We Pretend It's Alright

Chapter Five

A Basis

Words- 7,778

"It's a bit off topic, but have you heard from Ahsoka Tano recently? I know the two of you were friends." Padme inquired as she and Riyo walked into the building where Gehlert and Gehlert's firm was located on the second level of the city, after just meeting out front of the location.

"I have not heard from Ahsoka for eight months, since she went missing." Riyo responded, her voice filled with a sadness Padme recognized. It was the same sadness she used to keep from her voice when talking of Anakin while he was away on missions, when she had no idea whether he was alive or dead.

"I see." Padme said softly, not pursue the matter any farther. It was clear Riyo knew no more about Ahsoka's whereabouts than she did.

Now inside the small two story building, the two Senators approached the front desk where a young Twi'lek sat.

"Padme Amidala and Riyo Chuchi, we have a nine o'clock appointment with Jinka and Helgo Gehlert." Padme told the male twi'lek, who looked up at the sound of her voice.

"One moment please." He replied, and picked up a schedule that lay I front of him. "Ah yes, about the Skywalkers case? Mr. and Ms. Gehlert are ready for you in room two. That's the first room on the left down this hall." He informed them, pointing to a hall to somewhere behind him.

"Thank you." Riyo said, and the two senators set off down the hall.

The room they told to wait in was about the size of Padme's office, with a few windows scattered along the navy blue walls. Inside there were two desks, as well as a sitting area with two sofas and two chairs, all centered around a dark mahogany table.

Padme sat gingerly on one of the sofas, and Riyo sat down next to her, brushing non-existent dust off the front of her pants. She wore a lavender high-necked tunic that spilt just above her waist line and flared out to each side. Tan pants accompanied the tunic, and her light pink hair was in an elaborate braid, and a headpiece finished the look. Padme herself was wearing a navy empire-waistline dress as well as a black lace shawl that covered her shoulders and crossed in the front. Since her pregnancy, shawls had become her new favorite accessory.

Riyo and Padme lightly discussed a recent bill that had just gone through the senate well the waited for the Gehlert siblings to join them. The bill stopped the Banking Clan from reducing the wages of their employees to something that would have been impossible for their workers to live off of. It had been a success for Loyalist party.

"Good morning Senators." A deep voice sounded from the door way, and the women turned to see the two Twi'leks, Jinka and Helgo, entering the room. "Glad to see you made it this morning."

"Of course, and I would like to thank you again for taking on this case with us, Mr. and Ms. Gehlert."

"Jinka and Helgo is more than fine, Madam Senator." Jinka chucked with a wave of her hand. "I expect we shall become quite friendly by the end of this case, as it will be very time consuming."

"Then I must insist you call me Padme as well." Padme countered, as they sibling sat down on the couch in front of them, and laid some documents down on the table, and Helgo prepared paper to take notes on.

"And Riyo is fine by me as well." The Pantoran senator added.

"Well, I do believe we should get stated." Helgo said, pushing a document towards the Padme. "These are our basic contract, insuring our work towards the case, and pricing. Feel free to take them home with you and return them to us sometime in the next couple of days."

"Of course," Padme said, picking up the document and placing it inside the bag she had brought. "I shall want to look over this later."

"I'd been insulted if you didn't." Helgo joked, and jotted something down on his clipboard.

"Well Padme, I do believe you have talked with Mr. Skywalker and can provide us with the information necessary to understanding the events of the night in question?"

"Yes, Anakin and I are close and he came to me directly after what happened in the Late Chancellor's office." Padme said, shifting her sitting position slightly. "I'll give you an overview of what happened, and then provide the support necessary to understanding the situation."

"Perfect, please proceed." Jinka urged her, sitting back in her chair.

"Around five o'clock earlier that day, Anakin was visiting the chancellor, and the chancellor revealed to Anakin that he was indeed a Sith lord, the Sith lord the Jedi have been searching for information on."

"I'm sorry but Sith? What does this mean?" Helgo asked curiously, and Riyo looked confused as well.

"The Sith are the enemies of the Jedi. Well the Jedi follow the Jedi code and are members of the light side of the force, the Sith have no code, and rely on the Dark side of the force." Padme explained, hoping to put it in terms that would make sense to her co-workers, but honestly sometimes she barley understood the Jedi ways herself.

"So they are kind of the Anti-Jedi?" Riyo questioned, her head tilted a little to the side, in thought.

"Yes," Padme clarified.

