Chapter 24

The Sith disembarked from his shuttle and waved off his brainwashed servants as he entered his throne room in the main Yavin Temple and focused on his task at hand. He was certain he could at least bend one padawan to his will, and if all went according to plan he might just get the stronger of the two. The Force was warning him that the Jedi Council was on to him, but he did not care. He would make sure they were too late to save the young ones from their fate. Love might have saved them once, but it would become the tool to initiate their fall.

With his first smile since losing his hold on Padmé's mind, Sidious closed his eyes and focused on the Force seeking out the sleeping forms of the two Jedi padawans.

A flash of lightning was vaguely visible through Anakin's closed eyelids and drew him out of his slumber. Instinctively he glanced over at the warm body pressed against him. Padmé was snuggled against him, her eyes closed as she was lost in dreams. The storm from earlier continued to rage around them, but the makeshift shelter that he and Padmé had created kept them dry while they kept each other warm.

A smile formed across Anakin's lips as he gazed down at Padmé. He pressed his lips to the top of her head in a quick kiss, breathing in her scent as he tried to relax back into sleep. He ignored the rumble of thunder that echoed around him as he settled back against the tree he and Padmé had built their shelter around. Despite their surroundings, he was quite comfortable knowing that Padmé was near him. Her mere presence was soothing and relaxing and if he was not so content, he would have chided himself for all the years he had tried to push her away. Admitting their true feelings to one another was the best thing that had happened to him and he was sure Padmé felt the same. He knew she was concerned about the Jedi Council's view of their relationship, but Anakin did not care what they had to say. All that mattered to him was that he and Padmé could be together. If the Council saw fit to kick them out of the Order, then so be it. He would gladly leave as long as Padmé was by his side.

It was a bit odd thinking about life without the Jedi. It had been all he and Padmé had known for the last few years, but he knew they could manage. He smiled to himself as he thought of all the fights from the past he still had to make up to her. He could think of several pleasant ways to apologize to her and he gave a contented sigh as he let his thoughts drift away with the images he hoped would filter through his dreams.

Anakin was almost fully asleep again when over the sounds of the storm an eerie cackle echoed in his ears. Anakin's eyes snapped open and his back went rigid at the sound of the Sith's laughter. As another cackle rumbled with the storm, Anakin gently slid Padmé away from him and sprung to his feet, calling his lightsaber to his hand. The rain sizzled and evaporated as it hit his blade and the lit blade of Padmé's that was lying on the ground beside their structure. Unable to light a fire in the storm, the two padawan's had kept their sabers lit through the night.

"Do you think you can stop me, my young apprentice?" Sidious' voice echoed through Anakin's mind. "Both of your souls will belong to me."

Anakin cast a quick glance over his shoulder at Padmé and watched as her brow furrowed into a grimace as if she was fighting a nightmare. "Leave her alone!" Anakin barked in a half whisper to the Sith, raising his lightsaber above his head to cast the light from it into the shadows of the forest.

Sidious laughed at Anakin's response. "You cannot stop me. I am coming for both of you."

Anakin took a step out into the pouring rain, placing himself between Padmé and any threat coming at them from the forest. His lightsaber was held at the ready to strike anything that came at them.

"I am your destiny." The Sith declared as a sound of footsteps walking across the forest floor caught Anakin's attention. The sound was coming from the direction of the Yavin Temple and Anakin moved away from his and Padmé's shelter to engage it.

"How sweet." The Sith mocked Anakin as the young Jedi walked towards him. "Determined to protect the one you love." Anakin disengaged his lightsaber has he stepped into the forest, plunging himself into darkness. He hoped he would be able to surprise the approaching Sith and destroy him before a battle could ensue.

Sidious words echoed not only through Anakin's mind, but Padmé's as well. Although Anakin thought the Sith was talking to him, Padmé interpreted the words as a threat to Anakin. The Sith's words had caused her dreams to turn to nightmares and as Anakin moved further into the woods to protect her, the Sith succeeded in shaking her from her slumber. The sound of his menacing cackle in her head caused Padmé to bolt upright. Reflexively she called her lightsaber to her own hand as she stared around her surroundings. From an initial scan, nothing seemed out of place until she realized that Anakin was not with her.

