All I'm going to say is I had way too much fun writing this to be mentally stable hahaha

Anakin dragged Mara to a secluded part of the apartment, where they wouldn't be overheard. He pinned her against the wall, though he took special care not to hurt her in the process.

Well, not hurt her too much.

"Get off me Vader," Mara hissed at him, attempting to push him away. Anakin didn't budge, nor did he flinch when she threw his Sith name out between them. She meant to get a reaction out of him, and he wasn't going to give it to her.

"Not until I know where your allegiance really lies assassin," he shot back, his blue eyes steely and cold as ice.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Mara practically spat, her green eyes blazing in defiance.

Anakin's own eyes glinted dangerously. "You do if you want to leave this apartment alive, Jade. Do you honestly think I don't know that you were spying on me for Sidious all that time after Luke destroyed the first Death Star? Do you think I'm not aware that Sidious' last command to you was to kill my son?" Anakin snarled, applying some pressure and pressing her against the wall even harder. "If you cause any member of my family harm Jade, I will see to it personally that you pay."

Mara glared back at him, unwavering and just as firmly stubborn as ever. Her expression confirmed his suspicion about Sidious' last command, which had only been a guess before he'd gauged her reaction. For a moment it looked as if she had some snarky comeback for him.

However, a new voice stopped Anakin from ever hearing that comeback.

"Father…"

Anakin jerked from surprise, taking care to keep Mara tightly pinned against the wall with both arms as he turned at the sound of Luke's voice.

Luke was leaning against the wall, one arm across his midriff as he hunched over from the simple effort of getting off of the couch, the other arm propped against the wall he was leaning on. His expression was wary and worried, watching Anakin in mild alarm. Immediately Anakin realized how bad this must look to Luke, and felt a twinge of guilt.

But just a twinge.

Obi-Wan didn't take long to arrive behind Luke, offering his support to the boy, who declined, his eyes still riveted on Anakin. That was when Obi-Wan finally saw the scene in front of him with Anakin, his expression also becoming wary.

"Anakin…let her go," Obi-Wan said slowly.

Anakin looked back at Mara, his expression sharp and hard once more. "Not until I get my answer," he said darkly, holding Mara's gaze. She met his gaze evenly, eyes glinting.

"I haven't decided yet," she finally said coldly.

"Haven't decided on what?" Luke asked, obviously trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Whose side she's on," Anakin said stiffly. He offered no more clarification. Instead, he searched Mara's eyes, trying to see if there was some sort of hidden meaning behind her words. He couldn't find any though, and did sense a genuine divide in Mara, similar to the one he had experienced when he had found out that the child Padme and he had was alive in his original lifetime. Slowly, Anakin backed off, releasing her from his grip, though not from his hard-edged gaze. "Alright…but I'll be watching you Jade."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," she said coolly.

Anakin shot her one last look before he went right to Luke's side, putting an arm around the young man. "Luke, you need to be resting, you should have stayed on the couch," Anakin murmured.

Luke shook his head. "I'm fine. I just…I sensed your anger and knew something was wrong. I wanted to make sure that you were all right."

"He stumbled and fell fifteen times in his haste to get to you," Obi-Wan added quietly.

Anakin sighed. "I'm fine Luke, but you're not; your trembling from the effort to simply stand," Anakin scolded, already leading Luke back to his couch.

"I've had worse, I've toughed it out through much worse," Luke responded.

Anakin grumbled under his breath about having all the smart-mouthed kids, earning a chuckle from Luke as Anakin got him situated on the couch once more. Galen and Juno stood off to the side, watching the two closely. Anakin ran a hand through his hair. "Has Ahsoka not come out yet?" Anakin asked warily.

Galen shook his head. "No, she hasn't."

Anakin sighed. "Maybe I should check on her…"

Obi-Wan stopped Anakin as he started to rise. "No, she will come out when she's ready. Give her time to cope Anakin."

Anakin sighed before sitting back down by Luke's side. Nydri took the opportunity to slink up to him and lay on his feet. Galen and Juno began to converse with Luke, Mara stayed at the edge of the room and watched them, and Obi-Wan and Anakin silently looked on in quiet contemplation.

Anakin could almost convince himself, in that moment, that everything was all right.

