CHAPTER TWELVE

A togruta female exited the High Council Chambers. She was dressed in the robes of a Jedi Knight. She stared at Luke for a long moment.

He looked at her funny, "What?"

"Luke?" The togruta asked.

Luke nodded slowly, frowning.

The togruta smiled—a smile that was almost too wide for a normal Jedi, Luke thought. "I'm Ahsoka. The Masters will see you now."

Luke stood up and then the togruta, Ahsoka, walked down the grand hall and left from view.

Luke entered the large room and looked at Anakin, who was sitting among the circle of Jedi. He motioned for him to come in and stand in the middle.

Luke began to feel uncomfortable from all of the stares he was getting from the Jedi Masters all around the room. He could tell they were all eyeing him critically.

This is it, Luke thought to himself hopelessly, this is how I die.

"Hello, young Luke." A small green creature—that Luke recognized to be the famous Master Yoda—greeted.

Luke just stared at the Jedi Grand Master, wondering when he would call him out for all the secrets that he harbored. Luke wondered what type of torture methods the Jedi used on Sith apprentices to learn their secrets.

"Escaped the Coruscanti Prison, you did." Yoda stated, it was not a question.

Luke didn't say anything.

"Strong, with you, the Force is." Yoda said, "But clouded, your judgment seems. Clouded with the Dark Side…"

Luke looked at Yoda skeptically, raising his eyebrow at the Jedi Master. Was he just going to ramble off ungrammatically or would they get to the torturing already?

The dark-skinned Jedi Master seated next to Yoda, whom Luke knew as Mace Windu because he had actually seen him on the HoloNews before, spoke next.

"We have your lightsaber." Windu commented.

"I'll just make a new one." Luke said, crossing his arms, unperturbed by the Jedi. He knew what this all was—intimidation. The most powerful Jedi in the galaxy would sit around in a circle and make their visitors stand in the center. Luke's eyebrows furrowed in anger; he would not let Jedi intimidation affect him.

Yoda eyed him acutely.

Luke looked back at him, trying to muster his own daunting look back at the old master.

"I sense much…fear in you."

Luke was caught off guard. Fear? Fear?

"I'm not afraid." Luke said, his words very stoical.

Watching the conversation, Anakin couldn't help but remember his own first meeting with the High Council.

Yoda grunted, "But angry, are you not?"

Luke looked down, folding his arms across his chest.

"Fear leads to anger, young one."

Luke snapped, "So what am I afraid of?"

The Masters all looked around at each other, murmuring. The three Jedi in front of him—Yoda, Windu, and the Cerean—all glanced at each other. On the other side of Windu sat an auburn-headed male, in between Windu and Anakin Skywalker. He eyed Luke with the most studious look, as if he was trying to really understand Luke but all the while finding this situation amusing. This made Luke angrier.

"Us." Yoda said simply.

Luke almost laughed, "I'm not afraid of you!"

The auburn-haired man spoke, "You certainly have a deep-rooted fear of the Jedi."

Luke turned to look at him with the strangest expression. "What makes you think you know anything about me?"

He could tell Anakin was trying hard not to smile, but the rest of the Jedi didn't seem so amused.

"Do you know who you're talking to, young boy?" Windu, the hot-head, asked.

Luke gave Windu an apathetic look, "Do I care?"

The man chuckled as if this was no big deal at all, "No worries, Master."

Windu shook his head and Luke turned back at the man.

"My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, I'm a good friend of your—of Master Skywalker."

Luke didn't notice the almost-slip up, so Obi-Wan continued. "All I was saying is that someone obviously went out of their way to instill in you some anti-Jedi notions."

"A Sith Lord, perhaps?" Another master on the Council suggested, the Cerean next to Yoda.

The Masters looked at Luke in silence, waiting for an answer.

"Well, Luke?" Anakin said, prompting him.

Luke didn't even look over at Anakin, he kept his gaze right in Mace Windu's eyes. "If you don't already know, I'm not going to tell you."

Mace Windu exhaled a deep sigh, and the other Jedi seemed uneasy.

