A/N: To Everyone, I literally destoryed my computer while writing this. The "K" key on my keyboard fell off, and it has other issues as well (it is pretty much dead). I actually went and bought a new one, but in the mean time I had started work on this chapter. I decided that I could actually cut this chapter short given what is going to happen next. It also gives me a chance to post something for you all while I await my new computer, and baby this one so I don't lose all my fan fiction files. Enjoy!

Chapter 37: Battle of the Wills

Although Avarik's arms did not move, there was a tension in his shoulders that showed how close he was to completing his deadly attack. Aila could feel Avarik's muscles spasm with unleashed power under the hand she had settled on his shoulder. However, the yellow menace that had glazed the Sith's eyes seemed to recede as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water. Although Anakin was still in a precarious position with two lightsabers burning hotly at his neck, as he looked into his aggressor's eyes he was relieved to see some of their natural blue-green color.

"Aila…. You do not…" Avarik struggled to keep his voice even as he continued to hold the two ignited sabers at the ready. However, as more time passed from Aila's ultimatum, his hands began to shake as if her words had sparked some internal battle within himself that was disrupting his determined hatred for his captive.

"Your wife is confused, my apprentice. Do not doubt what you know is right." Sidious' voice echoed through Obi-Wan's mind, the elder Sith speaking through the Force from his Coruscant throne room, egging his apprentice onward. The Sith had other plans for Skywalker if he was not killed, but for the time being it was more important to test Aila's influence on her husband. If Avarik proceeded with his plan of attack and killed Skywalker, then the loss of the powerful Force user would be offset with the control Sidious exerted on Avarik and the future.

The Force showed that Avarik would cave in, but any influence Sidious could use to disrupt that would be a huge victory against not only Aila, but the galaxy he controlled. However, if Sidious' little experiment failed to yield results he had already sent a contingent of troops with Lieutenant Vanís. Sidious had never thought he would find use of a female, but Aila's handmaiden had pleasantly surprised him. When this ordeal was over he would have to grant her an exception to his "no woman in the military edict". If she was willing to act against her mistress, she might be a useful player in Sidious' attempts to get rid of Aila.

"Skywalker betrayed you. He does not deserve to live." Sidious voiced to Avarik trying to push his apprentice to action.

As if in answer to Sidious, Aila replied to Avarik's previous hesitation. "I know perfectly well, what I said. Obi-Wan." She put emphasis on his Jedi name to drive her point home.

"But…" Avarik faltered slightly and started to raise the lightsabers away from Anakin. In the background the sound of two crying children could be heard.

"Luke, Leia," Anakin could not stop himself from calling out to his small children as he heard their cries once more over the husband and wife stand-off that was enfolding in front of him. Padmé had yet to respond to him over their Force bond, but since he could still feel her presence in the Force, he knew she was probably all right, just unconscious.

Anakin's cry of distress to his children momentarily refocused Avarik's attention back to his former padawan and he repositioned the lightsabers at Anakin's neck. "Do it now!" Sidious' voice pressed the advantage.

Listening to his Master, Avarik gave a low growl as the Sithly amber hue began to pool once more in his eyes. "They will join you soon…"

"No!" Aila shouted as she felt her husband's growing fury over their Force bond. "You can't do this!"

"I can!" Avarik barked back, his arms starting the motion to finish his attack.

"Then the man I love is truly dead!" Aila shouted to reemphasize her earlier declaration.

There was no hesitation in Avarik's response this time. The two lightsabers in his hand deactivated and crashed to the ground with a dull thunk. "Aila, I…"

Aila flashed a husband a small smile while inwardly she was letting off a sigh of relief. She knew she was really pushing Obi-Wan and she was worried what he would do if she pushed too far and too fast. It hurt a bit that she essentially had to hang his love for her over his head to get him to concede to her wishes. It almost seemed like blackmail to her, but at the same time she did not know what else to do. "One day, you will thank me for this." She whispered softly into his ear before giving his cheek a quick peck. Keeping her gaze soft and warm on her husband to assess his ever erratic changes in mood, Aila directed her voice towards Anakin who was still kneeling before Avarik, cautiously assessing the situation.

"Anakin, where are Padmé and the twins?"

Avarik cast an irritated glance at Aila before turning back to Anakin and waiting for a response. "I suspect based on their cries that Padmé is in the nursery with them. However, I think she is unconscious, from…." Anakin trailed off, not wanting to say anything that would set Avarik off again now that Aila had reigned in his rage.

"Your Force bond." Aila completed Anakin's thought casting her husband a disgusted look because after all she and Obi-Wan had been through she know what it felt like to feel his injuries through their Force bond or vice versa. She also knew that Obi-Wan knew that too, because his desire to protect her from all things was part of what got him involved with the Sith to begin with.

"He tried to attack me as well Aila, it could have easily been you on the receiving end." Avarik kept his voice calm, but stern as he spoke to his wife.

Aila shook her head. "He was defending himself from you." Despite her irritation a bit of worry for Padmé and the twins, who could still be heard crying crossed her features. "Now, are you going to let Anakin check on his family?"

"No!" Avarik shouted, "He is dangerous, he'll only try to kill you."

Aila rolled her eyes at her husband and gave a great sigh as she spoke to Anakin. "Anakin, do you promise not to kill me or my husband if we let you go."

"Of course, milady." Anakin answered back respectfully with a hint of plea in his voice as he was getting more and more worried about Padmé and the twins. If Padmé had been holding the twins during the attack then she might have dropped one of them and his children could be hurt.

"No! I will not accept the promises of a Jedi! He lies!" Avarik barked in fury, the lightsabers on the ground twitched slightly on the floor, and drew Aila's eyes down to them. The sabers slight movements made her realize that if she kept up this argument she was risking Anakin's safety and due to their Force bond, Padmé's as well. Qui-Gon kept telling her that sometimes she had to concede one battle to win overall.

Without giving Avarik a chance to stop her, Aila knelt down and picked up the two fallen lightsabers. As she rose, Avarik held out a hand to take the sabers from her, but Aila quickly drew them behind her back. "Look, I am not going to stand here all day and let those children cry. Now, I will go and check on Padmé and the twins if you promise not to kill each other while I am away?" She made a point of focusing her gaze on Avarik as she spoke.

"I don't want you to go." Avarik murmured in reply.

"I know, but despite what you think, these are our friends, and I intend to see that they are taken care of." Aila ignored Avarik's attempted reply as she walked towards the back of the small cottage to check on her friends.