought refuge and a place for parts on their way to Coruscant from Naboo during the Trade Federation Blockade. Even more interesting, the homeworld of Anakin Skywalker is also Tatooine. He was a slave there until Qui-Gon Jinn, who my last apprentice, Maul," he shuddered, "defeated on Naboo shortly thereafter, freed him from slavery on a podracing bet."

"Ah," said Vader. "So he will accompany these idiots on their mission."

"No doubt he would, but I also do not doubt that that damned Jedi Council will not let him go. But knowing Skywalker..." he said, contemplating the circumstances. "It is no matter. He will go whether the Council lets him or not. He has a certain...passion for this topic."

"Hmm..." said Vader. He wasn't sure what all this was leading to. "I have this feeling that you are going to ask me to position myself on Tatooine to wait for him to destroy him?"

"Not yet, not yet...I can use you better here than on Tatooine for the moment. Their mission will not commence for a few months, they have to let the Republic's military 'build up' a bit before they can sneak something off without being noticed. No, no, you still have to work on those computer codes..."

"Well, he could be of some use..." said Vader. He could use me? We are working together, he doesn't use me...or is he? Is he stifling me, afraid that I could possibly destroy him and take on another apprentice?

"Are you crazy?" asked Sidious. "How could he be of use? He, unless we destroy him first, will do that to us! He would never turn. Those Jedi fools have brainwashed him too much. And then, that would make three Sith. It will not work, my apprentice. I am disappointed that you would think of that." To further make his point, he sent a flurry of Force Lightning coursing through his apprentice for a few seconds, and threw him against the wall. "I am disturbed that you would think of the possibility of overthrowing me and taking your own apprentice." He threw Vader over the balcony with the force, and then, after letting him drop for a few moments, levitated him back to the balcony.

Vader groveled at his Master's feet, kissing his robes. "Of course not, Master! I would never think of anything so...uncouth." But that was not the truth. Vader had had dreams of himself overthrowing his Master, taking his own apprentice and the reins of Sidious' plans just as they were ripening, and take all the spoils for himself. "I meant...if we could capture him, and clone him. We could brainwash him like the other Sith we are cloning, so that he cannot attack us."

"An army of brainwashed Anakiin Skywalkers..." said Sidous. He was contemplating this idea seriously. "This has some promise. But we must keep him alive, then. He will not be killed. Perhaps on Tatooine, you could kill Kenobi; he will definitely follow Skywalker there; and then, bring him, unconscious to New Mandalore, and then we can clone him, and kill him there. We might even send him back to the Jedi as a spy... An army of the most powerful beings in the force in the history of the Galaxy, it would be unstoppable..."

* * * * * * *

Anakin Skywalker headed up to his room after his duel with Ang'mar to go over what he had done wrong. Obi-Wan had told him to meditate on this, and contemplate his use of anger. But when he entered his red-walled room, he found that there was a message on his computer terminal. What did I do wrong? Anakin asked himself. It's not like I harnessed the anger or anything...

But something was telling him to leave his meditation for a little while, and look at this message. It kept saying over and over to him as he began to mediate, kneeling on the floor beside his bed with his right knee on the floor, and leaning his chin on his left knee, as he had been instructed, that this was important, and if he did not look at it, he might lose something important that he would not necessarily want to.

It was making him lose his concentration, and he couldn't focus. Eventually, he gave up, and lied down on his bed with the green-blue bedspread. He eyed the piece of artwork on the wall, of the palace on Naboo, and picked up the portable terminal from his night-table on the right of his bed that was connected to his wall-terminal.

He quickly went to get his message. He had to do this quickly and get back to his meditation, before Obi-Wan got back, or he would get busted. It read:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
All I want is to be loved by you.
If you would like to know who I am,
Meet me at the Coruscant Galaxy,
The finest Restaurant in the land,
At three hours before ten.

The table will be reserved
Under the name of Yorured.
If tonite show up not you do,
Then you will know not who loves you.

--Anonymous

Anakin wondered who would go to such elaborate methods to send such a love letter to him, of all people. Perhaps it's Ami! He thought. No, if she were in love with me, and knew that I was in love with her, she'd come over here and tell me herself.

He went through the system, checking back and forth to see who had sent it. But everywhere he went, it was blank. It turned out that the mailer had set up an account somewhere on the nets of Coruscant, and he didn't have time to go check the whole net system now. He had to get back to meditating.

He tried to concentrate on his meditation, but he kept thinking about the cryptic note. Who would have sent it? Nobody other than the Handmaidens knew that he loved Ami, but they didn't know anything else, right? Perhaps they were trying to set them up, but he didn't know. He'd have to talk to his Master about it, because he wanted to go and meet this mysterious admirer anyway. But for now, there was naught but meditation and more meditation.

*******************

Obi-Wan Kenobi was curious about what had actually gone on in Anakin's mind during the spar earlier. Had Anakin actually used the Dark Side? He didn't actually attack out in anger, perhaps fed on it a little. That was the problem, Anakin sometimes ended up using the force, neither light nor dark, kind of grey-ish. He was a difficult student, and this problem had only arisen lately, in the last few months. It was a hard time in Anakin's training: he was almost completed with his training.

Anakin had been a very quick study; he had advanced so quickly that it had alarmed the Council. His training must be patient, they said. But Obi-Wan did not want to stifle his student's grown, he let him grow in the force, and soon enough, he was quite advanced, learning and mastering new techniques and ideas as a dry sponge takes in water.

At this point, Obi-Wan worried if he had gone too quickly; at this age, he had been at the stage Anakin had been at twelve. Anakin had learned the majority of the techniques and how to control the force, but now, he had to learn how to not let the force control him, and to control his fears and anger. It was a daunting task, and Obi-Wan shuddered at the thought of what could, and probably would happen if Anakin turned. And it would all be his fault.

He entered their suite to find that Anakin was meditating in his room. Good. I hope he has come to the correct conclusions about what happened down at the arena earlier. He entered Anakin's room without knocking, unlocking the door from the outside and entering without notice, as his master had done for all those years he had been a Padawan.

"Would you please knock, Master?" asked Anakin. "It can get quite annoying."

"You should be able to ignore your annoyances and concentrate on the Force, Anakin. If you can't, then you will lose your focus all the much easier."

"Yes, Master," said Anakin. "Oh, by the way, when I got back, I got a message from an anonymous person. Here, take a look at it." He showed Obi-Wan the message, and Obi-Wan's brow furrowed.

He read the message, and was confronted with a number of distinct possibilities. Either this could be an attempt to draw Anakin away from the Jedi, and attack him, or it could be someone who truly was in love with Anakin, and wanted to meet him, or expose their true feelings for him. It could also be some joke.

He didn't feel any animosity in the message, but he did feel that it was not from who Anakin was suspecting. But if it were truly a love letter with love behind it, would it be a good thing to let him go? If he got into a relationship with this person, would it be a good thing? The Jedi Council scorned Jedi with relationships in the first place. Especially Padawans. They said that it was a weakness to a Jedi, that it was not bad, but could be their undoing and no Jedi should put themselves in a position that could be to their enemies' advantage. The Council advised against them, but did not bar Jedi from relationships.

But Padawans were a different matter. It could disturb their training; would make them unfocus. It could cause them to turn to the Dark Side, for fear of their girlfriend or boyfriend (or spouse, if they were to get married), and betray the Jedi for their love. But most of all, it could and would impede on their training, and it could set them back. The Council was against this, for it made them too emotional, and barred Padawans from any relationships until they were knighted.

But Obi-Wan guessed that it didn't hurt – his brain was telling him that the Council wouldn't approve of it, but something was telling him that Anakin should go to dinner with this person. Nobody would attack him in the middle of a bustling restaurant in their right mind, and Anakin desperately needed a breather from his training. Also, he felt that anything that would come of this would be good, not bad.

"Well?" asked Anakin. "Can I go? As a Padawan, I need your permission to leave the Temple without you."

"This is very...unlike you, Anakin. I would have thought that you would have just snuck out of the Temple. At least that's what I thought you would have done. Obviously not...I am glad of that, Anakin. You are finally learning discipline. Sure. You can go. But I want you to keep up a connection with me at all times, until you are sure of your security. I fear that someone may be trying to attack you. And afterwards, I want to talk to you about what happened," he said as he chuckled. "I know that I'm going against the Council here, so don't be surprised. I do this more than you know. But you aren't supposed to have any romantic relations with anybody, so be careful. We don't want the Council to find out."

"Yes, Master," said Anakin with a slight grin on his face. It wasn't every day that Obi-Wan went against the Council.

"You better be back before eleven, because if the Council finds out, it's my head, not yours, that is on the chopping block."

*******************

Anakin got off at the Coruscant Galaxy at ten to seven, to find out who his blind date was. He kept asking himself who it was, and nobody came up as a person who was like that. Nobody. He walked silently over to the waiting area, in which there were a hundred people sitting around, waiting for a table. But Anakin didn't need to wait: he had a table already reserved in the name Yorured. It obviously wasn't his name, and he suspected that it wasn't the true name of the sender of the letter.

Anakin went up towards the desk, and was surprised to see that Ami was there as well. Could it be? Thought Anakin. Nah. She probably just came here to eat with the Handmaidens. He was letting himself overestimate the power of his imagination and wishful thinking again. The Handmaidens were flanking Amidala, two on each side behind her.

The Handmaidens wore purple and blue robes, with orange visors. They draped over them like giant masses of hair, covering every inch of their body and overlapping multitudes of times. Amidala was wearing the purple gown she wore to the Senate meeting with the corusa gems in her hair. Anakin wore his Jedi robes, but instead of the normal brown and off-white beige, it was totally black. Jedi had pairs of dress robes that they used on special occasions, such as if they were invited to the Chancellor's Ball, a ball that was held every twenty-five years.

When Anakin noticed what Amidala was wearing, he almost gasped. It's so beautiful, thought Anakin. It really brings her out. But now's not the time for this. "Hi, Ami," said Anakin. "Who's the lucky man?"

He looks exceptionally handsome in that black outfit, thought Amidala. Perhaps he was the one that sent me that weird note... But her examinations were interrupted by Anakin, who apparently noticed that she was here as well. "What? I don't think that heard what you said."

"Oh," said Ani. "I asked who is the lucky man."

"Well, he's not here yet," said Ami.

"Really? He didn't pick you up?" asked Ani.

Ami was getting restless. What if he found out that she didn't know who he was? "No, he's far away from the Temple, and I said that I could take myself here, it would inconvenience him."

"Oh."

* * * * * * *

"Who's the lucky man?" asked Anakin.

"You, dumbo," whispered Yane' to the Handmaidens.

They giggled a little, and then Rabe' spoke up: "Do you think he (or Ami) liked our little poem?"

"I dunno," said Sache'. "It's Eirtae's, anyway."

"It even wasn't that good," said 'Tae'. "I was agonizing over that thing for like forever."

"That doesn't mean that it isn't any good," said Yane'. "It's better than anything I could have done, and it said what it needed to, apparently. They both showed up."

"Yeah," said Rabe'. "Let's just see them work our magic for us...shhh, we shouldn't really be talking."

* * * * * * *

"Who's the lucky lady?" asked Ami.

"Actually, I'm here alone," lied Ani. Stupid, stupid! How do you expect to get her ever if you are lying to her?

"Oh? Really? I would have expected you to tow along someone."

"Nah, I couldn't do that for the life of me," said Anakin, looking down at his feet.

"Really?" asked Ami. "Are you sure that you can afford this place, no offense-"

"None taken."

"-but it's really, really expensive. I could lend you a little money..."

"No, I can't afford it, but the owner owes me and my Master a few favors for a little job we got done on one of our missions, so he said we can eat here free whenever we want."

"Oh..." said Ami. "Well, I must be going, I have to get my table, it's almost seven."

"Me too."

They walked side-by-side up to the desk. It seemed to take forever to Amidala. She kept throwing glances at Anakin; she couldn't help it. Wow, whoever gets him is extremely lucky in my book. Could it be him?

* * * * * * *

They arrived at the desk, finally, and the clerk said, "Good evening, lady and sir. Do you have a reservation here?" He wore a black tuxedo, with a red bow-tie and a grey hat that looked kind of like a fedora.

"Actually, I do," said Anakin.

"So do I," said Amidala.

Anakin gave her a strange look, and continued, "I have it under the name of..."

Amidala suddenly realized that this restaurant took forever seating it's clients, and decided to get her reservation in first. "Yorura," they said in unison.

Anakin pointed to Amidala in disbelief with his left hand; Ami did as well, vice-versa. "You mean-" they said together

"You sent-" they said, continuing in unison, backing away from each other, still in shock. Their eyes widened in shock.

"You love-" said Amidala, giving him a loving look.

"Let's get our table," said Ani, the first to shake off the shock. "It wouldn't hurt."

"Sure..." said Ami. "It couldn't hurt." She was still dazed by the whole affair.

It appeared that they had attracted a whole lot of attention, and they turned their heads to find at least a hundred heads turned in their direction, moved by the rukus they were causing. They gave them blank looks, and followed their waiter to their table in the main dining area.

* * * * * *

They didn't say a thing to each other for the whole time they were walking towards their table. It was a round table with a green tablecloth, and two chairs. It was a triangular room about fifty metres wall-to-wall in a set of rooms exactly like it, and theirs had the orchestra. The dance floor was triangular, in the corner, and their table was right on it's edge. The walls were yellow, with orange drapings that ran across from point to point across the ceiling, drooping between the points that it connected to the ceiling.

