AN: I give you a warning, this is a dark chapter. Bad things, really bad things, happen. It is the only way to get certain loose ends tied up. I dislike the necessity of this chapter, but it is necessary. About the only really good thing that happens is that no one dies. Yet. Oh, well. You of course have surmised that by the end of this little tale someone will die…haven't you?

Yoda1976: Stop teasing because you've been helping me plot this behemoth. It's not nice.

Fictionfrek101: There's something better coming. Trust me. But that waits for the next fic. This one, surprisingly is actually fairly close to being done. Everybody just has to get back to Coruscant…

Teresa: While that idea really won't work for what I have in mind, it may sit in the pot and stew and I'll do a fic about it later, maybe…

Jedi Knight 13: I wasn't really thinking that Anakin would get introduced, just sort of stay quietly in the background, watching, not saying anything. I haven't decided exactly how that meeting is going, as it is now subject to several other plot dynamics.

Lunatic Pandora1: I can see the badness in Anakin meeting Palpatine, as can Yoda, but Yoda feels that Anakin is strongly on the good side now, which he is, and it is something of a test for Anakin. If he can reign in his hatred well enough that Palpatine cannot sense it, he will have passed his final test in trust, and Yoda would let him out. There are also many things that Anakin could pick up on, having been that close to the man for that long that Yoda and Mace just would not be able to. Nervous habits that indicate stress or lying, that unless you see someone everyday you don't necessarily clue in on. That outweighs, for Yoda, the possible bad things that could happen if Palpatine figures out who Anakin is. Besides, they can always kill him…

TriGemini: Glad that you liked the chapter. Padmé's acceptance of the situation as is, is key to ensuring that Palpatine doesn't ascend into power, which is the focus of Anakin and Luke at this point. Technically Palpatine made the appointment way, way back in like chapter 10, when he came to see Yoda about the disturbance in the Force, but he's forgotten that he did ask for the appointment, but the dude at the front desk didn't. My lips are sealed as to what happens when they get back, if they get back.

Kelev: I only promise to kill less people than George Lucas did in Episode I.

Sidious Sith: I can't tell you…

Sand Dragon91: Thanks for coming to read. Glad you're enjoying it. Padmé and Luke are going to have a talk, so things should be better after that don't you think? As far as the other characters, I am having a bit of trouble keeping everyone straight as is with 11 major characters, then adding in the three minor ones as well…I'll try harder though. As far as battles, I was told "It's George Lucas' fault that Episode I is slow as molasses." So I defer to the reference material.

Chapter 21

Luke wiggled out from under the engine that he was working on. He and Ani had been out in the back working on the Pod since before dawn. It was…interesting. That was the only word that he had for it. "Try it again," he told Ani.

The engines fired, but died quickly. "Ani, time to go!" Shmi called out the back door.

"Ok. I'll be back in a little while. Don't mess it up." He warned Luke as he left, but it was just nervousness over his Pod.

"Come on R2. Let's see what we can do with this thing." The droid beeped an affirmative response, and followed him around to the other engine. The two of them worked on the Podracer all morning.

He'd eaten breakfast that morning, but preferred to skip lunch, since Ani was there, and they could work on the Pod together.

Jar Jar came out then, with the boy, but Anakin's admonitions that he would get hurt didn't stop him. "Keep away from the binders, Jar Jar. If your hand gets caught in the beam, it'll go numb for hours."

"Okeeday!" Jar Jar said with a big grin on his face. He climbed onto one of the engines with a hydrospanner. Sure enough, Jar Jar dropped the hydrospanner into the engine blades. When he reached into the cowling to get the tool, his mouth hit the energy bindings, to make matters worse, his hand got caught in the engine. Luke couldn't help but laugh at the Gungan's predicament and shook his head and was about to help the poor creature, but his Mother beat him to it. She hadn't acknowledged his presence at all during the day's work. Other than the coolness he felt radiating off of his mother, the day had gone well enough. Qui-Gon came by as they were getting ready to try to start the engine. "Use this power charge," he told Ani, handing the boy a small box. They'd been able to finish the pod, and once Jar Jar was clear, Ani was able to start the engines and they purred like two content kragg cats.

Luke had to smile at the little boy's excitement at their success, he really was starting to wish things had been different and they could have been a family together. He found himself wondering if he and Leia would have had any additional siblings and what they would've been like. He shook his head of the dream, because that really was all it was; a dream. In all likelihood they'd be stuck here, and if they did get home, it would be home and not some idealized version of it. Qui-Gon had gone over and was talking with his Grandmother, about what, Luke didn't know. He started putting the tools away as Ani's friends came over. Luke had to suppress a chuckle at the thought, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, most feared agent of the Emperor had playmates.

