A/N: A new chapter. I'm afraid that there is only one left after this and an epilogue. I hope that you enjoy this chapter.
Three days later Anakin walked through the temple trying to ignore the damage, decay and neglect. He passed several volunteers working on the temple but never made eye contact. Instead he closed his eyes and let his feet carry him to his destination. He needed information. Information that Obi-Wan was obviously reluctant to give him. He needed to know what had happened in the past twenty one years. Most importantly what had happened to him. His Master was reluctant to speak of the past, it was as though he was protecting him from something terrible. Terrible enough for him not to remember. And it bothered him.
There was one place that he knew that he could go to get the information. The temple archives was the one place that held the most knowledge in all the galaxy. If it was knowledge he needed, the temple archives was the place to go. Not to mention that it was the only place in the temple that had a hookup for the holonet. Even if the console screens were broken or unhooked, he could fix them. One way or another he would figure things out.
He turned a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. The doors to the archives were crunched open and badly damaged. He moved forward and pushed one of the doors aside and staggered into the archives unable to believe his eyes. The archives was badly damaged and bare of it's great knowledge. He stood there rooted to his spot as he looked at the great chamber, an empty and decayed shell of the great place it once was.
"Devastating isn't it," A voice said from behind him.
Anakin turned around to see Padme standing behind him with a box full of datadiscs. He didn't say anything but just watched her set the box down before smiling at him. He was struck by how beautiful her smile was. She was beautiful to begin with but when she smiled, she radiated. And that smile was for him and him alone.
"How are you feeling Ani?" she said stepping closer to him.
"As to be expected considering the circumstances," Anakin told her.
"Do you remember anything?" she asked him still coming closer.
Anakin stepped back running into a pillar. "Is there anything specific that I should remember?" he asked.
Padme smiled a secret smile making Anakin want her even more. "There's a team searching the Emperor's palace and Vader's manor for any thing that could have been taken from the temple. Unfortunately the one person who could tell us where to look exactly is gone," she told him.
"And you think that I can tell you wear to look?" Anakin asked skeptically. "I can assure you that I wouldn't. I'm not a sith," he told her.
Something flickered in her eyes before it was gone making Anakin wonder what she knew. He stepped closer trying to sense what it was. She looked him in the eye and he nearly forgot about what he thought he saw. "What exactly were we to each other?" he asked his mouth dangerously close to hers.
"Anakin," she began.
His name coming out of her mouth was his undoing and he bent to kiss her but she pulled away.
"We shouldn't," she said.
"Why not?" he asked her.
Padme met his eyes. "Because it isn't proper," she told him.
Anakin straightened. "I see," he said disappointed.
"It's not what you think," Padme quickly told him.
Anakin turned away from her. "I don't know what to think anymore," he told her.
"I'm not going to tell you what to think Ani. I refuse to do that to you. I will not take away your freedom of thought. I love you too much to commit such a crime," Padme told him.
Anakin turned to face her at that. "Then you know what had happened to me don't you," he said coming to the conclusion knowing what that flicker in her eyes was.
"It's best if we don't talk about that," Padme told him wanting to get off of this topic.
"It concerns me. I have a right to know," Anakin told her.
"I will not argue with you Anakin. Not again," Padme told him turning back to the box of datadiscs.
Anakin grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "Why is everyone tip toeing around me? You know something and I demand to know what it is!" he said forcefully. Padme's eyes widened at the hard look in his eyes but she didn't saying anything. For a moment he saw fear in her eyes and he let go and stepped away from her. She was afraid of him.
"Mom! Are you in here?" Leia's voice called followed by her appearance.
Padme didn't take her eyes off of Anakin. "Try not to lose your temper with us Ani, I'm begging you," she whispered so that only Anakin could hear her. Before he could answer her she spoke up. "Over here Leia!" she called.
Leia caught sight of her parents sensing that something had gone on between the two of them. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing is wrong, Honey. Did you find anything?" Padme asked changing the subject.
Leia shook her head. "We still don't know where Vader locked everything up. I came here to ask if we could borrow Artoo. That little droid has a knack for difficult tasks," she said.
