~ sorry for the long wait on a new chapter!
HappyDoodle ~ thanks for letting me vent my mind to you :D
That goes for all my followers of this story, I had such a case of writers block on this one, but I think I am back in the swing of this :D Hope this chapter makes up for the long wait! Also I am having trouble with fanfiction and am having to switch how I upload things so if anything looks off (sentences/paragraphs out of wack, missing puncuation, etc) then blame it on that and please feel free to let me know in a kind manner, I got a lot of people mad over something I couldn't control on my other story and want to avoid that here.
It was silent inside the small ship Anakin had been given by the Clones to transport the prisoner. Since Coruscant was nearby and that is where his trial would take place, Anakin had decided to take the prisoner directly to the Jedi temple where he would be held securely until said trial took place. Suddenly the Count broke the silence "You know, I am not the Sith Lord, but rather my master is." Anakin scowled in his direction and responded "You're just saying that because you are trapped Count." "Yes I am caught, and quite honestly I don't see me getting free, rather I am sure I will die a mysterious death. My master has turned against me, you were there to witness that he did."
"Are you really trying to make me believe that the Chancellor is the Sith Lord? That he is your Master?" Anakin asked, disbelief coloring his voice. "He tried to get you to kill me didn't he? Even though he knows its not the Jedi way, he tried to get you to kill an unarmed prisoner and did you not see the fear in his eyes upon your friend saying that he would take him in a separate craft? He was afraid I would do just what I am doing now, talk." The Count made an end to his speech and stared out the viewport into open space as Anakin tried to figure out whether or not he should believe his enemy that his confidant wasn't all he thought he was.
XXX
Luke flicked some switches on the control panel, checking to make sure their flight would be a steady one, before smiling in the Chancellor's direction and saying "Comfortable sir?" Palpatine tried to cover the scowl and put his mask back in place as he said "Oh yes young master Jedi, quite." "Good, I'm glad to hear it. If you need anything just let me or the droid know." His father may own R2 in this time, but he still had formed quite a bond with the astromech and said droid had chosen to accompany him on this journey, being as there was more space in the dignitary transport that had been sent to bring the Chancellor home once he was rescued then the small craft given to Anakin bring in Doku.
The Chancellor nodded, but said nothing as his view returned once more to space. Luke let a few more minutes of comfortable silence fill the craft before asking as nonchalantly as he could, while keeping his eyes out the viewing port, "Why did you try to get Anakin to kill Doku? He was no longer a threat." He felt the surprise rolling off of the Emperor, before he quickly recovered and with and indignant tone replied "It is not your place to question my commands, young Jedi." Luke put on his friendliest and contrite smile before responding, "Sorry sir, wasn't trying to step on your toes, just trying to pass the time until we land."
He felt Palpatine study him before he slowly said to Luke, "I'm sorry, master Jedi, this war has me on edge I guess, to many questions and not enough answers to give." Luke nodded as if he knew what he meant and said "Don't worry about it sir, Anakin is always telling me to be less curious. He blames me for half of the troubles we got into when we were training together." Palpatine laughed and Luke could almost see how the Jedi of this time could miss what was staring them right in the eyes, before he said "You must be Luke then, Anakin has told me about your many, ah, antics."
Luke smiled unrepentantly and answered "Guilty, though I am sure Anakin has exaggerated those and left out many off the stories that involved him being the mastermind." Palpatine smiled in a friendly way and responded "I am sure you are quite right." Silence once again filled their spacious spacecraft before Palpatine broke it "To answer your earlier question, Luke, I commanded him to do so for fear of what Doku has done as well as what he could do or what his compatriots will try to do to free him. We are going to be keeping him here on Coruscant and that is almost begging the Separatist to come and get him." Luke frowned slightly and asked "But couldn't his capture also mean the end of this war? With their leader in prison, maybe his allies will give themselves up." Palpatine looked unsettled by this, but simply responded "Only time will tell now."
XXX
After Luke had dropped off the Chancellor and seen him safely back to his room, he hurried over to the Jedi Temple. He saw Anakin walking out, looking deep in thought and slightly troubled. "Anakin!" Luke exclaimed, waving to get his father's attention. Up until recently he had been thinking of him less and less as his father and more like a friend, a brother. But with all that happened, it reminded him of why he and the others were there, and that had started him once again putting Anakin back in the father box. Anakin looked up at him and gave a half smile as he headed in his direction. Once he reached Luke's side he said "Walk with me to the Senate building?"
"Sure. What's on your mind? And has Ahsoka and Obi-Wan returned?" Luke asked, falling into step beside him. Anakin shook his head no before replying "Not yet, but I need to talk to someone about my time with Doku on the way down here and since neither of them are here, that leaves you to talk with." "Gee thanks for the vote of confidence." Luke said dryly, before growing serious and asking "What's on your mind?" Anakin told him everything Doku had said to him and finished with "Do you think we should believe him?"