"So Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith Lord. I believe I remember hearing something about Sith being involved in the other side of the war, but of course no one really understood what that meant. Are you insinuating that Palpatine was involved with the separatists?"

"I wasn't sure in till yesterday, when I, um, happened upon some evidence that at least proves Sidious was working the Separatists, and as we believe Sidious and Palpatine are the same person, it seems that that is the case."

"If this all proves to be true, we may have a galaxy wide conspiracy on our hands." Jinka said, a sense of awe in her words. "Unbelievable." She murmured more to herself then the others, and her brow was furled in thought.

"Anyways, Will you please continue explaining what happened, Padme?" Helgo prompted, getting them to the discussion at hand.

"Of yes of course, where was I? Right, so after The Chancellor's reveal, Anakin went straight to the Jedi Temple to inform the Jed Council of Palpatine's true identity. The first Jedi he happened across was Master Mace Windu. He told Master Windu about Palpatine's identity, And Windu went to the Chancellor's office with a group of four other Jedi Masters, telling Anakin to stay behind."

"But he didn't." Jinka interrupted, looking questioningly at Padme. "Why not just let the Masters handle the situation?"

Padme hesitated, looking down at her protruding stomach and wonder how best to explain why Anakin had felt the need to go back. She didn't want to reveal that they were involved, as that wouldn't look good from a professional stand point.

"I believe there is something you have not yet told us, maybe about his motives or relationship with the chancellor?"

His relationship with Palpatine… Yes, she'd start there.

"Ever since Anakin came to Coruscant to train as a Jedi, the Chancellor always took a special interest in him. By the time I meet Anakin again a little over three years ago, Palpatine had become a sorts of mentor for Anakin, and slowly began to manipulate him."

The other three were listening to Padme with rapt attention, hanging off her every word. The only other sound besides her voice was the scratch of Helgo's pen as he took notes on what she was saying.

"A few months ago, Anakin mentioned to me that he had been having nightmares, which he believed where prophetic visions, of someone he was very close to dying. He became obsessed with finding a way to prevent this person from dying, and he began researching a way to stop people from dying, using the vast Jedi archives. I have his research now, if you ever need it as evidence or whatnot. "She added the last bit, but was hoping that they would not want to see it yet, as she herself had only briefly skimmed through it, and did not know if he had written anything specifically about her in the journal.

"Perhaps at a later time." Jinka said, more focused on the scene Padme was creating than the research at the moment.

Slightly relieved, Padme continued. "From what I've read in his research, Palpatine must have learned about Anakin's nightmare's and starting subtly mentioning a Sith lord who had been able to stop people from dying. I don't know if Palpatine was telling Anakin the truth, but a large portion of the research was dedicated to finding out anything he could about the mysterious sith lord and his death-defying powers."

"Did Anakin ever specifically tell you about Palpatine mentioning this?" Helgo asked curiously, scratching his chin.

"Not that I can clearly recall, but next time I am able to visit him, I will ask him." Padme answered, as she couldn't pinpoint a time he had told her this, but she knew it to be true. "When Palpatine revealed his Sith identity to Anakin, he told Anakin that joining him was the only way Anakin would be able to save the person that he believed was doomed to die."

Riyo let out an understanding "oh" as Padme spoke the last sentence.

"That's why he went back to the Chancellor's office, isn't it?" She asked, knowing the answer. "He believed it was the only way to save the one he loved."

"Yes." Padme suddenly felt as if she couldn't go on. This was bringing up so many feelings she would rather not be feeling, and somewhere deep inside of her was a craving for Anakin. She needed to curl up in his arms for a solid week, all of this forgotten, and no one to keep her away from the one she loved more than anything.

Noticing the sudden look of melancholy on Padme's face, Riyo exchanged looks with the two lawyers, who shrugged, not knowing anymore than she did.

"Padme, are you alright?" Riyo asked gently after a minute of silence, placing a small hand on her co-worker's thin shoulder.

"What? Oh yes of course, I am completely fine. Anyways, as I was saying, that is the reason Anakin returned to the Chancellor's office, for Palpatine had manipulated him into believing that the only way t save this person was through him. About ten minutes after the Jedi had arrived at the Chancellor's office, Anakin arrived to find four of the Jedi masters, Masters Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, all dead, and Mace Windu had Sidious corned on a window ledge. Anakin asked him to spare Sidious, that he needed him, but Windu refused saying he was too dangerous to be kept alive. Sidious screamed at Anakin to think of the person Anakin loved, that any hopes of saving them would die with him." Her voice was hollow as she continued.

