Chapter Eight:

They were still in the security office of the apartment complex as Emmara tried to grasp the reality that had just been thrown in her face. Marcus had lied to them all. He was a rebel. He was in contact with the assassin's the entire time. The thought of it all made Emmara's blood boil, but at the same time she felt like a complete fool. How had she not seen this? It had been in front of her the entire time. She knew that something was amiss when he would disappear for hours and then just reappear out of the blue. Why hadn't she confronted him about it? Add to that the fact that she had been having visions about him, and she felt like an utter idiot.

"How could I have been so stupid?" She scolded herself, "He was right there the whole time!"

Obi-wan stood beside her and listened to her verbally abuse herself.

"Emmara this is not your fault. We were all deceived." He told her, "How could you have possibly known?"

Emmara shook her head.

"I'm going to destroy that lying little…" When she attempted to rush out of the security room Obi-wan grabbed her arms and held her fast.

"Act without allowing anger to cloud your judgment." He instructed her, "If you confront him now, they will escape. We are outnumbered." She couldn't argue with his logic, and so she calmed down and nodded her head dejected.

"What should we do?" She asked Obi-wan, wanting to know what his solution to this mess would be.

"Allow him to return to the temple as he normally would." Emmara's brow furrowed.

"We can't just let him walk away."

"On the contrary." He told her, "We will let him lead us to them. In the mean time we need to return and inform the council." Emmara hardly liked his suggestion, but nodded knowing that he was right.

They both watched the viewing screen as Marcus stepped off the elevator and disappeared out of the building.

"How am I supposed to look at him?" She declared, "I still want to beat him to a bloody pulp. I'm not as strong as you are." She said to Obi-wan, knowing that seeing him amongst her friends would make her want to tear him apart.

"Let the force guide you, Emmara." He told her. "It will not lead you astray."

She huffed.

"I must not be that attuned to force if I had been having visions and couldn't seem to connect the two together." She ranted, all the while mentally berating herself for being so naïve.

"Perhaps you did not want to see it."

She gave him a look of haughty derision.

"Of course I didn't want to see it!" She cried, "I have been living under the same roof as a rebel basically feeding him all of the information he needs!" She let out a long growl of frustration. "That is probably why we haven't been able to find them before this! He has been leading us all astray, keeping us away from them."

Obi-wan considered this, and realized that it was most likely true.

"How are you so calm?" She snapped, and Obi-wan subtly sent her a calming wave through the force. That only appeared to make her more upset. "Don't do that. I want to be angry right now."

"You asked me how I was so calm." He replied tranquilly, and she rolled her eyes.

"Use your words." She scolded, and Obi-wan scowled.

"Anger will only cause irrational action." Emmara wanted to smack him and his damn serenity. "Release your anger into the force and then you will see clearly."

She sighed.

Closing her eyes, Emmara thought of the source of her anger and pushed it away from herself allowing it to fall away until it was small enough to contain. It was by no means dissipated, but it was much easier to reign in now.

She took a deep calming breath.

"Isn't that better?" She gave him a stink eye.

"No." She said snippily, but he could tell that she was only trying to be contradictory. He laughed.

"I thought you were the rational one." He commented, and Emmara smacked his arm.

"I am." She defended herself, "Just not when someone has been lying to my face for weeks."

"This treachery won't go unpunished, Em." He reassured her, "The council will make sure of that."

Emmara exhaled noisily and then her eyes widened in realization.

"If Marcus is a member of the rebellion, how many more are there?" She deliberated, "Avelle is a Guardian, the closest to the queen you can get. Marcus is a soldier; they can't be the only ones. The rebellion is bigger than we had originally thought."

The notion sent Emmara's stomach in a downward spiral to her shoes. The Queen was in far more trouble than she had originally thought. They had to find a way back. They had to, or else this was all in vain.

"Why are we here Obi-wan?" She postulated, "I don't understand why we've been brought here to discover all of these things, just to be barred from fixing them." She sighed, "It seems like a cruel joke."

Obi-wan followed her sigh with one of his own.

"It is a strange sequence of events, to be sure, but the force will not do something for naught." He comforted, "There has to be a bigger picture that we cannot see."

Emmara accepted his words, hoping that he was right.

"Let's go and inform the council of what we've discovered, and then we will worry about facing Marcus."