Luke began formulating all these plots in his mind. There was no way the Jedi could keep him prisoner—his father would surely not allow it. Luke would have to find a way to contact his father somehow… Without the Jedi knowing…

"We'll have to monitor you from now on." Windu said finally.

"Stay with a Jedi at all times, you will." Yoda said.

Luke frowned, "What do you mean, I'm not going back to prison?"

Yoda shook his head slowly.

Luke's mouth opened, unable to believe that he got himself into such a predicament.

"We'll trust you to keep an eye on him this time, Master Skywalker," Windu said, turning to look at Anakin. Anakin rolled his eyes and Luke just figured that Windu was referring to Luke's escape from the prison.

"Are you sure I can't just stay in prison?" Luke's father would have a much better chance at breaking him out of prison. But if he were to be with Anakin Skywalker

Obi-Wan chuckled quietly next to Anakin. "I don't think young Luke likes you, Anakin."

"He'll have to get used to it," Anakin muttered.

Windu shook his head, "You're too unpredictable to stay in prison."

Yoda stood up from his chair with a help of his crane, "Adjourned, this meeting is."

The Masters all got up to leave except for Anakin.

He came up and gave Luke a hard pat on the back, "So you go from spending the rest of your years in prison to probably only five years with me in the nice home of 500 Republica."

Luke shrugged Anakin's hand off his shoulder, "This isn't funny."

Anakin gave Luke an amused smile and crossed his arms across his chest, "Ready to go?"

Luke just looked up at Anakin unbelievably, "Isn't this all a little unorthodox? I mean, I committed a pretty big crime. Do other criminals get this punishment?"

Anakin shrugged, "You're special."

"Because I'm a Sith? Doesn't that make me worse, though?"

Anakin shook his head, smiling, "You're not a Sith. You're someone who has been trained in the ways of the Dark Side, but you don't know half as much about the Force as you think you do. You're not a Sith."


Anakin and Luke were walking down the grand hall of the Jedi Temple once more.

Anakin stopped, "Wait here, I need to go make a comm call."

Luke sighed, "Take your time…"

Anakin left Luke and went into a small nearby room and took out his comlink.

A holographic image of his wife appeared, "Anakin?"

Anakin smiled, "Padmé, are you home?"

Padmé nodded, "Yes, is there something wrong?"

Anakin chuckled, "No, absolutely not. I need to ask you a favor. Can you tell Threepio to get Luke's old room ready?"

Padmé frowned, "Ready for what? Ani, you know how I feel about people using his room… Can't you use one of our guest rooms?"

Anakin sighed, "Padmé, please, we need to use Luke's room. Just have it ready, I'll explain when I get home."

Padmé sighed, "Fine…"

Anakin beamed, "I'll see you soon, my love."

Padmé smiled, "Bye, Anakin."

Anakin smiled as he clipped his comlink back onto his belt. He went outside to see Luke still waiting in the hall. "Let's go." He said, and they began walking out to the speeder again.

They got into the craft and Anakin began flying.

Anakin sat deliberating for a few moments as he piloted his way to his home. How would he tell Padmé? Should he have told her before? Was it a good idea to keep something like this a surprise? How will Luke react if Padmé spilled the beans?

Anakin shook his head. Obi-Wan was right, he thought, I am horrible at planning ahead.

Anakin took a look at Luke. Luke was resting his cheek on his elbow, staring out the window at the Coruscant sunset.

Anakin contemplated. Luke already thought that this whole ordeal was very strange. Anakin needed to lay down some rules to make it look like this was completely normal…even though it was not.

"So here are the rules." Anakin began.

Luke put his elbow down and looked up at the Jedi Master.

"No weapons at all times."

Luke shrugged.

"No death threats to my family."

Luke smiled.

"You have to follow all our house rules. That includes going to bed on time, and no watching inappropriate holos."

"Do you treat all of your Sith prisoners like this?" Luke asked.

Anakin shook his head, "Not necessarily… Sith are a rare thing. We usually kill them, but ah…. like I said, you're not a real Sith."

"Yes I am." Luke muttered, folding his arms.