"Anakin was very close to choosing Sidious, for that person he believed would die was the most important thing in the word to him. He would do anything for them, anything to save them. But then he thought what a life in the Dark side would do to that person, how the person he would become would be the opposite of what the other loved, how it ripe them apart. He thought what if this was what the dreams were warning him off? That the person would die because of what he would become, not because of his inability to have to power to stop death. He told Wind that he stood with him, but the minute Windu turned his head from Sidious, Sidious used what Anakin called force lightning to throw Master Windu from the window."

"Sidious engaged Anakin in a lightsaber battle, and all the time screaming at him that he was the only way to stop the death Anakin had been obsessed with stopping. That if Anakin did not join him, that person would die and their blood would be on his hands. Finally it got to Anakin, and as he put it "the force reacted to him in a way it never had before". He said Sidious was thrown with great force against the wall, and slumped to the ground bleeding out of the back of his head, his spine broken." Padme's voice was barely more than a whisper by the end of her monologue, and her eyes were full of tears by the end of her speech, and she now quickly blinked them away, refusing to let any of them fall.

"Anyway, after that, Anakin came to find me, in shock. I managed to calm him down after a while and we talked it all out. After a while, he left and he must have headed to the temple as that is where he was discovered." She finished rather lamely, thinking about what had happened after at the Jedi temple that night, or at least what she knew from Obi-Wan.


"May I come in?" Obi-Wan's voice sounded feeble, and he looked exhausted.

Not really even contemplating what was going on, she opened the door wider, taking a step back and Obi-Wan walked inside the apartment. She took in his appearance as he stood in her doorway. His outer robe was covered in dirt and dust, and his hair was blown askew, instead of the usual combed look.

"Master Kenobi, I wasn't expecting you this morning." Padme said, a false cheeriness in her voice as she stood facing the Jedi Master.

"I know, and I'm terribly sorry to intrude, but I really need to talk with you about Anakin."

Padme noted the desperate way he said this and knew that this was something that she could not but off. "Let's go to the kitchen, shall we?" She said in the same fake voice and she turned away from Obi-Wan, leading him through her apartment and into the now brightly light kitchen.

"Tea?" She asked, leaving him to sit down in the breakfast nook as she moved towards the tea steeper she kept on the window sill.

"That would be most appreciated, Senator Amidala." He thanked, taking note of his dirty outer robe, and removing it before he sat down on the cushioned bench.

"Master Kenobi, how many times must I tell you to call me Padme? And is stim tea good?"

"And how many times have I told you to call me Obi-Wan? And Stim is wonderful, I have a feeling I'll be needing it today."

Padme busied herself with preparing the tea too steep for a few minutes, hand crushing the dried plants, and placing it into the steeper, which she had moved to the island. After starting the timer, she returned to the nook where Obi-Wan sat, squeezing into the spot across from the Jedi master.

"I believe congratulations are order." Obi-Wan offered, gesturing to Padme's stomach. "I must admit I just recently found out. You must be so excited."

"Thanks you, and yes I am. It's going to be a struggle but hopefully by the time they arrive…"

"They?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.

"Yes, We-I am expecting twins." Padme caught herself, but she was she Obi-Wan had noticed.

"Well that certainly is even more of a surprise. Two children… You will certainly have your hands full." He didn't question her slip at the moment. No need to draw attention to it right now.

"Yes I will." Padme agreed, and then dove right in to the topic at hand. "You said you wished to speak of Anakin? Why did you want to talk to me about him?"

"Padme, I have to tell you that before Anakin was captured, he gave me a letter and a journal. I don't think he intended either of you to be on Coruscant by the time I read it, but as you are, I had to talk to you about it. I thought I should give you his journal, as it will better protected here." Obi-Wan started, and he pulled a letter and journal from within his robes, setting them on the table. "And I do have some questions. Perhaps you want to read the letter first?"

Padme nodded, unable to speak, and obi-Wan pushed the letter towards her. She picked it up and began to read.

Obi-Wan,

You have probably heard by now what everyone is saying about me, and if you haven't, you are really out of the loop. I don't know what you've heard, so I'm just going to briefly explain it all. First off I will start by saying I did not kill any of the Jedi masters. That was all the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, who is actually Chancellor Palpatine. He has manipulated the galaxy into fighting a war against itself, and was planning to come out on top, and rule with absolute power, and he wanted me as his apprentice. He has been manipulating me for a long time, I know now. I almost succumbed to the dark side, I fell so far, and for that I will never forgive myself, Master. The only thing that stopped me from going dark was the very thing that almost lead me there. My love for my family saved me.

