"Get inside!" Anakin suddenly ordered Padme, seeing an approaching ship in the horizon.
"That's a Jedi ship," Padme said, seeing the same ship inching closer. "I'm not going inside. The Jedi would never hurt me."
For a moment Anakin and Padme stared at one another. Anakin could almost sense her silent accusation at the harm he had done her. It bothered him that she harbored mistrust toward his intentions and with good reason.
"I'll prove it to you," he said suddenly.
"What?" Padme asked, her eyes darting to the approaching ship.
"I'll not hurt you again Padme," Anakin said with determination. "I'm not good at this, apologizing, admitting my faults."
"This isn't the time!" Padme said wondering if the approaching Jedi was coming to rescue her and challenge Anakin in the process.
Anakin had an idea of who the approaching Jedi was, but he felt it was important to tell Padme what he harbored within. For the first time he was unsure of what to do. Her very presence threw him, he found himself questioning his actions, his own motives. For the longest time she was the only beacon of light he held onto as he fought his personal demons. He just didn't plan for what he would do when he was actually face to face with her again. He realized that his real battle for her began at that very moment and in order to have a chance to win her heart he would have to prove himself to her through other means.
"You need to know," Anakin insisted. "What I did to you… what I've done… I know I can't take it all back. Quite frankly I wouldn't want to…"
Padme almost turned away at his mediocre confession.
"Wait," he insisted. "You don't deserve it. There isn't anything I can say to make things better, but I swear to you, Padme… I will never hurt you again. You have every right not to believe me, but I will fight with every ounce of strength I have to show you the truth in what I've said."
Padme looked away, crossing her arms in a protective gesture. Tears shone in her eyes because she very much wanted to hate him for everything he's done, but she knew inside that if she wanted to stop him, it had always been in her power to do so. She knew with certainty that she was in this very situation because she also actively participated in her own demise. She couldn't hate him, not when she felt so drawn to him, not when her own skin burned to feel his touch even now. Hot tears poured down her cheeks as she grew angry at her own weakness.
Anakin saw Padme's reaction and felt that instead of gaining a bit of Padme's trust, he had possibly widen the chasm between them even more.
Obi Wan Kenobi walked toward Anakin and Padme. He finally reached them, right where Master Yoda suspected they might be. Anakin reached for his lightsaber, still mistrustful of the older Jedi.
"That will be unnecessary," Kenobi said, stopping before Anakin. He then glanced at Padme and said, "Commander, it's good to see that you are well."
"Alive, you mean," Anakin cut in. "You Jedi left her for dead."
"Do not accuse Master Kenobi!" Padme snapped. "This is not his fault, nor the Jedi!"
Her eyes cut into Anakin's, daring him to challenge what she said.
"Why are you here?" Anakin asked, looking away from Padme.
"We need to end this now," Obi Wan replied. "The Emperor is at his weakest point. He has no more defenses. Will you finish what you've started, Anakin? Or shall we continue to call you Lord Vader?"
Anakin gripped his lighsaber, clenching his teeth at the sound of his old name. "You want this nightmare to finish as do I," Anakin said, choosing his words carefully. "However, you Jedi underestimate the Emperor if you think you can make him give up so easily. He'll never stand trial."
"We never presumed he would," Kenobi agreed.
"You want to kill him," Anakin guessed.
"He can't go on enslaving everyone in the galaxy to his will," Kenobi added.
"You want him to kill the Emperor," Padme interjected. "I've never known you Jedi to outright advocate someone's murder. I've always heard Master Yoda talk about bringing him to trial, never murdering him."
"It's gone way beyond that," Kenobi replied, his expression grieved. "Even you know that, Padme. The Rebellion never had qualms about taking hits out on him before."
"How fitting for you Jedi," Padme said, disappointed that the Order had come down to that. "We weren't successful, but how perfect for us all that we have the Emperor's own assassin here to do that job for us."
Padme didn't mean to be so judgmental of the Jedi. She had always admired the Order, the people who worked tirelessly for the freedom of her people and the galaxy. She was, however, sadden to see what toll the war had taken on everyone, even the principles of the Jedi.
"Very well," Anakin suddenly agreed, surprising both Padme and Kenobi. "It's what I do best, isn't it?" he asked with a bit of coldness in his voice. "If killing the Emperor is what I must do to be free of all of this then I'll do it. I just want one thing in return."
Kenobi raised an eyebrow, sensing that Anakin's request wouldn't be so simple to carry out. "We have no money," Kenobi said, testing the younger man.
"You don't know me very well," Anakin said, not surprised that the older man would have such low expectations of him. He knew that it would take an extraordinary will on his part to show Padme that he was a changed man. He reasoned that if Padme were to have a bit of respect for him then he would even be willing to join the Jedi to accomplish that task.
