CHAPTER XXV

Nightmare

"Padmé, what's wrong?"

Padmé looked up from her couch as Anakin strode into her living room, his expression anxious and worried. It was well past midnight now; Anakin was no doubt returning from the opera. She shuddered. What had Palpatine told Anakin? He had a strange expression on his face – relief mixed with some fanatic gleam in his eye. It unnerved her and reminded Padmé of the promise she had made to Kyp Durron.

She would protect Anakin from the Chancellor, no matter what it cost.

She had to start by telling the truth. She had to start by telling Anakin what Palpatine had done to the Republic.

Things were always easier said than done.

Padmé lowered her hands from her face and sighed as her husband sat down beside her.

"The Chancellor…" Her voice faded away. Palpatine was his friend, his mentor – would he be able to see past that and accept the truth of what the Chancellor had done to the Republic? How would she be able to convince him that Palpatine was corrupt?

"What about the Chancellor?" Anakin insisted.

"Oh, Ani." Padmé pressed her face into his chest and she forced herself to breathe slowly. "The Republic is… in danger."

"From the Separatists? Impossible. The war is ending!"

She shook her head firmly. "No – from its own leaders. It's crumbling from within."

Anakin fixed her with a perplexed look. "What do you mean?"

Oh, Ani. He was never able to understand politics very well. Perhaps that was one of the reasons she loved him so much. Anakin made everything simple – most of the time. This time, however, things were very complex and Anakin's ignorance was putting him in danger. Padmé bit her lip, uncertain of how to answer her husband's question. She was going to make a stand against Palpatine, Anakin's friend and mentor.

She had to reveal to him that she no longer trusted the Chancellor.

"What is it, love?"

Padmé suddenly realized that her hands had been covering her face. Anakin was now gently detaching them so he could see her properly.

"Anakin…" She hesitated. Why was she afraid to tell him? She trusted Anakin – she trusted him with her life. She needed to be honest with him, if she was going to save him. If he was angry with her decision… she would deal with his reaction. "Anakin," she began again, looking him straight in the eye, "my faith in the Senate has been… shaken. I don't think we can trust the Chancellor any more. He's leading the Republic down a path that we cannot afford to take – a path that could very well end in ruin."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Padmé swallowed hard. "The Sector Governance Decree. It was passed yesterday under the pretense that it will help keep the Republic safe from another war. But it's more of a blind attempt to try to destroy all that the Republic stands for. It serves only one purpose – to give the Chancellor more power. He has been passing laws that only make him stronger. And now he has control over all of our own planets. Ani, we've made a dictator out of him." Her fingers twisted together again. Padmé glanced down at them, but instead her eyes fell on the japor snippet that she still wore around her neck – the japor snippet that Anakin had given her, so long ago.

"You don't trust Palpatine anymore," Anakin said. His voice was emotionless.

Padmé glanced up at him. "No," she whispered. "I can't. Not anymore. He was once a mentor and friend to me, like he is now to you. I'm sorry, Ani… I know he's a friend, but –"

"Shh…" Anakin's voice was surprisingly soft as he held up a hand, silencing her. He didn't look angry. Instead, he pulled reached out and pulled her closer, embracing her tightly. "It's all right," he said.

"I'm sorry," Padmé murmured again. "But I have to be honest with you."

"That's all right," Anakin replied quietly, stroking her hair. "I believe you, Padmé. It's your judgment."

Padmé drew away slowly and glanced up at Anakin again. "You're still his friend," she said. "Anakin, you have to realize what he's doing. He's becoming a dictator! And because of your friendship, he could pull you along without you ever thinking about the damaging effects it could have on the Republic—"

"What do you mean?" Anakin interrupted sharply.

Padmé caught her breath. "Anakin… please. You have to realize what he's doing is wrong, that it's destroying the Republic."

"You want me to turn my back on his friendship?!"

"No!" Padmé cried. "No! It's just you're ignorant to politics, Ani. Please, for my sake, at least talk to the Chancellor and make him stop what he is doing! And be careful. I'm worried about you."

Anakin's expression softened. "You don't need to worry about me, Padmé," he said. "I'm fine."

"Please," Padmé murmured. "Please, be careful. Don't trust him blindly."

They were silent for a long moment.

"Anakin?"

He blinked. "Of course I will," he murmured. "For you, I would do anything."

Padmé smiled slightly. She reached out and grasped his hand, squeezing it gently. "Thank you."

"Just don't worry," Anakin told her firmly. "I don't want to see you worry. This is supposed to be a happy time, right? You'll be a mother soon, after all."

Padmé's hand drifted to her swelling abdomen. "Yes."

"Everything's going to be all right," Anakin continued. "I promise."

Padmé's smile faded. "I hope so."