Emmara was eerily quiet on the journey back to the temple. In her mind she was going over every detail of every moment she had been with Marcus, trying to pin point any clues to what they were planning. Why did Marcus come with them on the Wanderer? Why didn't he go with the other assassin's? Emmara's mind answered that question easily; to keep an eye on them. She clenched her fists. She could only pray that she hadn't let any important information fall into his hands.

She was silent on the lift to the Jedi Council tower.

Obi-wan was worried that she was blaming herself again, but he had no idea how to convince her otherwise. Anything he could say wouldn't help, but he hated seeing her beat herself up like this.

"Perhaps you shouldn't go back to your apartments tonight," He suggested. "Seeing Marcus so soon might upset you."

Emmara nodded without a sound.

Obi-wan took a deep breath.

"There is no fault to be found with you, Emmara." He told her, but she refused to believe that. She could have ended this whole mess ages ago but she had blatantly ignored the warning signs. Exactly like when she had felt suspicious of Falon Jarem at the gala but ignored it. Look where that got me. She thought bitterly.

The lift doors opened onto the council tower receiving area and they both exited the elevator without a word.

Obi-wan left to request the presence of the council immediately.

Emmara stood beside the spacious window, looking out over the bright horizon. As the sun had begun to set the sky was painted a brilliant orange and illuminated around the tall city, making it appear as if it were glowing orange as well. It truly was remarkable.

"They are convening in about ten minutes," Obi-wan told her quietly, "They have accepted our request."

Emmara acknowledged his words,

"Thank you, Obi-wan for being such a good friend." She told him honestly, "I would have never found him on my own."

She smiled softly at him, her green eyes illuminated in the dimming light that flooded through the window.

Obi-wan found himself captivated by the brilliant green of her eyes, and could only nod. He came to his senses and turned away his heart beating far too quickly for his liking. How did she always do that? With only a look she had Obi-wan tongue tied and immobile.

The ten minutes passed slowly, with the two figures watching the city silently. When they were called in to see the council they moved with urgency.

"Information, have for us, you do?" Yoda asked, and they both nodded. "Waste time, we must not."

That was their queue to tell them, and with a look from Emmara Obi-wan knew that he would be the spokesperson.

"Marcus Darsten has been in contact with the fugitive's all along." Obi-wan told them, "We followed him and have proof that he is in league with the assassin's from Eonia."

Yoda considered the information, noticing the anger that had flared in the young woman at the mention of Marcus.

"In custody, have him, you do not." Yoda stated, "Plan of action, you must have."

Obi-wan shook his head.

"Not yet. We came seeking guidance on the matter."

Yoda bobbed his head, and Emmara watched his big ears twitch.

"Anger, I sense in you, Emmara Niada." Yoda announced, turning his attention to the young woman beside Obi-wan.

Placed on the spot Emmara froze, shifting uncomfortably at everyone's eyes focused on her.

"He has been lying to us the entire time," She confessed to the council, trying very hard to tone down the bitterness in her words. "He helped murder a lot of innocent people that night. I am angry that I did not see it sooner."

Yoda nodded in understanding.

"Set aside your anger, you must." He advised, "To have anger, is to be tempted by the dark side."

Emmara nodded humbly, accepting his critique.

"I will try, Master." She told him honestly, but he was not impressed with her answer.

"Do or do not, there is no try." He told her firmly. Emmara could only nod in agreement.

"Marcus will lead you to the others." Mace Windu said, "They must be brought in to custody as soon as possible."

Obi-wan nodded,

"We are going to wait until he makes contact next," Obi-wan said, "We are planning on it happening tomorrow."

The council agreed.

"Our blessing, you have." Yoda told him, "May the force be with you, Master Kenobi, Miss Niada."

Emmara and Obi-wan bowed before stepping out of the council room.

When Emmara stepped through the threshold of their shared apartment, she prayed to Valor that Marcus wouldn't be there. Fate was not so kind, because he was sitting at the counter beside Halley having dinner. Jade and Briam were there, as well as Anakin, standing casually around the kitchen island. All of them were talking and laughing, and an incredible sorrow filled Emmara. These were people who believed that they were friends, that trusted him and he was mocking them. She felt her blood pressure sky rocket as the sadness burned into raging anger.

She had to take a deep breath.

She couldn't let Jade know until Marcus was gone. She had to be cautious.

Jade caught sight of her and called out a greeting. Emmara smiled as genuinely as she could as everyone turned to greet her.

