Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm sorry for how long this chapter took me to finish, I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to do it. But I hope you guys like how it turned out!

Favorites, follows and reviews are always welcome :D

And *drum roll* without further ado...ONWARD FOR FRODO AND THE GALACTIC EMPIRE!

Chapter VII

"You have heard of our visitor have you not?"

Lord Elrond watched as Gandalf nodded, but did not answer. He puffed on his pipe for a few more minutes before asking, "Did you speak with her?"

Elrond nodded, "I did, but I do not know what to make of her."

Gandalf stared at his friend for a few moments before asking, "You believe that she has something to do with Galadriel's vision?"

"I do," Elrond stated as he took up pacing back and forth in front of Gandalf, "Her appearance and Galadriel's vision are too much entwined to be coincidental," he paused for a moment before adding, "She is not of this world Gandalf."

"I thought as much," Gandalf murmured as his thoughts took a darker turn, "And if she does have something to do with it, then what part did she have to play in it?"

"I sense no ill will in her. She is dangerous in her own right of course, but not a danger to us. All she desires is to return to her home," Elrond frowned, "But as far as I can tell it is impossible to do so without any knowledge of how she came here."

"So she is not a danger to Frodo then? Or to the ring?"

"No. I doubt she has any knowledge of the ring. She did not recognize anything that we told her, and I saw the truth in her face. She has no idea where she is. And if what she told us is anything to go by, then I will trust that she would want nothing to do with the thing. She seeks peace, not power and has an aversion to evil."

Gandalf nodded and smoked his pipe in silence as he took in this new information. A few minutes later he asked the question that had been tugging at him for some time now. "What are we to do with her then?"

Elrond frowned, "Unless she decides to tell us how she came to this land, it is impossible to send her home. We have no choice but to offer her shelter here for the time being."

"But what of the ring? You said you believe she is not a danger to it, but do we trust her with the knowledge of it?"

Elrond paused in his pacing so that his back was to Gandalf, shielding his face from view. "I would be lying if I said I know what the best course would be. I do not know what we should do. But I do know that if what she says about herself is true, she would be a valuable ally against the Dark Lord."

"That may be true, but are we willing to risk our lives and the lives of those in Middle Earth for a stranger we have just met?" Gandalf asked, and he continued when he saw his friend stiffen, "These are dark times, trust is given cautiously now."

"So you advise that we bide our time? That we wait to see what comes of this girl's strange appearance?"

"Yes. I believe this is our best course right now."

Where am I?

Everything was dark, and cold. There was nothing to see and nothing to hear. Everything was still. There was nothing but the cold, dark emptiness of this place she was in.

She could feel it clinging to her, the darkness. It was like it was trying to latch on to her and never let go, so it could drag her into the emptiness that was the void.

Is that where I am?

She couldn't get warm, no matter what she tried to do. Like the darkness, the cold clung to her, and seeped into her skin. She was frozen.

What happened to Ri-Riverdalle? Something like that? The place with the elves?

There were no elves in this place. She was alone here. Alone with the cold and the darkness.

Am I dreaming?

She had never had a dream like this before. Sure her dreams were wacky at times, but then again, they were never this bizarre.

And they were never this vivid either.

Not unless they were a vision.

Is that what this is? A vision?

Some vision. She couldn't see anything.

Why the hell am I having a vision on nothingness? Whose idea was this?

She was getting pretty frustrated now. In this place, there was nothing to distract her from her thoughts. All she could do here was remember.

I don't want to remember.

All the thoughts she sought to forget were being drawn to her mind's eye by an unseen force. All her failures played out again in her mind.

It was not the first time she wished she could have her memory erased like droids could. It would make everything so much easier.

She desperately wanted to snap herself out of this 'vision' or whatever it was, but she couldn't do anything. For sith's sake she couldn't even feel her body! She could be walking or sitting or standing or running and she would have no idea she was even doing!

There was no way to wake herself up from this vision…thing.

Why am I here then? Just to remind myself that I am a failure to the Jedi? Is that why I'm in this nothingness? Just so I can remember?

Living it once was enough.

With this thought in her mind, she fought against whatever force was trying to bring those thoughts to the surface and shoved them back down into the deepest parts of her subconscious.

The moment she did so, she felt an unseen force slam into her at full speed. She expected to feel the brunt of the impact in her back but surprisingly she felt nothing. She was still standing for all she knew.

She glanced around, and tried in vain to see what exactly slammed into her but of course she could see nothing.

Sithspit what the hell was that?

Once again she felt something slam into her; this time from behind. But unlike last time, she felt the pain of impact very clearly in her face.

I think I just broke my nose.

Groaning, she rolled herself over so that she was lying on her back and tried in vain to siphon away the pain so she could concentrate. But she found that she couldn't.

Why can't I feel the force? What the hell is going on?

Sitting up (at least I think I did), she nearly screamed when she saw glowing yellow eyes barely a foot away from her. They were not human, she knew that much for certain. They seemed almost feral as they regarded her peeping out from the darkness that hid its other features.