I'm sure now you are going into shock and thinking "what in the world is Anakin saying?" I'm sorry I hide it from you for so long, but we had to. Well, here goes nothing. Padme Amidala and I are married and she is pregnant. Now I'm sure you've passed out or are cursing me, but let me explain.

Padme is the one thing that has kept me sane in the chaos of this war, and the only reason I did not fall to the dark side. Now I say my love is also the reason I almost did because of the reason I went to the chancellor's office last night anyways. For months I have been having dreams of Padme dying in childbirth, and Sidious told me before I turned him into Master Windu that he was the only one who could teach me to save her. That's why I went back to him. But when it came down to it, and I had to choose Windu or Sidious, I came to senses and worked to stop Sidious. I realized that me turning to the dark side would be what killed her, that it was the person I would become and the world I would help to create, not an accident I could prevent if I had the powers that no one possesses.

Anyways, I killed Sidious in duel when the force reacted to me in a way it hasn't since Mortis. He was thrown against the wall and his neck snapped on impact. I don't understand what exactly happened, but maybe you do. From here on out, I plan to escape Coruscant with Padme well I find enough evidence to prove my innocence. I hope to see you again one day, my brother.

May the force be with you,

Anakin Skywalker

Tears where dripping down Padme's cheeks by the time she finished reading the letter, and she noticed a cup of tea now in front of her. The timer must have gone off while she was lost in the letter, and Obi-Wan had poured them a mug each.

"Thank you for sharing this with me." Padme choked out, wiping her tears away and taking a deep breath before taking a long sip from her mug.

"Of course." Obi-Wan offered her a tissue he had summoned with the force. "Sorry it upset you, this must be a lot for you to handle by yourself."

"Thank you, and I'm doing okay. It just doesn't take a lot to set me off lately, all the hormones." Padme accepted the tissue, and dabbed at her eyes. "So what questions do you have?" She asked, her voice a little stronger.

"If you don't want to talk about it right now-"

"No no, it's fine. Please ask away."

"Well," He hesitated before asking, "Is it all true? The marriage and all?"

"Yes, we married on Naboo after the first Battle of Geonosis. It was a secret ceremony, only Threepio and Artoo were in attendance."

"Well I can't say I didn't suspect something was going on between you too, but I didn't believe it to be more than a fling. Nothing this serious…" He trailed off, looking off in thought.

"Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

"How was Anakin captured? I was worried he'd be caught, but he promised he'd be back in the morning. I really don't know how they found him so fast."

Obi-Wan's expression changed to one of sadness, and Padme could see the pain in his eyes and hear it in his voice as he began to speak.

"The Team of Clones working with the police contacted me just before I arrived back in Coruscant. They told me Anakin had murdered four Jedi and the Chancellor. They told me he was on the run, and that he would most likely contact me. The planned to draw him into the temple, making it seem guarded, and then corner him in the north hanger. That's where I came in. I was supposed to tell him to meet me there, and there would be an ambush once he arrived. They assured me they would take him alive, and that no harm would come to him if he surrendered. I agreed, I suspected he had fallen to the dark side, that he was no longer the Anakin I knew." He voice had become monotone, and he stared blankly at the table.

"Sure enough he contacted me an hour later, when I had just landed in the north hanger. He asked if I was alone, and I told him I was. He said he was on his way, that he had something to tell me. I waited and ten minutes later he appeared. He gave me the letter and journal, and then told me he had to go. I told him couldn't let him do that. The ambush team emerged, and I begged Anakin to surrender, as I had began to suspect that he was Anakin, not a twisted version of himself. He refused and he yelled that I had betrayed him. Then he jumped out of the hanger opening and the chase began. He evaded capture for three hours, but eventually was too overwhelmed by our forces, and was stunned."

He looked up, expecting to see the same sense of betrayal in Padme's eyes as had seen in her husband's a few hours ago. But he didn't.

"I understand." Padme murmured after a minute of silence. "You were doing your duty as a Jedi. You didn't know."

"Anakin will never understand." Obi-Wan doubted, but Padme shook her head.

"He'll come around, I'm sure. This sounds like a similar situation to what happened with Ahsoka last year. He'll realize the situation you were in, he'll understand."