Eius had been pulling off his missions with perfection.

Due to the Jedi's lack of a counter move, he could only guess that they were not aware of the Jedi that had already died by his hand. He'd been careful to make sure that the traces of their bodies would not be found, and that he killed the Jedi that were on missions expected to take a substantial amount of time. It would be a long time before the Jedi realized that there was something wrong, that so many Jedi had already been killed.

Now, however, his Master had decided that it was time to send another message to them.

Eius rolled his recently acquired red Adegan crystal between his fingers idly, admiring the way the blood red color reflected in the dim light. It had been a pleasant challenge to slip in and out of the Crystal Caves of Dantooine without being detected by any Jedi in the area; now, all he had to do was switch out the current green crystal out with this preferred red one.

Eius smirked dangerously, making his way down a dark tunnel that led deep underground Florrum. He could switch out his crystals after he attended to his guests.

He followed the damp tunnel deeper, deeper, until he finally came to the small, dark room he had cleared for his purposes before his trip to Sernpidal. Inside, chained to opposite sides of the wall, were his guests: two Jedi; one Master, one Padawan. Both were heavily drugged to block their connection to the Force.

Eius studied the two unconscious Jedi for a moment before he suddenly dug his elbow deep into the open lightsaber wound that ran up the side of the Jedi Master, effectively bringing the woman brutally back to consciousness and drawing a scream from her that pleased him. As she registered her surroundings, Eius jabbed his fist deep into the stomach of her male Padawan, making sure to put extra pressure on the spot where he had burned the Padawan with his lightsaber when he had cornered them.

While the two regained consciousness, Eius crossed the room and lit the torch he had set up earlier, adding some form of dim light to the room. He reached down to the floor, dusting off the dirt from the crude, short blade that he had also stashed, glancing at his two captives. "Wakey, wakey," he said eerily.

Predictably, it was the Master who spoke first. "Where have you brought us?" she asked firmly, her eyes unwavering from Eius' form.

Eius' smirk only grew at her foolishly brave demand as he ran his finger lightly down the blade. "It's no concern of yours. You won't be leaving here. Well, not alive anyway."

The woman's gaze momentarily fixed on the knife in his hands before flickering back to his hooded face. "Why don't you show yourself instead of hiding in the shadows? Who are you?" she asked stiffly.

Eius' eyes flashed dangerously at her tone of voice, and he pointed the knife at her. "You would do well to remember who's in charge here. You are at my mercy, and I will be the one asking the questions."

This time, her Padawan spoke. "I want to know who's holding us hostage; who plans on killing us," the boy said bitingly.

Eius slowly turned to face the boy, eyes glowing a molten gold. The boy took a sharp breath in, seemingly transfixed for a moment. "Sith," he breathed out.

Eius chuckled. "Right you are. Satisfied?"

The Master spoke again. "If you're going to kill us, I want to see your face to know who my murderer is," she said darkly.

Eius didn't turn to face her this time. He kept his eyes on the Padawan, letting his twisted smile turn into a sneer. He hadn't graced anyone with the privilege of seeing his face before or as he killed them. Though now…he rather enjoyed the thought of their expressions when they saw Jedi Council Master Anakin Skywalker's son was their captor, their soon to be killer.

Yes, he relished the idea. Perhaps, with what he had in mind now…it would be fitting.

He whipped around to face the Master, bowing to her with mocking exaggeration. "As you wish; Darth Eius is not one to decline a reasonable request," he said smoothly, though with an undercurrent of danger. Twirling his blade between his fingers in one hand, Eius pulled his black hood back, revealing his shock of blonde hair and well known face.

Except for the change of eye color, or course.

Both of them reeled in shock, staring at him in obvious denial. "Luke Skywalker?" the Master asked incredulously.

Eius scowled, shooting her a dark look. "That name no longer holds any meaning to me," he hissed, eyes glowing brighter for several moments.

"You disgrace your father!" she shot back. Eius felt his rage mount at the mention of his father.

"Don't!" Eius snapped. He paused, taking a moment to regain his smooth tone.

"Don't mention him," he said dangerously. "Just for that, I'm going to start with him, and let you watch." Eius pointed the knife at the Padawan, blazing gold eyes locked with the Master's.

