Part I

It was late at night, and the lights of Coruscant and penetrated the draperies alongthe windows in Padme's bedroom of her penthouse. Lying next to her,cuddled close was her husband, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. She was having trouble falling asleep, so she turned away from the windows and rolled over. She came face to face with Anakin who was sound asleep. She couldn't help but think again how beautiful he was. She gently rubbed his eyelashes and ran her fingers through some of his blond curls. She loved him so much, she was so lucky despite all the worries she had about the Jedi or the Senate finding out about them. She was so glad he was sleeping soundly, he'd been bothered by nightmares lately. Nightmares of her-
dying in childbirth. They bothered him much because his dreams were not ordinary dreams, theytended to come true, like the one of his mother. He was terrified by them, and she had to admit they concerned her too.

As she lay silently staring at him, he suddenly stirred, rolled his head back and opened his eyes. He saw her staring at him and jumped back. He sat straight up and started panting, hard like a dog after running in the summer heat. He kept it up, harder and harder, until he started shaking.

She tried to comfort him by putting her arm around him, but he was still in another place. A place he surely did not want to be.

"What is it, darling?" She asked,her voice shaking. It took him a few moments to respond.

"A nightmare." He finally confessed.

Padme looked down at her blanket covering her growing stomach. She knew it. She didn't want to hear it.He'd dreamed she was dying again, and she didn't want to hear it. She spoke quietly, asking him: "was it the same as the others, about me?" She turned to look at him.

He shook his head. "No. Not this time."

"Then what?"

"I'm...not sure. But it was terrible. I was feeling so much pain. And I couldn't breathe. I was literally suffocating.. I couldn't gasp a breath to save my life.. and I couldn't
move..."

"Oh that's terrible!"

"I was lying there and couldn't move, and then.."

He stared straight ahead, and she could feel his heart rate increase.

"then what?"

"Somebody was trying to cover my face up.. I think they were trying to trap me insidesomething metal..I could see it coming toward me but I couldn't stop it. I wanted toscream but then it was too late..it took over my whole face, my whole head.."

She just looked at him. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it's not you. Maybe, whatever this is that's going to happen to me will save you. Or maybe we both suffer. I don't know!" He grabbed his head in both hands, and a tear streamed down his cheek. "It was the most frightened I've ever been in my life. It has to mean something terrible. I have to find out what it is and stop it"

She didn't know what to say. "You are a powerful Jedi. The force will guide you"

"I hope so. But I fear I will choose the wrong destiny, and it will destroy us"

"Don't say that" she begged, hugging him tight. They could feel each other's heartbeat, and suddenly, a baby kick. The leaned back and looked at her stomach then at each other,and smiled. As long as they had this baby, it would be all right, it had to be.

But this dream of his own doom would not stop haunting him. He got up, breathed a heavy sigh,and went to the window and stared out as he so often did. He closed his hands behind his back and tried to look at the stars,but there were too many lights on in the city. Padme soon joined him by his side, and the two of them stood there quietly trying to find a bright star among all the darkness and glare of a million lights, trying to relax and drift away.

Whatever was to be their fate, they would have to face it now or suffer later. Somehow, they had to discover it, before it was too late for them both...

Anakin had a hard time getting back to sleep. He could not erase the horrible, dreadful memory from the dream of not being able to breathe. The dreams of Padme dying had been replaced by this one, what did it mean? Were they in the same story, or something else? Would one make the other go away, or were they both doomed?

As the first rays of sunlight began to streak in the windows, overtaking the lights of the city, he got up and returned to the Jedi Temple. No one knew he had not slept there. He went to speak with Master Yoda.

"Master Yoda, I have told you before of my dreams"

"Told me, you have. The one of someone dying, we discussed."

"Yes. Now I have another. This one is myself, and I am unable to breathe. My body is disabled, and I am being trapped inside something dark that covers my face. I don't know if I'm dying. But it feels worse than dying, living that way."

"Mmm, strange, this is."

"What could it mean? You have to help me, you have to stop it. I am..."

"Afraid? Fear, I have always sensed in you. Let go if it you must"

"But how, Master? Help me"

"Search your feelings, you must"

Anakin turned away so Yoda would not see him rolling his eyes and squeezing his fists in frustration. A lot of help that was!

He walked further through the Jedi Temple until he passed Master Mace Windu. They discussed his mission to spy on the Chancellor. He felt like a double agent,
being used by both the Chancellor and the council! He did realize his importance,and how him being in the middle of this could make a big difference, one way or
the other. Was that what his dream meant, that the stress of this was suffocating him? No, it was more than that. It was all too real.

He went directly to meet with the Chancellor, and his Jedi feelings began to sense things he didn't want to feel. The things he spoke of, the way he was acting,
he knew the ways of the dark side! What did this mean, and how did it connect with his dreams?

That night, he was sleeping in Padme's bed again, when he sat straight up in bed in complete terror, gasping for breath, his body covered in sweat.

"Another dream?" She said painfully.