When Kyp Durron returned to the Jedi Temple, he was hoping desperately that he hadn't made his situation worse. Though Padmé Amidala had not acted as though she trusted him, the look in her eyes when he had given her his warning had told him that she believed him, for good or ill.

What was absolutely clear was that the situation was out of his hands. Kyp knew that his chances of convincing Anakin that he was trustworthy were very slim. If any doubt was to be placed in the Chosen One's mind about his alliance with Palpatine, Kyp would not – could not – be the one to do it. Anakin's suspicious mind would not believe anything Kyp said – not unless something happened to convince him otherwise.

Padmé, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. If she managed to convince Anakin that Palpatine was not to be trusted blindly, then perhaps they would have a chance. A very slim chance.

It was past midnight when he walked down the corridor towards his own quarters; the Temple halls were mostly deserted. Vaguely, he wondered whether things would have gone more smoothly if Jaina had been here, then decided that it was impossible to know since Jaina herself was normally impossible to predict.

Kyp had just entered his quarters when he felt the disturbance – a shocking tremor in the Force that shook his very being to the core, but at the same time felt oddly different, as if it was working on some higher plain. The hairs on the back of his neck seemed to stand up on end as the temperature of the room plummeted.

Acting swiftly, Kyp drew out and ignited his lightsaber. The crimson blade cast a somewhat eerie red glow across the room.

"Who's there?" he called, though his sense of foreboding was telling him that it could only be one person.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar tug through the Force and everything dissolved into darkness.

Shadows and mist swirl in the dark jungle.

"PADMÉ!"

A name, just a name.

"PADMÉ!"

Whose voice is that? One so panicked, so frightened?

It takes him a moment to realize that the voice belongs to him.

"PADMÉ!"

His shout echoes around him, yet all he can see is mist. He runs, his feet sticking in the mud, water dripping down his face as rain pours on the jungle. Suddenly, the cloud of mist opens and he's standing there, in the clearing. His eyes immediately connect with the broken, limp form lying, bloodied and bruised, on the ground, wet with rain and blood—

"NO!"

He turns around wildly, looking for someone, anyone –

"Anakin!" a voice shouts.

He stops. He turns and sees Obi-Wan, standing in the rain, his expression anguished. Beside him, battered and bruised, is Kyp Durron. Both Jedi have their lightsabers ignited – one casting a bluish glow, the other a crimson haze.

"Anakin, hurry!" Obi-Wan yells.

"I can't!" he hears his voice call back. He has no control over it – it seems distant, detached. His mind is still with the woman lying on the ground, dead.

Dead.

No. It can't be.

"PADMÉ!"

He steps forwards, and suddenly the ground rushes up to meet him and all goes white.

White – white mist. Then – a confusing tangle of images. Voices.

"Your Highness…?"

Voices that are detached and distant.

"What shall we do with her?"

Who, who? he asks. Who are they talking about?

"Bring her…. Places for traitors to the Empire…"

One voice. A man's voice. It is familiar, but he can't remember where he's heard it before.

"…dangerous, but valuable enemy." The voice is slipping in and out, distant, echoing. "…if she does not co-operate… have her killed."

Have who killed? Who?!

"Sir…!"

"…Highness…"

He struggles with the white blanket of mist descending on him, but the voices are fading away before he can clarify who the speakers. Finally unable to fight any longer, he surrenders to the whiteness.

Anakin woke in a cold sweat, panting. He was shivering uncontrollably, almost as if he was sick with a fever. It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer drowning in the white mist and that he was, in fact, sitting upright in bed in Padmé's room. It was comfortably dark.

The dream had changed again, and with that change brought an increasing sense of fear and foreboding. The jungle had remained the same – until it was lost in the mist – and Obi-Wan and Durron had still been there. But most clearly, he remembered the strange, distant voices. Empire. Why did that word sent a shiver down his spine?

Empire… A kingdom. A Galactic kingdom – powerful, no doubt, and controlling. That was what he thought of when he thought of the word "empire."

Powerful and controlling.

Anakin had a sudden flash of memory of Padmé, quietly whispering her fears about Palpatine.

He's becoming a dictator, she had said.

Anakin shivered. He had told Padmé not to worry just to calm her down, but he had never examined the full meaning of her frightened words. She truly believed what Palpatine was doing was wrong.

But Palpatine knew about Darth Plagueis… and once he, Anakin, learned the knowledge that Sith Lord had acquired, then he would be able to save Padmé from anything…

Anakin rubbed his forehead and lay back against the pillows. It was late in the night – or very early in the morning. It was difficult to tell as it was still very dark outside. He was tired and he clearly wasn't thinking coherently. All he wanted to do was sleep…

Anakin drifted off once more, but his dreams remained troubled by swirling mist and voices whispering words about an Empire…

Kyp knew exactly what had happened, and he cursed himself for not being on his guard, for not being able to protect himself. The Jedi Temple was gone; he was in some other place, surrounded by darkness and without an escape. He was trapped, caught by Palpatine – the Sith Lord had finally followed through with a plan, just as Jaina had predicted.