Luke hesitated. He could say yes, but then Anakin might rush off to deal with Palpatinem, but if he said no that could leave them right back where they started. Finally he answered "I think he might be telling the truth, I mean did he seem genuinely nervous or scared when he said he might die? Either way, its something the Council needs to know and they can make a better decision then either of us." Anakin was silent a little longer then finally nodded and said "You're right." Luke looked around and realized they had arrived at the Senate building and put a smirk on his face as he said "I know I am, now go and let your wife know you are okay."
Anakin stopped walking and stared at Luke and started saying "How…." "Did I know? I am your friend Anakin. I knew something was up when you kept disappearing at night. Don't worry I didn't tell the Council. Besides, I'm not against attachments at all and you might find that there are many who feel the same. Anyways, we can talk about it later, for now, go and see your wife." Anakin gave him one last odd look before heading off to meet Padmé.
XXX
"You did what?" Rey asked in a hushed, though not unexcited tone, later that night. "I told him I knew about Padmé and how I felt about it." Luke replied, look around Dex's Diner to make sure no one had overheard them that would take the news to anyone of any importance. He had just satisfied himself that no one had and turned back to his friends when Ezra asked "Are you sure that was wise?" Luke shrugged and replied "Wise or not, it's done, but he needs to know that there are people who will stand by him, no matter what, besides the Chancellor." Ezra and Rey shared a look before both sighed and Rey said "You're right. Should we tell him we know too?"
Luke shook his head and replied "No, I think he'll accept me knowing about it since we trained with each other for a bit, but he doesn't know you that well so why would you know that when his own master is oblivious?" Ezra and Rey acknowledge that Luke had a point and just then there food arrived and they all settled into eating, the conversation set aside for the time being.
XXX
The next morning, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Luke and Anakin all reported to the Jedi Council. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan had arrived back late the night before, so the Council waited until all four of them were together to get a full report of the previous day's activity. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka informed the Council that General Grievous had been cut down in battle after hours of chasing and lightsaber duels. Both Jedi were sporting some new cuts, some that would scar for sure, but other than that were unharmed. Once the easy business was out of the way, it was up to Luke and Anakin to tell the Council about what happened with Doku, Obi-Wan only able to tell them what happened up to the point where he passed out.
Anakin gave Luke a look, one he couldn't read, before starting the tale of what had happened. When he reached to the point where he had cut off Doku's hands and had him at lightsaber point he stopped talking and turned to Luke, letting him tell what happened. Luke knew that meant Anakin wasn't quite ready to accept what Palpatine was, so Luke obliged and finished off the tale, including his talk with Palpatine on the way back. Anakin sighed, then jumped back into the discussion with what Doku had said.
The Council looked at each other, their faces as well as their force signatures showing just how much this news disturbed them. Anakin voiced what all of them were thinking, "Could the Count possibly be right?" Yoda, rather than look to any of his fellow Council members, asked "What think you Luke? Near the Chancellor you were when tempting Skywalker he seemed to be." All eyes turned too Luke and he knew what Yoda was really asking. Was this part of what he came to change. Luke nodded and said "It did seem to be that way, Master Yoda."
Anakin shook his head, and declared "How could he be the Sith Lord? Wouldn't we have sensed it?" "The dark side has clouded the Force to us a lot lately, this could be the reason." Mace said, not really as an answer to Anakin but as a statement to Yoda. The older, green Jedi made a hmm sound and said "Much to think about and consider we do." Yoda replied. Obi-Wan turned to Ahsoka, Luke and Anakin and said "Perhaps you three should leave us while we consider this information." Mace nodded his agreement to Obi-Wan's statement and added "Keep this to yourselves for now, for if this is true, we do have the element of surprise on our side."
The three nodded and left the Council room, Ahsoka and Anakin going one way, heads bent close as he told her something, while Luke went another way, planning to meet up with Ezra and Rey before the three of them were sent on missions later that day. Missions that soon were to be traded for another.
XXX
Shortly after lunch, the three time travelers, Ahsoka and Anakin were summoned to the Council chambers. "You five, along with Obi-Wan, Yoda and Mace will be going to take the Chancellor, while Aayla Secura and few other Masers will be going to take Kamino. Ahsoka and Anakin brought us troubling intel after they made an unscheduled visit to see Palpatine and found him out, intel that shows the Clones have a chip programmed to cause them to turn on us and have them kill us. Luminara Unduli will be making sure signals are blocked on the Senate building so that the Emperor can't activate the order." Kit Fisto informed them.
"Sir, shouldn't we have someone with us that isn't a Jedi so he can't claim we planted the evidence against him?" Rey asked. "Yeah, shouldn't we have Senator Amidala or Organa join us?" Ezra input. "Hmm wise this idea is, both of them you will get Master Fisto." Yoda declared, earning a nod from said Master. "Now if everyone is ready, let's go." Mace stated. Luke, Ezra and Rey shared a look before following the others out. They had never thought they would be going to get Palpatine. Would their fates be those of the ones that had gone in their past to do so? Or had they done enough to change this fate?