"Luke has been using Artoo in the temple's computer. You have to take it up with him," Padme told her.
"I was going to bring this up with Bail, but we need all the jedi we could use for this since only a force user can handle this stuff," Leia said cautiously eying her father.
"What is it?" Padme asked worried.
"It's this shrine that the Emperor had in his palace. Luke and I sort of fell into it when we were trying to escape. It's full of dark artifacts and souvenirs. I'm pretty sure that some of the things that belong in the temple is hidden in there," Leia told her.
"Have you told Obi-Wan about this?" Padme asked.
"I thought that Luke did," Leia told her.
"Perhaps you better check. While you're doing that I'll contact Bail and tell him about it," Padme told her.
Leia nodded. "I'll get on it right away," she said turning away and leaving the chamber.
"She looks like you," Anakin said at last.
"There is a lot more of you in her than there is of me," Padme told him. "I should contact Bail about what Leia just said," she said turning to leave.
Anakin watched her go wishing that he could call her back but he didn't know what he could say to her or what to do. All he knew was that being in her presence was intoxicating. Once she was gone he took a quick look around him and decided on getting to work. He went over to the console screens and attempted to turn the least damaged one on. Nothing happened. Not one to give up easily he took a seat and took the front panel off of the console exposing the wires and hard drive before getting to work.
After about an hour or so of working on the console screen and getting nowhere he sensed someone coming into the archives. He didn't look up or even acknowledge Obi-Wan's presence. He just kept up what he was doing.
"Having any luck?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Not yet," Anakin answered and pulled his fingers back when something zapped him.
"We're all taking a break and I thought of something that might interest you," Obi-Wan said. Anakin didn't say anything so he continued. "I was thinking about a little saber practice. A jedi should never be out of practice and with the way things are going in the galaxy we could need all the practice that we would need," he said.
"Not interested," Anakin told him.
"That's surprising. From what I remember you are always up for a duel," Obi-Wan told him.
"I'd rather do this," Anakin told him.
"Viceroy Organa is sending men in here to refurbish the archives including new console screens, you're wasting you time," Obi-Wan informed him.
Anakin looked at him then. "How much time and money is Organa investing in the order?" he asked.
"It's not just the Viceroy, there are many who are donating their time and money to rebuilding the order. Now come on, you need something more fun to occupy yourself with," Obi-Wan said placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"There's one flaw your plan," Anakin told him.
"What's that?" Obi-Wan asked knowingly.
"I've seem to have lost my lightsaber," Anakin told him.
"You mean this one?" Obi-Wan asked producing Anakin's lightsaber. "I picked it up after you defeated the emperor," he said.
Anakin took the lightsaber out of Obi-Wan's hands instantly getting a feeling of wrongness by holding it. "Something is wrong with it," he said.
"You were planning on building a new one," Obi-Wan told him.
"I might as well, for some reason handling it just feels wrong," Anakin said.
"It'll do for now. Luke and Leia are waiting for us, they're interested in seeing this mock duel of ours," Obi-Wan said.
"And If I don't want to?" Anakin asked.
"You'll do it," Obi-Wan said confidently.
"You're not giving up are you?" Anakin asked narrowing his eyes.
"Not a chance," Obi-Wan said calmly crossing his arms.
Anakin mentally sighed. He really didn't want to argue anymore. It was better to give in than to spend time on an endless debate. "Alright, you win," he said standing up. He then noticed Obi-Wan's triumphant look in his eyes and added, "Don't expect it to happen often."
To Anakin's annoyance Obi-Wan merely smiled. "I expect nothing of the sort," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Obi-Wan lead Anakin to one of the old training rooms that had been cleared out and fixed up as much as possible. It was one that had the less damage. Anakin surveyed the room and grudgingly noted that it was safe for now.
"Look who I rounded up," Obi-Wan said making Luke and Leia turn to them from their spot in the middle, each twin was gripping their lightsabers.
"We've been talking," Luke said speaking up.
"Oh blast!" Obi-Wan instantly said making Anakin turn to him with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, what were you discussing?" he asked covering himself up.
"We want in on the duel," Leia told him.
"Here's what we propose..." Luke said.