"You won't break us. And if it's information you want, you won't get it," she said defiantly, her jaw set in firm determination.

Eius shrugged. "No matter. Perhaps I don't want anything from you other than for you to die at my hand," he said smoothly, smiling in a way that obviously disturbed them. He let that thought settle with them before he moved to stand next to the Padawan, the knife held ready in his hand as he chuckled darkly. "Do you two honestly think you're the first Jedi pair I've caught? If I don't get any information from you, then I'll just move on to the next one. Now…shall we get started?"

He flashed his most charming smile, the one he had heard he'd inherited from Anakin, before plunging his crude blade into the Padawan's abdomen.

And so the screams began.

Anakin's and Obi-Wan's com links went off at the same time.

"Skywalker," Anakin answered the same time that Obi-Wan answered his "Kenobi."

Windu's voice came through Obi-Wan's com link while Yoda's voice came through Anakin's. "Skywalker; a Council Meeting we must have. Urgent, it is. Bring your visitor as well, you should."

"Master Yoda, are you sure? I mean…there's not many of the Jedi Masters who know about him left in the Council…and everyone in the Council knows that…my son turned," Anakin said hesitantly.

"If to help us, he is, join us, he must. Bring him. Hurry. Pressed for time we are."

Anakin sighed, turning to Obi-Wan as he ended the communication with Yoda. "Did he tell you the same thing?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Well, not counting the part about bringing Luke. I think Yoda has decided that on his own without telling anyone."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Anakin mumbled. He turned to Luke. "Do you think you can do a trip to the Temple?"

Luke shrugged. "Sure. I'm a lot better than you two keep thinking."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Sure you are. Stay here while I get you a cloak. We're still going to hide you from the other Jedi the best we can. We sort of have to, just to be safe."

Luke smiled wanly. "Understandable."

It didn't take that long for the trio to arrive at the Temple, with Luke walking in between the two Masters, the hood of his father's cloak pulled low enough to cover his features. Of course, the sight of a mysterious hooded stranger between the two well-esteemed, well-known masters drew attention, but no one asked any questions. And Luke was sure that his father preferred the silent, questioning stares to the other Jedi seeing Luke when he was supposed to be on the dark side; even if they didn't know yet.

Truthfully, even such a simple trip took effort on Luke's part. Most of it had been spent sitting, thankfully, but small distances still required a lot of effort on his part. His father kept offering his arm for support, and every now and then Luke would discreetly accept, leaning on him gratefully before he continued to walk on his own.

They finally arrived at the Council Room, and Anakin ushered for Luke to stick to his side as the doors opened and they swiftly came inside.

"Last again it seems," Anakin murmured to Luke as he crossed the room to the last two open chairs. Several masters gave the hooded figured strange looks, but before one of them could open their mouths to question why there was an extra at such a secret meeting, Yoda spoke.

"Ah, brought him, you did," Yoda said approvingly.

Anakin and Obi-Wan both took their respective seats, and Luke quickly moved behind his father's chair, leaning forward on it with both hands for support in his weakened state.

"If I may ask; who is this, and why are they here?" one of the female masters asked a little stiffly.

"Find out, you will. Patience," Yoda told her firmly. "More important business, we must address."

Mace Windu nodded slowly, eyeing Luke wearily. "We've received a message from the pirates on Florrum. Apparently they came across the bodies of two Jedi, and they said they were sure it was the work of another Force user. Which would mean fallen young Skywalker."

Luke winced, and he was sure that several of the masters in the room could sense his sudden discomfort.

"You're sending someone to get him?" Anakin asked hesitantly.

Yoda nodded. "You, Master Kenobi, Master Tano…and your companion, will go."

Luke wasn't the only one who noticed Anakin sit up straighter, suddenly tense. "Are you sure that's a good idea Master Yoda? He's still recovering."

The sharp, protective note in his tone caused the other masters to stare, though Yoda didn't even flinch. "Help you, he can. Take him, you must."

