I have happily labored over this chapter, and I hope that you all enjoy it! It was just...uhg, I have been imagining this chapter since I started this story, and to finally be here is amazing! But it was soooo hard for me to write this! My heart almost couldn't take it!

But I wrote it. And you should all be worried. Yes, you should. I can't wait till the next chapter hehehehehe

By the way, you all are not allowed to kill me, all right? You're not! Just so we're clear!

BY THE WAY FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T KNOW I EDITED AND CHANGED THINGS IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! I looked back at it and tried to figure out what I was thinking before I edited it and expanded on a few things.

Please review! Pretty Pretty Pretty Please with a Skywalker on top :D

Enjoy!


It was completely silent in the cell. As the silence and the nothingness of the room pressed in all around him, Luke couldn't help but feel uneasy and nervous. Something was going to happen today; something that was going to change everything.

He could only hope that it would be in a good way.

Restlessly, he paced the length of the cell. Mara had healed him completely once he'd been returned from his most recent 'session' with Sidious, who he noticed was aging rapidly in his clone bodies. It was nice to feel whole again; to be able to move completely and freely without something hurting, to breathe normally again without each breath being uncomfortable or painful, and to get up and walk normally.

They were all things he would never take for granted ever again.

"Are you all right?" Mara asked him softly from her seat on the ground. Luke wished that he had some light in the room so he could actually see her.

With a sigh, Luke crouched down in the general area he was sure she was in, using the Force to locate her more specifically and guide himself to her. He put a hand on her cheek and gave her a reassuring kiss; they had grown even closer recently after that first kiss. If only he had a way of knowing how much time had passed so he could figure out how long ago it had been.

"I'm just thinking, going over some last minute details in my head. We're only going to have one shot at this you know," Luke assure her. She stood up, prompting Luke to rise as well.

"I know we only have one chance," she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Have you even thought of what will happen to you if we fail?"

Luke gently grasped her wrist, pulling her close to him. "I know Mara, I'm very well aware that I could pay for this with my life if we fail. If it does go wrong though, I can take it. You've turned into my light, and so long as you're with me, I know I'll hold out."

She shifted in the dark, and Luke could sense that she felt uncomfortable with his words. He frowned, already moving to ease her conscious. "Nothing will go wrong Mara; I've thought this all out. Besides; they won't lay a hand on you, we both know that."

"I wouldn't put anything past Sidious," she said, sounding uneasy.

He kissed the crown of her head. "Have a little faith. If this plan didn't work, then that would mean that the Force has abandoned us, and that's something I do not believe. We will get out of here; I know we will. We'll break free."

Mara was silent for a few moments. "Luke…"

She was cut off when they both sensed what they had been waiting for. Luke tensed, pulling away and standing by the door, pressed flat against the wall as he pulled his presence close to himself, hiding it the best he could. There was no more time for debating. It was all or nothing now.

The door slid open, and the red glow from Eius' lightsaber illuminated the small cell. Luke waited patiently as Eius cautiously entered the room, probably sensing that something was off. Before he could look to his right where Luke was pressed against the wall, Luke lunged at Eius; the first time he had attacked Eius while perfectly healthy.

Obviously, the first thing he did was knock the lightsaber out of Eius' unsuspecting hands, which immediately plunged them into darkness as it deactivated and rolled across the floor. Luke didn't have much time to think about where the lightsaber went, as he had tackled Eius to the floor and was currently struggling with him. Eius was snarling in fury underneath him, but although Eius had more years of training under his belt, Luke had so much more experience with life or death.

Luke rolled them over, letting Eius end up on top. Eius let his guard down slightly, believing he had the advantage before Luke suddenly grabbed a nearby manacle and hit Eius upside the head with it.

It only dazed Eius, but it was all Luke needed. He shoved Eius off of him and into the wall, reaching out with his hand and calling Eius' lightsaber to him. Instead of igniting the blade, he grasped the handle tightly in his hand and hit Eius as hard as he could in the back of the head. He heard him crumple to the floor, unconscious.

Luke stood there, breathing heavily for a few moments as the adrenaline started to ease away and the guilt kicked in. Sith or not, Eius was still him. Luke ignited the blade, leaning over and inspecting Eius in the lightsaber's light to be sure that no lasting, permanent damage had been done.

At the very least, Eius was going to wake up with one nasty headache; but he would live, and that was what mattered.

Luke retreated from Eius' unconscious form once he was sure that he would be all right, much like a seasoned soldier retreats from a live mine he just discovered, holding out a hand to Mara. "Come on, we have to move quickly."