"We go first and the winner of our duel duels our father," Leia finished.
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard in thought. "That's not a bad idea," he said. Anakin glared at him. "You've got yourself a deal," Obi-Wan seeing the look that Anakin was throwing at him. "And grow up, Anakin," he added making the twins grin.
Anakin decided that he didn't like the way Luke and Leia were grinning and resolved to make them suffer for it as he took a seat with Obi-Wan.
Luke and Leia stood facing each other and bowed to one another. Luke ignited his lightsaber at his side and swung the blade as Leia stood in formation with her blade ignited in front of her waiting for Luke to make the first move. Which he did. Luke charged at his sister forcing her to lock blades with him. He twisted around and dipped his blade lower which Leia blocked him again shoving him away. Leia saw an opening and force jumped somersaulting over Luke forcing him to turn around and defend himself. In that act she gained the upper hand taking on the offensive instead of the defensive.
Anakin watched the fierce battle between the two siblings. The fact that everyone kept telling him that they were his didn't do much for him. He didn't remember anything about them, not even their creation. He knew that he should feel something. But he couldn't associate himself with them. They were skilled jedi, powerful and skilled warriors and he should be feeling some sense of fatherly pride, but all he felt was admiration for their skill. Like they were only fellow jedi. Not his children. Obi-Wan had made a deal with them. The winner would battle him. But he couldn't.
When Leia seemed to be getting the upper hand, Obi-Wan stood up. "Luke!" he called tossing the boy his lightsaber which Luke caught in his left hand and ignited using form jar'kai while attacking his sister. Leia defended herself blocking one of Luke's blows and spinning to block the other one.
Anakin watched them battle with slight interest now. Luke's battle techniques were much like his own, but there was a serenity about the boy that was missing from him. Leia was different. She fought much like a combination of Obi-Wan and Mace Windu and there seemed to be an edge about her.
"Hand me your lightsaber," Obi-Wan said looking at Anakin.
"What?" Anakin asked.
"Hand me your lightsaber," Obi-Wan repeated.
"Why?" Anakin questioned.
Obi-Wan smiled. "Trust me," he said.
Anakin narrowed his eyes at the old man but did as he requested nonetheless. Obi-Wan then stood up again and called out Leia's name before tossing her the lightsaber.
Leia grinned at her brother as she caught the lightsaber and ignited it using her own variation of Jar'kai against her brother.
"Now we'll really see who wins," Obi-Wan commented.
Anakin leaned back in his seat. "I don't want to fight them," he said.
"I can assure you that you wont hurt them," Obi-Wan told him.
"That's not what I meant," Anakin said flatly.
"Oh? Then what is it?" Obi-Wan asked.
"For someone who had preached detachment, you seem to be edging me towards them," Anakin said.
"I was wrong, Anakin. The order was wrong... It is one of the reasons why we failed," Obi-Wan told him.
"I'm getting tired of this," Anakin told him. "I feel like I'm in lightsaber class all over again."
"I don't know why you would feel like that," Obi-Wan said.
"Well at least some things don't change," Anakin said standing up. This seemed to draw attention to him from Luke and Leia who quite fighting at once just to watch him leave.
Luke and Leia walked over to Obi-Wan then. "What happened?" Leia asked.
"I don't know," Obi-Wan confessed. "More and more I get the feeling that something is wrong," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bail Organa stood outside the palace of the late emperor surrounded by many of his men. They were waiting for the jedi to arrive. Bail planned on having the palace demolished once they had gone through everything and removed the darkness from the place. He wouldn't even be here today if it weren't for Padme's call. Now as he stood beside his long time friend, he could see how tormented she was. How torn she was. She loved Skywalker with everything she had and look at what he had done to her. Bail didn't understand it. How she could love someone who nearly killed her and her children?
As though sensing his eyes on her, Padme turned to look at him. "I'm almost afraid of what we might find in here," she told him.
"I know," Bail agreed.
"The jedi have arrived," Han informed them.
Bail and Padme turned to see Obi-Wan and Yoda walk up to them.
"We have directions from Luke and Leia to this shrine. We will take a squadron of soldiers with us to this shrine, the rest of you can gut the palace," Obi-Wan said.