The frustration from the masters in the room that were in the dark—which was everyone but Yoda, Anakin, and Obi-Wan—reached an all-time high. Yoda smiled a little, holding Luke's gaze from under the hood and nodding to the center of the room. Luke understood the silent message, gingerly making his way to the middle of the room. His father rose slightly from his seat, apparently meaning to rise and help him, though slowly settled himself back into the chair as Luke continued without stopping.

"About time, the other's learned of you, hmm?" Yoda asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Unable to help, you will be, if left in the dark, the members of this Council are."

"I agree Master," Luke said softly, and several of the masters suddenly stiffened in recognition of his voice, seemingly in denial as to what they were hearing.

Yoda nodded. "Know the story; you do, of what happened the last time Sidious was here." He waited until several of the masters nodded in acknowledgement before he continued. "Jedi Luke, who assisted Master Skywalker; not an ordinary Jedi, he was. Come from another, darker future, he did. Changed our fates, he managed to. Saved us in the process, he did."

Luke blushed under the hood from the remarks, but made no noise as Yoda chuckled lightly. "Returned to us, he has."

Windu sat straighter, staring intently at Luke, as well as a few other familiar faces Luke had seen the last time he was here. It seemed they were all holding their breath in anticipation as Yoda nodded, signaling to Luke that he could remove his hood whilst the soft murmurs flew around the room from the startling news.

Bracing himself, Luke gingerly pulled the hood back from his face, meeting the startled gaze of every Master in the room one by one before their denial kicked in.

"This is impossible," one of them whispered. Several others agreed almost instantly.

"Impossible, it is not. Come back through time to save us, Skywalker's son did, all those years ago. Created two timelines when successful, he did. Merged, now, they have. Because of Sidious' dark power, merge, he could not, however. Help us with young fallen Luke, he will, to heal the divide in the Force."

There were several moments of awkward silence as the other masters registered these facts, and Luke weaved dangerously from the effort of standing so long. Anakin rose to his feet, coming to Luke's side and steadying him before casting Yoda a worried glance. "Master Yoda, I don't think Luke should be going. He's still weak, he needs longer to recover."

Luke waved his robotic hand dismissively. "No, I'll go, you'll need me."

Yoda nodded. "If hurry, you do, perhaps still be there, fallen Luke will be. May the Force be with you."

Luke wasn't quite sure if he was comfortable with the thought of seeing his dark self, but at the same time he knew that they would need him there. Even if he wasn't particularly ready physically, they would need his insight.

It was as they were approaching Florrum that Anakin could not stand to wait any longer

Cautiously, Anakin made his way to the back room he knew Ahsoka had stashed herself. He needed to talk with his former Padawan to find out how she was taking everything.

He knocked lightly on the door, waiting patiently before the door finally slid away, revealing Ahsoka, who eyed Anakin wearily. "Master…what are you doing here?"

Anakin slipped inside, allowing the door so slide shut behind him. "I came to see how you're coping with everything."

Ahsoka smiled a little. "Well, it's not every day you find out you've lived an entire other life."

Anakin nodded, leaning against the wall. "And…Luke?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "That is going to take me a while to get used to Master. Two of him running around? Seriously?"

Anakin chuckled. "Yes, that is a rather worrisome thought under normal circumstances…at least it's not two of me, or two of Han."

"Yes, that would be a true nightmare!" Ahsoka laughed.

Anakin placed a gentle hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. "I'm glad you're taking things all right Ahsoka…"

Ahsoka nodded. "I'll be fine Master." She waited a moment, the mood dropping to a somber air. "We will find him Master; everything will work out, you'll see."

Anakin sighed, looking away. He'd had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach since they'd started their way to Florrum. "I hope you're right Ahsoka…I hope you're right…"

"I swear, it was none of ours! None of us would be dumb enough to kill a Jedi and then openly advertise it like this. This was none of our work, it was someone else: and someone who wanted to send a message too."

Anakin listened only halfway to what the pirate babbled to him on the way through the pirate outpost. Even if the pirates were keen not to get pinned with this Jedi killing, Anakin still kept a hand resting lightly on his lightsaber as a precaution. Luke stayed by his side, Anakin's cloak drawn closely around him to hide his features

"Don't worry; we know it wasn't any of your men. We know exactly who it was," Anakin reassured him, though he knew his tone was somewhat clipped. He was still trying to prepare himself to see what his son had done this time.