"I'm right behind you," she assured him, taking his hand as he exited his cell on his own accord for the first time.

Freedom had never tasted so sweet.

Using the lightsaber as a torch, Luke led the way through the halls. He had discreetly stretched out his senses the last few trips to his torture chamber to figure out the layout of the basement, so he at least knew how to escape the lowest level of wherever they were being held.

That didn't mean that he liked the fact he had to head towards the torture chamber in order to make it out of the basement.

"This way," Luke whispered when she tried to continue down the hall where Sidious was probably lying in wait. He pulled her towards a hall on their right, which changed into a stairwell that led up closer to freedom.

"We don't have much time before Sidious realizes what's happened," Mara said in worry as they rushed up the steps.

"I know, I know, that's why we're moving quickly," Luke muttered as they came out onto the floor above. The air didn't seem so damp and suffocating up here; either that or he was just ecstatic to be out of the basement. "We need to find a security room or some computer terminal so we can find a layout of the building and the fastest way out."

And so I can figure out what planet we're on so we can actually figure out what we do when we're ready to get off planet, he added in his mind.

"I can keep watch if you want me to," Mara offered. Luke nodded.

"And if you spot someone we can use a vent system….if there is one. We are in some thick ruins…I'm not sure if there are even any computer terminals here; probably not," he said doubtfully, letting the Force guide him through the halls. He was sure that wherever he needed to be, the Force would lead him there.

His concern grew with the fact that Luke could feel danger all around, but he couldn't pinpoint what the danger was.

Well duh, nerf-brain; you're escaping your captivity. Of course the entire endeavor will be fraught with danger, he scolded himself.

He still couldn't' help but feel that the danger was something he didn't see.

Luke was a little startled when he opened a door and found himself standing in a living quarters. Why was he here? What had led him to this bedroom? Surely it hadn't been the Force?

"Wrong door Luke," Mara whispered when he didn't immediately move. "I don't think Eius' bedroom is supposed to be our stop; we're looking for a computer terminal, remember?"

"How do you know this is Eius' chamber?" Luke asked in surprise, slowly entering the room. Surely the Force had led him here for a reason…

Mara hesitated for a moment before she finally spoke. "When he checks my progress he brings me up here, to his room," she said slowly.

Luke's eyes grazed over a corner of the room, opening himself up to the Force. He was sure there was something here, and if the Force wanted him to find it, than he would open himself up to the Force to do just that. "Mara…I'm pretty sure…there's something here that I need to find. Do you think you can stand watch for me while I look? I'll be as quick as I can."

"Luke, are you really going to risk our freedom for this?" Mara asked in exasperation.

Luke shook his head and offered her Eius' lightsaber. "The Force led me here; it has to be important."

She sighed in defeat and took the lightsaber before Luke turned his back on her, going back to search the room. He checked the cushions of a couch positioned next to a table, checked a chair, checked anything he came across. He took a mental note to retrieve the blaster on the coffee table before he left the room, that way they could both be armed.

Suddenly, he froze. Sitting on a desk was a datapad, and the Force was practically screaming at him to check it. Frowning, he picked the device up, sitting down in the chair and quickly turning it on before he started rapidly flipping through the contents.

"Come on, what do you have for me…" Luke muttered to himself. "Do you know where we are?"

His searching ended when he finally found himself opening a map of the galaxy, one where he would be able to check his location. He typed in the necessary command, tense with anticipation. The Force was screaming in urgency at him; he needed to hurry, to get this information and get out of there as fast as possible before he ran out of time…

The view on the map shifted, zooming in on a section of the Deep Core. Luke couldn't' help but feel a little shocked. He hadn't thought that they would be so close to Coruscant, so close to his father, his family, his friends…

Luke pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. He still needed to know what planet they were on, and the zooming in process of the datapad was happening too slowly for Luke's comfort. Still, he thought that the map might be zooming in on—

There was a soft click behind him of a blaster's safety being turned off and Luke froze as he suddenly felt a cold muzzle pressed into the back of his head. He cursed himself quietly. Had he really been so preoccupied on location he hadn't sensed anyone sneaking up on him?

How had he not noticed any scuffle of someone slipping past Mara?

Had something happened to her?

Something in the Force told him that he wasn't going to like the answer he was about to receive.

"Put the datapad down, Luke."

Luke's breath caught in his throat and he stiffened, going into denial almost immediately. He'd frozen in his seat, trying to think of a thousand different excuses, so many reasons why without thinking the truth he knew he would find when he turned around.