"Hello." She replied, casually walking over to the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"

Emmara looked over Halley's shoulder to her plate. There was a green salad, and some sort of casserole.

"Some sort of meat casserole." Jade informed her, "I have no idea what kind, but it is actually rather tasty."

"You should have some." Marcus said, eyeing her suspiciously. She forced herself to grin at him as she shook her head.

"Obi-wan and I had dinner, and I am full." Anakin looked annoyed.

"So that's where Obi-wan went off too." He muttered, and Emmara nodded.

"Sorry, he was helping me work on my meditation skills." She lied smoothly, "Then it was late so we grabbed some dinner. No biggie." Across the room Jade grinned mischeviously.

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" She teased, and Emmara turned a bright shade of red as she began to deny it. "I know Emmara," She relinquished, "I just love making you turn all different sorts of colors."

Emmara glared, but Anakin looked relieved.

"You know I hate it when you do that." Emmara said, knowing perfectly well that Jade loved making Emmara blush. It was just so easy due to Emmara's fair skin. Everything made her face turn red: embarrassment, exertion, anger, sadness. It was a trait she would pay to get rid of.

If only Jade had known where she had really been, all of the happiness radiating in the room would diminish in a heartbeat. Emmara sighed; perhaps she should give them tonight. If her dreams were in fact a vision of the future, tomorrow could be very dim. She looked to Briam, and she couldn't take it any longer.

"I'm sorry I forgot something." Emmara made an excuse, "I'll be back in a minute."

"Riiiight." Jade teased with a wink.

"Stop that." She scolded, becoming embarrassed that Jade was holding her feelings for Obi-wan over her head; with Anakin in the room, no less. It made her extremely self conscious. She almost wished that she hadn't confided in Jade her ever growing feelings for the Jedi Knight.

So she hurried out of the apartment, and once she was in the hallway she leaned back against the wall and sunk to the floor. Tears began to stream down her face, and she couldn't stop them.

That was how Anakin found her moments later; broken down on the floor.

"Are you alright, Emmara?" He asked. Even though they did not have the closest relationship, Anakin still cared for Emmara. So he sat down next to her in the hallway. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He was fully expecting her to confess her hidden love for his master, and tell him about how Obi-wan denied her affection and turned her away. Anakin was no fool; he had seen how his master looked at Emmara. He also noticed a distinct change in his behavior lately. He was no longer depressed, or nearly as volatile. To that point Anakin was relieved, but he was not pleased it was due to a woman.

"Marcus has lied to us all." She whispered, "He has been in league with the assassin's the entire time."

Anakin's face hardened. He was not expecting that.

"Are you sure?"

Emmara nodded.

"That is where Obi-wan and I were. We followed him into the city and saw him with Avelle, a Guardian." Anakin could hardly believe it. That was probably why they had such a hard time tracking them down! He found it strange that a group, with no knowledge of this galaxy, hadn't turned any heads anywhere. It was as if they had disappeared altogether.

"What is the plan?"

"We will follow him tomorrow, and apprehend them." She told him, her voice choking when she could suddenly smell the scent of smoke. "We can't let him know that we are on to him, or he will just run."

Anakin could clearly see that there was more than she was telling him. He hardly doubted that she would break down crying over Marcus. From what he had seen between the Eonian group Marcus hardly interacted with anyone. He was distant, and hardly ever spoke.

"What aren't you telling me?" He prodded, wanting to know the real reason why she was crying.

Emmara's tear stained face turned to Anakin, and her green eyes were swimming with unshed tears.

"I have been having awful dreams." She admitted.

"What kind of dreams?"

"Dreams of death, and pain." Anakin froze. He was all too familiar with these kinds of dreams. He had one a few months ago about his mother. He shivered at the memory.

"Who?" He was curious who her dreams were about, and why it was upsetting her so much.

Emmara chewed on her lip.

"Can we go to your place?" She asked, a hiccup erupting from her mouth suddenly. She frowned. "Great, now I have the hiccups too."

Anakin smiled for her, and nodded.

"Yes, let's go." Anakin stood and held a hand out for Emmara to pull her up.

They walked together in silence.

Anakin knew that she was avoiding his question, but why he wasn't sure. As much as he wanted to know who she was having these dreams about, he was reluctant to push her. It was obvious that she was hardly emotionally stable at the moment.

Anakin walked through their apartment door first, with Emmara trailing behind him.

Obi-wan was sitting at the table with a cup of tea. At first he didn't notice Emmara.