The Handmaidens sat at a table nearby, not too close to Ami and Ani, but close enough that if a fight broke out, or an attack, then they could defend her. It was standard procedure for royalty around the galaxy, and Naboo was no exception. "We did it!" said Sache' ecstatically. "They're set up!"

"I'm not sure yet," said Rabe'. "I think that they think that the other person didn't send the note-"

"Which is what did happen," shot in Yane'.

"-and they were set up by someone else."

"Well, let's find out," said Eirtae'. "We are close enough that we can eavesdrop on them..."

* * * * * * *

Ani and Ami settled down, Anakin pulling out Amidala's chair for her to sit down like a true gentleman. He sat down at his seat, and looked at the menu. Nothing seemed good; he wasn't hungry right now, with all the things to think about. Did Ami really send the love-letter, or was it someone trying to set him up? He hoped that it really was Ami, but he was working up the courage to ask her. His menu could wait. He could ask the force which one he liked the best when it was time to order.

Ami was having the same problem, and blankly looked over her menu, trying to figure out how to ask him. Wouldn't hurt to start a conversation... "So, Ani, what are you going to get?" she asked.

"What? Oh, I don't know. I just have a lot to think about."

"Me too..."

"Ami, tell me, did you send me that letter?"

"No. I got one too..." she said, glancing over at the Handmaidens, who of which Eirtae' was giggling extremely loud as the others watched Anakin and Amidala intently. "I think that someone set us up," she nodded over towards the Handmaidens.

"I think so too," Anakin said with a grin.

"But tell me, Ani, do you really feel the way as they said in their letters?" she asked, staring into his sea-blue eyes.

He just stared blankly at his menu, trying to avoid the question. Why is it so hard just to say yes? He asked himself.

"I knew it!" she squealed with glee.

"How did you know?" asked Ani.

"With a look like that on your face, Anakin Skywalker, who couldn't?"

He just nodded. After a moment, he asked: "And you?"

"Of course."

"Hmm...we'll have to find some way to get those 'friends' of yours back on the right track...although, what they did wasn't a bad thing..." he said with a cocky grin.

"We'll think about it," said Ami, "and knowing us, we'll think up something real interesting."

"Yeah, really," said Anakin. At that moment, the orchestra began to play a slow song. "Could I have this dance, Angel?"

"Of course, little boy," she said as Anakin took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor.

*******************

Anakin was quite exhausted when he walked back into his quarters at eleven thirty half asleep. He dropped immediately into one of the two chairs around the table in the common room of his suite. He wasn't really sure how he knew how to get up here, he was so tired. He must have not been seen by anyone, or else someone would have asked him why he was skulking around.

"Welcome back, Padawan," said Obi-Wan. He was so tired that he hadn't even noticed that Obi-Wan was sitting in the other chair. It was too late for him to be up; normally, his master made him go to sleep early, around nine o'clock, and wake up even earlier. The early bird catches the worm was his explanation. Anakin wasn't sure why his master was so insistent on it, but he was too tired to think about it now. "You're late."

Anakin lifted his head off the table, and brought his eyes to Obi-Wan. He sighed, and said, "I'm sorry, Master," trying to keep himself upright in his chair.

"Apology is not accepted, Anakin. I wanted you here by eleven. It's eleven thirty. What if you never showed up? You don't know how worried I was. I was almost about to go to the Council, however much it might degrade me in their minds."

"I'm sorry, Master," repeated Anakin. "I guess I just lost track of time..."

"With who?" asked Obi-Wan. "Who sent the message?"

"One of Amidala's handmaidens...mmmbmbm" said Anakin, drifting off towards sleep again.

"You went on a date with all four of them?" asked Obi-Wan, surprised. They hadn't shown the slightest attraction towards Anakin at all, ever. Back during the events of the Trade Federation blockade, he remembered clearly, they had thought him little more than a piece of baggage that Qui-Gon was bringing along with him who had made a friendship with the Queen.

"No...yes too..." said Anakin.

"I'm not sure that I understand you, Anakin."

"Well, they were there," said Anakin, "I mean, at the Galaxy, but I wasn't dining with them."

"Was it Amidala?"

"Yes," said Anakin. "But she didn't send the letter...the handmaidens set us up..." When Anakin had asked Amidala to dance, and they did, Anakin had overheard many people who were eating and had glanced over at the dance floor make comments about what a 'cute couple' they made. They look very good together, don't they had been echoed around as they entered the dance floor full of couples that had come from many different dining rooms. Their table had had the good position of being near the dance floor so they hadn't needed to walk far.

"They set you up?" asked Obi-Wan.

"Yeah..."

"I thought I felt something odd..." said Obi-Wan. "Do you have feelings for her?"

"Well, yes," said Anakin, finally getting a hold of himself and waking up again. "I do. I went to the Handmaidens the other day, and asked them what they knew about if Her Highness felt the same way towards me. They said they didn't know anything, but obviously, they did, and sent both of us the same message."

"And Anakin, does the Queen feel the same way for you?"

"Yes. We talked about it at the Galaxy." They had danced most of the night, and had sat down to eat and enjoy their dinner for at most an hour. During that time, they had chatted about what they had done since they had last seen each other ten years ago, and how their lives had changed since then. It had been a...refreshing experience in Anakin's mind, filling each other in on what had happened since then.

"Anakin...you know how the Council looks upon relationships in general, and especially with Padawans. You, especially. They won't be happy if you continue with the Queen. And besides, once this whole affair is done, with the war and all, you and Amidala will have your own responsibilities to return to, and you'll both be far away from each other all the time. The Council might forbid you from seeing her, if they find out."

"They don't have to find out, do they?"

"They do. I have the council's trust that I won't mess up with you. If you fall to the Dark Side, I don't want to think what they'll do to me..." he said, looking off to the side. "But I don't want you to go out with her any more, because I know that you really want to be a Jedi. If you remember, Master Qui-Gon said that being a Jedi is a hard life. When you became my Padawan, you in effect took an oath that you will become a Jedi. If you want to become a Jedi, you have to listen to the Council. Especially on this matter."

Anakin just nodded sullenly.

"But once you become a knight, of course, you could follow up on this. At that point, the Council could say that it's not a good idea, but it can't bar you from seeing her. But now isn't a good time for a romance, Anakin. Not now. Later, maybe, but now isn't the time for star-struck lovers to hook up.

"You are in the last phase of your training, Anakin. You are almost ready to face your trials, after which you could do whatever you want with the Queen. But if you don't stop this now, and let it grow even more than it has, it will be harder to let go. And the Council may throw you out of the order if you go against them even more than you are now. They are not specifically happy with you, Anakin.

"But I think you may become a knight before you think, mainly because I have this feeling that you might meet up with our attacker from Naboo before this whole affair is over. Just be patient, Anakin. It can wait. You are still young Anakin, no matter how much you may argue the opposite. You have a full life to live, Anakin. I'm almost over the hill, but you're not yet twenty. It can wait, if only for a few years, perhaps it will only be a few months. But not now, or you will ruin your future forever. Just be patient, Anakin.

"But I don't think this is a good idea, anyway. Anakin, listen to me," he said. Anakin was looking at the floor, contemplating what Obi-Wan was saying. He looked up at Obi-Wan, and he started again. "As I was saying, it isn't a good idea for a Jedi to get wrapped up in a relationship. If you were to...die on a mission, which is a distinct possibility, then it could and probably would cause your love a deep pain. And it could give you a great weakness, you know. What would you do to save Amidala's life? Would you forsake a friend, a fellow Jedi to save your girlfriend? And it could give an enemy great power over you, if they held her and you had no power to save her. Anakin, listen to me," he pleaded. "This is not in your best interest."

"I'll think about it, Obi-Wan," said Anakin, giving him a sly smile.

"Good," said Obi-Wan. "Now get to sleep, you still need to wake up at six." He patted Anakin on the back, and went back into his room.

*********************

What were you expecting? Obi-Wan asked himself as he tried to fall asleep. Some blind date with someone that you didn't know? Not many people know Anakin that well, not well enough to know that they had the feelings they had expressed for Anakin.

It obviously wasn't a Jedi, because then they could just have asked him to meet them in the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls or something. Who else could it have been?

And if it was her, what could you have expected from Anakin other than to fall in love with her again? He thought. Actually, Anakin probably fell in love with her again not tonight, but earlier. He's been a bit unfocused for a little while, and he always loses his focus when she's in the room.

He had a crush on her back when he was a pre-teen, and it had kind of drifted away as he immersed himself into his training. What was I expecting when he saw her again? That he could forget her?

You caused this, you know that, he told himself. It's your fault.

* * * * * * *

Anakin looked over at the chrono on the wall of the holo-room. Ten! It was Saturday, so Anakin was off from classes and practice, except for daily meditation for a few hours. He had the whole morning free to do whatever he wanted. Anakin figured that it was late enough that it probably was an okay time to do what he needed to do. "Master?" he inquired.

"Yes, Anakin?"

"I was wondering...I was thinking about what we talked about last night. I need to talk to Her Highness about it, well I think you know what I mean."

"Sure, Anakin. But nothing between you two now. You're still a Padawan, you know. Nothing until you're a Knight."

"Yes, Master..." said Anakin as he shuffled out the door.

Anakin was still a trifle tired from the night before, and mostly had waited until it was ten, a late time, because he didn't doubt that the energy-intensive evening that he had spent with Ami had taken the same toll on her. He walked silently down the hallways that were deathly silent, most of the Padawans on missions with their Masters, and others were either asleep or away on trips out of the temple with their Masters.

Anakin and Obi-Wan apparently were at an ebb in the flow of students and masters in and out of the Temple, where a great majority of people were away. Anakin stretched his feelings out in throughout the temple, and didn't feel many people inside. The Temple had been built to house a million Jedi, and the Order was far from that number.

Finally, he arrived at Ami's room. He knocked sullenly, afraid to tell Amidala what he was going to tell her. They had to wait, for how long he didn't know. Nobody was answering...Anakin waited for what seemed like hours to him. Suddenly, when Anakin was not expecting it, the door flung open, as he was looking around the hall, and a hand pulled a totally exasperated Anakin Skywalker into the room head first.

Slamming the door, she threw him on the couch and sat down next to him. "Well?" she asked.

"I need to talk to you about something, Ami..."

"Well, that's what you came here for, right? You didn't need to tell me that."

"Yeah, I guess. But last night Master and I talked about the...relationship we are going to have, if the chain of events that are happening right now keeps on going."

"You and Obi-Wan talked last night? How is that possible?" she asked. "You were, well...exhausted after last evening."

"Well, we did. I don't know if you know, but the Council looks down on Jedi relationships, and basically forbids Padawans, you know, me, from that kind of stuff. And Obi-Wan said..."

"Are you dumping me, Skywalker?" asked Ami, standing up and placing her hands on her waist.

"No, no..." said Anakin. "But Obi-Wan thinks that it's better if we just wait, at least until I'm knighted, to go on with any type of relationship. I don't really agree with him, but I really don't have a choice. The Council..."

"Anakin, do you know what my people would think if they found out that I was dating a former slave boy," Anakin cringed as she said this, "and Jedi now?"

"I don't really know, Ami. But I think that the way they think would probably be skewed by the fact that they revere me and that you kind of ticked them off the last time we were on Naboo."

He shot a dashing smile at her, and buried her face in her hands. "Why? Why did you have to do that Anakin? Open it again?"

"Sorry, Ami. It just...flew out of my big mouth..."

"I think I understand, Anakin. They don't want us together. Patience is a virtue," she said, looking away from Anakin.

"I had best be going now-" he was startled when Amidala gave him a sudden bear hug and kissed him full on the mouth.

"But...patience is a waste of time," she managed to mumble through their kiss.

Anakin almost didn't know what happened. One moment, he's speaking with Ami, and the next, he's melting in the middle of her embrace. He wasn't sure why, but he was kissing her back, even though Obi-Wan had said not to do anything with her. But it seemed to him that all the pain and suffering that they had gone through over the past few weeks was dissipating over a connection that only the two of them shared. It was...different than anything that Anakin had ever felt, even towards Obi-Wan and way back when, when he lived with his mother. But when he lived with his mother, he was a different person, and Obi-Wan was, well, Obi-Wan. But this was totally different.

Amidala wasn't sure why, but she had had the sudden urge to kiss him, before he was gone forever. She had gone out with a few boys before; they were all going after her all the time, but they all had known and revered her for being the Queen, and had never done anything that might ever get her mad or irritated. They had all had had strict orders to be extremely nice to her, and she could tell that they were in fear of what would happen if they did anything at all. They never treated her like a person, but as a Queen. She preferred the person.

Sure, she had kissed a few boys over the years, but nothing like this. Nothing at all like this. Never this passionately, never with such fire. She had initially felt him melt in her embrace, but eventually, it turned around and it was her who was melting. She had conquered him, and the conquered had conquered the conquerors. She could have stayed there forever, but she knew that eventually, this would have to end. She had her own duties, and Anakin had hers, and Obi-Wan would wonder what was happening if his Padawan was missing for too long.

She broke off the kiss, gulping down breath as if it were water. "Look – I gotta go..." said Anakin.

"I understand completely," said Ami.

"Maybe...we could do something eventually, like go out to dinner or something or other, you know..."

"But your Master said..."

"I don't care," said Ani. "We could sneak out of the Temple if need be."