The barrel of the blaster pressed harder into the back of his head. "Now."

Slowly, Luke set the datapad back down where he'd picked it up, hands raised to show he didn't have anything on him. He regretted not keeping the lightsaber on him now. He should have.

"Get up."

Out in the hall, he could hear hurried footsteps coming towards them as he slowly stood. But Luke didn't turn around. He wanted to prolong turning around as long as he could, because the moment he did he'd have to face the truth, and he didn't think he could do that.

He felt the muzzle disappear from the back of his head, but he knew that it was still pointed at his head, and that there'd be no hesitation in shooting him if he made the wrong move. "Turn around slowly or I'll shoot."

Luke squeezed his eyelids shut, holding his breath as he slowly turned to face the third captor he didn't know he had. He let his eyelids open, his eyes falling on the figure in front of him. Pure betrayal—a deep cutting betrayal he had never known that sucked the very air out of his lungs and compressed his insides painfully. He didn't know if his heart could take the lance that those hardened eyes sent mercilessly through it.

"Why?" he whispered.

Mara clenched the blaster tighter in her hand. "I was never with you to begin with. From day one, I was with them; you were just my mission. All I had to do was get close to you," she said evenly as Eius appeared in the doorway behind her. Instantly, Luke's survival instincts kicked in. He couldn't let himself be taken, not now. He lunged towards Mara, but couldn't bring himself to hurt her, so he simply grabbed the lightsaber she had clipped to her waist. He slammed his shoulder into Eius who had lunged to stop him, knocking him out of the way the same time he activated the lightsaber to deflect the blaster bolts that Mara fired at him. He backed up towards the door, hoping to make a break for it.

Eius used the Force to throw a chair at Luke, which Luke promptly caught with the Force and threw back at Eius before he turned to make his break through the door.

He found himself blocked by Sidious' aged form, and he could have sworn he felt his heart stop in that moment. He barely reacted in time to deflect the lightning directed at him with Eius' blade, sending an advancing Eius flying backwards with a Force push at the same time and ducking a blaster bolt that barely missed his head, courtesy of Mara.

He was sorely outnumbered, but he refused to go down without a fight. One last fire of defiance was raging in him. He had to get out now, he had to; or else he never would.

The lightning stopped for a second, and Luke took the opportunity to shift his position, deflecting several more blaster bolts, taking a swing at Sidious in-between and sending the coffee table at Eius before Eius could try anything again. Eius dodged the table, golden eyes flaming furiously as he suddenly reached out, fingers forming a choking gesture Luke was a little too familiar with. He felt an invisible hand constrict his airway, which caused him to stumble. One of Mara's blaster bolts grazed his arm and he would have gasped in pain if he'd had any air to do so. He feebly held the lightsaber up to deflect another barrage of lightning, fighting to resist the urge to clutch at his throat.

The lightning ended and the hold on Luke's throat constricted painfully, sending him to his knees with a strangled choking croak for air. The lightsaber fell out of his hand as a hand flew to his throat, unable to resist the motion anymore. The lightsaber flew from its place next to Luke on the floor into Eius' waiting hand, and the pressure on his throat blessedly disappeared. Luke gasped in air, knowing that he wouldn't even get to his feet before someone was on top of him. Still, when Eius came over and grasped his arms, Luke fought, breaking free of Eius several times as they scuffled with a chorus of grunts and curses in the middle of the room. Sidious and Mara simply watched, Mara prepared to shoot if she needed to. Eius activated his lightsaber in the middle of the scuffle, tearing a hole in Luke's trouser leg and burning skin along the way. He shifted the blade so that it threatened to behead Luke from behind, and Luke found himself pressed into the floor as Eius forced his arms behind his back like some criminal, pulling Luke to his feet. Mara held the blaster aimed between Luke's eyes to keep him from trying anything again.

The pain the sight caused his heart was a pain he had not thought he could possibly experience. It ate at him from the inside, and he could feel a hollow emptiness threaten to swallow him at this deep betrayal.

Luke held her gaze, his deep agony reflected in his eyes. "Go ahead and shoot; you'd be doing me a favor."

Something flashed in her eyes, and Luke prayed it was remorse and pain for what she was doing. However, he didn't get long to dwell on it; Sidious stepped in.

"Bring him back down to his favorite chamber Eius; we need to have a long talk," Sidious hissed, eyeing Luke murderously. Luke felt his skin crawl; he was sure whatever he was about to go through would make everything else seem like nothing, and he didn't know if he had the heart to go through that right now.

