The Twilight II had jumped to hyperspace. The stars had changed into blue whorls. Anakin leaned back in his seat. It was clear he was deep in thought. Luke watched the blue lines swirl. When he glanced back at the pilot's chair, he noticed Anakin was watching him.

"Obi-Wan knows," Anakin said. Something cold spiked deep inside Luke.

"Knows?" Luke asked.

"About you. Me. Darth Vader. Time travel. All of that."

"You told him?"

"No. He figured it out. And if he figured it out, then the Council won't be far behind him." Anakin said as he hunched over in his chair.

"So what happens if they found out?" Luke asked. The cold inside him eased.

"I don't know. I broke the Jedi Code. I got married. I'm going to have a child. And now that child is here from the future with my future self. Who is . . . Who is a Sith. And that is much worse than simply breaking the Code. If it was just marriage and a child, I would just be kicked out of the Order. But a Sith?"

"But you're not a Sith," Luke pointed out. "Not yet."

Anakin straightened back up. "You're right. I'm not one yet. And I don't plan on becoming one. I need your help, Luke. Tell me how it happened."

"I don't know how it happened," Luke said. "I've told you that. I've been trying to figure that out myself."

Anakin let out a mix between a groan and a sigh. He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. Should Luke have said something else? He hadn't mentioned that Anakin was close to becoming one. The darkness was already creeping into him. That there were notes of Vader already within Anakin.

"Well," Anakin said. "I do know that Vader fell to the Dark Side trying to save Padme. That she died in childbirth."

"Well that's more than I know," Luke grumbled. Apparently Vader and Anakin had done more talking than Luke knew of.

"Alright," Anakin said. "Let's go over what you do know."

"My aunt and uncle-"

"Wait, your aunt and uncle? You were raised on Tatooine. Who were your- Wait. The Lars?"

"Yes. Owen and Beru," Luke explained.

Anakin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok. Ok. Just continue."

"My aunt and uncle always said my father was a navigator on a spice freighter. His ship crashed and he died."

"A navigator on a spice freighter? Really?"

Anakin looked appalled and perhaps a bit insulted.

Luke shrugged and continued, "Ben, err I mean Obi-Wan, was the one who told me otherwise. He said that my father was a Jedi Knight. He was a cunning warrior and the best star pilot in the galaxy."

A huge grin spread across Anakin's face.

"And," Luke continued, "When I asked how my father died, Ben said a Jedi named Darth Vader killed him. Vader had been a pupil of Ben's until he turned evil. He helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights."

"Wait," Anakin said as his smile completely fell. "Hunt down and destroy the Jedi?"

"There aren't . . . any . . . Jedi . . ." Luke said awkwardly realizing that Anakin didn't know the turth. "In the future, I mean. They're gone."

"Gone? What does that mean? Gone? Where did they go?"

"They're dead. They were all killed."

"How? There is no way they were all killed by Vader!"

Luke took a deep breath. "I tried looking into it, but the Empire covered up a lot of things. From what the history archives say, the Jedi tried to take control over the Republic. Tried to kill the Emperor."

"Who?"

"Emperor Palpatine. I think he's currently the chancellor . . . Anakin?"

Anakin's face had fallen. His skin was pale. "Emperor Palpatine?" he choked out.

"Yes."

"I thought . . . when you said Emperor that . . . that the Republic lost the war. That the Separatists won."

"No. That Separatists lost. The Senate voted to make the Republic an empire with Palpatine as the emperor."

Anakin was in shock. His eyes darted around as he tried to keep up with the thoughts running through his mind. What had Luke done? His old fears and anxiety returned. This was why he didn't want to reveal the future. How was this knowledge going to change the future? Was it going to make it better? Or worse?

"Okay," Anakin said slowly. "So the Jedi tried to kill . . . Palpatine . . . and he was voted emperor . . . and so . . . it was decided to just . . . kill off all of the Jedi?"

"To stop the Jedi Rebellion," Luke said softly. "Now, or in the future, there are no Jedi. Ben and Master Yoda were the last ones . . . Even Jedi artifacts are illegal."