"Well, we'll probably need to talk over what we plan to do with our notorious Handmaidens over dinner..."

"I'll talk to you about it later," said Anakin, giving her a peck on the cheek. "I have to go, or my Master will get suspicions."

"Sure thing, Ani," said Ami as he ran out of the apartment.

***************

Anakin walked slowly back towards his suite in the upper echelons of the Jedi Temple. I really have a lot to think about, thought he. His footfalls echoed through the corridors and eventually, he reached his rooms, and opened the door. Obi-wan was right there, tapping his foot.

"Yes?" asked Anakin. Oh, no...

"Mmmmhmm..." said Obi-wan, motioning Anakin into the holoroom. Anakin sat on the left end of the blue felt-covered couch, and Obi-Wan sat on the caf table in front. "I know what you're thinking. I thought I told you not to do anything with the Queen."

"But... Master Obi-Wan! I... she... I didn't kiss her, she kissed me... besides, it was only one kiss..."

"That's what they all say," said Obi-Wan. "I'm disappointed, Anakin. You lied, saying that you needed to talk to her."

"But I did talk to her!" said a frustrated Ani. "And then, just as I was about to leave, she... she just... y'know, kissed me. And that was that; that was it."

"I believe you, Anakin," said Obi-Wan, "but still, I am going to speak with the Council about this. Perhaps... the Queen shouldn't be staying in the Temple, for your own good."

Anakin was appalled at the measures the Council could and probably would take. "Master!" exclaimed Anakin. "Amidala should not be thrown out on the street because of me."

"That is for the Council to decide, Padawan." Obi-Wan looked down, and then around the room, at the art on the wall and away from Anakin. "I have no power over this. You must understand."

"You have the power not to tell the council," pointed out Anakin. "They don't know what you don't tell them. And they won't know until you tell them."

"I have to. This might possibly open some discussion as to your ability to become a Jedi and not be distracted. I'm sorry, Padawan, but it's my duty and I have to."

Anakin could feel much pain at having to do this from Obi-wan's end of their Master-Padawan bond. I wonder what that's all about, thought Anakin. I bet it's just pain at the thought of me 'lying' to him. "So!" yelled Anakin at his Master. Obi-wan was taken aback at the rage that this had apparently sent his padawan into. "Your duty to the council is more important than me?"

"My duty to the Council is to train you, Padawan, and to guide you. This is in your best interest," he pleaded, trying to make Anakin understand. What he didn't understand was that Anakin was trying to do the same thing, and so wasn't listening to Obi-Wan's arguments more than he had to to rebuke them.

" 'My best interest', my afterburners!" scoffed Anakin. "In no way does this help me. In fact, it definitely hurts me!"

"It does not matter whether or not it helps you, Padawan," said Obi-Wan. "All that matters is that you, deliberately or not, broke the Jedi Code. It forbids Padawans from romantic relationships, final."

Anakin decided that arguments such as these that he had been using would be on no use against the hard, unbending formality of the Jed Code and his master's insistence upon it and loyalty to the Council. "Master..." said Anakin, trying to play on his master's sympathy, if he had any and apply for help from his master rather than fight him. "Tell me, were you ever in love? Or at least involved romantically with someone?"

Obi-wan stared at Anakin for a long moment, and then closed this eyes. "Are you telling me you're in love with the Queen?" asked Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan's looking at this all wrong, thought Anakin. "No, no I'm not telling you anything of the sort... it was a question, dammit!" he exclaimed. "It was about you, not me!"

"Oh!" said Obi-Wan. He closed his eyes again, and if one could see the movements of his eyes, they would have been astounded at how fast they were moving under his eyelids, using the force to search his memory. He leaned back on his chair, and said: "Hmm... in fact," he paused and chuckled, "impossible as it may seem, once, I was."

"Really?" asked Anakin, wide-eyed. Good. This is what I was hoping for...

"Yes, really," said Obi-Wan, leaning back a little. Anakin realized that he was about to tell one of his patented really long stories. Oh, Sith! He thoought. "It must have been twenty years ago, around your age. Master Qui-Gon and I had been placed on a long-term mission on Chandrila, to protect a dignitary there. There had been a few assassination attempts, you see. We were there for a few months, and had bountiful amounts of time to do absolutely nothing. I... got involved with a girl about my age. I figure she is happily married by now, but at this point it doesn't really matter. We were forced to go our different ways when the mission was over. It was a... painful experience. But a happy time in my life," he concluded with a grin of blissful memory on his face.

"Yes..." said Anakin. That wasn't that bad for one of his stories, thought Anakin. "What did Master Qui-Gon do you after your little stint in love?"

"Well..." said Obi-Wan thoughtfully, "He didn't do anything, in fact. He said that the living force is more attuned to life, and since love... brings life, he said that it was not a bad thing. He also said that the force had willed it, and... the Council didn't need to know, and that I needed to get back to my duty eventually, that I couldn't tarry on Chandrila forever. A I sad, leaving Chandrila was a painful formality," he said, looking away into the distance as if looking into a time that did not exist anymore in the annals of the galaxy. No one remembered that time, except now perhaps him, Anakin, and his lost love, if she still remembered him. He continued: "That's one reason that I have never pursued a romantic relationship after I became a Knight, so as never to have to go through that again. Jedi don't really have time for romance, anyways, and I had you to deal with," he added.

"So that's the reason you're separating Amidala and I? Not just because I'm a Padawan, but because so I don't have to go through what you did?"

"Yes. That is one of them."

Suddenly, Anakin found an argument that Obi-Wan couldn't and wouldn't twist against him, to stab him in the back. "But master..." he said, "do you not realize that you are sending me and the Queen right into what happened to you?"

For a moment, Obi-Wan contemplated Anakin's statement. If he told the Council, they would no doubt certainly separate them. If he didn't, and separated them himself, Anakin would hate him, and it could lead him to the Dark Side. And either way, he would be sending them into the downward spiral of pain and suffering that he went through. "You know what, Anakin?" asked Obi-Wan, eyeing him. I don't know whether what I'm going to say will either save him from pain or damn us both. Let's hope it's the former.

"What?" asked Anakin expectedly.

"Well... you're right. I'm placing you and Amidala in the exact same situation as I was in. And if I tell the Council, then they'll do it, whether or not I say they should. Look," he said, "you and Her Highness can continue. I won't tell the Council, put you through what I had to." He shuddered at the thought. Apparently, it was not a fun process, breaking a mental bond that came with love between a couple where at least one person was force-sensitive. "But you've got to keep your end of the deal as well."

"In what way?" asked Anakin, trying to keep a smirk off his face. Now, everything was good. Everything.

"Well, you've got to shield your mind, especially when you're around any member of the Council. If they find out what we've got running here, it's both our heads."

"Yes, Sir!" exclaimed Ani with glee.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Obi-Wan, standing up and placing his hands on his hips, like a mother scolding a child. "I'm still worried that this might interfere with your training. So, before you can do anything, we've got to do some focusing exercises, I know, the ones you don't like, to see if you can keep your focus and not think about the Queen while we train."

"Yes, sir," said Anakin. He'd most definitely have to work on that.

*******************

Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith, stood over the foggy downs of Corula, moon of Coruscant. Down below in the shadowy canyon that would hold the cloning facility, a hundred or more brown, grey and silver construction droids scoured the surface of the moon. Some cleared the canyon surface and made it flat, others mined for materials in the surrounding wastes, even more were building structure after structure, embedding the facility into the gash in the surface that was the Canyon. When it was completed, the canyon would be no more. None would be able to tell what was land and what was building. A beam on light from one of the construction droids' light systems fell across some of the other droids, illuminating them in the eerie darkness.

Sidious gloated over the monstrosity he had created. Such a shrine to the Dark Side... he thought. Truly, it was. The Republic, allies of the Jedi, the ugly and feeble Light, had made itself a monument to the Dark. And it was more than a monument, too. Such a large disturbance in the Force so close to the Jedi would scream out to them, covering up some of the other disturbances that the Jedi would feel of his workings. It would give him back some of the secrecy and stealth that he had lost when he had sent his plans into motion.

It had been so easily manipulated by Sidious, he wondered how much more he could make the Republic do for him.

He gazed across the construction site, and a ray of sunlight was struck off the gleaming surface of the crescent jewel Coruscant that struck through the fogs of the construction like a lightsaber in the dark of night. The fog cleared a little bit, and one could see a lone figure, clad in dark robes, illuminated by the ray of golden sunlight climbing over the rubble as an ant climbs an anthill.

Sidious cracked a smile at his apprentice climbing the rocks below. It was mostly in pride of himself, training such a worthy apprentice. Of all his tools, servants and pawns, this one was the one he needed the most. In fact, it was the only one at all that he in truth needed at this point. All the others would be discarded, destroyed, whatever, for numerous reasons at one point or the other. He could use them for his advantage, even in their destruction, but this one, Darth Vader, this one he could not do without. Without Vader, all was naught. He didn't have the time to train another Vader, and a clone, unless it took the normal time of five years, would be too unstable to be a Sith. And Sidious didn't have five years.

Finally, Vader reached Sidious. "Did you do it, my friend?" asked Sidious.

"Yes, My Master. The codes are imprinted upon all the construction droids, and all compbleted flash-learning centers. All clones will have the codes in them, Master. They will obey our every command."

"Good... good..." mumbled Sidious. "Do you realize all... this that we have created? A monument, the Republic's undoing are all in place here. From these clones... all that we have worked for shall come out of this. Everything."

"Yes, Master. I understand."

"And the progress of the other clones, Vader?"

"Oh... those," said Vader with a grin. They were his personal field of expertise in this whole operation, the one part that Sidious had given him total control over it, without his interfering and meddling at all. "They are coming along fine. As well, the codes against disobeying orders are in them as well. They will most definitely be ready for Alderaan. Also, I have had Fett set up a small cloning center on Alderaan, in case there is a problem on New Mandalore."

"Good..." said Sidious. "Will they be ready for Malastare? That mission will be in a month."

"Yes, Master. However, I have news from our mole in the Senate that the Jedi will not participate in the war effort, upon information from that stinking Skywalker character and Kenobi that the Mandalorians' armor will be a problem for their lightsabers. Our special clones are of no use if there are no Jedi to fight."

"Yes... that is news indeed," said Sidious. "You see what would have been avoided if you had completed your first mission on Naboo? None of these misfortunes, however small, would have happened. But no matter. Make sure the special clones are ready for Malastare. They must be across the Galaxy at war with the Jedi by Alderaan. They are necessary for Operation Boged Bigneva, if it is to succede in it's purpose. And this foresight to set up a cloning center on Alderaan is also a good idea; now we can start to clone Skywalker immediately after we have him, either from Tatooine or Alderaan."

"Yes, Master."

"This is news," said the Dark Lord, "but it should not impede on my plans. All my tools are in motion, to make the culmination of my plans. Soon, all," he motioned his decaying hand and arm to the night sky, "shall be mine."

And Vader noticed how Sidious never used 'our' and always 'my'. Is that all I am to him? A tool to be thrown away when my use is done?

*************

Amidala laid back on her bed, thinking. That's all. Just thinking. I've lost him. I just really found him, and I've lost him, she thought. Aftere such a short time... I hate my life. I lose my best friend, my family, my planet. All because of me. Nobody else. And then I find someone to love, to help me through what seem like endless depressions from my wrongs and to lean on, and I lose him, right after I find him. It's sad.

And she cried herself to sleep.

* * * * * *

When she woke up from her somber slumber, Amidala looked at the time, and was shocked to find that she had slept for almost four hours. She was supposed to have eaten lunch an hour and a half ago, and had to look over some reports this afternoon. Even when your people denounce you, and you are exiled to another planet or two, you still can't get away from work. It's a sad thing, she noted.

Might as well go have a little chat with some friends, thought Ami as she got up and trekked over to her best friends', now that Anakin and Sabe' were gone, flat.

* * * * * *

Amidala opened the door connecting the two suites quickly and quietly; the handmaidens barely heard it click. She stealthily padded over to where Yane' was sitting, alone at the table in the common room, reading the news. Her back was to the door, so she couldn't see Ami.

When Ami was about half a metre behind Yane', Yane' suddenly turned and exclaimed: "I got ya!" with a wide smile on her face. She placed the paper down to talk with Ami.

"You beat me," said Ami. "Again." It was a game that the Queen played with her handmaidens, to keep them on their toes. Ami would try to sneak up on any one of them, and if whe could tap the chosen handmaiden on the shoulder before she was noticed, the Queen won. Otherwise, the handmaidens did. "Tell me, Yane', how do you do it?" she asked.

"Years of training. 'Sides, I heard the door click. Just waited for you to creep up a little to make it interesting."

"Oh..." said Ami, taking a seat across from Yane'. "I didn't think I was making that much noise."

"You weren't. I just was able to pick up on it. The door was the only thing I really heard."

"So I'm getting better," said Amidala. "I... I – I need to talk to someone."

"Anakin?"

"How did you know?" asked Ami skeptically.

"Just guessed. How are you two lovebirds doing lately?" she shrugged.

"After last night, which I still consider lately, we're doing fine, thanks to you."

"Then why did you come over here?" asked Yane'.

"Well, supposedly, according to Ani, the Jedi don't want us together-"

"Really!" exclaimed Yane'. One would think the Jedi would want to make little Jedis to increase their numbers... thought Yane'.