Her heart began to beat wildly with trepidation as she stepped out of the shelter. "Anakin?" She called out to him as another rumble of thunder echoed throughout the night. With Anakin's lightsaber disengaged, she could not see him and intent on finding the Sith, Anakin was not aware that Padmé was looking for him. The storm drowned out her call to him.

Back in his throne room, Sidious could not stop the malicious smile that spread across his face as he could sense his upcoming victory. He called upon the Force to make a small tree snap and fall to the ground in the opposite direction from where he had lured Anakin to walk towards. Padmé immediately moved towards it. She was pushed into a run when Sidious responded to both Anakin and Padmé. "Poor fool, your companion is already mine."

"Anakin!" Padmé screamed as she broke into a sprint towards the sound she had heard in the forest, hoping she would find Anakin before the Sith could do something horrible to him. She called upon the Force to speed herself up and in an instant the trees swallowed up the glow of her lightsaber.

Anakin turned on his heel at the sound of Padmé's shout and ran back to their shelter to help her, but by the time he returned she was already gone without a trace. "Padmé!" He shouted desperately as a bright flash of lightning and crash of thunder drowned out his voice. Dread washed over him when he received no answer and the fear that he had failed to protect her clouded his mind.

"Padmé!" Anakin called out again as loud as he could, but all he received in answer was another rumble of thunder and Sidious' cackle.

Deep in the forest from where Sidious had sent her, Padmé stopped her running as she heard Anakin scream her name. She called back at him, "Anakin!" However, between the storm and Sidious laughter she was not sure if she was heard. Images of Anakin being tortured flooded her mind in response to the sound of his scream.

"The one you love is coming to me, my young Apprentice." Sidious spoke to both padawans. "Come to the Temple, and I will let you join us!"

"No!" Anakin and Padmé both shouted over the Sith's sinister laughter and immediately started sprinting towards the Yavin Temple. Both padawans called upon the Force to speed their steps, but given the distance between the two, Anakin would beat Padmé to the Temple. Neither was aware that Sidious did not have the other, all they knew was that their lover had screamed out to them and was nowhere in sight. Both padawans were concerned the other had somehow been captured and their hearts raced with panic that they were already too late to save the other.

Nightmares of Yavin had plagued Anakin and Padmé's sleep for months before the Council had given them their assignment. Like the council, both had written the nightmares off as an omen of the Force, but now that they were in danger of losing the one they loved they realized they were now living their nightmare. Each Jedi took in heaving breaths while sprinting through the thick jungle underbrush. The thick clouds overhead released a heavy downpour that soaked through their tunics and chilled their bodies. However, the shiver that ran up the Jedi's spines was not due to the cold, but in trepidation of what they might find at the Yavin temple. "Hold on." Both padawans whispered out loud in prayer that the other would be all right.

The Jedi's lightsabers cast an eerie, bluish glow off the trees and vines. The sounds and shadows of the jungle might have given the average person pause, or even enhanced the sinister nature of the Sith's plan, but the young Jedi simply ignored them and moved forward. The panic in their minds was too powerful to take in their surroundings all they could think of was reaching the other. They had just realized what they meant to each other and knowing that they might lose the other felt like their hearts were being ripped apart.

The ache in their chests seemed to intensify with each step they took. It did not seem like they could reach their destination fast enough. However with their lightsabers and the storms lightning as their guide they eventually made out the edifice of the large stone structure of the Sith's Yavin Temple. "I'm coming." Both Jedi spoke into the storm as they pushed their bodies forward.

Anakin thanked the Force as he made it to the clearing that led to the Temple's entrance. He did not slow his steps as he ran for the Temple door and did not pause to look back as it closed behind him. His focus was solely on finding the Sith and rescuing Padmé from his clutches.

Outside the Temple walls, Padmé unknowingly followed Anakin's footsteps and burst through the underbrush a few moments after him. The sight that caught her eyes was the closing door of the Temple and she rushed forward to reach it. However, the door s sealed before she could make it.

"No!" She cried out, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she realized she was blocked from what she wanted most. "Leave him alone!" She shouted as Sidious' laughter echoed through her mind. "Let me in!" She banged a fist against the hard durasteel door to no avail before the sizzle of falling raindrops against her lightsaber caught her attention. In a moment of clarity she plunged her saber's blade into the door and cursed every second that passed as she waited for the door to melt.