"Agreed, Master Kenobi," Bail replied and motioned for a squadron to move in with the jedi. "Lets get this awful task taken care of," he said.
"I think I'll go with them," Padme said speaking up.
Bail nodded to her. "As you wish," he said and walked into the palace followed by his men.
Padme turned to the jedi. "We're not going to like what we see," she said.
"No, we wont," Obi-Wan agreed.
"Do what we must we will," Yoda said walking into the palace leaning heavily on his gimer stick.
"Here is a written map that the twins provided us. They both have calculated the path that they took from this shrine to the throne room. I think that we should start at the throne room," Obi-Wan said showing Padme a piece of flimsy with the directions.
"Did they tell you what was in there?" Padme asked.
"That's what is disturbing. Neither one of them wanted to speak about it much," Obi-Wan told her.
"I got the same feeling," Padme replied.
"General Kenobi, here is a list of the different corridors that was destroyed," One of the soldiers said handing him a piece of flimsy.
"It looks like we have only one way to get into the throne room," Obi-Wan said.
"Which way is that?" Padme asked.
"From the outside," Obi-Wan replied.
"And where are we now?" Han asked.
Obi-Wan took out a portable holoprojector and activated it. Above his hand appeared the blueprints of the palace. It stopped at the spot that they were at showing the floors above and below them. "By the looks of it, we are directly below the throne room," he said.
Padme looked up from the flimsy that contained the directions to the shrine. "And by the looks of it we are not only below the throne room, but directly above the shrine," she said.
"No doubt it is the darkness we feel in this spot," Obi-Wan commented to Yoda.
Yoda's ears dropped and his eyes looked down. "Suffocating this darkness is," he said.
"This darkness is strong. Perhaps too strong for us to remove. Do you really think it was a good idea to leave Anakin and the twins back at the temple?" Obi-Wan asked doubtfully.
"Right we were in leaving them. Too much darkness for Anakin Skywalker to handle. Not yet ready to face it he is," Yoda said.
"And I don't want Luke and Leia exposed to this again," Padme said.
Obi-Wan sighed. "You're right. Luke and Leia were obviously disturbed by whatever horrors there was in there. And to expose Anakin to this right now, he couldn't handle it. Not after what had happened. Not now," he said.
"I think we need to keep moving," Han said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anakin slid further into the shadows frowning. So he couldn't handle it? What was he nine?! He wouldn't be here if he didn't think that this place, whatever it was, was a key to what had happened to him. If nobody wanted to tell him what had happened, then he would investigate himself.
He waited for the group to move on out of sight before he followed them. So far he was doing an excellent job of concealing himself with the force. Obi-Wan and Yoda had no idea that he was right under their noses. And with the false trail he had left in the temple, Luke and Leia would be searching for him for hours. Plenty of time for him to do some investigating.
He followed their trail until they came to a stop before a pair of heavily locked doors. Instantly he hid in the shadows and watched them try to pry them open. But he knew that there was a secret way to open them. And then it came to him how to open the doors. It was that thought that made him pause. How in the force did he know how to open the emperor's personal dark shrine?! That didn't matter right now. What mattered was that he knew how to open the doors and they didn't. But he couldn't make his presence known to them.
He shrank back into the shadows and backed up into a grate. Turning to take a look at it, he noticed that it was the ventilation system. Quickly glancing at the group trying to open the doors, he gently removed the grate and climbed through the man sized hole. Slowly he crawled through the ventilation shaft, moving upwards until he reach an opening. An opening that he knew a grate should have been there. Looking down, he saw the grate on the floor. The room below him was pretty dark. But he knew that this was where they wanted to be.
Carefully he lowered himself into the opening and dropped down to the floor. Upon sensing life within the room, the lights instantly turned on revealing what was inside. What Anakin saw made his blood run cold. All along the walls were severed heads preserved in glass jars. Faces forever frozen in horror and shock. Faces that Anakin remembered passing in the halls of the temple. Faces of fellow jedi. As the sightless eyes gazed at him in horror and shock, he felt the betrayal that they had felt the day that they had died. He saw every one of their deaths through the eyes of their killer. Overwhelmed by the visions in his head, he sank to his knees and curled forwards resting his face in his hands against his knees. He felt the darkness permeating the chamber piercing him as though billions of needles pierced his body and he screamed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What was that?" Han asked as the group heard the blood curtailing screams.