The pirate nervously wrung his hands, stopping right in front of the door of one of the back rooms in the establishment. "I-I should warn you it's…it's not a pleasant sight. None of us will come near this place, it's…"

Anakin waved him off, though now his stomach was twisting in nervousness. "All right. You can go now, we've got this," he said, effectively dismissing the pirate.

The fellow didn't even wait to hear the rest of the sentence, leaving as soon as Anakin had said he could go.

Before he could think twice about it, Anakin opened the door and stepped into the room.

Everyone froze as the crime scene registered with them, though none of them registered what they were seeing. Luke turned and promptly emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor. Ahsoka swooned, falling into Obi-Wan's arms. Obi-Wan blanched, turning green as he looked away, stumbling from the surprise of suddenly having to support Ahsoka.

Anakin stood there in shock. Not necessarily from what he saw, but because he knew who had inflicted it.

As Vader, he had been through his own volley of interrogations or, perhaps more correctly, torture sessions. He had inflicted many different kinds of torture upon a wide range of people, and he knew the pain that they caused. Even now, staring at these two bodies, he could hear the screams of agony from the people he had done the very same to ringing in his ears.

Almost in a dream state, Anakin crossed the blood spattered room and tried not to see what squished under his feet and almost caused him to slip, approaching the two bodies—one young male, one older female—that were strung up by chains, their gruesome death publicized for all. Distantly, Anakin heard Luke retching behind him, unable to stand the sight of them.

"They were gutted…" Obi-Wan whispered behind him.

"Alive," Anakin said emotionlessly, evaluating their bodies with an expert eye. A flash of golden blonde caught his eye, out of place among all the dark red. Taking a deep breath as he steeled himself, Anakin reached towards their hollowed out abdomen, grasping the small object and slowly pulling it out to examine it.

A Padawan braid.

And not just any Jedi's Padawan braid either.

Now the pain hit Anakin. He took in a sharp breath, unable to breathe as he ran his hand carefully down the length of hair. It had been cut brutally away by some jagged edge; he could tell by the uneven cut at the top. His fingers continued to slowly trail the length of the braid, his eyes burning with tears he hardly even registered.

"Anakin…" he heard someone say, but he wasn't paying attention. He was lost in a sea of memories…

"Concentrate, Luke," he told his son calmly.

Luke gave a sigh of frustration. "I can't do it! It's impossible!"

Anakin smiled at his young six year old son who was currently trying to raise the small, circular object in his outstretched palm. "You will. It just takes practice."

Luke sighed, sitting up straighter. "Alright…if you say so…" his face scrunched up in concentration as the boy stretched out his palm, trying oh-so-hard to lift the small object. Sure enough, it wobbled in Anakin's hand, and he grinned, though he said nothing so he wouldn't break his son's concentration. Then, he managed to lift it out of his hand, even if it was only slightly.

"Luke," Anakin whispered quietly so he wouldn't disturb the boy.

He cracked open an eye, then both flew open as he saw his feat, which he had deemed impossible just moments before.

"I did it!" he cried as the object fell back into Anakin's hand. However, the next moment Anakin found the small boy's arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "Did you see that Father? I did it!"

Anakin laughed. "You did Luke, you did. I'm so proud of you."

Luke pulled back. "Thank you for believing in me Father."

Anakin smiled, setting the boy on his knee. "I'll always have faith in you Luke. You're going to do great things when you're older; I know you will. You just have to have faith in yourself."

Luke nodded. "Thank you. I love you Father."

Anakin smiled warmly, feeling immense pride in the boy he was raising. "I love you too Luke. Always."

"Father."

Anakin jerked, coming swiftly out of the past as he felt Luke's hand on his shoulder. Hot tears were streaked down his face, and his heart twisted painfully, seeming to be at the breaking point. He met Luke's blazing blue eyes, the same color as his own.

"I'm fine," Anakin said shakily, pocketing the braid before anyone could see it hopefully. "I'll be fine."

"We need to go," Luke said quietly. He, like Obi-Wan, could not look at the gruesome scene in front of them.

Anakin gave him a confused look. "We just got here…"

Luke was already shaking his head. "I feel him Father…"

"He's still on Florrum."