"No you're not. This is a good sentence as any other. You're going to be disciplined here just like any other prisoner. So in five years, you'll be as good as new."

Luke just sighed, closing his eyes. What have I gotten myself into?!

"Alright, maybe I should tell you now…" Anakin began, "I have a very nice wife. She's almost too kind. But don't disrespect her in any way. She's a senator, so she has a lot of class."

"I used to have class," Luke said, opening his eyes, "but then I dropped out."

Anakin rolled his eyes, smiling. "I'm being serious. I also have a daughter, she's you're age. Be nice."

"I'll try." Luke said sarcastically.

Anakin pulled the speeder to a stop on a landing pad. "Alright, here we are."

Luke looked at the nice penthouse, "Since technically Jedi don't make money, could your wife kick you out any time if you get divorced?"

Anakin looked at Luke uneasily, "I guess…"

Luke smiled, "That must stink for you."

Anakin shook his head, "I think my wife loves me too much."

"I bet," Luke muttered, "You broke all the rules for her."

Anakin raised his eyebrow, "How do you know so much?"

Luke shrugged, not feeling like telling him about all the anti-Jedi propaganda back on his home world.

Anakin led Luke to the back door that led to a large, nice sitting area. Luke followed Anakin into the kitchen. Anakin turned to Luke. "I just want to warn you," he whispered, "If my wife says or does something crazy, it's for a reason that I will explain much later, okay?"

Luke frowned, "What do you m—"

But before Luke could finish his question, a door on the other side of the kitchen opened.

A woman wearing a professional-looking gown entered the room. Her dark brown hair was weaved into some sophisticated hairdo. Luke immediately recognized her as the Senator of Naboo, however her exact name escaped him.

"Ani, could you—" The senator began to say, and then stopped. Her eyes traveled down to the younger-looking version of her husband that was standing right next to him. Her eyes widened.

"Padmé," Anakin said slowly, "I—"

But before Anakin could get out what he wanted to say, Padmé was already hugging the very taken aback Luke and crying.

She immediately stopped and let go. She glanced at Luke, who was unbelievably creeped out and somewhat terrified of the situation he got himself into.

"I'm so sorry…" Padmé sniffed, not sounding very sorry at all.

Luke was speechless, staring at the senator with his jaw dropped.

Anakin chuckled nervously, "Well, this is…Padmé…"

Luke just stood there, staring at the woman who just hugged him—and was crying—for no reason.

Padmé smiled, biting her lip.

"And Padmé, this is, ah, Luke." Anakin said awkwardly.

Padmé smiled, wiping away some tears, "Well, I have to, um, go."

"Okay." Anakin said, looking down and biting his lip, "Did you tell Threepio to do what I asked?"

Padmé just laughed, "Oh, I see. Yes, I did."

Padmé left through the doors she came from.

Anakin turned to face Luke, who was still standing there speechless.

"What the kriff was that all about?" Luke asked, exasperated.

Anakin just laughed.

"I swear on my dead mother's grave, this was the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me. And I've had a lot of weird things happen to me."

Anakin just laughed even harder. He finally calmed down, "She's just kind of…emotional. And don't swear on your dead mother's grave, it's not nice."

"Why?" Luke asked.

Anakin shrugged, "How do you know your mother is not still alive?"

"No, I mean why is she so emotional?" Luke asked.

Anakin sighed, "I guess you must have reminded her of someone…no big deal."

Luke just looked at Anakin strangely, "Okay…"

"Don't worry about it," Anakin assured, "she just needs to be alone right now to get over herself and then she will be normal. It's all good."

"Are you sure? I can tell this is going to be an awkward situation for everyone. Don't you think I could just… leave? Look, I have an idea, I can run away and you can pretend to look for me so it doesn't look like it's your fault." Luke offered.

"No." Anakin said shortly.

"Come on, everyone knows that I don't want to be here just as much as you don't want me to be here." Luke insisted.

Anakin shook his head, "That's not true. I love teaching Sith-in-training the ways of the light side of the Force."

Luke cringed, "I'm not becoming a Jedi, if that's what you mean."

Anakin sighed, "We'll talk about this later. For now, let me just show you your room."