Chapter 10
Anakin sprinted back to the villa. He ran through the door and found Mace and Yoda where he had left them.
"Where's the Chancellor?" he asked, trying not to panic when he noticed the absence of the older man.
"He went to his ship. He decided to wait for you to join him there," Mace replied, eyeing the young Jedi suspiciously. "Do you still think he wasn't involved in the Senator's disappearance?"
Anakin shook his head as he told them of his vision concerning the unbroken door of the villa. "I'm sorry I doubted you."
"Matters now it does not," Yoda declared.
"I need your help, Masters. I can't rescue Padme and go after Chancellor Palpatine," he said in a hurried voice. "And I can't face a Sith Lord alone."
Yoda nodded. "Rescue Senator Skywalker we will," Yoda declared in a strong voice. "Face the Sith Lord alone, you must."
"I don't think he's ready," Mace interrupted, sending a withering look at Anakin.
"Yes I am!" Anakin insisted.
"Really?" Mace challenged. "I still sense much anger and fear in you, Skywalker."
Anakin hung his head, unable to deny Mace's words. He was beginning to understand that his own fears and his own anger had led him to the situation in which he now found himself.
"If you can't control your emotions, you won't be able to face Palpatine, let alone a Sith Lord on your own."
"I have to," Anakin whispered. "For Padme, I have to. I can't lose her."
Mace cast a worried glance at Yoda.
"Let go of your fear you must," Yoda instructed. "Help your wife you cannot, if calm you are not."
Anakin sighed, his fear of losing Padme and their baby were threatening to overwhelm. He reflected on the visions and what he had learned and felt his fears begin to ebb away. He doubted that his fear would ever completely fade away; it had become far too ingrained in him for it to simply cease to be.
"Can you find Padme?" he asked in a soft whisper.
"The Jedi will make finding the senator our top priority," Mace assured him. "I doubt Palpatine has her too far away from him."
"I can make him think I'm joining him," Anakin blurted suddenly, inspiration striking him in that single moment. "He'll lead me to her."
"No," Yoda declared. "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."
"But I know I can fool him," Anakin insisted. "If you'll just let me…," he began.
"No!" Yoda snapped. "Anger...fears...aggression; the dark side of the force, are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. Control your emotions, you cannot. Not ready are you for a burden of deceit of that nature."
"But he'll hurt Padme and our baby," Anakin cried in agony.
"You don't know that," Obi-Wan interjected materializing next to Yoda. "Even Yoda cannot see their fate."
Anakin's eyes focused on his boots as his head hung downward. "What choice do I have, Master?" he wondered. "How am I supposed to confront him and figure out his role in all this if I'm worried about Padme?"
"Remember what the Force showed you earlier." Obi-Wan replied. "You can't control the outcome of every situation, Anakin. Things will happen as they are meant to happen. It is the will of the Force, Anakin, and you can't change it. If it is Padmé's destiny to die, she will, or she will live. Subterfuge will gain you nothing, you must enter into any confrontation with your wits about you."
"Yes, yes, to Obi-Wan you listen," Yoda commented.
Anakin groaned in defeat. He knew that Obi-Wan was right. Fooling Palpatine and whoever else was involved in Padmé's kidnapping would be impossible. He had to find a way to make himself trust in the Force and the Jedi to see to Padmé's safety. He had to find a way to accept that it may be her fate to die.
"Alright," he managed, his tone of voice conceding his defeat. "Master Yoda, Master Windu, I leave Padmé's rescue to you, and I'll go after Palpatine; alone."
"You won't be alone, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied with a slight grin on his face. "Remember what I told you, I'll always be with you."
"I know, Master." Anakin smiled, relief flooding over him. Even if he couldn't have Obi-Wan fighting at his side, it was nice to know he'd be there in some form rather than not at all.
He turned to Yoda. "It's time for me to return to the Jedi Order."
"No," Yoda shook his head. Anakin's eye's widened in shock.
"Left, you never did. A Jedi you always were," Yoda announced, eyes twinkling. "Only resuming your duties you are."
Mace gave a rare smile. "Perhaps you should change your clothing before you leave to find the Chancellor," he advised.
Anakin laughed slightly as he realized he was still clad in his civilian clothing. He looked more like a smuggler than a Jedi Knight. "Right away, Master."
/
As Anakin left the room, Mace turned to face Obi-Wan and Yoda.
"I sense much danger surrounding young Skywalker," he declared sadly. "Are we certain he can handle Palpatine on his own?"
"A great challenge Anakin now faces," Yoda acknowledged. "Ready for the burden he may not be."
"I will be there to help him," Obi-Wan reminded them. "It's not a burden he'll face alone."
"Yes, but choose his path for him, you cannot," Yoda warned.
Obi-Wan sighed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We don't even know the extent of Palpatine's involvement in Padmé's disappearance."
"We don't need the exact details," Mace challenged. "We know he was involved somehow and that makes him very dangerous."
"What if he's being manipulated by the Sith Lord?" Obi-Wan wondered out loud. "Perhaps his involvement was unintentional and against his will,"
"You don't actually believe his version of what happened, do you?" Mace scoffed.
"No," Obi-Wan shook his head. "But it's entirely possible Palpatine was used as bait and when he realized that he'd been used to get to Anakin, he lied to cover it up because he feels guilty that he was duped."
"Why would he do that?," Mace demanded. "He must have known Yoda and I wouldn't be fooled."
"He didn't know you were here," Obi-Wan pointed out. "He may have just panicked."
Mace grunted, but didn't comment.
"Enough," Yoda tapped his gimmer stick several times to end the debate. "Surrounds the Senate the dark side does. A part of it the Chancellor is."
"Do you think he's directly involved with the Sith Lord?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously. "I find that difficult to believe."
"Hard to say," Yoda shrugged. "Blinded we have become if this…," he gestured around the room,"…we could not see."
The three were silent for several moments, each pondering Yoda's words.
If Palpatine is involved with the Sith Lord, then Anakin is going to need all the help he can get," Obi-Wan pointed out.
"And if he isn't, then both Anakin and the Chancellor may need help," Mace added ominously.
"Back to Coruscant we will go," Yoda announced. "Begin there our search for Senator Skywalker will."