Before Luke was pushed out of the room, he saw Sidious put a hand on Mara's shoulder. "You did well Mara."

Luke still couldn't help but feel as if the breath had been knocked out of him, and he fought the pain all the way down to the torture chamber he'd been so sure he could avoid this time around.

Eius shoved him rather roughly into the torture chamber, and Luke glared at him hatefully. "Is it true?" he asked Eius softly.

"What, that Mara's been on our side?" Eius asked with a small smirk. "We planted her on you from day one. Out little 'sessions' were anything but. Sure, she'd tell me how much of your trust she gained each time, but after that…" he trailed off and snickered, letting the rest be implied.

Luke looked away, feeling sick. A nagging voice in the back of his head whispered that he had been a fool for trusting her, for falling for her. That he must be an idiot for having thought that Eius could be redeemed as his father had. Frankly, at the moment all of his hope seemed like a fool's endeavor.

The Force truly had abandoned him, hadn't it?

The door opened behind Eius, and Sidious entered. Luke could sense Mara outside, and he wondered why she didn't go up to Eius' bedroom and drink some more of his champagne, or come inside and enjoy the show that was about to occur.

Luke stood tense opposite Sidious, steadying his breathing the best he could as he tried to calm the tumult inside him. It wasn't working so well.

"Well then Jedi…not only are we going to punish you for your latest endeavor…but we're going to see if you've finally reached your breaking point. You're unbalanced, your vulnerable…I do not believe you will survive," Sidious said smoothly, pacing in front of Luke like some predator who had finally cornered its prey.

Sidious shot Sith Lightning at Luke out of nowhere, and for the first time since he'd time traveled Luke reached into the Force and attempted to perform Tutaminis. For the first time, he was finally successful, and the lightning gathered in front of him as Luke gradually absorbed the lightning with both hands, feeling a little relief at dodging this particular assault.

He knew it couldn't last forever though.

Sidious ceased his electrical assault, and Luke absorbed the last of the lightning, panting slightly from the effort it had taken. Sidious' lips pulled back in a snarl. "All right…I can see that won't work right now…but this time Skywalker, I will break you. You're going to beg me for it to end this time," Sidious said.

Luke was about to snap back with some insult that truthfully his heart would only be half-into when he felt Sidious' overwhelming dark presence rip mercilessly into his mind. Luke gasped, stumbling against the wall as Sidious drilled into his mind, sending barbs of pain screaming through his entire being. Vaguely, he heard cries of agony coming out of him, but he hardly realized it. The cell was disappearing down a long tunnel, and Luke felt himself rushing towards…he didn't know what.

He knew a moment later.

Every pain, every heartache he had ever experienced or witnessed suddenly played out in front of him, each pain that was connected to the memory coming through as strongly and as deeply as they had when the wounds had first been inflicted.

And to have all of that pain and suffering shoved on him at once…

He couldn't take it.


Eius watched from the dark corner as Luke crumpled under the invisible attack, suddenly screaming in agony and curling into himself on the floor. Sidious cackled gleefully at Luke's pain, but Eius wasn't smiling. He was starting to feel a familiar pull through the Force on top of his already pounding headache, and he knew what was about to happen.

He wasn't happy about it in the least.

Eius felt the pull towards Luke, but fought against it avidly. The Force continued to try and link them together, and it seemed to decide to have its best attempt yet in this specific moment. Eius suddenly felt as if he was in two places at once; not only was he standing in the corner, but he was also lying on the floor at Sidious' feet.

That's when the pain hit him like a rail jet and he gasped in shock, stumbling against the wall as the pain and memories that Luke were experiencing washed over him in agonizing clarity as if they were his own.

He stumbled across the burning remains of his aunt and uncle; he could have saved them, it was his fault they were dead.

He watched as Darth Vader's lightsaber cut right through Ben, killing him instantly.

His best friend Biggs was shot down next to him, his friend disappearing in a fiery inferno.

His speeder bike exploded and he was just able to jump off in time so that the damage wouldn't be fatal; still, he spent weeks in agony, slowly recovering even with the help of bacta.

Tobin Elad, a man he had come close to, turned out to be an assassin bent on killing him; it was the first time he'd ever been so utterly betrayed.

Rezi Soresh threatened to kill hundreds of innocents if he didn't turn himself over. What choice did he have? He was imprisoned, hardly fed, tortured endlessly. Soresh said he'd already killed the others; their deaths were his fault, all his fault…

The interrogation droid used by Soresh introduced him to a fresh meaning of pain.