She finished her tea, and stood up. "Speaking of Anakin, I need to go down to the Senate building and try to work my way into seeing him."

"Seeing him? I highly doubt they will let anyone in." Obi-Wan said, standing up as well, and putting his robe back on.

"Well, I'm not just anyone." Padme smiled, putting her own coat back on. "I'm his lawyer, and Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo. They'll have a hard time stopping me."

Obi-Wan chuckled as they started walking back to the door. "I myself must head back to the temple. The council is going to be appointing new members to its ranks, with the loss of three of our own. Then we will be discussing what is going to happen with Anakin before our service for Masters Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin."

"Will you tell them about us?" Padme asked, as the two stopped in front of the door.

"No, I don't believe it is my place to tell at this time." Obi-Wan gave her a small smile which she returned half-heartedly.

Together, they exited the apartment building, and each set off their separate ways, Padme to see her husband, and Obi-Wan to mourn the loss of the fallen Jedi.


"So that's the whole story?" Jinka double checked, looking questioningly at Padme, who seemed lost in thought.

"What? Oh yes, that's it." Padme verified, as she pulled out of her memory of Obi-Wan's visit the day before, and focused back on the meeting. "That's what I know from what Anakin and Obi-Wan have individually told me, and from a letter Anakin wrote to Obi-Wan right after it happened."

"The first step to this will be proving that Anakin could not have killed the Jedi masters. We will need an expert in the subject of lightsabers, and to find out the exact times of death of the three Jedi masters. We will also need prints taken off of the lightsaber that Sidious, and to compare it to those of Anakin and of the late Chancellor." Helgo said, writing it down as he spoke.

"I'll stop by the forensic department later today, I have connections there." Riyo offered, shrugging. "Old friend of mine is head of the department, I'm sure he would be more than willing to provide the data."

"Good and I am going to visit the scene of the crime at eleven today. I have an eye for details that others tend to miss." Jinka said, a sly smile on her lips. "They are keeping the crime scene intacted till six tonight, so ill have plenty of time to poke around."

"Right, and Padme," Helgo started, turning his head to the Senator as he addressed her. "I would like to meet Anakin today, and I would appreciate it if you came with me. I believe he will be more likely to talk with you present."

"That's sound great, what time where you thinking?" Padme responded, feeling an excited flutter in her chest at the thought of seeing Anakin again, even if it was with Helgo present.

"Noon good with you?"

"Perfect, but I must warn you, the first time I visited Anakin yesterday, I waited for almost four hours in a visitor's room. But when I went in unofficially late last night, there was no wait. However that most likely had to do with the Senior Undersecretary not being there. He has been… rather difficult." She repressed a scowl as she thought of the fowl man.

"I shall call ahead than, and if that does happen, I shall raise my complaints with someone a little higher up on the food chain." He smiled at her for the first time, and Padme couldn't help but smile back. She was starting to like these siblings quite a lot.

"Excellent, I shall meet you in the Grand hall than?" She asked, a smile still on her face.

"That will work just fine." Helgo said, and stood up, quickly followed by the other three. "I think that shall do it for today, shall we meet back here again tomorrow morning, same time?"

"I'll be here." Riyo responded, and Padme nodded as well. They all shook hands, and the two Senators and Jinka exited the office. The three women made small talk as they left the building, Riyo setting off in the opposite direction as the other, headed to the police headquarters, well Padme and Jinka set off towards the Senate building.

"Would you care to grab an early lunch before going to the senate building?" Padme asked, glancing at her watch. "It's an hour to your meeting, unless you had other matters to talk car of at the Senate building first of course."

"Lunch would be lovely." Jinka said happily. "Ever been to Ferrio's?"

"I can't say I have." Padme answered honestly. "You'd be surprised how much of Coruscant I haven't explored. The senate keeps me pretty busy."

"Well for a senator as determined as yourself, I could certainly see that."

We Pretend it's Alright

Anakin had woken to find himself laying on a cot craved into the wall that morning, with no memory of how he had gotten there, and a slight headache. And taking a look around his cell, he came to realize it was a standard max-security cell, not whatever grimy hovel they had thrown him in yesterday. Someone had evidently moved him, and it seemed Olingen had been just as surprised as he was.

"Enjoying the new room, 95746?" Olingen had said when he entered the cell a few hours earlier, his voice filed with a quiet anger. "I was just as surprised as you are to discover that someone," He growled, and his eyes flashed with anger, "Took it open themselves to move to you here. Too popular amongst some of the clones you are, General Skywalker. Wouldn't have thought that would be a problem till now." He muttered the last part more to himself as he paced around the now brightly light room.