"Yeah, really," acknowledged Ami, continuing: "He's still a Padawan Learner, and they say Padawans can't have romanitic relationships, because it 'might interfere with their training.'"

"Oh..." said Yane'. "That's not so good. What do you want from me?" So now, all our plans and work to get them together are for naught, thought Yane'. Oh, well. It lasted for one evening.

"Well, I just need someone to talk to. You know, just to be a friend."

"I'm afraid, My Queen, that even though I'm a friend, I can't help you much. I've never been in this sort of situation, or know anybody, other than you, that has. No advice, do I have," she said. "You just have to face the facts and get on with it."

Amidala was very hungry for consolation; she absolutely needed it. She tried to convince her to help her by trying again. "You don't understand!"

"Absolutely right," interjected she.

"I know that... friend! But it's much more complicated than it seems! Anakin and I are allowed to have a relationship when he's Knighted. But that could be years from now!"

"I'm not sure, my Queen. He seems pretty advanced, the wasy he was going over at Naboo."

"But – but..."

"I think, Your Majesty, that you should go and think on your own a little bit." She got up, and put her hands on her shoulder, helping the Queen to get up and starting to walk her towards the door.

"Okay," said a teary-eyed Ami. "Just one other thing: where are the others?"

"Oh, so you're going to them next? Don't try." She pointed over to the other room while she talked. "They're playing a round of Sabacc in the other room," she said with a grin. "I think they're playing for money."

Sabacc... what an interesting idea... thought the queen. And then, it was almost as if a great weigt had been taken off of her soul; she had the seeds of an idea. "Really?" she asked, lifting her left eyebrow. Leaning forward, she continued in a whisper: "Who do you think is the best?"

What's that grin doing on her face? Yane' asked herself. Probably nothing other than amusement. "I'm not sure," said Yane', leaning forward as well until their heads were about six inches apart. "I don't play sabacc, you know. Never was any good."

"Just wondering..." she said, moving towards the door again. "Anyway, I think I feel a little better now. I'll just be going back to my rooms now. I've got to get onto some planning for an up-and-coming... plan." Yes... and you don't know how much it concerns you.

******************

Amidala, Queen of the Naboo slowly got to the door that connected the two suites, the Handmaidens' and the Queen's. She punched her code in, and the door clicked open. Quietly, she pushed it open and made her way into the room.

She had quite a lot to think about. Though she had gone to the Handmaidens seeking help, to make less what she had to think about, she had actually made it greater. But there was more. She had the seedling of an idea through which she and Anakin could get at the Handmaidens, and even if she couldn't go through with it along Anakin's side, perhaps she could tell him and it could be worked by him alone.

For a moment, she sat on her couch in the front room, and pondered how she could contact him. She couldn't go speak with him herself, and she definitely couldn't send a Handmaiden with the message. She wouldn't trust Jar Jar with it, and rumour was flying around that he had started some form of Jedi training, and was quite busy, anyway. Panaka and everyone else would be too busy to do her a favour. How? How?

At that moment, her eyes flitted across the room, as opposed to looking inside to come up with an idea, and fell upon her computer terminal that lay off to the right And she figured it out.

She would send him her message over the 'nets.

Shuffling over to her terminal, she quickly settled herself in her synthetic wood chair, in front of the workstation and brought up the messaging program with a single click. She began to type her idea as quickly as she could, and didn't even notice the flashing notice on her screen saying that she had a message.

When she was almost done, she saw a great big flashing red-to-black set of words saying "You've got a message!" in the upper-left corner of the screen. I wonder who sent me a message, she thought. Opening it up, she gasped.

It was Anakin.

How could he send me a message? Ami asked herself. I thought Obi-Wan said he couldn't have contact with me in any way... unless... Suddenly, she started to read it, and her eyes bulged out. She eventually got so excited by this turn of events, that she started scanning it, and elatedly finished the entire two-page letter in less than half a minute. It... it can't be! But why am I arguing...

* * * * * * *

Yane' had only just gotten back into the news when Amidala stormed into the room with a piece of paper and a look on her face like she had just seen the Holy Grail. She slammed it down in front of Yane'. "I... I don't know how it happened."

"What happened?" replied the semi-startled Handmaiden.

Ami pointed gingerly, with a sly grin, at the paper under Yane's nose. She scanned it, and looked up a moment later in a sense of disbelief. "Well... I'm certainly happy for you..." she said, hesitating.

"Thank you," said Ami with a coy grin. "Isn't it great?" she sighed as she sat down promptly with a small thud, and giggling could be heard from the adjacent room.

"Yeah, it is," said Yane'. "But isn't it just a big coincidence-"

Yane' was interrupted as the other three remaining handmaidens swarmed into the room and took seats at the table. "There's no such thing as coincidence, Yane'," pointed out Rabe'.

"Yeah," said Sache'. "For example, 'Tae' just got a perfect hand in sabacc three times in a row."

"Which hand?" asked Yane'.

"Um... a perfect eleven of the same suit with only two cards," said Rabe'. All Eirtae' could do was give a sly grin.

"Well, it's true," said Eirtae'. "But I don't cheat," she finished stiffly.

"So, what's coincidental?" asked Sache'.

"Well, little Skywalker-"

"He's not so little anymore!" inserted the Queen.

"Well, in that case," Yane' continued with a laugh, "Big Skywalker told her Highness no less than five hours ago that the Jedi don't want him and Amidala together, and now he is telling her that basically Obi-Wan has given them a reprieve. In other words, he won't rat on him to the Counci, and they can continue."

"Well, it's not a bad coincidence for Amidala, like ours was. We lost a ton of money because of Eirtae's great sabacc face!" exclaimed Rabe'.

"Well, I just think it's strange," put up Yane'.

"But what would he have to gain from it?" finally asked the Queen. "I could never see him lying to me, anyway."

Suddenly, she got up, and procaimed, "Look, I gotta go. Sorry to ruin you fun, but I don't need to hear you argue about my love life." She jleft the room, and that was the end of that. It just wasn't any fun if the Queen wasn't there.

*************

Parry. Strike up. Down. Left. Spin, jump. Parry while in mid-air. Strike low. High. Parry. Stroke. Parry. Parry. Bring saber up, and step back. Throw body at opponent, saber in from. Push saber against opponent's and make him lose his balance. Attack.

I wonder if she got my message, thought Anakin. What if she doesn't believe me? Shocked at that thought, he almost missed the next strike in their parry by Obi-Wan, near the midsection. They were in a bare sparring room. It was sound-proof, so nobody could hear what they were saying. Also, the door was triple-locked, in a way that no one could unlock it with the force. It was the way all the doors, at least into the hallways was in the Temple. That way it ensured privacy for most everybody.

"Focus, Anakin," said Obi-Wan.

"I know, Master," Anakin replied. "It's just so hard, you know?"

"I know quite well, Anakin," he said. Furrowing his brow, he made ready for the next attack by Anakin. "After my little stint on Chandrila, Master Qui-Gon made me do almost the exact same exercises. And I had the same problems, too."

For a moment no one spoke, as Anakin and Obi-Wan traded stroke for parry. They acted as one machine, one mechanism, designed to have each part move and work in sync with all the others. A perfectly coordinated spar, so attuned in the force they were to each other, either one could have drifted to sleep and not faltered in his swordplay.

Anakin was the one to break the silence. "Master, you said that to a Jedi, a romantic relationship could be his greatest weakness. Why? Expand on that."

"There are a number of reasons," he replied, doing a backflip to evade Anakin's swing. "For example, it might force you to do something detrimental to yourself or your mission if your love is under duress or is captive. You might forsake your mission to rescue her, or something like that.

"Let me give you an example situation. If the Queen had been held captive, and you were told that if you did not do something, perhaps sabotage or abandon your mission, she would be put to death, what would you do?"

"Um... um, I'm not sure," Anakin replied meekly. Elegantly, he threw his saber horizontally at Obi-Wan, who aimlessly and skillfully moved off to the side.

"Exactly. The situation might provoke you act to the Dark Side, and that would be your downfall. Or, you could be caught in indecision, and someone could easily attack you and destroy you."

"I think I get it," Anakin said. "But if it could be my greatest weakness, why do you permit it?"

"Because I trust you. It's a measure of trust. I think that you are capable of it, controlling yourself. If I said 'No!', I would be subtly saying 'I don't trust you.' Besides," he said with a chuckle, "If Her Highness had gotten into any trouble, I think she could get herself out of it."

Anakin's mind suddenly swerved; his eyesight went out of focus, and he flipped away into the shadows of the sparring room. His mind went to Ami. He tried to focus, but couldn't.

After a moment, his mind came back under his control. It had been as if someone was controlling him, and he didn't like it one tiny bit. If this is the problem I'm going to keep having, then perhaps it isn't worth it...

He sprang out, ready to attack, but he lost his focus again and faltered. He stepped back and shut down his saber, hold it's inactive hilt in his right hand, now beading with sweat, finger on the power trigger. "Anakin? What are you doing?" asked Obi-wan.

"Thinking. Trying to focus."

"You must control you emotions, Anakin. You can't let your emotions control you."

"I know."

"And also, Anakin, when you are fighting, you shouldn't let your guard down like this. When you are fighting a Sith, if you power down your weapon and throw it away, they will not give you grace. They will attack!" he announced, charging at Anakin, turning on his saber which had previously been shut down when Anakin had done the same.

Anakin hadn't seen when Master had turned it off, but it didn't matter. Obi-Wan's saber was somewhat of a mixture of Anakin's and Qui-Gon's. It had a sky-blue beam, like Anakin's, and fwas more classy and stylish in design, also like Anakin's. But there was something about it that was like Qui-Gon's. It was more ornate.

Obi-Wan's lightsaber was, like other Jedi sabers, about thirty centimetres in length, and had two power buttons on the lowest one-third. One was for to turn it on until it was pressed again with one press, and off with two (so it wouldn't be turned off by accident in a spar, duel or fight), and the other was for to turn it on only when it was pressed. It had a vertical grip in that lower third, and a horizontal grip on the middle portion. The upper portion was a bit wider than the other two, and was quite ornate. There were six spires of metal coming up, kind of as a hilt, from the end of it, and in a pyramid made of three circles, going from large to small from the main part of the saber towards the end. He had completed it just the previous day, and still needed to be fine-tuned a little bit more. It as a whole was larger than Anakin's.

And in that split-second, Anakin came upon some ideas and conclusions that made everything clear. Everything. He realized that in order to be happy and live a complete life, now, and in the future, he had to have three things happen: Amidala, his mother, and be a Jedi. He realized that in order to have Amidala, he had to focus now. In order to have his mother back sometime in the future, he had to be a Jedi, and in order to be a Jedi, he had to focus so that he and Ami wouldn't be caught by the Council.

It all depended on focusing.

And so he did. He somersaulted over Obi-Wan, and dropped down behind him. Focus... He slammed his saber against Obi-Wan's so that from the side, it would have formed what appeared to be a great blue X, and moved his lightsaber in one swift motion towards Obi-Wan's hands. He hadn't been expecting this, and didn't have the time to react and pull his saber away when Anakin hooked it out of Obi-Wan's hands. He had partially melted two of the hilt-posts on Obi-Wan's saber in the process, and used the heat from his saber against Obi-Wan so his grip was loosed a little, and disarmed Obi-Wan, flinging his deactivated saber across the room.

Obi-Wan went and collected his weapon, placing it at his belt. He called out to Anakin coming towards him, "Good job. You have passed the last test, Anakin. I'm sure you won't have a problem focusing now."

"Thank you, Master," replied Ani, also placing his saber at his belt. "Let's get out of here; I'm hungry and need lunch."

"Good idea. I must commend you on that last little maneuver. Letting down your guard was a good ploy to make me attack. I never expected that counter-attack."

Beaming with pride, he said: "Oh! I didn't exactly disarm myself with the purpose of drawing you in. It was, as I said, I had to think for a moment."

"Nevertheless, I liked the move," answered Obi-Wan, opening the door out of the sparring room into the empty corridor beyond.

They had only been walking towards the temple cafeteria for a moment when they heard a loud noise run down the call calling, "Ani! Obi-One!" multiple times. The two Jedi turned in unison to find Jar Jar Binks racing towards them. They tried to move out of the way before he crashed into them. But the Gungan, flailing arms and all, didn't give them a need to.

Jar Jar stopped running form his furious pace without bumping into anything.

"How are you, Jar Jar?" asked Ani.

"I'm fine, thanks. How are yousa doing?"

Anakin and his master only stared at him for a moment, appalled at how he had changed in only a few days of training. Well, perhaps not appalled, but rather stunned. "I'm fine, Jar Jar," said Obi-Wan, the first to notice he was staring. "How has your training been going?"

"Yeah," said Ani, "what types of stuff are they teaching you?"

"Theysa teaching mesa lots of different kinds of stuff. That's why I haven't been around much.

Anakin suddenly realized that, despite how he had felt when Jar Jar had been accepted for training at such a late age (even relative to Anakin) of fifty-six, he was happy for him. He was much less clumsy now; apparently, they were teaching him how to control the force, as opposed to letting it control him. They're probably doing it as a precaution, thought Anakin, so that he won't destroy the temple.

And in this, Jar Jar had become much less clumsy; even his speech, partially due to this, had become a little better. He had noticed how his speech was during this, much the same as a person with a very hard accent notices how they speak differently from other people when they begin to live somewhere else than they grew up. "Yeah, I noticed you haven't been rampaging the temple as I thought you would," commented Obi-Wan. "How is Master Gallia treating you? Are you far along in your studies?"