"We need to get in there now!" Obi-Wan yelled knowing exactly who those screams were coming from.
"Right on it, General Kenobi!" a soldier said and pulled out a detonator.
"No! You'll blow the whole room up!" Obi-Wan said grabbing the soldier's arm.
"It's Anakin isn't it?" Padme demanded.
"I'm afraid so," Obi-Wan told her and pulled out his lightsaber followed by Yoda and the two trust their blades into the doors burning a hole through the doors. It was a semi slow process given the thickness of the doors. But once they had a man sized hole in the doors, Obi-Wan was the first to climb through closely followed by Padme.
Both froze at the horrible sight before them. Both feeling sick at seeing the heads of the jedi. But their attention was drown to the figure on the floor. The darkness in the room was stabbing Obi-Wan through the force and he clutched his chest, staggering. He tried to concentrate on the light but it was increasingly difficult in this one room.
Padme was the first to get to Anakin holding onto him. She turned to Obi-Wan. "He feels like ice!" she cried.
"We need to get out of here!" Obi-Wan told as he staggered to Anakin and together they pulled him out through the hole in the door. "Lets get him as far away from here as possible!" he ordered as Anakin visibly shook. Thankfully he had stopped screaming.
When they had gotten Anakin to a safe distance away from the chamber, Padme cradled him in her arms. "Was it the dark side?" she asked the jedi.
"Strong with the dark side this palace is. Skywalker's immunity to it, weakened still. Not yet ready to handle this he was! Stubborn to the core he still is!" Yoda said agitated.
"I think we should abandon this quest for today," Obi-Wan said kneeling down next to Anakin. "He's in shock, we need to get him to the temple, now," he finished. He waved his hand in front of his friend, instantly putting him in a force induced sleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Anakin opened up his eyes again, he found himself in his room at the temple. Disoriented for a moment he closed his eyes again and took a breath. Then he remembered the shrine and he shuddered.
"How are you feeling?" a voice asked him.
Anakin sat up and turned to look at who had spoken and saw Padme sitting next to his bed. "How did I get here?" he asked.
"Obi-Wan and I brought you here after you ended up in the shrine," Padme told him. "You shouldn't have followed us, Anakin. It's too soon for you to face that horrible place," she finished frowning.
"Too soon to know what in siths name is going on!" Anakin demanded narrowing his eyes.
"What you went through was horrible, do you really want to relive it?" Padme demanded.
"I want to know what had happened," Anakin told her.
"Why can't you put it in the past where it belongs?" she asked.
"Because I need to know what it is that went wrong," he told her.
Padme frowned and stood up crossing her arms in a protective gesture. "And if it effects your sanity? What then? Whether you believe it or not, Anakin, what effects you effects everyone. It effects me and it effects Luke and Leia. As well as Obi-Wan. What happened to you in that chamber was horrible. What if your quest for answers takes away your sanity? You're ability to live?" she demanded.
"Why don't you just tell me then?!" Anakin demanded standing up.
"Why can't you accept the fact that we are all trying to protect you?" she asked.
"I don't want your protection! I want answers! If you can't give me that, then you need to stay away from me," Anakin told her.
Padme looked at him hurt. "You don't mean that!" she told him.
"Here's the funny thing, I mean just that," he told her flatly.
"Fine. I won't come to you anymore. When you're done with whatever state you are in, you can come find me," she told him and left.
When she was gone Anakin briefly wondered what he had just done and moved to the door in an effort to call her back. But he stopped. She, just like everyone else, was hiding something important from him. And until he found out what it was, he could trust no one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was late and everyone was supposed to be sleeping. Everyone but one. Anakin couldn't sleep. Every time that he closed his eyes, he saw their deaths. And he was their killer. Anakin tried to stay put in his room working on a few droid parts here and there but eventually he got restless.
