TriGemini:How else do you expect me to get you to come back unless I have you hanging on to the edge of your seat for at least part of the ride? As for your other questions, answers should all be contained within the chapter.

Teresa:No, no and no. it is 32 BBY, prior to the birth of Lando in 31, and Han in 29. Chewie is on Alaris Prime, with Attichitcuk founding one of the cities there. He might even be still on Kashyyyk, doing the same. He's definatly to busy to come play with the Jedi. And yes, just for you, Palpy is getting indigestion over the whole thing. And no, I don't think that Yoda will be any more successful the second time around. Only time would do that, but Anakin didn't have enough of it the first time. He will the second.

SidiousSith:Thanks for joining this little community of devoted fanship(at least I hope my readers are devoted). And you get to see...right now!

Chapter 20

Yoda sat and listened to Anakin speak. He'd actually started to grow rather fond of the broken Knight, in spite of himself. "First, the vision last night." He sighed, preparing himself for the emotions that would surely come with talking about this. "First, there was a long rope of three strands. At first I did not understand the meaning of it, but it did become clear: it is a physical representation of myself and the twins. An image of myself, at the age that I would have been had the scene actually happened, with Luke and Leia, when they are about 9. Then there is Padmé, in triumph, with the rope protecting her, then finally an image of the rope as it turned into a deadly viper, striking out at Sidious."

"Simple enough, when all the facts you know." Yoda agreed. "continue."

"An image of you, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, each holding one of the strands of rope, braiding it, and more especially, Qui-Gon working out the kinks in the strand that he holds."

"Interesting, this is. From this morning, it is?"

"Yes, Master. I believe that the strand that Qui-Gon holds in the vision is meant to represent the Princess Leia, because I have not seen her in several years, and she has not come to know me the way that Luke has."

"Hmm. See if that is true, we shall."

"I hope so. Another image, me again, with the twins, but they are younger, 6, maybe. I don't know. Again, Padmé under the protection of the rope, and my younger self, under the same protection, then both together, and the rope is binding the two together." He sighed, hoping that the whole thing might just be a dream brought on by the previous night's vision.

"Continue. More there is, I sense."

"Yes, Master, one more. I take the form of myself at nine, and I talk to him. I tell him that I hate him, which I do."

"Hate is a part of the dark side, Anakin. Careful you must be."

"I know, Master. He took everything from me. It is hard for me to let go of the hate that I have carried for him all these years."

"If strong enough to defeat him, you wish to be, done this must be."

"Yes, Master. I told him that he is destroying my life and I will kill him for it."

"Revealed, you think that you are, because of this?"

"Yes, Master. I am sorry, Master. I told him other things, as well. He asked me about 'the dark haired man with the piercing blue eyes.' I told him that he was a Jedi."

"He is."

The conformation that he still had a place where he belonged, relieved him, and he continued, "He asked who the children were. I told him that they were his twins. And he asked me why that Jedi was important."

"What did you tell him?"

Greif at something that shouldn't have happened crossed his face. "I told him that that Jedi was the Son of the Suns."

"Known to very few, is that part of the Prophecy." Yoda reassured him, "Read the whole thing, have you?"

"It is something that I did look up, considering that everyone and their Master was talking about it, and me for the first ten years I was at the temple."

"To translate the old writing many have tried. What say you about its meaning?"

"Darkness shall come over all the lands, evil shall hide within sight…And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as The Son of the Suns; One chosen, born not of flesh, but great in spirit, compassion and power. Through trials, great and small he shall conquer, and even in failure shall he find victory. Balance shall he bring, in the final darkest day."

"Studied for thousands of years, has that prophecy been. So old it was that many have failed to understand for simple translation errors. Means anything, does it now?"

"I believe so. The final darkest day, I believe was the day that I took Luke to see the Emperor, and together we defeated him."

"And now you are here. What does that mean for you now?"

"I do not know, Master."

Padmé looked him over, closely this time. She walked over to him, he had the nerve to offer her a lopsided grin. She then closed her fist and punched him right across the jaw, then walked past him and went down for dinner. She fumed as she went down the stairs. How dare he come up with such a lame…lie. It was a lie, wasn't it? As she went down the stairs she started thinking, why would he come up with such a ridicilious lie? She shook her head, she didn't want to belive him, she wanted to hate him, and she needed to be angry right now.
Palpatine was in an even fouler mood after his second meditation in twenty-four hours. He contacted his office. He was in such a bad temper that he couldn't even deal with the normal formalities of his senatorship. "I am sorry," he started pleasantly, looking haggard, which he actually felt, once he sublimated the darker emotions, and stressed, which he again, actually felt. "I am not feeling well, with the Queen missing, and the invasion, I'm just not sure that I can hold it together today." He mustered up a plaintive look.

"Of course, sir. Did you need to cancel all of your appointments today?"

"Yes, I think that would be for the best. Maybe for the rest of the week, as well," he said, really not feeling well at all. "I really am too worried to be able to see to anything today."

"I understand, sir. It's not every day that one's home is invaded by greedy corporate bastards like the Trade Federation. I do hope that we hear from the Queen soon. She's bound to be alright, don't you think?"

"I dearly hope, my boy, I dearly hope."

The assistant, what was his name? looked puzzled. "I have an appointment on here that I didn't make, sir."

"What is it?" he asked, trying not to sound interested, but he suspected that he failed.

"An appointment to go to the Jedi Temple. Your presence has been requested at midday four days from today." Blast those Jedi.

"I think I can muster myself up for that, at least. It is an honor that the Jedi have taken the time to see to my pleas. I will see…who was it?"

"It does not say, sir. Just that you are to go to the temple."

"When was this request made?" I hope this has nothing to do with these visions.

"Yesterday morning." It shouldn't then.