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan knew that Jar Jar was only studying the force, and only a small portion of that type of training compared to other Padawans, which was much different from how any Padawan or Initiate trained. Jar Jar didn't take any academic courses such as astromech science, piloting or galactic history; he just worked on the force with Master Gallia all day. It made him much more of a quick study, making him move about five times as fast as if he was training like others. And he wasn't even training to be a Jedi, either. He was training to learn how to control the force, and be able to brush off attempts to be turned to the Dark Side.

"I'm advancing quite quickly, Obi-One," said he. He always had had a problem with Obi-Wan's name, and at the mispronunciation, Kenobi grimaced. "Master Gallia is treating me very well. It's just a lot of work, training all day."

"I know what you mean," murmured Anakin. Obi-Wan shot him a look that said clearly I-heard-that.

"Mmm... henyways, I've been learning about the Dark Side and how to fight it, mostle," concluded Jar Jar. It was most obvious that this aspect, controlling the force, was the exact thing that had rid Jar Jar almost completely of clumsiness.

Anakin threw his arm over Jar Jar's shoulder, and pivoted when they arrived at the bustling cafeteria so that they were moving towards the Padawan's tables, while Obi-Wan went to eat with his fellow Jedi Masters. Once again, as had happened ten years ago, Jar Jar and Anakin Skywalker had become fast friends.

********************

Morning sunlight streamed into Anakin Skywalker's room in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. It rippled through the window, and hit upon a prism that was set up on his desk, which sent rainbows of flickering color through the room, making it almost mesmerizing. The golden sun also reflected off of the glittering cityscape, like a sea of jewels.

"But why, Master?!" whined Ani, sitting on his bed stubbornly. "Why can't Jar Jar, Ami and I go out on a night to the casinos?"

"Because I said so," replied Obi-Wan. "Besides, gambling is against the Jedi Code. Our little agreement does not state that you can do that for your girlfriend."

"Master Qui-Gon gambled!" exclaimed Anakin, striking a deep blow against Obi-Wan. "He gambled for the parts on the Nubian, and my freedom, and you don't see the Council criticizing him."

Obi-Wan looked away, trying to fight off the tears that were coming to him as Anakin had just fully re-opened a deep, deep wound in his sould. He then, after a moment back at Anakin, staring him down with such a fire in his eyes that it almost made Anakin quail. "Just because Master did it doesn't make it right!" said he. "And the reason that the Council isn't punishing him is my fault – he's... dead."

Anakin nodded in assent of Obi-Wan's point, but didn't exactly give up yet. "Master..." Anakin started.

"No! Another reason, Padawan, which you should not go to the casinos is that something could happen there. You'd be forced into a fight, and the Council would find out."

"Master, both of us, and everybody else knows that the casinos long ago left the management of whoever originally owned them; they are controlled by the underworld crime lords now. Nobody ever finds out what happens there unless they were there themselves."

"Well, alright, you have a point there," said Obi-Wan, pacing in deep thought.

"And Master, as I was saying before I was interrupted, if you let me go out tonight, I'll do your laundry-"

"Forever?"

"Actually, I was going to say until I become a Knight, but Forever works too."

"Forever is a big word, Anakin," warned Obi-Wan.

"It doesn't matter; I don't even have to listen to this. If I remember correctly, a certain Jedi Master has given me permission through the Council for me to leave the Temple and come back whenever I feel like. So that if I left every once in a while on a night out with Amidala, it would not cause suspicion with the Council and we wouldn't be found out. I can leave whether you say so or no. And if you snitch on us, you get in trouble, too."

Obi-Wan saw what kind of predicament he had placed himself in with his Padawan, willingly. "Yes, Anakin, you don't have to listen to me, or ask permission before leaving. But I believe that it would be best for you if you listened to me for once."

"Yeah," he said, batting his eyes sarcastically, "but I'm being a good little Padawan today, and am asking permission. I'll also spice up the deal by giving you half of my winnings."

Obi-Wan realized that this was the best he was going to get. Ani would leave anyway; he'd at least get something out of the deal this way. He held out his right hand, and announced: "Deal!" They shook, and Anakin went to get ready.

* * * * * * *

Anakin Skywalker, Jar Jar Binks, and Queen Amidala in the guise as Padme', accompanied by her four remaining handmaidens incognito filed into the Lapetamine Casino, which was located about twenty kilometres below the metal surface of Coruscant. It had its share of scum, but it had much, much less than other casinos on Coruscant farther below the surface.

All seven of the mötley crue wore semi-casual clothes, as though they were commeners. For the night, at least, they were. They went through the bouncer droid painlessly, and scattered across the room. Padme' approached her four handmaidens, and whispered to them, "Friends, have some fun tonight. Go wherever you want; you have reliable credit, so you can lose a little. Maybe make a little as well. Just keep within a nice distance of me; I don't trust this whole lot."

"Yes, Your Highness," were the murmured replies.

They went off towards the right of Padme', and surrounded a high-stakes sabacc table. Yane' normally didn't play, but she knew how. She decided she might as well play a little. Every once in a while, she won, but every once in a while wasn't very often. There was one empty spot at the table, and Eirtae' volunteered to take the spot, sitting down on the sea-green stool.

Sabacc is an incredibly complex game, which is simple enough to learn in five minutes, but incredibly hard to master. A common deck has seventy-five cards, twenty-eight of them which are numbered Plus One to Plus Seven, in four different suits. Twenty-eight others are also numbered Minus One to Minus Seven, in the same four suits. They are Stars, Swords, Jewels, and Armor. Each suit had it's own specific color on the front of the card; Stars were yellow, Swords were silver, Jewels were red, and Armor was green. Eighteen of the remaining cards were different cards that would do multiple things to the value of a hand, which was calculated by adding the value of the cards.

The main object of the game is to value a hand of as close to Plus Eleven or Minus Eleven as possible (It can be more or less than those numbers). For example, a hand of Plus Seven Stars, Minus Four Jewels, and Plus Three Stars makes Plus Six. You would start out with two cards, and either 'hit', i.e., take another card from the dealer, or 'stay', which is to keep your hand the way it is and not take any more cards. The two people closest to Positive Eleven and Minus Eleven split the pot. It is interesting to note that it is all played closed-hand, and everybody plays everybody else, as opposed to playing the dealer and gettinrg money depending on whether they beat the dealer or not. So the Dealer does not take money from some people and give to others, it either gives or takes from the pot.

The eighteen 'Wild' cards would do many things to a hand. For example, a 'clone' card could clone any card of the same suit. So, a hand of Plus Seven Jewels, Minus Six Swords, and a Swords Clone would be worth (7-6-6=^-5) Minus Five points. Others could double or half a card of that suit. An interesting point to make is that the suits of your cards do matter. A hand of more than one suit will not beat a suit of the same value, but composed of only a single suit, for example. Another interesting variation on the game is that after everybody has 'stayed' on their hand, and before everybody reveals their hand to everyone else, each person can trade in as many cards from their hand for new cards off the top of the deck as they wish, but only once. There is a seven-card maximum hand size limit.

If anyone has noticed, there are seventy-five cards in the deck, and only seventy-four of these cards have been discussed. The last card, the Idiot's Array, is of especial importance. Its value is not decided until the hands have been revealed. After everyone has revealed their hands, the person controlling this specific card can (and if forced to) clone any one card that is in any person's hand and add it (or subtract it, if that is what the card does) to their score. So, holding the Idiot's Array could either make you an Idiot, if nobody has a card you need, since you are obligated to clone a card, or give you an Array of cards that win. It is a risk, and many players opt to trade it in in the Trading Round before everyone has revealed their hand.

Padme' positioned herself at another sabacc table about twenty metres away from the Handmaidens'. She hoped that, now that everything was set up, Anakin could just follow through on his end of the deal.

* * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, Anakin was walking aimlessly throughout the casino. He was threatened with sensory overload; the scene was almost crazy. Surrounding him on every which side, were aliens and humans alike of countless races, species and social classes. The low ceiling was laced with a fog of smoke, and the lights from both the overheads and the games made it alit with an eerie glow. The casino stretched as far as the eye could see, which was not that far, as the smoke limited visibility to about a hundred feet, and beyond that it was just one swirling sea of light.

Also threatening to overload his senses was the incessant beeping and squeaking of thousands of slot machines and games of the like, not to mention many more waiter and protocol droids that moved from place to place in an almost migratory fashion. He scanned the entire casino for people who could be a problem to his party. There was the usual cast of gambling bums and drunks, but also among the melting pot he felt a dark presence that reminded him of someone from Tatooine.

He placed that suspicion aside, and continued on. At length, in about an hour, he returned to the area where Eirtae' was playing Sabacc; she was demolishing her opponents. By now , she had amassed approximately ten thousand credits from her original two, and ever more and more people came to challenge her, and all left broke in quiet and piece. Anakin pondered for a moment how she did it, but if didn't matter. He'd bet her eventually. Her time would come.

He continued on, and passed Jar Jar, who was conversing with a number of beings at the bar about politics. This isn't right, you know, one half of Anakin's mind told himself. You know, exacting vengeance on a group of people who actually did you a favor. Not only is it wrong, it is not the Jedi way. Revenge is of the Dark Side.

But this isn't exactly revenge! The other, darker half of Anakin argued. It is merely pay-back for the scare and surprise those pesky handmaidens gave you and your best friend! Besides, it isn't even permanent. They'll get it back.

Deep in thought, Anakin got caught in a mass of beings moving along a 'corridor' between the lanes of tables, slot machines and other means of gambling. It jerked him into reality, and was swept away by the rising tides of fate.

****************

The bounty hunter Boushh was out for a night of gaming, a night of excitement. He arrived at the casino at about eight o'clock. Boushh was in his usual black armor and mask, with a grey face plate. He also wore his belt of ammunition across his chest, and three thermal detonators at his right side. He was unusually tall, perhaps almost two metres, as well.

He approached the bouncer droid, and it announced: "I believe those are thermal detonators, are they not?" pointing to the three weapons at Boushh's side. He also carried a sniper rifle, but that was more for show. One really couldn't aim for a long time, which would be necessary to use a sniper, on someone in a casino without someone noticing. Besides, the bouncer allowed rifles. Detonators, however, were too explosive, and could be set off by accident. That would remove almost a third of the casino, if they were Class D. The crime lords, rich as they were, couldn't afford that kind of loss.

In fact, they are Class A Thermal Detonators, said Boushh in a Coruscant-accented Utese. Class A detonators were much more powerful than Class D, and could take out a few hundred square kilometres. They were highly illegal, and one could face up to twenty years on Kessel, where there was a prison in the proximity of a Spice mine, but they weren't used for slave labor, just for touching one.

Boushh wore the mask because on the planet he was from, the life forms breathed methane, which was not really that much present on Coruscant. The mask filtered the air so he could breath. Otherwise, he would suffocate in moments.

Taking out a rifle in it's left hand, and pointing it at Boushh, it said, "Class A Thermal Detonators are not permitted inside this facility. Please hand them over; you can collect them when and if you leave."

Would you rather I use them on you right now? harshly replied Boushh. He placed his right hand on one of them, and took it off his belt.

"Sir, hand them over this moment." The droid, even though it's metal face could not show expressions, and was bolted to the stool it occupied next to the doors, seemed to be truly frightened. "If you do not, I will be forced to execute you, and I will have the detonators anyway."

Boushh pressed a button on the detonator, and held it down. It was the Deadman's Button; if it were pressed, the detonator would go off when released. The other button was the Lock Button; when pressed, it set off a timer, which set the Detonator to detonate when five minutes had finished. The Detonator began to flash around it's equator, and beep. Will you please let me in, Sir Droid? Sir Droid was a title that not many would give a droid; Boushh only gave it to the droid because he was trying to get in. Droids were looked down upon by most people, because they were machines and not true living things.

Flattered, in a way, the Droid said, "No... of course I would not like you to use that Detonator here. Go right on in."

And that he did. Boushh was so tall, his head almost brushed the low, smoky ceiling. Finding a high-stakes sabacc table to sit down at, he found himself across from a young girl, who he found out later was called Yane', who had just situated herself, coming from Eirtae's table. He placed forward a green twenty-five credit chip, and was dealt two cars. The Plus Three Swords, and the Minus Seven Armor.

It was an odd day when you saw a bounty hunter on Coruscant. Yes, Coruscant had it's own underworld connections with the Bounty Hunters and mercenaries of the Outer Rim, but the Republic's laws did not favor bounty hunters. They often murdered innocent people on the way to collecting a bounty, and so the only legal bounty hunting in the Republic was the search for criminals.

Another reason there were not many bounty hunters in the Republic was that there was not a lot of business in the Republic. The Bounty Hunters were businessmen and women above all else, and went where the business was. There were more, many more bounties and assassination requests on the Outer Rim, in Hutt Space or other crime lords' domains. Of course, there was the occasional job or two, but there weren't enough for those scum to maintain a livelihood in the Republic.

So, having Boushh, who was not as well-know in the Republic as he was out, at the Lapetamine Casino was an unusual circumstance. No doubt, he3 had some business to do. Perhaps an assassination of a public figure, or to collect a bounty. More likely, it was an assassination on the way to collect a bounty.