"We have much to talk about, my young apprentice." He stated, taking a sip of his tea.

Anakin nodded, stepping to the side to give Obi-wan a view of Emmara.

"I think I know what you are going to say."

Obi-wan saw the tear stains on Emmara's cheeks and smiled sadly in greeting. She nodded.

"You were right. Can I stay with you and Anakin tonight?" Was all she needed to say for him to understand why she was so upset.

"Of course." He got to his feet, "Would you like a cup of tea?" He offered, and Emmara nodded.

"That would be lovely."

Obi-wan turned to Anakin, and gestured for him to take a seat as well.

"We have a lot to talk about." Obi-wan grabbed two more cups, and returned to the table as Anakin took a seat between the two of them.

Obi-wan poured Emmara a cup of tea before returning to his seat and looking to his padawan.

"We need to develop a plan of action." Obi-wan said, "We have to be prepared for anything to happen."

His apprentice agreed full heartedly, and began asking questions about what had happened when they followed Marcus. Emmara just sat and sipped at her tea and listened to them devise a plan. She was far too absorbed in her thoughts to really contribute. She was trying to devise her own plan. She needed to find a way to keep Briam from going to that hotel tomorrow, but no matter what scenario she thought up it would never work. So she decided that she would just have to be extra vigilant on keeping an eye on him, at all times. The alternative was to allow herself to take the fatal blow.

She sighed loudly; it was going to be a long night.

Obi-wan and Anakin had long since gone to bed but Emmara was far from being able to sleep.

Anakin had been kind enough to offer his bed to her, and no matter how much she tried to tell him she could sleep on the couch, he wouldn't accept it. So she was tossing and turning in a comfortable bed while Anakin was probably uncomfortable and cramped on the couch in the living room. She felt guilty, and was tempted to go and tell him that she couldn't sleep either way so he should just have the bed. She looked to the chrono projecting up onto the ceiling. It was way past midnight. So it would be pointless to wake him up now and shuffle him into the room.

Emmara rolled over onto her side.

Her mind kept playing the moment that the assailant attacked, to a point that Emmara felt certain that if she was close enough she could stop him. It was the only possible solution she could think of because she had realized earlier that if she told Briam to stay behind it would be Jade on the receiving end of the knife. No matter how she tried to fix it, it all seemed to end with someone getting hurt and she preferred it to be herself.

Pushing the vision from her thoughts she decided to go over the plan of action Obi-wan and Anakin had arranged. In the morning they would brief Jade and Briam, but until then they were clueless about what was going on. Emmara had planned to tell them after Marcus had gone to bed, but Emmara had to get out of that apartment. She knew that Jade would probably blow things out of proportion when she discovers that Emmara had been out all night, but that was least of her problems.

Emmara turned again, before deciding that she needed to get out of the bed and walk for a minute. She wouldn't leave the apartment, but she felt restless and needed to move around. Throwing the covers off, she slid her legs over the edge of the bed until her feet touched the cool floor. There was a touch of a chill in the air, but it was not too bad.

She stood up and began to walk blindly over to the window but didn't make it far when she tripped over something. She landed heavily on floor with a few curses. Giving herself a moment to manage the pain in her toe, she tried to get a look at what she had tripped over. In the dark it just appeared to be a wiry hunk of metal. How had she not noticed that when she came in earlier?

The door to Anakin's room opened and Emmara jumped in surprise.

Obi-wan poked his head in the door.

"Are you alright?" He asked, and upon seeing her upon the floor surmised that she had fallen over. He walked over to help her to her feet. He had a sudden sense of déjà vu. "Have we done this before?" He sounded innocent, and Emmara laughed quietly.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." She agreed, remembering all of the times that she had tripped, or almost tripped and he had been there to save the day. Obi-wan chuckled.

"Instead of meditation I should have been training you how to balance." Emmara feigned a hurt frown.

"I can balance," she argued fruitlessly as they both laughed again. "Why are you awake?"

"I was asleep but then someone was making these really loud thumping noises…" He teased sarcastically and she rolled her eyes.

"You're lucky I don't thump you." She shot back, and Obi-wan laughed. He raised his hands in a sign of defeat. "That's right, don't even try."

"I couldn't possibly beat a lady." He told her with a smirk which caused Emmara to roll her eyes again.

"Don't try and pretend like you're some goody two shoes." She accused him with a smile, enjoying the exchange.

