A week later:

~Anakin's POV~

Anakin had experienced death. On the battlefield, he had experienced constant slaughtering and unexpected death. He had led those men to their deaths each and every time.

But those were casualties. In war, there was bound to be casualties, he wasn't so naïve as to think otherwise. There was nothing he could do to avoid those.

This, he could have avoided. This time, each death, every Jedi and clone that had died had perished because of him.

The guilt was excruciating.

Anakin gulped as he walked into Ahsoka's room. She had gotten hurt, despite his plan. Shot in the side. It had only torn flesh, but the thought of what could have happened caused him to cringe in terror.

Another thought that involved cringing was the fact that they were about to go before the council for their report. It had taken a week for the Jedi council to debrief all of the Jedi survivors, and finally Anakin and Ahsoka had been called in for their report.

He dreaded the idea.

With a sigh, Anakin headed into Ahsoka's room. Inside, he saw her asleep, her predatory features more visible in slumber. I'm sorry, Snips, he thought as he walked closer. She looked so… Young. She looked much too young to run into battle every day.

She looked much too young to have seen the things she had seen. She looked too young to have done the things she had done.

Not for the first time, Anakin decided that he loathed war. He loathed it with everything in him. And he had ruined the one chance he had at ending it. Perfect.

Anakin knelt next to his apprentice, gently shaking her bare shoulder. "Ahsoka," he called softly. "Get up," almost at once, from war-bred instinct, her eyes snapped open.

In the dim light, her dark sapphire eyes appeared to glow like a wild cat's. "Master?" She asked, sitting straight up with a flinch of unhealed pain

She looked around, searching for the incoming droids or battle tanks. "What happened?" She was too young to wake up and wonder who had died and if they were going to die next. She had not even begun to live. Anakin smiled weakly, no use in depressing Ahsoka too.

"The council wants to see us, now," he told her. Ahsoka's face dropped. She gulped. "Our death sentence has arrived," she said shakily. Anakin snickered, that was a good way to look at it. "Yep, come on and get up," he said. Ahsoka nodded and stood.

For some reason, she liked to sleep in her old tube top and skirt, and Anakin noticed just how much she had grown in it.

She was no longer the immature, naïve, know-it-all apprentice he had once known. She had grown. Something along the lines of a sad pride grew in Anakin's chest. She could be a knight soon. The thought terrified him.

Well, she's no safer with you than without you, a voice mocked in his head. Anakin winced and shook his head as he walked out. He leaned against the door, waiting, but just as his back touched the wall, Ahsoka came out, fully dressed and ready. He had never been able to figure out how she did that.

"Let's go," she said quickly, her face serious and ready. She looked like she was about to go into battle. Anakin nodded and the two walked down the halls to the substitute council room. It was a rather large room, the edges consisting of a small staircase.

When Anakin and Ahsoka walked in, , the council members all stood in the middle in a tight circle, talking quietly. They turned, and despite the fact that blame was not the Jedi way, Anakin saw the accusations in their eyes. Behind that was weariness.

Ahsoka and Anakin stood there, hands folded behind their backs, facing the council, who all stared at them sternly. This isn't going well already, Anakin thought, his eyes flicked to Obi-wan, but it was impossible to read the expression on his former master's face.

Anakin felt a rush of anger. How many times had Obi-wan told him to lay the blame where the blame belongs? Who attacked the Republic, was it Anakin? No, so why were they accusing him of being a failure? If anything, they should have been mad at Yoda for training Dooku. He was the Traitor. Not Anakin.

At last, after an eternity of straight staring, Master Windu sighed and said. "I don't even know what to say anymore, do any of you?" He glanced at his other council members. "No," the others said in unison.

Anakin sensed Ahsoka flinch. He, on the other hand, was slightly impressed with himself. He had run the Jedi council out of words? Now that was achieving the impossible. He was so the Chosen One.

"Go," Yoda ordered in a sigh. He looked older all of a sudden. The guilt returned in a prick, was he really that much of a menace?

Ahsoka nodded and quickly they walked out.

~Palpatine's POV~

"It just makes me angry, Chancellor. How they can preach about forgiveness and not blaming others and then when I do something wrong, they want to glare at me?" Anakin said as he paced across the room.

The dark Sith only tapped his fingers on his desk thoughtfully, staring at the boy patiently. Inside, he was grinning.

"It just isn't fair. I mean, it wasn't only myinfluence that ruined the plan. With or without my idea, things would have happened the way it did," Anakin grumbled.

He sighed and stopped, crossing his arms across his chest sulkily. "And on top of that, force, I just feel so… Guilty. So many people died because of me," he sighed.

This was going better than expected. Palpatine had encouraged the boy to go through with his plan knowing that this would happen, but force, he didn't know it would have ended this well. Guilt, anger, fear; it was all a part of the dark side.

Palpatine nodded understandingly. "I know, Anakin. It frustrates me just to hear about it. I watched from the windows of course, but I never thought about the side-effects of all this. What did Master Kenobi say?" He wondered.

Anakin glanced at him; he was staring out of the window at the ruined battlements. "Oh, Obi-wan? He didn't say anything," he answered indifferently.