The dealer droid had finished dealing everyone their two starting cards. Boushh was to the left of thedealer, and said, One more. The next card was a Plus Four Jewels. Now, his hand was worth Zero. Nothing. Generally, a sabacc player, here, would start to panic. He could only draw four more cards, but now he had to start from the beginning. It didn't matter to Boushh, though. He had come here to play, have some fun, gamble. He'd take a chance. Besides, his instinct told him that if he waited a little, then he could come out with a win from here. It was only twenty-five credits to lose, anyway. In high-stakes sabacc, it was not uncommon to have people betting into the hundreds of credits on a hand. Stay, were there only words out of his mask-covered mouth.

Everyone else, which was three other people and the droid, got their allotted cards and stayed when they wanted. The next step in a betting game of sabacc was the second betting round. You had to put twice as much in as you originally bet, or drop out. And anyone could up the ante, and in order to stay in, you had to meet the raise. Yane' had bet fifty, so had to add a hundred credits. Boushh added fity, and upped everybody a hundred credits.

Next was the trading round. Boushh traded in one card, and everyone else didn't trade in any. They were now to the final betting round. At this point, Yane' had bet two hundred and fifty credits, and Boushh a hundred seventy-five. In this final round, you did not have to bet anything, but if you wanted to stay in the round, you had to bet if the pool was upped. Boushh upped it ten, and Yane' kept upping it. I guess she thinks she'll win, thought Boushh. She'll just lose more money...

At the end of the last betting round, Yane' had bet seven hundred and fifty, and Boushh six hundred and seventy-five. Whoever won would make a good sum of cash, and if Yane' didn't, she would lose a nice amount, too. Yane' had said she wasn't any good, but this time, she thought that this might be the every once in a while that she might win. Eirtae' had given her a few tips before they left, too, and she felt confident that she would win half the pot this time.

It was now time for everyone to reveal their hands. Boushh had a Plus Three Swords, Minus Seven Armor, and a Clone of Armor. He had Minus Eleven!!. The second being, a Vruin with tentacles coiming out of his head and four arms, had Plus Seven. The other, third being, a Coruscant male with dark skin, and piercing yellow eyes, he had Plus Ten.

Yane', the pretty little girl with blonde hair who didn't look like she frequently frequented this casino, had Plus Ten, too. All in Jewels! So, at this point, Boushh and Yane' would split the pot, if Yane' and Boushh both beat the dealer.

He had Plus Eight.

And the Idiot's Array. He cloned Boushh's Plus Three Swords, and made Plus Eleven. Te dealer split the pot with Boushh Yane' was out seven hundred and fifty credits, and Boushh had made about fifteen hundred. They played a few more rounds, and soon, Yane' was broke. She had nothing left. In the process, he had taken a bit of most everybody else's money, including the dealer, but to the dealer it didn't seem to matter, as he seemed to have an infinite amount of money on hand.

Boushh made his way over to the table occupied by Rabe', and in the same brutal manner, within forty minutes, she was broke as well. The band, made up of about ten Ithorians with their hammer-shaped, salmon colored heads, struck up a jig.

Boushh had now made a nice sum of money, twenty thousands by mopping up about six people completely. His next destination was a table that held a Togorian, a Trandoshan, and Sache'. Amateurs. He made them all broke as well. But he ended up losing a little towards the middle, and came out with only twenty-one thousand credits after half an hour. Sache' went and joined her two other broke friends over at Eirtae's table, which she had not yet left since she sat down at the start of the night.

Boushh began to follow them to Eirtae's table, where she sat alone except for the dealer droid, aloof on a stool Boushh was about to sit down for a thee-person game of sabacc when a single, ornery clawed hinger stretched out and tapped him on the right shoulder three times.

He turned. Yes, Boushh said in a tone that would send a chill up a Sith's spine.

"I'd like to have a word with you," said the personality. "Would you please accompany me to the bar?"

Of course, Sing.

* * * * * * * *

The bar was just a few metres away from the band, that was playing a jumpy swinger. Sing and Boushh had walked in silence to the bar, and sat down in a booth. A waiter came up to them, dressed in a bleck suit and tie.

"Lomine-ale," said Aurra Sing.

"And for you?" asked the humanoid.

I don't drink, said Boushh with what sounded like a scowl. The waiter walked away, to leave the two mercenaries alone.

Aurra Sing was quite pale-skinned. She had a red jumpsuit on, and had red hair that was bound up into a mass of hair that came down onto her back. She also had a holster at her right hip which contained a blaster rifle with a laser sniper scope. She also had on a brown leather vest that had the capacity to hold a five-foot long sniper rifle. It didn't carry one now, but it no doubt did at most times.

"You don't drink, Boushh?" she asked after a moment. Then she realized that she had forgotten who Boushh was. "Oh, yeah, that's right. Jedi don't drink. What are you doing here dressed up as Boushh, Skywalker?"

*****************

Skywalker, did you say? asked Boushh. Why does she think I am Anakin Skywalker? Thought Boushh. There is no reason that I should be identified as a Skywalker. One moment, please. Excuse me while I take a trip to the washroom. He walked into the bathroom and less than half a minute later, came out without a mask. Or a gun, or thermal detonators.

What he did come out with was a smile, and a surprised look on his face. He was still close to two metres tall, with the spike blonde hair, sky-blue eyes and foot-long braid on his right side. He sat down, and leaned back into the booth. He sat across from Sing, and Skywalker said, "How did you know?"

"The question, Skywalker, is how did you pull it off? But first of all, Boushh is not six feet tall. He's a bit shorter. But, you know, how did you get everyone thinking you were Boushh?", taking a sip of her drink, which had arrived while Anakin was in the 'fresher.

"Simple, really. It's an advanced Jedi technique; only the most powerful Jedi can attempt it without royally screwing up. You simply have to re-arrange the light that is being emitted from you, and other places in the room, and put them together to make me appear as Boushh.

"Uh huh? That's for real?" she studied his face, and knew that it was true. "That explains everything. To answer your question, I knew it was you because I have some training in the Force, so I'm not as weak-minded as the rest of the scum in this place."

"Really?" asked Skywalker. "When, and how, did you get any? You're not a Sith, are you?" he asked, eying her. He tried in vain to pierce her veil of mental armor that cascaded her thoughts. Whoever taught her was pretty good...

"No, no," she said with a chuckle, "I'm not a Sith. If I was, I wouldn't be talking with you, I'd be fighting you. To tell the truth, the truth of this matter won't hurt anyone anymore. My mother was a rogue Jedi. She taught me some techniques when I was young, and would have taught me more, if she hadn't been murdered by a bounty hunter. At least that's what I was told about her death. I still don't know who did it. That's why I do this, to avenge her death." Sometimes, a Jedi would break with the order, or vice-versa. The Jedi kept in contact with them, so to make sure that they didn't turn into a Dark Jedi. If they did, the Jedi would be fast to exterminate them. Every once in a while, the Jedi would lose track of one, and they would eventually, like nails attracted to a magnet, find their way to the Outer Rim. No doubt, this was where Sing was raised.

"Remember, revenge is of the Dark Side," said Anakin, but the words were bitter as they rolled off his tongue. How could he say it, as a Jedi, when he was getting revenge at this very moment? It's a sick thing, thought Anakin. Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'Practice what you preach'? he reminded himself of the perennial Jedi axiom.

"I know, I know. I had that pounded into my head, too. But I'm forgetting what I had in mind to do. I've got some information for you."

"How much will it cost?" asked Skywalker coolly. He remembered this Sing character from Mos Espa, when he had been a slave to Watto; she hadn't been one to do things for free.

"It's cost is nothing, Skywalker. I've been watching you, for a long time, Skywalker. How could I not never forget that little piece of bantha poodoo who won the Boonta at the age of nine with a pod nobody had ever seen before, that went faster than anyone had ever seen before, piloted by a nine-year-old human boy, who rumor had it built the thing from scrap. How could I?! That's one of the reasons I recognized you tonight."

"Well... thanks," said Skywalker with much pride, looking off to the side, where he could see Eirtae' was winning again.

"No thanks needed. Anyway, you showed promise. Still do. I was going to offer you a job when you got old enough, and if you accepted free you from that idiot Watto, but you got snatched up by the Jedi. I knew how powerful you were; knew the Sith would love to get their hands on you."

"So what is it that you want to tell me," asked Skywalker, frustrated. He was getting tired of this beating-around-the-bush fiasco. C'mon, I don't have all night before Obi-Wan freaks out.

"I want to tip you off," said she. "See these?" she took out four lightsabers from her belt, and placed them on the table. Anakin picked one up, it was a Padawan saber, by the looks of it. He nodded, curious as to where she had acquired these.

It had been a normal day on Tatooine, except for two things. He had been working in the shop, and this group of people came in, requesting parts for a starship. He had met a girl by the name of Padme', and they ended up coming to his home, being stranded away from their starship by the normal sandstorm that occurred in the afternoon every day. Obviously, they were offlanders, since if they were from Tatooine, they would have made plans for this. The second different thing about that day was the thing that changed his life – he met a Jedi.

I saw your lightsaber. Only Jedi Knights carry that kind of weapon

Perhaps I killed a Jedi and stole it from him.

Skywalker shuddered, remembering that time in his life. The euphoria from winning the podrace, the sadness of leaving his mother, the anxiousness to begin a new life as a Jedi. And most of all, the feeling of total despair, pain and suffering at the destruction of the idea in his mind that nobody could kill a Jedi.

He was suddenly jerked out of the semi-nostalgic memories by Sing. "As I was saying," said Sing, "I am not a Sith, but I occasionally do work for them-"

"What?!" exclaimed Skywalker. His hand went instinctively to his saber hidden on his belt, but was stopped cold by Sing.

"I promise you, I don't like those guys. But every once in a while, when I don't have a job, or the market is very, very slow and I really, really need the money, I take them up on a job. The Sith, every once in a while, unknown to the Jedi, place a bounty on one of them. Not on Masters or Knights, nobody who wasn't a Sith could really take one of them, and they'd rather do that work themselves. They give the bounties on Padawans.

"Normally, it's powerful, rising Padawans. They have connections, these padawans who have been the victims of the brutal bounty hunters. That's the magic formula. Someone I know, and have followed their careers for a long time, fits this formula perfectly. You. You are powerful, powerful enough to destroy them. For that reason alone, you should be destroyed, in their minds. They would probably think that you would get rid of some of their bounty-hunting enemies, along the way, too. They don't need as many of those kinds of tools these days, with their plans almost done.

"Also, you are rising, becoming more and more powerful by the hour. And, you have connections: political connections through the Queen, the Viceroy and also the Chancellor, and throughout the Jedi Order, especially with the Council. I have this hunch that they just might place one on you."

"So: why are you doing this for me?" asked Anakin as Sing got up.

"Mainly because I just struck it rich, and don't have any need for a job. But that might change. If I need the money, I just might take them up on a job. And I am not the kind who likes to messed with, Skywalker. You think I got these easily, and from the easy Padawans, Skywalker?" she asked, moving her hand over the sabers. "Nuh-uh. And the other reason is that I care – you show promise. See ya later, Skywalker."

Anakin knew he should do something for her, so he took out a one-hundred credit chip and tossed it over to her, who was walking away. She grabbed it out of mid-air, and continued on her way.

Anakin suddenly had a brilliant idea. If Sing knew so much about the Sith that she did business with them and stuff like that, perhaps she could help him and the Jedi more. He ran up to her side, and got in front of her. Motioning her off to the side, and asked, "Sing, if you know these Sith so well, why don't you tell me two things."

"Shoot."

"One: Why haven't they taken you into their service, as an apprentice or something like that, and two: what are their names?"

"I might as well tell you, seeing this little gift you gave me... Actually, the Master has tried many times to make him my apprentice, at one time or another. He hasn't been able to, obviously. And, their names won't help you. They take titles, getting rid of their real name, which would be of help to you, if I knew. So, I can tell you this. The Master is Sidious, and the apprentice is Vader. Sidious seems to have some innate connection with the Senate. I can't say any more than that without endangering my life." With that, she spun on her heel, and went away.

* * * * * * * * *

Aura Sing situated herself on the left of Eirtae'. There was one chair left at this incredibly high-stakes sabacc table. Would anyone fill it? There was a crowd of about fifty people crowded around, seeing Eirtae' about to demolish yet another gambler.

Suddenly, Boushh came striding forward. A passageway seemed to open up in front of him in the sea of people who were loitering around, straight to the empty chair. Deal me in, was the only thing he said.

"And who is this?" asked Eirtae', confident that this person would lose quickly to her, he didn't seem the professional gambler type. It was a token to the fact that all the best sabacc players were in the Outer Rim that an amateur, house-groomed and trained player like Eirtae' could dominate the table in such a way. Or perhaps she was just lucky. But, as the Jedi say, There's no such thing as luck. But now, she was faced by two tough opponents, both from the Outer Rim. They were hardened by the pure survival strength that was needed out there, and had both learned the game at a young age, always yearning to be better, and over the years attaining that.

Anakin's mother, Shmi, had been against his playing Sabacc, unless it was just for fun. She was incredibly anti-gambling, which was one of the reasons that she hated to see him podrace, supporting gamblers. But Anakin had learned how to play quite well in the nine years he had lived on Tatooine. He had played weekly games with Kitster, Wald and others. He had also become quite adept in many other languages than Galactic Basic, such as Utese, Huttese, and Grotese, in the process of working in Watto's shop. These talents had been amplified in the Temple, where he had taken the optional courses of languages. He spoke now over twenty languages fluently, and thus could disguise himself as almost any kind of person in the galaxy.