"Who are you?" she questioned, trying to keep the fear she felt out of her voice. Who was this thing, and what was it doing in her vision? Was it a friend of a foe?

But she received no answer to her question. No, the only sound to disturb the silence of the darkness was her own ragged breath.

Why won't it answer me?

"Who are you?" she asked again, standing up (I think) in order to the see the thing directly in the eyes. Her voice rose a little in pitch to match the fear that she felt bubbling up inside of her.

The lack of response from the thing a second time was enough to drive her nerves over the edge.

The darkness, the emptiness, her recurring memories, and now this! She couldn't take it any longer.

"Answer me!" she screamed, her voice resounding throughout the silence, echoing across the expanse that was the darkness, "WHO ARE YOU?"

What is that?

It started out very quietly at first, so softly it was nearly indistinguishable. But as it continued, it grew louder; resounding throughout the emptiness...

And echoing in her mind.

It was laughing at her.

He laughed at me. He looked down at me and laughed. He laughed at my failure!

"Stop it," she whispered. But as that thing continued laughing, she found she couldn't take it. "STOP IT!"

But it didn't heed her.

It just kept on laughing.

"STOP IT!" she screamed again, her voice cracking due to the stress she put on it, "I FAILED! I KNOW I DID! BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO RUB IT IN MY FACE TOO!"

But it kept laughing.

Its laughter brought memories she sought to forget to the surface of her mind again, each one flitting by as a reminder of her failure.

And each memory deepened a scar on her heart that would never heal.

The pain she felt was unbearable. It tore at her, widening the gapping whole in her heart that could never be filled again. Not after what had happened.

And that hurt so badly she wanted to curl up in ball and sob until her tears ran dry.

The pain made her angry. She wanted to scream until her voice was hoarse at the injustice of it all. She wanted to punch something until her knuckles were broken and bloody. She wanted to strangle that thing so it could never laugh at her again.

But she knew deep down that she couldn't give in to this.

That's what he wanted. He wanted me to give into it. He wanted me to give it control, to drive my actions. I can't give in, no matter how much I want to.

She wiped away the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes and bit back the anger that burned her throat. She would be strong for them.

She wouldn't fail them again.

"WHO ARE YOU?" she screamed again, her voice hoarse from the yelling she had done earlier, "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?"

As if it had been cut off, the laughing ceased abruptly. The eyes just stared at her, unmoving, unblinking…staring into her very soul.

Taking a deep breath again, she screamed her question one final time. "WHO ARE YOU?"

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a shadowy outline appear around the eyes and begin to solidify around them.

She felt the rage and horror she was trying to quell burn within her with new ferocity when she saw who the figure was.

NO…

"YOU!" she snarled, her voice lashing out in anger before she realized what she was doing, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

He was silent for a few moments before she heard him speak. Or at least she thought it was him speaking. His lips did not move, yet she heard his voice resounding through her mind. "There is a darkness coming. No one will escape it. It will consume all."

"Not if I can stop it!" she growled, clenching her fists in anger.

He laughed again, a deep throaty laugh that made her want to wipe that bloody smirk off his face with her fist. "You will fail them," he cackled, "You will fail them, just as you failed before. You cannot stop it."

That's not true!

"I can try!" she screamed, barely stopping herself from smashing his ugly little face in. She couldn't afford to slip like that now. Not with him there.

"You will fail," he said tonelessly, staring at her as if she weren't really there. Then his eyes came back into focus and he leaned forward so closely that she could feel his breath on her face, "I will see to it personally," he smirked.

No…it CAN'T be!

She felt her resolve falter at his words; she was close to shock when she realize what he was insinuating. "No," she whispered, shaking her head as if to make herself forget what she had heard, "That's not possible. You couldn't be…"

"Could I?" he smirked again as he backed away from her.

"NO!" she screamed, "YOU COULDN'T BE! YOU'RE LYING TO ME! THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!"

"Is it?" he intoned as he continued to back away from her, partially disappearing in a fiery glow that had begun to appear behind him.

No. It's not true. This isn't a vision, it's just a dream!

"It will be good to see you again my dear Ana," he whispered darkly before disappearing completely in the fiery inferno that had formed behind him.

What is that?

As it grew bigger and bigger, she saw that it wasn't just a giant fireball that had appeared out of nowhere to help his exit appear more dramatic, it was an eye.

What the hell?

She could feel herself withering beneath its penetrating gaze. It felt as if it could see directly into her very soul.

She couldn't move. She was paralyzed beneath its gaze, unable to even turn away.

She could hear it whispering, its voice menacing in her ears, stealing the warmth from her blood. "I SEE YOU!" it hissed, "You cannot hide from the darkness!"

"NO!" she screamed.

Let me wake up! Someone please let me wake up!

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Ana nearly fell out of bed she sat up so quickly, her chest heaving and her heart racing a mile a minute. Her whole experience had her trembling uncontrollably her nerves were so frazzled.

But she didn't register any of this. She had only one thing on her mind right then, and it was more horrifying than any vision she could ever have.

He's here. Paplatine is HERE!