Div's ship exploded in a fiery inferno, just like Biggs, sacrificing himself to give the Rebels a chance to escape. He watched the entire thing, helpless to do anything.

Mimban; he was trapped under a fallen rock and helpless to do anything as Darth Vader tortured Leia in front of him, slashing her repeatedly with a lightsaber.

Hoth; he was out in the blizzard inspecting a meteor crash when suddenly he was attacked by a wampa. After a close escape he stumbled into the snow, almost freezing to death. Later in the battle Dak was killed in a shot that could have—and probably should have—killed him.

Bespin; He had felt his friends pain and couldn't just sit by. That was why he'd rushed there in the first place. Now to face Darth Vader…he'd been so sure he could handle him if they crossed paths, but he'd been sorely mistaken, and suffered a horrible beating. Cornered, Vader cut off his hand easily, sending him to his knees in agony. As if that hadn't been enough, Vader proclaimed that he was his father. The horror at the revelation was a feeling etched into his mind.

Dagobah; he watched, powerless to do anything as Yoda died, fading into the Force. Ben admitted that his father was in fact Darth Vader, and he would have to face Vader again. How could he kill his own father? How?

The Second Death Star; he fought his father against his own will, struggling against the power of the dark side at the same time, resisting Vader's taunts. The emotional pain and heartache it caused him…

The Emperor assaulted him with Sith Lightning for the first time. He could feel the life draining out of him, slipping away…

"Father, please! Help me!" Vaguely, Eius noted that he not only heard that in the memories, but also in reality. The cry only caused Sidious to laugh even harder. But Eius also noted that at the cry, a third presence touched his mind, sucked into the link by the Force for entirely different reasons. The third person was mostly connected to Luke's suffering, answering the call. But when they'd sensed Eius, the presence had reached out to him as well.

Eius' revelations didn't get to last long as the memories and pain continued.

Despite everything, he couldn't do anything, and his father died in his arms. What he had just gained was painfully ripped away from him forever.

Not too long after the Second Death Star, there was an assassination attempt against him. He was infected with Olabrian trichoid parasites that started eating away at him from the inside out before he was able to locate them and trick them into traveling out of his windpipe with the Force. The entire ordeal was excruciating, but he survived.

On Tythe, his father lost his temper and the building caved in, trapping him in the vent. Horribly injured with the air quickly running out, he was sure he would die down here.

In the Senate building, Sidious strangled him for a few moments, threatening to kill him if he breathed a word to Anakin about the plans Sidious had for him.

An assassination attempt was made on him, courtesy of Sidious, and he felt as if he was burning away from the inside out before he received treatment. Even after that, he was constantly surrounded by suffocating darkness.

He was watching his father's decent to the dark side, watching him kill innocent children and wipe out the Jedi Order, powerless to do anything. Anakin strangled his mother, fought with Obi-Wan, and then his limbs were removed and he erupted into flames. All he could do was scream for someone to do something.

They were overpowered by Sidious, and he was tortured by Sith Lightning to get Anakin to kneel before Sidious ran him through with the lightsaber. It killed him to see his father in so much pain, but he was sure that he wasn't going to survive.

He watched, powerless to do anything, as his injured father dragged himself into the ruins, near death it seemed. Sidious appeared, attacking the defenseless Anakin and putting him in excruciating painas he claimed he would have revenge and take Anakin's son from him before injecting him with some mysterious substance and causing the ruins to cave in on him.

He watched himself enter the ruin sometime later, watched himself play right into Sidious' hands. He screamed and yelled, trying to get himself to listen, to know it was all a trap and that Sidious was just trying to trap him, to get out of there as fast as possible. He couldn't do anything to stop himself as he caved to Sidious' demands, and it tore him apart on the inside.

He collapsed in the hall of the Senate building, feeling as if he was slowly being physically ripped in half as he was separated from his other half.

He was drowning, just coming out of being tossed around on his way to the other timeline.

They saw the bodies on Florrum, and it broke his heart to see Anakin cry over what had happened.

After that, wave upon wave of all the pain that Luke had endured since he had been captured by Eius fell over him. Luke was screaming, unable to handle all of the pain he'd ever experienced at the same time while Eius struggled to separate himself from the Jedi again.

"Stop, please!" Luke begged, withering on the floor before he let out another long scream of agony.

Just as he discovered he was in the deep core, moments before he learned the planet they were on, he was betrayed by the woman he'd grown to love as she held a blaster at his head.