"This is Boushh," replied Sing for Boushh. "He is a bounty hunter and mercenary of the Outer Rim, like myself, who has been the most prosperous player this whole evening, perhaps seconded only by you."

Eirtae' was suddenly alarmed by the company of such people she was endearing herself to. She looked around, to find scum who were watching her every move to find out why she kept on winning, and how she did it. It was so repulsive, she almost vomited. "I think we aught to get out of here," she whispered to her three friends, Rabe', Sache and Yane', who stood behind her.

No. said Boushh. I wish to play, have action, Miss... I am afraid we are not acquainted, as you know my name and I do not know yours.

"I – I... What did he say!" Eirtae' blankly questioned the crowd.

"If you wish, Miss, I will translate for you," said the dealer droid. "There is a scroll bar near your betting spots on the table, and I'll translate anything he says into Basic for you."

"Thank you very much, Dealer," replied Eirtae' in gratitude. She had been deathly afraid, and had been on the verge of leaving, she had been so nervous. But now, she was a bit calmer. She checked her scroll bar, and replied: "My name is Eirtae'. So, Mr. Boushh, let us begin. I want to have some fun."

******************

Everybody bet twenty-five credits. The high-stakes came from the second and third rounds of betting; the amount you bet in the first round did not affect the amount others bet later on. This did not help you, as you were trying to get people to bet more on the chance you won. Anakin/Boushh looked at his hand, and found that he had a Plus One Swords and the Idiot's Array. It was common practice in the Outer Rim style of sabacc to not count the Idiot's Array until the last, and instead of Plus Eleven or Minus Eleven, shoot for a little less or more than that, and hope someone had the card they needed. So, he had Plus One at this point.

Anakin looked over at the four handmaidens sullenly, realizing what he was doing by demolishing them. He had set this up with the help of Ami, as the handmaidens had an incredibly amount of credit from the Queen. Even though they had been run off Naboo quite suddenly, Ami had her accounts on Coruscant. Her money, which had been augmented by great inheritances from her grandparents and parents when they passed away over the years (she was the only descendant of her four rich grandparents, as she was an only child, like her parents before her, and thus inherited everything from them), was invested in the Markets, and had made much profits over the years. She had so much, she had taken out million of credits of her own money to help her people recover after the Trade Federation fiasco.

An her fortune was still growing, monetarily, at least, as her real-life fortune had taken a sharp turn for the worst. Either way, Eirtae' had begun the night with only a few thousand credits, and had eked her way up to almost forty thousands. She had lost some over the time that she had been playing, either to the dealer or to other players, but never more than she won. Eventually, someone might leave, or go broke. She lost sometimes and won sometimes, but over time, her winnings steadily went up.

Neither Boushh nor Sing knew of her exact winnings, nobody besides perhaps the dealer, who got to know her money quite well, perhaps knew. But that didn't matter; Anakin just had to make her lose a lot of money, and make enough he could pay them back when they found out. He watched Eirtae', probing her mind to see what she had. He found it easy to maneuver around her mind. Sing looked at him in a strange way, she obviously felt the connection he was making.

Suddenly ashamed that he'd do this to exact a revenge, he broke his connection so fast, he wasn't exactly sure when he did it. That's strange, he thought. I could find my way around perfectly, but when I came to sabacc, it was like there was a durasteel wall in my way. She must have some latent force abilities that have adapted themselves towards sabacc... Perhaps that is what is actually what makes good sabacc players good, their ability to play on hunches that are actually originated from the force.

Now, so not to arouse Sing's suspicion and perhaps cause a fight to break out if she said he was cheating, he tried to figure out what cards she had in her hands by reading her face. He had at one time been quite good at this, but as he had developed and grown in the Force, he had had less and less use for this technique, as he could more easily probe someone's mind. So, it had fallen into disuse, and it had become much harder to do, and also much less accurate, even on a person who was trying to keep a straight face.

Which Eirtae' wasn't.

Because of this, he was having a lot of trouble to figure out what cards she had. Oh, well... thought Boushh. I'll just have to play fair. "Do you want another card?" asked the Dealer.

"Yes, please," said Eirtae' innocently. Sith, that Boushh man is looking at me strange, thought she. I wonder what kind of cards he has in his hand. Something about him is familiar, like he's heard about how I play from someone who I am close with... Might as well play it safe. She took the card from the dealer, and said, "Thank you. This will – oops..." she said, as she accidentally dropped her hand on the floor. She picked it up, and looked it over. "Yes, this will do." A smile crossed her face, as if she had gotten a card she had been looking for.

"And you?" asked the droid to Sing.

"I will have another," she said. Looking at it, she said again, "Hit me." The dealer handed her a fourth card. "Again." A fifth. "Again." The droid gave her a six card, and finally, she sighed. How am I supposed to play this? She thought. I have a horrid hand. To take a seventh card could kill me. She probed the force, trying to figure out what to do. ...take....no....more.... seemed to be coming out of a corner of her head. "Stay."

"Very well, miss. That took you long enough to figure that out." Sing suddenly just realized that she must have been thinking about that for at least a minute.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I was trying to figure out which way seemed right."

"It doesn't matter, Aurra Sing, I have a game to conduct. If you do not shut up this moment I may be forced to forcibly move you from this table and take all your money." Sing nodded. She didn't want that to happen, not by a long shot. She wanted to see how Boushh would play this. "And you?" the droid asked Anakin.

Hmmm... gimme three cards.

"Excuse me, Boushh, but you may only take one card at a time. It is strategically illogical to take more than one at once; you may come to the perfect hand at any time."

It is not against the rules; so I place myself at a risk, so what? I came here to have fun, and perhaps win some money. The fun is in the risk, not the winning.

"He is correct there," said the droid. He cocked his head, and handed Anakin three cards. "He may be stupid, but he is not my responsibility..."

One more, Droid scum, said Anakin.

"Yes, Sir."

Anakin now looked at his hand. He had the Plus One Swords, Plus Three Jewels, Minus Seven Armor, Minus Four Swords, the Plus Three Stars and the Idiot's Array. All in all, he had Minus Seven and the Idiot's Array. It might work... thought he.

The droid took no cards, and now it was time to bet again. Everybody added fifty credits to the pot, and so now it was worth three hundred. "I raise you a thousand credits," said Eirtae'. I'll have to bluff them, she thought. There's no way I can win with this hand, and I can't afford to drop out and lose automatically.

"A – A thousand?" asked Sing. "Nobody raises a thousand. It's too much."

"Well, I raise a thousand."

She can raise however much she wants, said Boushh. I know she's bluffing, thought Anakin. Let's play along, that way the pot is more. He placed a thousand in.

"He is correct, Sing," said the Droid. "There is no rule that limits the raising price."

"Very well," said Sing, placing a thousand into the pot. It was now worth four thousand and three hundred credits. So, anyone who won would get two thousand and one hundred fifty credits, and if they lost, they lost a thousand seventy-five. "And I raise you three thousand."

Anakin looked at his supply in the money bag at his belt; he only had about twenty thousands left. If they kept at this rate, he'd be out of money, and he'd have to drop out. He placed in the three thousand credits with hesitation, but he had to play, the stakes were to high to back out right now. The pot was now thirteen thousand, three hundred credits. Anakin now had only seventeen thousands left. And I raise you five thousand.

Everybody placed five thousands in the pot. Now worth thirty-three thousand and three hundred credits, whoever won would be quite rich. As if the four players weren't already rich enough. Each person needed to keep in, or they had just lost about ten thousand credits. "Is that all?" asked the droid. The droid was not allowed to raise the pot at all, but was forced to keep in at all times, unless he was only playing one person.

"Yes," said Eirtae'.

"Very well. Do you wish to trade in any cards, miss Eirtae'?"

"No, I would not. I like my hand."

"Very well. Would you like to trade, Sing?"

"Yes, I would. Give me six new cards." The droid gave her an entire new hand. She sighed. Apparently, she was out of it. Too bad, thought Boushh. She just lost her newly-gotten fortune.

"And you?"

"I would like to keep my cards," said Anakin. "I like mine."

The dealer traded one card, and it was over. Well, almost. They still needed to bet for the last time. "I raise it ten thousands," said Eirtae'.

Everyone, quite reluctantly, placed ten thousand credits in the pot. Sing's obviously trying to bluff to win. If she has a good enough sabacc face, she could do it to Eirtae', but not me. Now worth seventy-three thousand three hundred, it was mind-boggling. No games had pots like this except in the outer rim with the greatest gamblers in the galaxy. I would also like to raise it, said Boushh. He emptied his money pouch on the table. Seven thousand and three hundred and fifty-six credits.

"I would like to interfere," said the droid. "It appears that Sir Boushh is out of money to bet with, and I must say that I believe that this game is getting too big for me, and is taking too long. I have other people to accommodate this evening, you know. I think that we should stop betting."

"I agree with the Droid," said Sing. "We should stop now."

"Alright," said Eirtae' reluctantly. "Let's show our hands." She had a Plus Seven Stars, Plus Three Armor, and the Idiot's Array. The Idiot's Array! Thought Anakin. But I have that card! And there's only one in a deck!

"Cheater!" one person from the surrounding spectators exclaimed. They had been temporarily forgotten by the four sabacc gamblers, and now came in on the scene. "She has a fake card!"

"Please expand on that, Krane," said the droid. The man had pale skin, and blue eyes. He had brown hair, and was quite short, about one and a half metres tall. Standing next to Boushh, who was sitting, still made him look small. Apparently, this particular person was well-known in the casinos, particularly for trying to do in gamblers, by accusing them of cheating. He normally, somehow that was unknown to the casinos, performed a trick that included placing a fake card in someone's hand, and accusing them of cheating. He supposedly worked for some extremist religious group that was incredibly anti-gambling.

"Well, show him your hand, Boushh," said Krane.

And why should I do that, Krane?

"Mainly, because it will cause this cheater to be uprooted from her spot where she has been cheating all night." At this, there was a general intake of breath all around. So that's how she does it, thought one spectator. She's been cheating. The cheating son of a bitch!

Very well... said Boushh. I hope this isn't going where I think it is... thought Anakin.

The droid saw the Idiot's Array in Boushh's hand, and then looked at Eirtae's hand. "Well, since there is only one Idiot's Array in this deck, someone is obviously cheating," said the droid, convinced. "The question is, who is cheating?" He looked at Krane, who backed off a little bit. Perhaps it is Krane who is cheating? Thought Anakin. "It is just for this purpose that I have a tool that will help us," said the Droid. He whipped out a barcode reader from his side, and brought it up. "Every card, if you notice, has a barcode imprinted on it's backside. We know which cards are real and which are fake by reading the barcodes. Each deck has a different one, so we will know which is from this deck and which is not."

Boushh gave him his card, while the eyes of at least fifty were on him and Eirtae'. The barcode reader ran over his card, and it beeped, and a green light went on in it. "What does it mean?" asked Eirtae', trembling.

"I think we ought to get out of here," said Sache'. "I don't like the way this is going."

"Me either," said Yane'. "Let's go find Padme'. She won't care about the money; she can afford it."

"You won't be going anywhere, I'm afraid," said the droid, "other than a detention center." It took out a blaster rifle, and stuck it right into Eirtae's neck.

Oh, no, you won't, said Boushh. I'm afraid, Sir Droid, if you make one single move, you will be blasted to oblivion. He took out a thermal detonator, and pressed it. It began to beep and flash. Everyone took a few steps back, except Sing and Eirtae'. It wouldn't do them any good. If the detonator was detonated, they would die instantly even at that distance.

"I will not be intimidated." It turned on it's comlink, and said, "I need ten security droids, right now." Within a minute, not ten, but fifteen security droid arrived. They were variants of the Battle Droids that had been used by the Trade Federation ten years ago. Cheap, and also easy to defeat, their power was in numbers. Each carried two blaster rifles. The Handmaidens' were too far in their robes, and if they took them out, Eirtae' would be killed instantly.

They were cornered.

"We... we – we surrender," said Eirtae', putting her hands up.

********************

Padme' was sitting at a sabacc table, ready to make her next bet. She had Plus Ten as a hand, and was almost about to win a few thousand credits. The Trandoshan on her left had just upped the pot fifty credits, and she had to put it in. She stuck her hand in her money pouch, and placed was about to place it in her pot, when she heard something very odd.

You won't be going anywhere, I'm afraid, other than a detention center.

Oh, no, you won't. I'm afraid, Sir Droid, if you make one single move, you will be blasted to oblivion

I will not be intimidated. I need ten security droids, right now.

We... we – we surrender.

She turned, and was surprised to see what looked like ten or fifteen Battle Droids surrounding a table. What's going on over there? Thought Ami. That sounded like... Eirtae'! Sith, what's gone wrong now... Seated on her sea-green stool, she placed her fifty credits backing the pouch and said, "I'm going to drop out," and showed her hand. The others shook their heads in despair. There was no real reason for her to drop out with a hand like that.

She raced past about ten sabacc and cronies tables, and soon noticed that there was a person who didn't seem like they should be there in the mix – Aurra Sing. Padme' had seen her at the podrace on Tatooine, though she didn't know her name. But she remembered her. Bounty-hunting scum, thought she.

* * * * * * * * * *

The crowd that had been congregating during the game quickly dispersed when the Security Droids arrived. Technically, they scattered. Boushh had taken out a thermal detonator, and armed it. I hope they can't see through the façade... thought Anakin.