"Yes. It was. I think I know something more now. This thing that is happening to me, not being able to breathe, being trapped, the metal on my face, it has to do
with the Chancellor! I know it does! "

"The Chancellor?" She said, almost giggling.

Anakin stared harshly at her. "Don't laugh at me. My feelings are not to be dismissed lightly. Our lives depend on this."

"I'm sorry my love. But the Chancellor, he's such a kindly, scholarly old fellow. What harm could he do?"

"You might be suprised. Maybe you, maybe we, have all been surprised already."

She had no comment other than a loving hug. He returned it. He had to save her, and in doing so he might just save himself from the other nightmare.

He stared out into the dark room. She turned and went back to sleep. He tried, and failed, and returned to the Temple. There was much to discover.

Again he sought audience with Master Yoda.

"I must know, Master, these dreams, a Jedi's dreams, are they visions of things that will happen, or that may happen?"

"Clouded, the future is, difficult to see"

Yoda must have sensed Anakin's frustration at this. "You must not let your haste and fear control you, or surely worse your fate will be"

"But I have to do something, I have to do it, now... before it's too late...": He turned to walk away. Yoda shook his head. Anakin wondered if he should tell Yoda, or Obi Wan, or Windu, about his suspicions. No, he would wait, until they were confirmed to his satisfaction.

This did not take long. After another visit to the Chancellor at his own request, and at the approval of the Jedi council, he was more convinced than ever. Palpatine was a SITH LORD! The one the Jedi had been looking for! How could the Jedi have been so blind, not only in their eyes, but their minds, their feelings, the force! Palpatine must be very strong with the dark side if he could confuse so many great Jedi. And now here he was, only he knew, who would believe him? Padme all but laughed off his suggestion the Chancellor was guilty of anything. How could she, and the entire Senate, be so foolish?

He stood by the window and just stared at the city, the cars, the buildings, she foggy sky. What if he was the only one who knew the truth? What if the Chancellor was even responsible for the entire war? Could he be so devious? Could everyone be so fooled? No, surely he must be wrong. But his feelings told him otherwise. He would not let them be clouded by fear, or anything.This was too important. Then a sudden chill struck his body- he thought the Chancellor was using him for a reason.

Just then, as Anakin sat frozen in fear and thought, Obi Wan strode by. "Anakin!" He said. Anakin turned around. "I sense much confusion in you." Anakin could not look him in the eye. Obi Wan sensed he was right. "What is it? Tell me, my friend." He put his hand on Anakin's shoulder, and together they walked away. They left the Jedi Temple and went to a quiet eatery in the city. Sitting in a dark corner, Obi Wan asked him openly what was troubling him.

"Obi Wan, you must not speak of this to anyone. ANYONE, even the council. Obi Wan's eyes widened, and he didn't answer. Anakin took this as a no. "You must promise. I must tell someone. Please. Give me a chance" Finally, he nodded. Anakin gave a heavy sigh, and began. "I think the Chancellor..." he glanced around the eatery once more to make sure no one was looking at them or listening in. Then he moved his face closer to his friend's and spoke in a loud whisper. "Obi Wan,Palpatine is a Sith Lord" Obi Wan looked stunned. He almost yelled out, but thought better of it. He just stared at Anakin and mouthed the words back to him. Anakin seriously shook his head yes.He quietly explained the things that had transpired between him and Palpatine. "Search your feelings, Obi Wan, you will know it to be true"

Obi wan put his hand on his chin, rubbed his beard. His eyes glazed over, looking down, then looked up to meet Anakin's eyes directly. "Anakin, you could be right. I sense something stronger in this, something that puts you in danger." Anakin's heart pounded. He remembered his nightmares, but did not speak of them to Obi Wan. Not yet.

"What do you mean?" He asked, his face ghostly pale.

Obi Wan leaned across the table. "Anakin, search YOUR feelings. You say he's a Sith Lord? He had you kill Dooku, Dooku was his apprentice. You know the legend as well as I, Anakin. Only 2 Sith Lords can there be. Dooku is dead. He is looking for a new apprentice. He wants you!"

Anakin's face looked stunned and frozen. He knew his dreams of not being able to breathe were connected to the Chancellor. This was headed somewhere he didn't like. Surely whatever made him lose his breath, whatever made his face encased in metal, had to do with the Chancellor and his plans. He would not let it happen! But wait, he told him he could stop people from dying, and he needed that to save Padme and the baby. Or was it only a trick? He tried to search his feelings, but they always led him back down the same path- doom. No matter what he did he knew it would be wrong. He got up and stormed out of the eatery, Obi Wan close behind. "Do not do anything foolish, Anakin. Talk to me first. You can trust me" He was so confused. Visions swarmed in his mind, Padme, their baby, himself gasping for breath. The Chancellor. Obi Wan. He ran down the busy street, pressed his head against a sturdy wall, pounded it with his flesh fist, and cried.

Then he went straight to Padme's apartment. She wasn't there. He was frantic, running from room to room, then to the balcony. She sat there, crying, as he had been. He held her tight, and their faces met so close together that their tears streaked down each other's faces.

Return to Top