You could be his next target.

Target he was, and now he was caught. Whether or not it was the same trick Palpatine had used to trap Jaina, Kyp did not know – what he did know was that the entire ploy echoed with the power of time.

At least he was not trapped in his memories, as Jaina had been – yet. He still had a grip on reality, or at least what passed as reality here.

And he wasn't alone.

"I know you're there, Sidious," he called. "Why don't you speak to me face to face, instead of hiding in the dark? Cowardly, wouldn't you say?"

"It is generally considered unwise to insult the one who has the upper hand," a voice hissed from somewhere out in the darkness. Kyp immediately recognized it has Palpatine's. He felt himself tense.

"I was never good at following advice," Kyp countered.

"Quite."

Kyp looked around, trying to peer through the gloom to find the Sith Lord, but to no avail.

"What is it that you want with me?" Kyp asked. He heard his voice echo. "Why go to all this trouble?"

There was an ominous laugh. "If you are to play with time," Sidious replied, "then you must use all your resources. Why go to mundane lengths to trick you into coming to my office when I could easily entrap you here by using a time portal? The Jedi will not assume anything – they cannot feel what has happened as they are not in tune with the powers of time. You have much to learn about the Force, Jedi."

"It's not going to work," Kyp said. "I'll find a way out. You've already used this on Jaina, and I drew her back then—"

"Solo?" He sounded perplexed. There was a pause. "Oh, yes. Of course." The voice was pensive, but ended with a sneering tone. "You would have been an interesting opponent, Master Durron," Sidious continued, speaking louder this time. "Perhaps even moreso than the Chosen One's granddaughter. I am sorry that I must dispose of you so soon."

"You won't get rid of me so easily," Kyp interrupted coldly. "Just as you didn't get rid of Jaina so easily."

"Did I not?" There was an icy pause. "Solo has gone, and on Shanthral she may discover something that is far beyond her powers to defeat. She is out from underfoot; she can no longer destroy my plans. Even if she does return, she will be too late. My only obstacle left is you."

"This isn't over yet, Sidious," Kyp growled.

The Sith Lord laughed coldly at that, and the sound sent a shiver down Kyp's spine.

"Tell me, Master Durron," he said, "just how far would you go to save her?"

Kyp froze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play the part of the fool," Sidious' voice hissed. "You know exactly what I mean. Your journey through time was never about preventing Anakin Skywalker's destiny, as Jaina Solo may believe. It runs deeper than that, for you."

Kyp could barely breathe. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the Sith Lord's words. His enemy was trying to goad him into doing something rash. He wouldn't let Sidious get to him.

"I know your purpose here, Master Durron," the dark, cold voice continued. "You came with her to guard her, to protect her. How charming. Your fears were never about Anakin, were they? Even now, you are having difficulty reaching out to him. Your deepest thoughts are not focused on 'saving' him from the Dark side – they are focused on Jaina Solo. Am I not correct?"

Kyp forced himself to breathe deeply, forced himself to ignore the words. Slowly, he sent out his thought, searching for a way out of his prison. There had to be some form of escape…

"Love, you will find, is the downfall of all," the Sith Lord's voice said. He chuckled – a mad, inhuman sound. "It is a connection between souls that brings about ultimate destruction. People are too consumed by thoughts and fears for their loved ones to understand what is happening right in front of their eyes. You have such a connection, do you not? How else would have rescued Solo from her prison? No Jedi has ever achieved that before. You are the first. You have something that the rest of the Jedi lack."

Try though he might, Kyp found that he could not ignore Sidious' words any longer. They tore sharply at his being and he forced himself not to react, not to respond. Sidious was striking close to home – too close to truth for his comfort.

"Are you in love with her, Durron?" the Sith Lord's voice murmured.

Something inside him snapped.

"You stay away from her!" Kyp shouted.

"Ah…" There was a mocking tone in the Sith Lord's voice. "Have I struck a nerve?"

"Do what you want with me," Kyp growled, "just stay away from Jaina. Leave her alone, or I swear I will cut you down myself."

Silence. Then –

"Arrogant as always, Master Durron," Sidious said icily. "What makes you think that you can escape? What danger are you to me when you are trapped within time itself?"

"I'll find a way out!" Kyp hissed. "And when I do, you better be on your guard, because one day, I'll be there."

"You presume too much," the Sith Lord's voice said coolly. "I think this concludes our conversation."

Kyp felt the Force's flow bend, obstructed by some great power. There was a small surge, and then nothing. Darth Sidious was gone. There was nothing left but silence and oppressive darkness bearing down on him.

Kyp clenched his hands into fists.

This isn't the end, Sidious. I will find a way out, if it's the last thing I do!