After a half an hour of throwing questions and insults at Anakin and receiving nothing more than silence, the foul man had left, stating that he would be back soon enough, and that he break Anakin sooner or later.

Now the rested young man sat cross-legged on the slab of metal that severed as a bed, his eyes closed, but his mind focused on the sound of footsteps approaching him.

"Water."

Anakin slowly opened his eyes and saw a clone standing in front of him, holding a gray, plastic cup filed with what he assumed was water based of the clone's statement.

The Jedi nodded to the clone, silently thanking him. With a wave of his hand, the cup zoomed out of the clone's hand and into his own, causing the guard to jump.

"How did he do that?" The clone said, stunned, and the one standing next to him whacked him on the shoulder, well Anakin gulped down the water feverishly. He had always hated being thirsty, that dry taste in his mouth so unpleasant. It reminded him of his years on Tattooine.

"Don't be thick, Pyke. He's a Jedi." Pyke's companion said, and Anakin assumed he was rolling his eyes under his helmet. Anakin lip curled upward, and he inclined his head to the clone, giving a little mock-salute. To his surprise, the second clone removed his helmet, and Pyke followed suit.

"Oh right, of course." Pyke grinned sheepishly. "Thanks Striker."

"Yeah, this Jedi was a general, commanded the 501." Striker told, Pyke, and there was a sense of respect in his voice. "Was one of the best, I heard."

"I'd like to think I still am." Anakin croaked, his raw and scratchy from being silent for so long. There was a hint and annoyance and amusement in his tone, and the two clones looked at him in surprise.

"Thought you weren't speaking?" Striker asked suspiciously. "They told us you were feigning mute or something."

Anakin snorted, rolling his eyes and leaning back against the wall behind him. "Who told you that? Olingen?"

"A superior officer." Pyke answered, shrugging. "Why are talking now?"

"I have been advised not speak to those who are trying to get information out of me. I don't think talking to two soldiers will do me much harm." Anakin noticed them straighten up when he addressed them as soldiers. He has come to recognize that sense of pride from the 501.

"With all due respect, I don't think if you will be returning to the battlefield anytime soon." Striker told him, and Anakin chuckled, looking down at his cuffed hands.

"That you may be right about." Anakin looked back up at clones, a tired smile on his face. "Any chance I'll be getting any food soon time soon? Or more water?"

"Not sure about the food, but from what I've heard, you will be delivered one cup a day." The clone called Pyke informed him, and Anakin nodded, a blank expression on his bruised face.

"Pyke ten looked down at a beeping comm on his wrist, and looked back at Striker."I have a patrol to lead, you good here?"

"Yeah, go on."

Pyke nodded, and marched out of the cell, the three layers of protective doors closing behind him.

"So," Anakin said, leaning back against the wall, his hand behind his head. "What's the outside like?"

"What?" Striker looked at Anakin, a puzzled look on his clean-shaven face.

"You know, the world outside of this little cell? War still raging on? What's everyone saying about me? What's the hot gossip? I'll take anything, a guy can only meditate for so long."

"The war has not ended. I was in battle no more than three days ago." Striker responded, leaning against a wall behind him, and maintaining eye-contact. "The death of the Chancellor has not caused to galaxy to stop, despite what many believe."

"Oh yeah? Then what are doing here? The capital ran out of cell guards?"

"I belong to the 327th Star Corps. Some of us were ordered back to Coruscant in order to guard you. It seems you are a very high-risk prisoner."

Anakin scoffed at that, rolling his eyes. "Soldiers of the 327, some of the best, taken out of battle for guard duty. Ridiculous."

"I quite agree. No disrespect, but this is a waste of our skills."

"Hopefully you'll be returning to the 327 soon. I can't imagine they would keep me here for too long. Too much of a risk." He chuckled again.

"I believe they intend to move you to a max facility after the Jedi trial, but you didn't here that from me." Striker gave him a sly smile that Anakin couldn't help but return. He was starting to like this clone very much.

"I have to admit, I once selfishly positioned one of my best men to guard someone, and I got quite an earful from both him and the person, about how it was a waste of his talents, and I was being foolish. Looking back I understand where they were coming from, but I also knew I wanted my best to be guarding what was important to me, selfishly. So apparently, if they have the best guarding me, I must be pretty important, huh?"