Qui-Gon watched over the "children." He included Luke and Leia in the group, though they were 23—as old as his Padawan, nearly. He wanted to get Padmé and the twins off by themselves, so that they could work on whatever was causing the tension between them, but The Force told him that they did not need his interference. So he watched, and he stewed. They played tag or some equally amusing children's game in the fading twilight, despite the strain that he felt coming from all three of them.

"Ani seems to like your friends," Shmi said, as she walked up behind Qui-Gon. The littlest girl shrieked, which turned to a fit of giggles as she was caught by one of the older kids. The sound carried clearly to them, and it made Shmi smile.

"Yes. He seems to be getting along with them quite well. I am glad of that."

"He's always made friends easily, but he especially seems to like that Luke. They are like peas in a pod." Shmi said, watching the children playing, since their work was done.

"You should be proud of your son. He gives without thought of reward." Qui-Gon said, wanting to carefully broach the subject of Anakin's unusual strength in the Force.

"Well he knows nothing of greed. He has a..."

"He has special powers."

"Yes..."

"He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It is a Jedi trait."

"He deserves better than a slave's life."

"Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early. The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who is his father?"

"There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him, I can't explain what happened." Qui-Gon nodded, this confirming what little he'd gleaned of Anakin's history from his son. "Can you help him?"

"I don't know. I didn't actually come here to free slaves." A plan started to formulate in his head, one that incorporated greed into the equation.

Palpatine paced about the house, worry tracing furrows in the carpet. He'd tried to contact Lord Maul once, but he hadn't been able to get a hold of him. He tried meditating, but only received repeats and variations on the imagery that he'd already seen. The confounded Jedi and his twin children, at 3, 8, 11, 7, 9, 6, and 13; he'd never seen anyone who looked like they did. The rope was constantly in his way when there was anyone that he wanted to manipulate; now, not only did it protect the Queen and that boy, and several Jedi he couldn't identify by name, but he found flashes of it in all of the visions now. He had a few visions that he couldn't relate to the Jedi, and the rope even appeared in those. He saw himself in the Chancellor's podium, directing the senate towards some end, but the rope was pulling him off the podium. Again when meeting with a Cyborg of some fashion, who glowed green from the inside, he could barley breathe as he tried to talk to the being from the rope being wrapped around him so tightly. And the disaster that would ensue if he ran away was even greater than the one he was seeing if he stayed here. He was a mouse, caught between a cat and a mousetrap. He had nowhere to go even if he did try to leave, with the Trade Federation blockade that he'd engineered standing in his way. Then he saw the rope viper striking out at Darth Maul, but missing.

A faint glow of triumph rushed through him. His apprentice would be able to continue to carry out his plans, should this prove to be the ultimate disaster that it was looking to be…provided he knew what they were. He started running contingency plans through his mind, using his foresight to try to pick out a route that His Apprentice both could and would follow, should he meet his demise at the hands of the dark haired Jedi. He began thinking about creating a holocron of his own for Maul; it should contain everything that he knew, so the chain of knowledge would remain unbroken. This was key if Maul was to have any success in the bleak future Palpatine now saw.

"The Son of the Suns," he mused wondering if there was anything that he could look up on that reference. It sounded prophetic. He rummaged through a box, one where a holocron was hidden away. He wondered if he would be able to find anything on the prophecy, with that being the most extensive holocron that he owned.

Later on, after the boys had gotten the pod working, because for all of his maturity, Luke was very much a boy when it came to things that flew, hovered, clanked, or whirred, Padmé and Leia were fixing supper together while Shmi worked on Watto's books, grateful for the chance to get caught up. Padmé took a breath then let it out. She took another breath and let it out. Broaching this subject with the woman she came to think of as a friend was hard, especially if the answers were what she was afraid of. She started to speak three times, and finally Leia broke the silence.

"Luke tells me you punched him today," she said easily.

"Yeah, I did," Padmé said, wincing at the thought that she'd let her temper get the best of her and feeling a little ashamed about having done it.

"Any reason why?" Leia asked.

"Because, he's a tease and a liar. I didn't know Jedi could be liars," Padmé said, chopping at the vegetables with more vigor.

"What did he say?" Leia asked.

"He said you and he were twins, and that I was your mother. Now why would he say something like that?" Padmé asked.

"Maybe because it's true?" Leia asked.

Padmé hadn't really expected this. Stunned, she asked, "You mean, he was telling the truth?"

"Well, you seem to accept that I am from the future, if you further allow that I am his twin, is really a stretch that you at the very least could be our mother?" Leia asked.

"Are you saying I am?" Padmé asked cautiously; she didn't want it to be true, the awful things Luke told her about his father made her wonder where his mother had been, and why she was unable to protect him from the abuse of his bastard father. She also didn't really want to think about how…they'd been conceived; surly it had to be rape. The monster Luke had described surely couldn't feel real love for anyone. To be able to mutilate your own child the way Luke was. She shuddered to think about it.