Standing up, he pulled his cloak on and walked out the door. The corridors of the jedi temple were dark which allowed him to walk among the shadows. He didn't know where he wanted to go, he just walked. Eventually he ended up in the temple's security center. He didn't know why he ended up in here. But something was telling him that this was where he would get his answers.
He took a seat in a chair beside a console screen and rested his elbow against the screen and rested his face in his palm. It wasn't the first time that he questioned himself. Something wasn't right and it wasn't the obvious. Groaning, he massaged his brow. That's when he noticed it. The security holo was flickering. It was as though someone had been messing with it and suddenly stopped.
Anakin stood up and walked over to the flickering holo and rewound it. The images blurred as it rewound at an alarming speed. Suddenly, without him doing anything, it stopped. Curiously, he pressed the play button. What he saw made his blood run cold. The security hologram took place inside Chancellor Palpatine's office and he was killing jedi with a lightsaber. He watched in horror as the holo played a fateful battle with Mace Windu's voice arguing with Palpatine's. It was when a third figure entered the mix that startled him and his voice pleading with Mace to let the Chancellor stand trial. What he saw next made him pale. The image of his younger self cut off Windu's hand screaming that he needed Palpatine. It was this act that sent Mace to his doom. He was even more shocked when he heard himself pledging to the ways of the sith.
"No!" Anakin whispered. and fast forwarded. Again the holo stopped on it's own accord showing him that it was he who had murdered the jedi. "No!" he cried shaking his head. He stepped away from the holo and bumped into a wall. "I couldn't have!" he gasped. The holo continued playing and he slid down the wall in shock. "That wasn't me!" he cried but no one had heard him.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Something in the force had awakened Obi-Wan in the middle of the night. And then he felt it. It was a strong wave of anguish. Jumping out of bed, he quickly ran to Anakin's room. The anguish he was feeling could mean only one thing. But when he had gotten to Anakin's room he found it empty. "Where are you Anakin?" he asked.
The force whispered something to him and he knew. He took off at an alarming rate heading straight for the security center. Anakin now knew what they were hiding from him. He was sure of it. But was he remembering? Or was it something else?
When he reached the security center he couldn't see Anakin. But he did see the security holo shut itself off. He found that odd as he walked fully in the room. It was then that he saw Anakin sitting on the floor with his knees brought up to his chest and his arms and face resting upon them. "Anakin?" he asked tentatively.
Anakin slowly raised his head and looked Obi-Wan in the eye. Obi-Wan would never forget the hollow look in his friend's eyes. "Why didn't you tell me that I was a sith?" he demanded hollowly.
"Because you're not a sith, Anakin, You're a jedi," Obi-Wan told him.
"I saw the security holo. I saw what you were trying to hide from me," Anakin told him.
"Luke was supposed to delete that," Obi-Wan said.
"Well he did a poor job," Anakin laughed hollowly. "Some great technician he is, he can't even remove a security holo!" he said scornfully.
Obi-Wan's eyes flashed at that. "Don't talk about Luke like that, Anakin," he warned.
"I only speak the truth and you fraggen know it!" Anakin snapped.
"What do you know about either of your children! You didn't raise them!" Obi-Wan yelled at him. "All throughout Luke and Leia's childhood you were off following Palpatine's order's. You abandoned your pregnant wife to joining the dark side! You're the one who allowed your anger and lust for power destroy you! You're the one who almost killed Padme and your children! If I wasn't there to stop you they would be dead! I'm the one who took care of your wife and your children! I did the job that you should have been doing all along! And those two beautiful children have given you unconditional love! If it wasn't for Luke and Leia you would still be consumed in darkness! You owe your very life to them! Those two children who hero worshiped your memory saved you from yourself! They love you despite what you had become and you can't even bring yourself to show them an ounce of affection!" he yelled at him. "I'm done coddling you, Anakin. I have put the past aside just so that I could be the friend that you needed. But at this moment I am done. All this time I thought that it was I who failed you, but all along it was you. It's time for you to finally grow up, Anakin. When you come out of your self pity, please let us know. Until then, be prepared for a hard time," he told him. "When you're ready to come out of hiding, you know where to find us," he said and left leaving Anakin alone with his thoughts.