But then, another presence came over the horizon of his senses. It was a bright light, Amidala. For a moment, Anakin lost his focus, and his concentration on maintaining the disguise that was Boushh faltered. The detonator and the glove that covered his hand vanished for almost a second. His disguise was found out.

The four handmaidens went wide-eyed. What the heck is with the Bounty hunter? Thought Eirtae'. Rabe' closed her eyes, and shook her head, refusing to believe that a thermal detonator and a glove had just disappeared. When she opened them, the detonator was back.

After that, things began to go incredibly fast. "He's a fake!" exclaimed the Dealer. "He's a cheater, too!" In their confusion, the droids opened fire. Padme' was almost there when the dealer, who still had it's rifle in Eirtae's neck, did it.

Time slowed down incredibly slow for Anakin. The was a large blast, as if the walls were falling down, and Eirtae' fell. Blood stained the carpeted floor; the Dealer had shot Eirtae' in the head, she was dead. It had been too good of a shot, and no one could survive being shot in the head with a blaster, even if they were healed in flesh with the Force. She would never live again.

"Noooo...." screamed Ami, both insides and out, coming up towards them, and holding Eirtae's immobile head in her arms. Eirtae's eyes were open, as if she was still alive, and watching all of this, but couldn't do anything. There was a large, bloody hole in her head, where she had been shot. It felt as if someone had not shot Eirtae', but rather Padme', right through the heart. Another friend lost.

Most everybody in the general vicinity hid behind tables, picking up their money and stuffing it in their pouches, trying to get out of the way so the same fate would not be reserved for them as well. "Why?" she asked, looking at the droids with an anger that would have frightened a Sith. There was a fire of anger and fury in her eyes that no words could convey. The Droids had taken away much from her over the years; first it was her planet ten years ago, now it was her friend. And they had never given her anything in return. Now, it was her time to give something to them.

The three remaining handmaidens were in a state of shock. How could this little night out have led to such consequences? It didn't seem possible. Perhaps they'd wake up in their beds, and find that it was all a dream. Just a dream. If only it was true.

Anakin was ashamed. He should have listened to Obi-Wan, now a little piece of payback had turned into a death. It wasn't supposed to be anything like this! He should have listened to Obi-Wan, now it was too late. It had turned out to be a weakness that had caused the death of a friend, who, without her, Anakin and Amidala would never have realized that their feelings were reciprocated. It is sad punishment from the force for exacting vengeance, thought Anakin. It's because of me. I should never have let this happen. I was acting out of the Dark Side, for good intentions nonetheless, and look what it did, backfiring.

The Queen, enraged, broke out her blaster, and began to fire on the droids. She had only hit two when they, in their confusion and their programming, began to fire back. Anakin quickly dropped his façade, and brought out his saber, protecting the Queen, Eirtae' and the handmaidens. Sing also brought out one of her sabers, a red one, and helped. Anakin also used the force to move all the money on the table into his bag. Now, he could at least do what he had been planning to do. Partially.

Sing and Anakin quickly got rid of the droids. They were perhaps a match in such numbers for the average gambler on Coruscant, but they were no challenge for Sing and a Jedi, especially Skywalker. They cut up the droids in seconds, and the rest, they blocked the blaster fire back at. More and more droids were coming. They were no match. Ushering the Queen and the handmaidens out of the casino, the Handmaidens shot droids with their blasters, while the Queen carried Eirtae's lifeless body. The blue blood was already starting to settle in her feet. Within a few minutes, and about a hundred and fifty droids, they were out. It was only then that Sing noticed that she didn't have any money left.

The five fugitives ran and ran. They ran for what seemed like forever, and finally reached a safe place kilometres from the casino. They were in the underbelly of Coruscant, but still could call a cab.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"What have you guys just been through?" asked the Cabby. "It looks like you've just been in the middle of a lightfight. And carrying a dead person not in a casket will cost you extra."

The five of them just then noticed, looking at themselves, just how shabby they looked from the fight they were in. Their clothes were carbon-scored from where blaster fire had just missed them, and torn from when it had caught on a piece of furniture. Anakin was sitting in the front with the Queen, and the three handmaidens were scrunched in the back. They had to take a cheap cab because the only one with a whole lot of money on them was Anakin, who wanted to hold onto the money for a number of reasons. "You almost have it there, friend," said Anakin. "Take us to the Jedi Temple."

"Whatever you want," the cabby said under his breath. They were in a cloud car, and the cabby was a scruffy human with pale skin and green eyes. His hair was dyed green with blonde highlights, as well, and was down to his shoulders.

"And what was with that stunt?" asked Yane'. Man, am I pissed.

"Yeah! What were you trying to do?" asked Sache'.

"We were trying to get some revenge on you for that little shock you guys gave us a few days ago," said Anakin.

"I guess it was quite weak," interjected Amidala. "Seeing how what you did was not a bad thing."

"Our plan was to make you lose a lot of money, and then give it back to you. A practical joke. It was her idea."

"So, why did you not help Eirtae'?" asked Rabe'. "Were you trying to keep up the façade of Boushh? And that was a mean thing, to fool us like that. You could have just been yourself."

"Yeah, but the shock you would have gotten to find out that I had been Boushh and gotten you out of all your money, that would be the revenge we were looking for," said Anakin.

"You are trying to change the subject," said Sache'. "Why didn't you help 'Tae'? And also, isn't revenge not the way of the Jedi?"

"Well, yes, it isn't. But this wasn't exactly revenge. I wasn't exacting vengeance, it was payback. And I couldn't help Eirtae'. I was trying to stall the droids so I could figure something out. And if I attacked them first, they would have shot her anyway. They already had her in their sights. They would have killed her automatically whatever anyone did, if they did."

"It sounds to me like excuses. But I agree that you couldn't have helped Eirtae'. She was in a lose-lose situation. And it wasn't your fault she was cheating, either," said Rabe'.

"She wasn't cheating!" said Yane'. "That Krane man or whoever he was, he framed her! And that was out of everybody's control. He must have snuck that card in when she dropped her hand."

"I think it would be best for all of us if we considered that she was framed, and that it was all out of our control," said the Queen. "We need to get back to our regular lives; not put this behind us, but... get on with life. It was out of our control. There was, unfortunately, nothing we could do."

"This is just like you, you know that?" said Yane'. "Always, 'get on with life'. It's the same thing after we left Naboo."

"If I take what you're all saying here," said the Cabby, "I'm pretty confused. But from what I can think about, I think that one of you here people indirectly caused death of this here person-"

"No, he didn't," said Sache'. "Whenever Krane got to her, whether she was cheating or not, which we will never know, she would have been accused. She would have either been sent to a detention center, or been killed."

"Well, in that case," said the Cabby, "I think that this here person – what was his name? Krane, or something like that? Anyways, I think that he caused her death, in a way. And all this about getting revenge and all, I think that this person who is saying just to put it behind you is right. You can't dwell on the past forever, or you will never be able to mind the future."

"He's right," said Anakin, "But it's my fault. I lost my concentration. It was that that got the droid to fire on Eirtae'. It's my fault; you can blame me."

"It's alright, Anakin," said Rabe'. "It's the same thing as with Padme' and Sabe'. She indirectly caused her death, just like you. It's alright."

"Thanks," said Anakin. He took out his pack of money, and took out three thousand credits, the amount he had started with. Then, he handed it over to the three remaining handmaidens, and said: "Here, the rest is for you. Originally, after you lost most of your money, we were going to give you all the winnings to split, so that nothing bad actually happened, like what you did with me and Ami. Take it."

They looked inside, and were surprised to find almost seventy-five thousand credits in it, from taking all the money from the last game, and Rabe' held onto it. "Well... thanks," said Yane'. "But we don't need the money. We were borrowing from Ami. Give it to her."

"I don't want it," said the Queen. "You can have it, Anakin."

"I don't need it," said Anakin. "But someone needs to eventually have it, so I'll give it to Obi-Wan. I promised him I'd give him half of my winnings, anyway. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to go."

"I think it would have helped if you hadn't," said Sache' softly, so no one would hear it.

"That'll be twenty-three credits," said the Cabby. Anakin handed him the money, and the five friends, at least now with an uneasy peace, got off the ship and headed up to their respective rooms. The real problem, now, was explaining Eirtae's death.

*********

"Well?" asked Obi-Wan, calling to Anakin from the holo-room. He was situated casually on the couch, watching what appeared to be a bulletin.

Anakin was afraid; what if he suspected? I hope not... he thought. Careful to block his thoughts, which was a little harder to do over a Master-Padawan bond, which he and his master shared, than between him and another force-sensitive, he came into the holo-room, carefully placing his scarred jacket on the chair in the common room. His clothing was the most evident thing that would point to what had happened. He leaned against the doorpost, and said, "It went... well," said Anakin.

"Really? That's good." He turned his head to look at Anakin, and stood up with a jolt. "What – what happened!" he exclaimed. "Obviously, something didn't go right, if you have carbon scoring all over your clothing."

"Well, generally, things went well," said Anakin. "But-" he started, but he was promptly cut off by Master.

"My afterburners, they went generally well! I can sense that something is wrong, anyway." He pointed his finger at Anakin, who was raised a few centimetres off the ground. Now, he couldn't move from that very spot, and couldn't until Obi-Wan saw fit, or Anakin broke Obi-Wan's grip on him, which he could easily do, but didn't, as it was forbidden for a Padawan to interfere with a Master's control over the force. And Obi-Wan probably wouldn't see it fit until Anakin told him everything.

"As I was saying, there was a fight. Eirtae', you know, the Handmaiden, was accused of cheating, and it started a lightfight. We don't know whether she cheated or not. She never had a chance to tell," he said with a sniffle.

"She had been stuck up by a dealer droid, and during the fight, was killed by crossfire by the droid who she was still stuck up by."

"And, Padawan, what part did you play in this?" asked a skeptical Obi-Wan. He scanned Anakin's mind, and found that this was the truth, but that there was more to it than he was saying.

"There was a bounty hunter I encountered, Aurra Sing, whom I know from Tatooine, who helped us. She gave me some information, that would incredibly help the Jedi. And during the fight, she helped us escape the casino. She had been in an incredibly high-stakes game of sabacc with Eirtae' and I, and was part of all that. The battle droids were not too bad. Not hard at all. I had to reveal my status as a Jedi during the fight, but I think that most of the people who were around were taking a hiding place, to get away so they didn't die, too, rather than paying attention to whether one of the combatants was a Jedi."

"I see..." said Obi-Wan, as he lowered his finger a millimetre, and Anakin's feet touched the ground. "And what is this information that this Sing character has?"

"Well, she, every once in a while, does business with the Sith, when she needs the money. She said that the Sith might place a bounty on me in the near future."

"Hmmm...." said Obi-Wan, deep in thought. He furrowed his brow, and after a moment, continued: "I think I know what you are talking about. When I was a Padawan, there were about two cases where a Padawan was killed on a mission. They had been separated from their Master, during a fight, and when the Master eventually caught up, there was nothing left of their Padawan other than their left hand and their lightsaber crystal, clasped in it. Real spooky. The Council kept looking into it, but they couldn't find out who was killing the best Padawan Learners. There were only two or three cases of this, I think," finished he with a sigh. "I see now that it must have been the Sith, hiring a Bounty Hunter to kill them."

"Yes," said Anakin. "That's exactly what she said." Two or three cases, thought Anakin. If she had a saber to start with, and then killed two or three, that makes... four! She must have been the one who killed them. But he didn't say anything, because he owed her more than one favor. "And, she also told me what the names of the Sith are."

"It won't help us. All the Sith take titles."

"I know that. But all the same, it doesn't hurt, you know? The Master is Sidious, and the Apprentice is Vader.

"I guess you're right about that. It still doesn't help us, because we can't tell the Council about it, or it'll break our cover. We can't lie to them directly, because they'll sense that we are blocking our minds. They, of course, will ask where we got the information, and you can't say 'a bounty hunter in a casino,' because they will want to know why you were in a casino. It is like a snowball effect."

"Exactly," said Anakin. "You understand me totally." He, having been released from his Master's grip, started to go into his room, but stopped himself. "Oh, there's one other thing," he said. "I told you I'd give you half of what I won."

"Ah, yes. I do remember that. Where's my cut?"

"Well, during the fight, I picked up most of the money from our table. Ami and my plan, originally, had been to give any money I made to the Handmaidens, but after the fact, when I offered it to them, they turned it down. I don't need it, and Ami doesn't want it, so we decided you could have it all. All seventy-five thousand credits."

"Anakin," said Obi-Wan with a sigh, "how did you get so much money?"

"I just picked everything up off the table. Everything, as you may not know as you haven't really played a lot of sabacc-"

"I know, I know. I have actually gambled a little bit over the years. All the money is in the middle. You couldn't figure out whose money was whose."

"Yeah. Also, I needed to get Eirtae's money. The game's pot had gotten really large; people were upping tens of thousands at a time. So I just picked it all up."

"Well... I can't take it. You have it. I insist. You can use it to pay for your mother's freedom in time, when you are a knight. Perhaps, get a gift for the Queen at one point. I assume that seventy thousand credits will pay for at least one slave's freedom?"

"I don't really know how much a slave costs. Most slave deals are conducted over the podraces, and also, I know that Republic credits aren't worth anything out there. I could probably buy something here that would have worth there, though. But it's a good idea."

"The big problem now is what to say about Eirtae'. What if anyone asks?"

"Someone will," said Anakin surely. "I don't have any idea."