"I assume you know where our children are," Anakin revealed, knowing that he didn't need to give any further explanation. "Give the children back to Padme and I will join you in ending the Emperor's life."
"They are in safe hands," Kenobi replied, his gaze softening as he turned to look at Padme.
"They would be safer with their mother," Anakin insisted. "Give them back to her and I will not only help you bring down the Emperor, but I will lead you to the Sith he's began to foster these past few years."
At the sound of this, Kenobi snapped his attention back to Anakin.
"What?" he asked in surprise.
"I'm not the only one," Anakin said. "Darth Maul wasn't the only one. There are others. Others the Emperor found that he began to recruit as children, as he's done with me and I suspect with those that came before me. I know what that life is like and I won't have my children follow in those footsteps. If I do this it will be for them alone, but you need to give them back to Padme. Those are my only conditions."
Obi Wan Kenobi was taken aback. More Sith! Not only Anakin, but more that were waiting in the wings that were like him.
"Why haven't we heard of this before?" asked Kenobi.
"You Jedi are sometimes easily fooled," Anakin replied, not intending on sounding as critical as he did. "If you kept searching for others that had gifts of a Jedi across the universe, what made you think that the Emperor wouldn't do the same for his own evil gain? He just never advertised like you Jedi."
Obi Wan nodded thoughtfully. "I will inform the council of this immediately," he said. "I will return with the council decision."
Kenobi then walked towards his ship while Anakin and Padme stood watching him go.
"More Sith, you say?" asked Yoda as he pondered upon the news Obi Wan had given him.
"Our situation is more precarious now if there are more Sith," Obi Wan said.
"Regardless of this news," Yoda told him, "the Emperor must still die."
"Anakin is willing to help us under one condition," Kenobi continued. "He wants his children back."
"Safe they are," Yoda said, shaking his head. "In danger they will be with their father."
"He wants them returned to their mother," Kenobi said.
"Too dangerous if other Sith exist," Yoda cautioned. "Better stay where they are."
"He will not help us otherwise," Kenobi warned.
"Convince him, you must," Yoda insisted. "The younglings will not be safe if exposed."
As Yoda and Obi Wan continued to talk about their next course of action, Padme tried to make sense out of her present situation.
"Do you think they will return the children to us?" Padme asked Anakin.
"They have no right to keep them!" Anakin exclaimed. "You are their mother!"
"Even if they were to return the children, how can we protect them?" she asked. "Perhaps they are better off where they are until all of this is over. I couldn't protect them when they were born!"
Suddenly Padme started to cry. She didn't want to appear weak, but since she lost her children, she began to doubt her capabilities. What if she couldn't protect them? Self doubt began to plague her. Anakin sensed this and forced her to look at him.
"Listen to me, Padme!" he insisted. "Regardless of what happened, they are our children! No one, no matter how good their intentions, have no right to decide upon our lives, upon our children! Despite this war, despite everything, the one thing we still have is the right to make our own choices, our own decisions! When we met you made me see, in that brief time, that I wasn't my own person. I didn't make a move without the Emperor commanding me, deciding for me. Do not let them do the same to you Padme. You are their mother. Only you can decide what is good for them."
Padme tried to regain her composure. "What about you, Anakin?" she asked. "Do you want them as well?"
"I want them with you," Anakin persisted. "Even if you never want to see me again, Padme. Even if you ask me not to interfere in your life, the life of our children, I want them to be with you. You just tell me you want the same thing and I will make it happen!"
Padme took a deep breath and looked into Anakin's eyes. There was so much depth and emotion there, that she was surprised that she never saw it before. At that moment Obi Wan returned to tell them of the council's decision. Before he spoke, Padme faced him and in a tone that broached no argument said, "Give me back my children!"
"Padme," Obi Wan began. "Your children are safe."
"That is for me to decide!" she insisted. "You had no right to give them away! You just handed them over! I never gave you permission to do no such thing!"
"You were ill," Obi Wan reminded her. "The Jedi only thought to save them."
"Of which I am eternally grateful, but they belong with me now. Tell me where they are."
"The council stands by their decision," Obi Wan began.
"Then the deal is off," Anakin cut in. "You want the Emperor, I can tell you where to find him, but I won't help you kill him."
"Your children are with Bail Organa and his wife on his home planet," Obi Wan informed them. "Although I agree with the council, you are the mother Padme. Yoda disagreed with me on this, but we are not parents. We have no power in matters concerning these. The Organa's are being informed of your request. You will have your children with you soon."
Padme unconsciously gripped Anakin's arm for support. Anakin turned to Obi Wan and nodded his thanks. It dawned on him at that moment that there would be no turning back and he would soon confront the Emperor himself.