Luke thought of Grakkus the Hutt's collection. Of the piles of crates and the large statues of Jedi standing stoically. And of course the holocrons. There were so many little blue cubes that had lit up. So many dead Jedi that suddenly sprung to life. Luke wondered briefly if any of those Jedi were alive right now.

"Wait, Yoda?" Anakin asked in disbelief. "Yoda? Out of all the Jedi to survive, one out of two was Yoda?"

Luke shrugged unsure of what to say. Anakin ran his flesh hand down his face.

"Kriff," he cursed. "This future sounds worse and worse. And I still have no idea how to prevent any of it."

"I wonder if it can be prevented," Luke said softly.

"What makes you say that?"

"Just the way Vader has talked-"

"Don't listen to him," Anakin snapped interrupting Luke.

"I'm just saying, what if it's too late? The Empire is supposed to rise the day before my birthday. That's only a few months away!"

"There has to be a way to stop it. Why else would you be here? The Force sent you back for a reason."

Luke sighed. Anakin jumped out of his seat and paced around the cockpit.

"So in a few months the Republic becomes the Empire. I become Darth Vader. Padme dies. You somehow get to Tatooine. I think Obi-Wan is to be blamed for that one. And all of the other Jedi are killed. Anything else?"

Luke thought for a minute. "Well . . . Vader did say that the Emperor, Palpatine, was a Sith known as Darth Sidious. He is Vader's Sith master."

Anakin's whole body went still. His shoulders went slack. His eyes went wide. His mouth opened just a small amount.

"Ex- Excuse me," Anakin said. He marched out of the cockpit. The door slid shut behind him. Luke sat there unsure of what to do.

Anakin found himself in the small cargo hold of the Twilight II. It was large enough to hold his Jedi starfighter but was currently empty. So he paced from one end to the other. His hands were tightly clasped behind his back. His mind raced over the words Luke had said.

Palpatine was a Sith. Palpatine was Darth Sidious. Palpatine was Vader's Sith master.

Palpatine couldn't be a Sith! Anakin had known the chancellor since he was a boy! Palpatine had always been kind! He was like a mentor. He was a friend! He was always trying to do what was best! There was no way he could be a Sith . . .

The night Vader went into the Temple . . . That night there had been two Sith on Coruscant. Vader who was at the Temple and a second at the chancellor's apartment. Anakin saw Palpatine's torn up apartment. The guards who never drew their blasters. None of them had. Why not?

Because the person attacking them wasn't an unknown assailant.

It was Palpatine. Palpatine was the Sith at the apartment. He was the one who had killed his own guards. Why? WHY?

What the kriff had happened? How?

Was Palpatine always a Sith? Ever since . . . the beginning? Did that mean . . . He was behind Maul? Behind the Invasion of Naboo? It had resulted in him becoming the chancellor. So what about the current war? The Separatists were supposedly led by Dooku's Sith master. Was that Sith also Palpatine? Was he pulling the strings behind both sides of the war?

Why? Why?

Palpatine was a Sith. Palpatine was the Emperor. Future Emperor.

If Palpatine had used Naboo to become chancellor . . . Was he using the Clone Wars to become the Emperor?

But . . . It couldn't be. It simply could not be. Not the chancellor. Not Palpatine! Anakin knew him!

There had to be a mistake. Vader was lying. Luke was lying. Anakin marched back and forth across the cargo bay. Why? Why? His thoughts repeated over and over. He ignored the shouts from the Force screaming that he already had the answer. That it was the truth. His heart was being stabbed by hundreds of needles. A cold stone was weighing him down on the inside. He continued to pace hoping the pain would pass. Hoping the Force would change it cires saying it was all lies. It didn't.

Anakin needed answers. Vader would know.

AN: "Hey this isn't an interlude chapter. It's a normal chapter. Does this mean updates are back to normal?" No. 1. There is going to be one more interlude chapter, but there was a small time jump from the previous chapter. I decided that this chapter should go now. 2. "Aww, when are you returning to your old update schedule?" There is one more interlude chapter planned, so hopefully after that. Thanks for all the kind reviews and support.