Relieved, but unable to show it until he disconnected, was suddenly in a hurry to get off the comm. "Thank you. I will contact you tomorrow, and see what I need to be doing then."

"Certainly, sir. I'll get everything else squared away for you."

"Thank you," he said and turned off the comm. Relief, colored with the horrid anxiety that had been plaguing him since he'd began meditating the night previous, hit him in a wave. He didn't revel in the contact of emotions as he usually did. In fact, the whole ordeal was turning his stomach.

Qui-Gon watched first Anakin, then Leia descend the stairs. He felt a tumult of emotions coming down from above him. No one else seemed to notice, so he tried not to notice either. It was harder for the older Jedi, though, and shortly Padmé came down, without Luke.

Luke? Don't you want to come eat?

I'm not really hungry, Master. Slight tinges of pain seeped through the connection. I'll be ok. I just need to meditate. Qui-Gon let it go, returning to the meal, but resolving to get the three of them straightened out, and soon.

Mace stood outside the Healer's certain that Master Yoda was inside. He collected himself, and entered the chamber. Anakin was humbly bowed before Yoda, having somehow folded his two meter frame into a ball nearly as small as Yoda was.

"Why did you make an appointment to meet with that slime?"

They both looked at him for further explanation. "Palpatine, Why are you meeting with him?"

"What are you talking about, Master Windu?"

He showed Yoda a datapad, "here, it says that you are to meet with Palpatine."

"Interesting this is. Since Anakin came, seen no one, have I. Asked that appointments that were requested be scheduled starting today, I did. Realized that he had wanted to speak with someone I did not. Work to our advantage, this may. Come with us, Anakin should, do you think, Master Windu? Insight that we cannot otherwise receive, he might provide."

"I'm not sure on that." Mace thought about it for a moment, "I can't really see that it would do any harm."

"Good."

Leia worried over her brother. He hadn't come down to dinner, and no one had said anything. Padmé had looked really upset by whatever he'd said to her, but now, Anakin was talking Pod racing. She'd never heard of any such thing, and, apparently neither had her mother. They both questioned the boy extensively, trying the patience of Shmi, but his love of flying was quite obvious. It was easier than she thought it would be, just to think of him as a little boy they had just met, rather than the ominous figure that he would eventually become. She started to think of Anakin as a quite charming little boy.
Anakin, the man who had been Darth Vader, was feeling better than he had been the day before. Mace and Yoda were going to let him out to see Palpatine, under their supervision, and in doing so, Anakin felt there might be a way to help them defeat him.

Father, an all too familiar voice reached out across the stars to him.

Luke. I am surprised to hear from you.

Don't be. I am having difficulties.

What kind of difficulties, my son?

The female kind.

Ah, I see. What female in your life could give you that kind of difficulty?

My mother.

Ah. She can be a singularly difficult woman, I admit. We were married for over three years, and I had known her ten years before that.

She likes me. Well, probably not anymore. She probably hates me now.

What happened?

I don't know. She asked me lots of questions about stuff, and I asked her about stuff, and I don't know. He sighed. So she got all mad because I took Jar Jar and Leia out of Watto's shop, and left her alone…

With me, when she'd decided that she likes you.

Leia isn't being any help, in fact she purposefully left us alone together to get everything sorted out.

And did you?

Well, she kind of backed me into a corner, and I kinda told her the truth.

Kind of?

Ok, so I did tell her the truth. She didn't take kindly to me telling her that I was her son.

Oh, that truth. She's fourteen, Luke. She doesn't even think in those terms yet.

What am I supposed to do about it?

She will have to know eventually. She needs to know everything, if we are to succeed in preventing Palpatine's plans. I have discussed this with Master Yoda. I'm not sure that he agrees, but Padmé is too intelligent to have the wool pulled over her eyes without being aware of it, and too headstrong to leave it alone even if it's for her own good. She would have demanded the knowledge from you eventually, there is no doubt about that.

Does that mean she needs to know about you?

I don't know. She will need to know that killing Palpatine will change the whole dynamic, but she may not need to know all of the details. Yoda and Mace are bent on his destruction.

I think she's going to need a few days to cool off.

She usually doesn't need that long when she loses her temper. But a few hours wouldn't hurt anything. It will give you time to cool as well.

How did you two do it, as temperamental as she is, and defiant as you are?

Anakin laughed, Love.

That's it?

Yes. I loved her, and she loved me, and that love came from the depths of our souls, and no force in the universe could have kept us apart.

Luke was standing looking out over the desert, watching the suns set. Leia found him there while…their father showed their mother the pod he was to race to help them get off of planet. Luke was interested, but felt it would be better to stay out of his mother's presence for the time being.

"So, what happened?" Leia asked him.

"I told her the truth," Luke said.

Leia took a deep breath. "And…" Leia prompted when he wasn't forthcoming with any other details.

He continued to stare off into the distance as he answered her. "And our Mother has a hell of a right hook," Luke said, without a trace of humor in his voice.

"She HIT you?" Leia asked, totally surprised by this news.

"Yup, right across the jaw. I don't know how I messed things up so badly with her, Leia. We talked about different stuff. She was asking about life as a Jedi and that led to the nature of the Dark Side, then I told her about Father, without telling her who he was…Sithspit, once she calms down she'll realize that…" Luke hung his head. Leia came over and put an arm around her brother.

"Its ok, Luke. She'll come around. I know you want to know her as badly as I do. You just jumped in with both feet like you always do," Leia said.

"We have to get home, Leia. The more time we spend here, the more damage we do, intentional or not. There's no telling what Father's doing on Corsucant, how much have our presence's altered history? When we get back will any of our friends know us? What kind of world will we be facing?" Luke asked, sounding uncertian and scared.

"Can we get back, Luke? Or are we stuck here?" Leia said.