"Honestly? Hmm, I thought at least he would have said something in your defense," Palpatine said, discounting the fact that Obi-wan had said something earlier. Anakin laughed bitterly. "Obi-wan is the council's little lap dog, he's the Orders perfect Jedi," he sneered.

"It's why I can't come to him about any of this. I really do care about my master, Chancellor; he's a good man, but he…" Anakin sighed. "He's just… Obi-wan. He would not understand. He never understands, or even listens to me. Back to the council though," he said quickly.

Palpatine gnashed his teeth. Blast! The boy is still too attached to Kenobi. Turning them against each other will be harder than I had anticipated.

"Yes. You know Anakin; I did hear the council when the plan started to collapse. I know it's none of my business to be eavesdropping, but they knew that the plan would fall apart eventually. They clearly- and rightly- anticipated what would happen, so I wonder, why didn't they do anything about it?" He asked. He saw Anakin's eyes flash, but then settled down.

"They didn't know how to help at that point," he explained slowly. "And maybe they thought I…" he turned, staring at the Chancellor, seeking his opinion. "That I knew what I was doing?" He wondered hopefully.

The secret Sith smiled pleasantly. "Of course. You know them better than I. Perhaps that was the case. But if it is, wouldn't they share some of the blame as well? Why lay it all on you?" He asked. Anakin turned again, and his face was a mixture of thoughtfulness, rage and guilt.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't know Chancellor," he said, again slowly. Palpatine smiled wickedly.

Mistrust and guilt were a trick of the Sith.

~Padme's POV~

"You… Literally, made the Jedi high Council speechless?" Padme gasped, staring at her husband, who stood proudly before her. Despite his posture however, Padme could see the glints of guilt in his eyes.

"Yep," Anakin said with a nod. Padme arched an eyebrow and put her chin in her hands. "Impressive, to say the least. I don't think you should be so proud of it though," she pointed out. Anakin shrugged.

Husband and wife were currently in Padme's unofficial office. It was small, and the walls were dark pink, her least favorite color, but it was comfortable. Anakin had already told Padme about the council meeting so far. She had a feeling there was more.

"I have a good reason to be proud of it," he scoffed. "It's about time they followed their own rules. How can they blame me for this, Padme? I admit it was mostly my fault for going against the plan-" "and not telling anyone about it," Padme added. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"And that; but lay the blame where the blame belongs, as Obi-wan would say. It was not all my fault. The Chancellor says that they knew what was going to happen before it truly did. Why could not they stop it? Why don't they take some of the blame for once? On top of that, where was Obi-wan during all of this? He could have said something. I know he's a master now, but…" Padme interrupted smoothly. "He did say something," she told him firmly.

Anakin's eyebrows crinkled in surprise. She rarely interrupted him. "What?" he asked. "He did. When the council first found out that you were going against the plan. Your right, I don't know why they didn't do anything, but Obi-wan did say something. Master Windu glared at him and said…."

Padme scowled, trying to recall the Jedi Master's exact words. "Basically, he said he hopes Obi-wan taught you well because if you failed we were all going to die," she said at last. Anakin growled. "Typical," he sneered.

"And Obi-wan lifted his chin and said, these were his exact words, Anakin," it was easier to recall what Obi-wan had said. She did not ever believe she would forget for some reason. "He said: 'Anakin will not let me down. He never has," she quoted.

Anakin stared at her incredulously. "Don't lie to me, Padme," he said firmly, his blue eyes searching hers. "I'm not," Padme replied, a bit hurt.

Why would she lie about something of this importance? She knew how much Anakin vied for Obi-wan's approval. Why doesn't he trust me? She wondered vaguely.

Anakin stared into her eyes a moment longer before nodding. "I... Guess he did," he said at last. Padme nodded.

Anakin looked away, his arms crossed. "Are you sure you heard right?" He asked again, and this time his voice was anxious, almost desperate. He sounded like the nine-year-old boy she had met on Tatooine, the one who desperately craved his master's attention and praise. Attention and praise he never received.

"Yes, Ani," she laughed. Standing, Padme reached across the desk and put a hand on his arm. "I heard right. I promise you. Obi-wan cares about you, I've told you that. Now what else happened?" she asked.

Anakin did not answer; instead he looked at her with a weak smile. She saw the glimmer of guilt in his eyes grow larger.

"Even after he stood up for me, I let him down," he whispered. Padme felt her heart sink, she had never meant for him to take it that way. Anakin shook his head and squeezed her hand. "I've got to go," he said. Padme smiled and nodded.

That was her Ani; he would fix his mistakes, whatever the cost. "I know, but…" She trailed off, wondering if now was the time to tell him. Anakin studied her, and she knew he had sensed the bit of anxiety within her.

"Padme?" he asked softly. Padme bit her lip, no hiding the truth from him now. She looked down. How do I phrase this? She wondered for the sixteenth time that week.

"Phrase what? I can sense your anxiety, Padme, what is it?" He asked. He leaned forward, his eyes burrowing into hers worriedly. Padme took in a deep breath. "Anakin, I'm pregnant."

Boom! So I guess you already know this is around the time ROTS Started and the chancellor was saved. I posted such a long chapter because I really wanted you to get the full affect of the after-math of the first battles, especially Anakin's guilt. The next chapter will be oddly over-awesome.

~Queen Yoda