Author's Notes :: Otay, this is the chapter that's going to kinda use that idea from "What dreams may come." If you haven't seen the movie, well, here's kinda what happens without ruining the movie. A woman kills herself and goes to hell. But, she's not in the part of hell with the fire and violence. She's isolated in her own little world. So, her husband goes in there to try to save her. But, he's warned that if he stays in there too long, her reality will become his reality too. I really, really loved that movie. Plus, during that part, I swear that woman looks like a grown-up Tomoe Hotaru. ^_^; Anyways, so I'm going to use my own little version of that for this chapter. Credit goes to that glorious movie, go rent it or something, and the twisted ideas my kooky little head comes up with. ^_^;



Obi-Wan, for once, didn't know what to do. He had never seen the queen, or anyone else for that matter, lowered to such a state of pure fear. He knew from Master Yoda that fear was a dangerous thing to get tied up with. He wanted to see more of her dreams, but she began to whimper and slowly awake.

"When you enter someone's dream to save them," Qui-Gonn had taught him, "act as though you're part of their dream. Be careful how long you stay within their dream, for if you stay in it too long, it will become yours."

"But, Master, how you do know when you've been in the dream too long?" he had asked.

"When you begin to see what you've been acting like you've been seeing, it is too late." Qui-Gonn had said, "It is a dangerous use of the Force. Suddenly entering or leaving could harm someone more than helping them. Never use this unless there is truly no other way."

Obi-Wan nodded at his memory and once again focused his attention to the queen. When she awoke, she stared at him. He had expected her to scream, but she hadn't. Just what else had she been dreaming about? The dream seemed to be her reactions to things around her. Perhaps she had-

"Obi-Wan?" she said softly disrupting his analyzing thoughts.

"Yes, your majesty?" he replied.

"Why is everything else so dark but there is light around you?" she asked.

"Light?" he inquired then remembered to act as if in her dream, "please explain. I can only see the darkness around you."

"Everything is around me is so dark that I can't see. I can kind of see shadows when people enter the room and leave again. But, there is light around you. It surrounds you kind of like the angels Annie told me about." she said softly.

"Well, I can only assume it's because I'm not part of the dark side. You see, the man whose eyes keep following you is a Sith like the one Qui- Gonn and I fought. When you give in to your fear, you become part of the dark side. But, since I'm a Jedi, the light side of the Force protects me. It will protect you too, when you're not afraid." he said softly.

"But how do I make the fear go away?" she asked.

"Perhaps, if we try to leave this room. Come on, we're going to leave your fears in this room and go somewhere else." he said. He didn't really know what he was saying, but perhaps it could work. Padme seemed pleased by the idea, but she continued to tremble.

He slowly lead the fearful queen out of the room. By using a slight bit of the Force, he made sure the hallways were empty. Quickly and quietly, they ventured outside into the night.

~*~

"Come closer, step into my trap." Darth Thanos said with sinister laughter. He waited patiently for the pair to arrive.

~*~

Obi-Wan had noticed that in her state of fear, the queen had truly become more child-like. He was quite worried about what to do to help her. He was also a bit worried about himself. As they walked further into the night, he made a grand realization. Her world was completely dark. Currently, his world was dark. How would he know if he had been in the dream too long?

"Obi-Wan," she whispered, again disrupting his analyzing thoughts, "do you have your light sabre?"

"Of course, your majesty," he said.

"Well, it's terribly dark, and... I was wondering if perhaps... it could bring us a little more light." she suggested timidly.

"Perhaps. It shall keep us safe as well, your majesty." he said while unlatching the light sabre from his belt. He quickly clicked the button causing a loud snap-hiss to be heard as the blue light appeared, "Be careful not to get too close to it. It tends to leave a terrible burn, your majesty."

"Obi-Wan..." she whispered.

"Yes, your majesty?" he inquired.

"Could you... maybe... just.. address me by my name... I don't feel like much of a queen right now, and that constant 'your majesty' just doesn't seem meant for me anymore..." she whispered, sadly.

"If you'd prefer that, but I think you're a wonderful queen and deserve such a title all the time." he said.

"I prefer just my name..." she said.

"As you wish, Padme." he replied, but it seemed strange to not address her properly.