"Sir- uh I mean prisoner 95746- you are being held for killing the leader of the republic, not because of your… importance."

"I know, but still." Anakin laughed quietly to himself. What was he even saying? "Of course I agree that you should be fighting the war and whatnot. Maybe if I promise not to escape they'll let you go back? What do you think?"

"I think that plan might need a little work."

Anakin laughed again, Striker's words reminding him so much of Rex. He suddenly longed to be back with the 501. He longed for the late nights of battle strategizing, of joking around with Rex, of teasing Ahsoka. He missed Ahsoka more than he even express. He missed her banter, her sharp mind, her wit. What he wouldn't give to see her one more time…

The two metal doors slide open, and the ray shield deactivated as five clones entered the now cramped cell.

"We are to escort 95746 to Family room seven." The lead clone informed Striker, who nodded in understanding. He and the clone who had just spoken stepped forward, and pulled Anakin to his feet. The group of six escorted him through many hallways and up a staircase yet again, passing many other guard that seemed to be check points on the way. The finally reached a long hall with about four doors going off of it. One of these days was opened, and Anakin was lead into a small room with a large table in the middle of it. There were four chairs around it, and Anakin was at down in one of them, and his hand cuffs then attached to a shackle point on table in front him, preventing him from moving for the chair as his legs were also cuffed to the chair legs.

"Wait here." A clone told him, and they all left, the door slamming shut behind them.

"As if I have any other choice." Anakin muttered to himself, letting his head roll back and staring bored at harsh florescent lights above him.

For twenty minutes Anakin sat heir, staring at the ceiling and thinking about all the different ways her could attempt to escape the facility. His favorite included trading clothes with a clone, and just sneaking out before anyone realized he wasn't a clone, or that the clone wasn't him. Of course he would do nothing of the sort, for multiple reasons, but it was something to pass the time. About a half an hour after he been put in the room, the door opened and Padme and a twi'lek he didn't know where escorted inside by four clones. Anakin made to stand up, but quickly reminded of his restraints as he was pulled back down into his seat. The twi'lek nodded at the clones, and they left, the door closing behind them

Padme quickly walked over to wear Anakin was, and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. When she straightened up, she motioned to her companion. "Anakin this is Helgo Gehlert, of Gehlert and Gehlert, the firm I told you about last night. We are going to be over your case, ad what will happen from here out. Are you feeling… better? I know last night…" She trailed off, and Anakin quickly reassured her that he was fine now.

"Yeah it wore off by the time I woke up this morning. And Mr. Gehlert," He know turned to address the man he was just introduced to. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure you will be of great assistance in this… mess."

"Likewise Mr. Skywalker. I have heard quite a lot about you."

Anakin raised his eyes at Padme, and she rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile.

"All good I'm sure?" Anakin joked as his visitors sat down around the table, Padme to his right and Helgo across from him.

"While, I wouldn't be here then, would I?" Helgo retorted, and they shared a laugh. "Now," Helgo proceeded, opening a file he had brought with him. "Padme has filled us on what happened that night. That the Chancellor was manipulating you to join him because of someone you cared about, yes?"

"That's about what happened." Anakin confirmed, and he shot a questioning look at Padme while Helgo looked down at a document in front of him. She gave a slight shake of her head, and he nodded, understanding that she was confirming that she had not revealed that she was the person in question.

"Now you're case will be no ordinary one, for quite a few reasons. One, you are accused of murdering the leader of the Republic, which is no small crime. Along with the fact that you are a well known war hero and Jedi, we expect this to be the most publicized cases in recent history."

Anakin gulped, nodding his understanding. He really wished this wouldn't be so big, as that would put even more stress and press on Padme, but what had he honestly expected?

"A major aspect of this case will be changing the public opinion. If we can get the public to believe that you are innocent, the rest will be a lot easier. We need the public o relate to you, to sympathize for you. For this reason, I think we should play up the romance angle of the story."

"What!" Both Anakin and Padme had exclaimed at the same time, looking at Helgo in disbelief.

"But what about him being a Jedi?" Padme asked. "It will make him look worse if everyone knows he broke the code."

"No, it only will make the Jedi think less of him. Most people know very little of the Jedi, let alone the Code. But a forbidden romance? The public will eat it up. "

"What if I don't want to put a spotlight on the person?" Anakin asked cautiously, resisting from looking at his wife.

"We wouldn't need to, the idea is enough. It will send the media into a continuous guessing game, and they will be even more wrapped up in that then the details of the case."