"As far as we know, yes," Leia said quietly.

"And…and how do you know this?" tears were stinging Padmé's face.

Leia swallowed, and then said, "Our father told him."

"When…when did Luke learn this?" Padmé asked, tears freely falling now. Fear gripped her throat, fear of the rape she KNEW had to be in her future, fear of failing her babies. So many questions, and she was almost too afraid to ask them.

"I'm not sure. He's only been able to talk to…our father…since he arrived here. Our father came with him," Leia said, not entirely masking the ambivalence that she felt about Vader's presence.

"There's something else, isn't there? You are afraid of him aren't you?" The fear Padmé felt grew, what if he was hunting them now?

Leia sighed. "I don't know anymore. Luke says…"

"When where you and Luke born?" Padmé asked through the tears, disregarding Leia's wavering answer.

"We were born just as the Emperor was taking over, and that doesn't happen for about thirteen years," Leia said.

"Then is your father alive, here and now?" Padmé asked.

"Yes, he's just a child though," Leia said.

"Who is he?" Padmé asked.

"That is a conversation you'd better have with Luke…Mother," Leia said.

"I need to know, Leia, and I want to hear it from you," Padmé said.

"The boy who will be our father is upstairs right now working on a protocol droid," Leia said quietly.

Padmé couldn't believe her ears, that sweet innocent boy was going to rape her and mutilate her son and do who knows what to her daughter. She burst into tears.

Darth Maul felt tremors in the Force, dark ones. He'd been through Mos Eisley, and was headed for Mos Espa, on this force-forsaken planet. The heat alone was enough to kill the unwary, not to mention the fact that there was no water anywhere. Not that he hadn't been worse off before, but he'd never been to such a universally wretched place in all of his 22 years. Not that he'd actually been that many places. His Master…oh, yes, his Master. Those dark tremors, ones he was so sensitive to, were troubled thoughts on the wind from his Master. All was not well on Coruscant. He stopped the Bloodfin, and got off, entering the Scimitar and prepared to make contact with his Master.

It took less time than he thought, not a good sign. If his Master wasn't keeping up the appearance of the kindly senator things were not right at all.

"Master," Maul said kneeling when Sidious appeared.

"Lord Maul, rise. There have been numerous tremors in the Force; we may have to rethink our strategy." Sidious said.

"I have felt them, my Master. Are there any changes in your orders for me?" Maul asked, not really expecting any.

"Not yet, I still wish you to kill Qui-Gon Jinn, but do NOT put yourself in extensive danger, my Apprentice," Sidious said.

"I understand, my Master," Maul said.

"I will be creating a holocron for you, should my death happen prematurely; I will place it where you will be able to find it, but no one else," Sidious added, this Maul didn't expect, his Master clearly was worried if he was going to take the time and effort to store all of his knowledge in a holocron.

"I understand, Master," Maul said.

"Now, find Qui-Gon Jinn, and destroy him," Sidious said and the connection closed.

Padmé wept that night as she waited in her room. She knew what she had to do, but it wasn't easy. He was only a little boy, one who was trying to help them, but he would grow, and in time he would be a monster.

"Ani! Please, don't do this!" She screamed as he tore at her clothes.

"It's me! We were friends once! Don't!" she screamed, his only response a low lustful growl.

"No…this can't be happening!" she whimpered.

He hovered over her and reached down to his belt…

She woke with a start, sweat pouring off of her. It was a dream, just a dream. She then knew she HAD to do it. She would miss Luke and Leia, but the murderous feind had to be stopped before raping the galaxy… and her. She so wanted children someday, but she wanted them to born of love, not an act of…perversion. She took her hold-out blaster, it would be enough. She had to end this. Tears came to her face as she approached Ani's room…no not Ani's room, the monster's room. Ani was a sweet child; she wanted to remember him as such. Not the monster he will become. She wept for what she was about to do, she entered his room, raised the blaster and he stirred. She gasped, was he awake? No…just turning over in his sleep, he was facing her now. Dear Force, why did he have to be facing her? Her blaster was aimed at his cute little face, the dimple in his chin stood out in sharp relief to the rest of his face. It was adorable…he's a monster…he must be stopped she told herself harshly and reaimed the blaster. It was just as well he was facing her, she didn't really want to shoot him in the back anyway.

"Mother? What are you doing?" Luke's voice sounded quietly behind her. It startled her and she almost pulled the trigger in response but didn't…why?

"I'm stopping an evil, son. He's a monster, you told me that," she said, the tears coming back.

"No, Mother," he said, taking her by the shoulders, "he WAS a monster, and he MIGHT BE a monster, not is a monster. The future is not set, it is always in motion. Now give me the blaster and let me tell you the WHOLE story," Luke said.