Suddenly, a silver blade clashed against Obi-Wan's blue blade. Padme gasped and nearly screamed, but Obi-Wan quickly struck back.

"Padme," he said, quickly glancing around, "run toward those trees over there, and stay there until I come for you."

"But I don't see any trees," she said.

"Keep walking backwards until you find a tree and stay there." he said, although it came out rudely.

The attacker struck again. Back-and-forth they exchanged attacks. Obi- Wan's skilled movements were clearly more precise than that of the attacker. He struck consistently hard causing the attacker to stumble back, for such attacks weren't expected. Obi-Wan delivered a swift kick to the attacker's side. When the mysterious one fell over, Obi-Wan caught a slight glimpse at his face. Pale with black lips and huge black eyes.

Obi-Wan quickly leapt back and gathered the frightened Padme in his arms. By using his abilities in the Force, he was able to quickly run back toward the palace before the attacker had returned to his feet.

"Damn it." Darth Thanos cursed.

"Obi-Wan, I'm scared. Don't let him hurt me, please." Padme pleaded while clinging onto the Jedi.

"He won't hurt you, I promise you that." he said. They entered the palace again and quickly made their way toward the throne room. Obi-Wan put the queen back on her feet again and offered a reassuring smile.

"Stay close to me and whatever you do, don't scream or mention how dark everything is, okay? There may be shadows in here with those terrible eyes, but they won't hurt you as long as you stay close to me and keep perfectly quiet." he said.

Padme nodded, but secretly her fears were beginning to blossom all over again.

~*~

"Master," Darth Thanos said into his commlink, "There has been a slight change of plans. That damned Kenobi is stronger that I expected. He certainly isn't the young jedi you described. He's strong and powerful, not weak and inexperienced. I will kill him though, I just need to re-think my plan."

"They will be returning to Couresant. I can feel it. They will be going to the Council. Return at once. We have planning to do." Darth Sideous said.

"Yes, Master." Darth Thanos replied. He clicked the commlink off and made his way back to his y-wing.

~*~

Gasps filled the room when Obi-Wan and Padme entered. The handmaidens wanted to rush over to see there seemingly recovered queen, but Obi-Wan quickly stopped them.

"It's a long story, one I don't have time to tell right now, but she's not recovered. I encountered her attacker, and I must report to the Jedi council." Obi-Wan said.

Sabe nodded and motioned for Captain Panaka to activate the communications device. An image of the Jedi council suddenly appeared.

"Obi-Wan, have you found the Sith?" Mace Windu questioned.

"Yes, sir. He's a strange one. His fighting abilities are not strong, but he has some sort of power over people with fear. It has something to do with his eyes, I think, Masters." Obi-Wan stated.

"What else have you learned?" Mace inquired.

"I was able to calm the queen enough to see into her dreams. Master Windu, it was terrible. I have never seen such power. But she said that when I was in her dream, there was light around me in the midst of all the darkness. I was curious, Masters, would she be safer there?" Obi-Wan said.

"Yes, I believe she would. Return quickly, and we shall discuss this further." Mace said.

"Yes, Masters." Obi-Wan replied as he clicked off the transmission. He glanced around at the nervous handmaidens and the seemingly infuriated Captain Panaka. "I'm sorry about this, Captain, but we need to return to the council. Ready the ship, please, and I will have the queen there."

"This better work..." Captain Panaka growled as he, once again, lead the handmaidens and Amidala decoy to the hangers and in search of a pilot.

Padme stared at him silently.

"Don't worry, you're going to be fine. The Jedi council is filled with light. They will keep you safe while I find the creature that's hurting you." Obi-Wan said.

"Obi-Wan... please.. don't let him kill you..." Padme whispered as unexpected tears rolled down her cheeks, "I didn't mean for anything to happen to Qui-Gonn, and... I don't want anymore blood on my hands... If he's going to hurt you, then don't do this... "

"Oh, Padme," he said softly while pulling her into a gentle embrace, "I promise everything will be alright again. What happened to Qui-Gonn was not your fault at all."

"I don't want to lose you, Obi-Wan..." she whispered.

"You'll never lose me. Right now, I'm fighting to keep from losing you. Try to overcome your fear, Padme. Your fear is what leads to darkness. If you ignore the fear, you'll always see the light." he said.

Padme nodded, but still continued to cry softly.