"You think people will be more interested in who I love then the crimes I am accused of?" Anakin asked incredulously.

"Most will, people are easily distracted. What will be harder will be convincing them of the late chancellors true identity." Helgo added, his thought scrunched in thought, and Anakin couldn't even begin to think of how to convince citizen's of the republic that their leader had been a Sith lord. He was sure barley any of them had even heard of the Sith, let alone would understand what that meant.

"Perhaps once e get the results on the red lightsaber back, it will help." Padme suggested. "Also giving the public a crash course in how the Jedi and Sith differ would be good." Helgo said thoughtfully.

"Speaking of Jedi," Anakin jumped in, leaning forward. "Does anyone know what is happening with that? Theoretically, shouldn't I be in there custody now?"

"Yes, but because of the chancellor's involvement, the police are refusing to hand you over. From what I have heard, it seems the Jedi will be coming to the Senate Building for a private trial sometime in the next few days, so be ready for that. We will not be there for obvious reasons, and have no involvement what so ever. Most likely after that, you will be transferred to a high max security while you await trial."

"Great. A place full of criminals who hate me, and protected by guards that hate me as well. Should be a bundle of laughs."

"Try to avoid any fights, as it will reflect poorly on you in trial, regardless of the circumstances. Speaking of that, what happened to your face?"

"What?" Anakin said stupidly, staring blankly at the lawyer.

"Your injuries." Padme prompted, giving him a look.

"Oh right, this is the fine work of Senior Undersectary Pronlin Olingen."

"I see..." Helgo wrote something down on the paper in front of him. "And how often has this happened?"

"Twice that I can think of. And he drugged me last night too. Said he wanted to repress my force abilities or something like that." Anakin added, shrugging. "Didn't really have the effect he wanted."

"Are you planning on bringing up abuse of the suspected in the case?" Padme asked curiously, the thought having crossed her mind last night.

"Anything is possible, and the more the people sympathize with Anakin, the better." He gave a short smile, before standing up, closing the file and holding it under one arm. "You can expect me this time tomorrow, and I would advise you to continue not to speak to anyone who might be involved in the prosecution. In till your Jedi trial, we shall not communicate anything to them. I'll leave you two to discuss."

He nodded to them, and walked to the door, rapping sharply on it.

"Thank you for taking my case. I know how risky this is for your business." Anakin said, and Helgo looked back to him.

"It is a risk we are willing to take. We will win this case Mr. Skywalker, you have my word on that." He nodded again as the door opened. The twi'lek exited, and the door shut again loudly behind him.

"Are you as confident as him?" Anakin asked, half-joking as he looked back to Padme.

"We have a shot." Padme admitted, the corner of her lips curling up. "It's just going to be long battle. I had lunch with Jinka today, the other head lawyer at this firm, and she thinks it won't be hard to prove that you didn't kill the Jedi. What will be hard will be proving that the chancellor was Sidious, and that you killed him in self-defense."

"Was it really self-defense? I mean I was trying to bring him in-"

"He attacked you. You didn't start the fight." She pointed out, and he conceded.

"Are you really worried about the high-max Prison?" Padme asked, and Anakin sighed.

"I'm not scared or nervous that something will happen to me. I just worry that it will stir unnecessary trouble. But don't worry about we, I think I can handle my-self." He added, seeing the concern on her face. "Oh by the way, I was thinking you might not to leave that bounty out for too long, could attract unwanted personnel."

"About the bounty, I actually had a visit from someone last night about it." Padme added, trying to sound causal.

"What? Where? What happened?" Anakin asked at once, sitting up in his chair.

"It was Ventress actually."

"She is way too dangerous Padme-"

"It was fine Anakin." She cut him off, giving him a look that clearly said be quiet. "She gave me some holo recordings of Sidious, and said that she had something bigger coming soon."

"Alright, but it would be better if you meet in a public place, so she can't do anything."

"Anakin I'm not worried about her. She said herself that she doesn't hurt pregnant ladies, and I believe she is more concerned with being paid then exacting some revenge on the Jedi through hurting me."

"Okay…"

"Did you know Sidious had her stalk you for a while?"


AN:

Hello! Back again with the longest chapter yet, and from here, the chapters will be a little more plot driven, as much of the set up has been covered now. Also, some familiar faces will be appearing next chapter, so that's something to look forward to. 10 points to anyone who can guess who!

Till next chapter!

-Diamondgirl3;)