"Are you prepared for tomorrow?" Obi-wan asked, the mood shifting completely. Emmara sighed.

"I can't postpone the inevitable even as much as I would like to." She sighed sadly, "But I will follow through. I promise."

Obi-wan nodded. He knew that Emmara was a Guardian, trained to fight for her country, but he knew that this had hit her hard. He was worried that she was taking this far too personally, and it would destroy her.

"Emmara it will all be okay." He tried to reassure her, but he saw the despondent look that crossed her face. He moved in front of her and grabbed her shoulders softly, rubbing them comfortingly. "What tomorrow brings will help you grow stronger; there is nothing that happens for no reason."

Emmara nodded.

"I know." She told him, looking up into his eyes. "I am still afraid."

He waited for her to continue patiently.

"Briam means so much to Jade, it will break her apart. I can't watch her go through that." Obi-wan suddenly got a distinct feeling that Emmara was planning something, and it was not good.

He eyed her carefully, trying to find some clue behind her eyes.

He felt the sudden fear, but not just any fear. She was afraid to die.

His grip on her shoulders tightened.

"Emmara…" He began, but she pulled away from him. She turned her back to him.

"I would rather it be me than any of my friends." She confessed. He had thought she simply was afraid to die an accidental death at the hands of the rebels, but now he understood that she was planning on taking Briam's place.

Obi-wan blanched at her words.

He felt his own stomach twist in fear when he thought of Emmara dying. At the thought something inside of him felt like it was being torn to pieces.

"You can't do this, Emmara." He cried, stepping forward and pulling her back to face him. A tear had slipped from her eye, but she wiped it away quickly.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you." She muttered sadly, "But I will not change my mind."

"You will change your mind." He demanded, grabbing her forearms in his hands. "I won't allow you to commit suicide!"

Emmara shook her head.

"It is not suicide Obi-wan," She corrected him. "It is a sacrifice I am willing to make. Too many have died for me already."

He repeated her words quietly.

"Who has died for you?" He queried, and Emmara realized her blunder.

"I meant they have died for my foolishness." She amended, "I could have stopped the bombing at the palace. None of this would have happened if I would have done my job."

Obi-wan did not understand why her words hurt, but they did. Did she regret coming here?

Emmara sensed his feelings and shook her head.

"I would never regret meeting you, Obi-wan." She told him. "You mean so much to me."

Obi-wan froze. He could hear the obvious affection laced in her voice, and he gulped.

Emmara's fixed her eyes on Obi-wan's hands encasing her arms. They were larger than her own, and as calloused as her own from a life full of hard work. She pulled one of her arms from his grasp and placed her hand on top of his, stroking the skin there with her thumb. The caress was not lost on Obi-wan. He kept still; afraid that if he moved her touch would disappear.

She knew that if she tried to speak, all of the eloquent words that were running through her mind would come out in a jumble of unintelligent fodder. She bit her lip in frustration. This was the moment; she should just take that leap of faith and pray that Obi-wan would catch her before she crashed and burned. All she needed to do now was throw herself off of that ledge and see where the wind took her.

She knew that what she was about to do would either end very badly, or very well.

Without a word Emmara slowly leaned upward and gently touched her lips to Obi-wan's.

After a wonderfully, ecstatic moment she felt Obi-wan's hands on her shoulder's and he softly pushed her away from him. She felt her heart plummet down to the ground. Ever so slowly she opened her eyes, hesitant to see the disdain etched in his features. Only she was pleasantly surprised to see that his eyes had not yet opened, and he had a slight smile on his face. A smile appeared on her face and she placed on of her hands over his to see the moment shattered when his smile disappeared and his eyes opened abruptly.

He turned away from her, his eyes downcast.

"Emmara I..." Her heart began to ache at the sound of his voice. She knew what was coming next. She knew it was forbidden for him to love her, and in that moment she cursed herself for pursuing a man she could never have completely.

She shook her head and held a finger to his lips to stop him as he began to speak.

"Please don't, Obi-wan. I know that was wrong, but..." She shook her head, shutting her eyes tight trying her damndest to get rid of the tears filling her eyes. "I had to let you know."

Her words only fortified his intentions of making sure that she came back tomorrow safe and sound. Even if he couldn't allow himself to reciprocate her feelings, he couldn't let her sacrifice herself. He might be bound by the Code, but he still cared deeply for the young woman.

"You will come back tomorrow." He told her, "I swear it."