"No more," Eius groaned quietly to himself, leaning against the wall.

The mental assault finally ended, having caught up to the present, but Sidious simply electrocuted Luke at full power. Both he and Eius arched from the pain, though Luke was the one who screamed. Eius was just receiving a shadow of the pain as he was drawing back rapidly from the connection, trying to avoid the pain.

"Please, no more, stop, please!" Luke was screaming as Eius dragged himself to his feet, trembling violently.

Sidious cackled gleefully at finally breaking Luke, and Eius felt like he would be sick. The world was tilting, spinning, and hazy. He felt…different…but he couldn't explain it. He felt like he would pass out; he needed to get out of there.

The lightning ended, the shadows of the room's occupants no longer dancing over the walls. Sidious was quick to advance on Luke though, lashing out and kicking him as hard as he could repeatedly before Luke could recover. Eius flinched with the hits, feeling the shadow of the contact as he pushed himself to the door, trying to block out Luke's grunts and cries of pain.

Mara stood outside the door, her eyes falling on him almost immediately. He must have looked horrible, because Mara reached out to touch his arm.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

"I'm fine," he grunted, forcing himself to walk down the hall. Mara stayed at his side.

"You don't look like it; you look like you just saw a ghost, and you're trembling," she pointed out. Eius finally turned to face her, scowling. But whatever he was about to stay froze in his throat at the expression of shock that graced her face when he looked at her.

"What?" he asked, annoyed and uncomfortable. He felt like something was off, but he was too exhausted to really think about what was making him feel so different.

"Y…your eyes…they're blue. They haven't been blue since I came here," Mara finally said.

He didn't grace her with a response. Instead, he pushed past her and ran as fast as he could to his room.


Anakin was gasping on his hands and knees, trembling violently. His ears were rushing, his head pounding; he couldn't hear anything that anyone was telling him. He was surprised he could feel the hands on his shoulders and back and feel Padme's hand on his cheek as she tried to get him to react.

He might as well have been hit by the Death Star. He was positive that Luke felt even worse.

He couldn't hear anyone yet, but he couldn't waste time. "Someone…someone bring me a…a map…map of the Galaxy," he gasped out.

Someone was saying his name, and he didn't sense anyone move to get what he asked for, and he felt annoyance rise. "Hurry!" he rasped.

Someone grasped him under the arms—Obi-Wan and Galan from what he could feel through the Force—and lifted him off the ground and onto the couch. He groaned, blinking rapidly to regain his sight. Were those tears that he felt falling down his face? He doubled over, wiping his face on his sleeve as he tried to control his breathing again.

"Ani, what happened?" Padme asked him softly, gently rubbing his knee. Anakin shook his head; he didn't want to tell her what he'd seen, what he'd sensed, or what he'd felt.

Obi-Wan phrased the question differently. "What did you see?"

Anakin was silent for several moments. "I…I saw Luke," he said shakily. That was all he dared to say. At least his vision was clear again, but he needed that map. "Where's the map I asked for?" he asked sharply.

"Right here," came Ahsoka's voice. Anakin looked up, taking the datapad from Ahsoka with a nod of thanks. Leia and Han stood behind her with Leia holding a glass of water for Anakin. He must have given them a serious fright. He didn't blame them.

His fingers flew over the datapad screen. "What are you looking for Father?" Leia asked him quietly.

"I saw something, just a glimpse…I think I might know where your brother is," Anakin said. "I…I caught a glimpse of his thoughts too…"

He pulled up the Deep Core of the Galaxy, then started to trace the path he had seen the zoom taking in the brief glimpse. In his mind, he was running through a list of possible candidates for where in the Deep Core Sidious could have taken Luke.

Truthfully, his blood was still boiling over all he had seen that Luke was suffering and had suffered. Especially over Mara's betrayal. He hadn't trusted Mara, but he'd felt his son's pain over her betrayal and Anakin also knew how deep a betrayal could cut. To know Mara had put Luke through that made Anakin furious.

Anakin froze halfway through his zoom, staring at the datapad before he finally just selected the planet he had realized the image was nearing. He was absolutely sure…nothing else had felt so right. Besides, Sidious had used the planet for a retreat during the time of the Empire. How had he not thought of it? Had he really overlooked it because he thought that it was too close to their position on Coruscant?

Leia leaned in closer as the small image of the planet came into view. "Is that it? Is that where Luke is?"

Anakin nodded slowly. "I believe so Leia…"

Obi-Wan glanced at Anakin dubiously. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. He's on Byss."