"Of how he raped me, of how he tortured you?" Padmé spat.

"Raped you? Who told you that?" Luke asked confused.

"It's the only thing that makes sense, I would NEVER marry someone capable of doing what you said your father did, therefore it had to be rape," Padmé said.

"You're wrong, Mother, about many things, now give me the blaster and let me tell you the truth," Luke said again.

"No…no this has to end. I have to end it now," Padmé said, trying to turn out of Luke's grip, back to her task.

"This isn't you, Mother. Let go of your fear, it's blinding you, give me the blaster," Luke said, "It wasn't too long ago that I had a similar conversation with Father, please don't shut me out like he did then."

She looked from her son to the little boy and back again, she broke down into full blown tears and threw herself into Luke's arms, who gently led her down into the kitchen for a long overdue conversation.

"Do you understand now?" Luke asked her once they were downstairs.

She was still weeping and the cobwebs throughout her skull made it hard to think, "Understand what?"

"How easy it is to fall to the Dark Side," Luke said simply.

"But I didn't…I'm not…It's impossible!" she said, why is he doing this? she already felt awful for…dear spirits what HAD she almost done?

"Not impossible. Fear, anger, hate. These are the things the Dark Side feeds on. Just look at you, you were ready to kill an innocent little boy because of fear," Luke said.

"I…I don't know what to say Luke…I….I'm a terrible Mother and you must hate me now," tears poured from her eyes as the words came out halting and broken.

Luke, the dear man that he was looked at her with nothing but compassion in his eyes, "No, Mother, I don't hate you, for the same reason I don't hate Father. I love you, but you really had me worried there for a minute," Luke said.

This sent Padmé into a new fit of tears, he was forgiving her, she who had almost done the unforgivable, she had done it in her mind, and she would have done it if he hadn't…stopped her; he saved her from herself.

"Oh, Luke. I'm ready to listen now," Padmé said.

"Yes, I think you'll have a much better understanding of Father's perspective and role in the whole thing now that you've had the smallest taste of the Darkness," Luke said.

"That was a SMALL taste? It's pretty bitter," Padmé said, with a little forced laugh.

Luke smiled at her, "Yes, after the fact it does taste bad, but in the moment, how did it feel?"

She thought about it for a few moments before answering. "Empowering…I was scared, doubtful, but also empowered. That part was intoxicating," Padmé said, blowing her nose.

"Yes, exactly, now imagine that you can use the Force and that feeling of empowerment is all too real," Luke said.

"Dear spirits, Luke, how does any Jedi resist it?" Padmé asked horror at just how easily she let it happen, how easy it would be to happen to anyone.

"The same way you did; we stay connected," Luke said.

"But the Jedi are forbidden attachment," Padmé said, confused.

"Yes, but we are connected; to the Force, and to each other, also, in my time the Jedi are all but wiped out, I'm the last one. Master Yoda died just after telling me the truth of who my father was," Luke said.

"Leia said the same thing; that the Jedi were wiped out. Now, tell me, how does a cute little boy end up a monster?" Padmé asked.

"Love," Luke said.

"Love?" Padmé asked, stunned.

"And a healthy dose of fear and manipulation from a man he trusted," Luke added.

"Fear, of what?"

"Your death," Luke said.

"And how was I supposed to die?" Padmé asked.

"Giving birth to Leia and me. He had a vision about that happening, and after the vision involving Grandmother, he went off the deep end. I'm not so sure that Palpatine didn't place the vision into his head to drive him off it," Luke said.

"So he thought I would die in childbirth and that fear drove him to the Dark Side," Padmé restated.

"That sums it up. He trusted Palpatine would be able to save you; or rather he had the knowledge to save you. He gave up everything for that chance, gave up everything out of fear and his love for you. The Dark Side twisted that love, made a mockery of it, and in the end it caused him to destroy the very thing he was trying to save. He didn't even know that we were alive until we were grown," Luke finished.

"That is so sad," Padmé said.

"Yes, it is. When I start teaching Jedi when I get home, if I get home, I intend to use the story as a lesson on the nature of the Dark Side. Knowing WHY he turned is so much more important than knowing that he DID turn. You learned that tonight," Luke said.

"Just when did my son get so wise?" Padmé asked, feeling more like she was talking with Qui-Gon Jinn at the moment.

"It happens when you have to save the souls of your parents, I guess," Luke said with a lopsided grin. Padmé leaned over and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you for saving your father, and thank you for saving me. We've got an early day tomorrow, we should get some sleep," Padmé said.

"Awww…MOM, just five more minutes," Luke said in his best five-year-old brat voice. Padmé smacked his shoulder, laughing.

"Not funny," she said as she started up to her room.

"Yes it was," he said following her.