12

The Emperor was dead, his empire reeling in shock, and his capital was in chaos. In the mayhem of ships clawing for space, no one noticed the small freighter that slipped through and fled to hyperspace.

Obi-Wan sighed in relief as the stars lengthened and blurred. He slowly raised himself to his feet and walked back to the small cabin where Anakin lay.

Padmé knelt beside him, gently cleaning his face with a soft cloth. She looked up, and Obi-Wan could see the tears that lurked in the corners of her eyes. She wet the cloth again and dabbed it against the cut near his eye.

"How is he?" Obi-Wan inquired softly, knowing what he would hear, dreading it, but driven by the need for certainty.

Padmé shook her head slightly, one tear breaking loose, "He started having more trouble breathing a few minutes ago." Padmé's voice was deadpan, and she turned away to hide her misery.

"I found some bacta gel…it might do some good…" Obi-Wan looked down at his apprentice and tried to keep hope.

Padmé shook her head again, then gasped. Anakin twitched on the small cot, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Ani? Can you hear me?" Padmé reached down to stroke his face…

Anakin reared up, screaming and trying to rip apart everything in sight. Padmé jumped back with a cry of surprise and Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin's arms, trying to pin him down. Anakin let out a blood-curdling scream, desperately trying to wrench his arms out of Obi-Wan's grip.

"Give him a tranquilizer!" Obi-Wan roared, straining to be heard over Anakin's screams.

"I can't! We don't know how strong he is! He could die!" Padmé attempted to hold Anakin's legs down.

"Trust me; he's plenty strong! Give him the tranquilizer!"

Padmé released Anakin's legs and ran for the syringe of tranquilizer. Returning, she stabbed the needle into Anakin's arm and forced the drug into his bloodstream.

When the needle pierced his arm, Anakin abruptly became coherent: "NO! No more drugs! LEAVE ME ALONE! I…Luke! LUKE!" The last word became a piercing shriek. The babble continued for a minute, rising up again to a scream. "LEAVE ME ALONE OR KILL ME DAMN YOU! Break…can't break…I'm not going to…Padmé…" As the tranquilizer finally took hold of him, Anakin subsided with a whimper.

Obi-Wan finally let go of the limp arms and turned to Padmé once more. She was kneeling on the deck, her head in her hands, sobbing silently.

"He'll be okay, Padmé." Obi-Wan tried to comfort her but she pushed him away and shook her head.

"What did they do to him?"

"I don't know." Obi-Wan gave a sorrowful sigh.

"Can we at least get this thing off his throat?" Padmé reached for the collar.

"No." He gently pulled her hand back "We don't know of any security devices it might have programmed into it. Besides, it seems to be controlling his use of the Force. I don't want Anakin, in his delirium to start twitching TK all over the place. He could be very dangerous." He tried to pull her to her feet, "I'll show you where you can sleep."

"No!" She pulled her hand away, "I want to stay here, he may need-"

"I'll hook up a heart monitor and set it to give an alarm if he worsens." He took her hand again, "You need to sleep, Padmé."

She nodded, and with one more glance at Anakin, let Obi-Wan lead her out of the room.

Later in the night, the door to Anakin's room opened again, to admit two more people.

Luke and Leia approached their father side by side and climbed up on his chest. Luke cocked his head and scowled at the leads attached to Anakin's chest. He was about to rip them off when Leia tugged his sleeve.

She pointed to the heart monitor: "Quiet, you!" Then she nodded her assent to tug the leads off of their father's chest.

Luke ripped them off with the relish of a toddler in his destructive phase. They waited for a moment, listening.

All was silent.

Leia stuck her tongue out at her brother. She frowned and peered closely at the collar around Anakin's neck: "You, off!"

The collar clicked open and flew off of Anakin's throat, which started to bleed in a few places.

Luke touched the cuts on his father's neck: "Fix."

They healed over without scars.

Now was the hard part. Luke looked up at his sister: Bad stuff in Da'. Gotta get it out.

Leia nodded: Then Da' okay?

Luke grinned: Yup.

Together they touched their father's battered head. He twitched but didn't wake. Following the guide only they could see, they entered their father's wounded mind and looked around.

Gotta find the bad stuff. Luke reminded his sister. He looked around, found a black part, and caught it. It dissolved at his touch.

Leia giggled, Tag! She chased after another black piece.

It became a game for the twins, chasing after black pieces and forcing them out of their father's mind and body.

When the game was over, the twins nodded at each other and left Anakin's mind.

Luke pushed himself to a sitting position and grinned at his sister. He turned around, "Da' fixed now?"

"Yes," The tall blue man who Luke could see through nodded and his eyes twinkled. "Good work, young Luke. You weren't bad yourself, Leia."

"Thanks." Leia slurred the word, making it come out 'tanks'.

The man gave them a smile and started to fade away, then stopped. "Luke?"

"Yup?" Luke looked up.

"Tell Obi-Wan that I can hear him, and that he never went wrong with Anakin. Tell him that for Anakin to survive this proves he did something very right."

"Okay, Mashtah Qui-Ga." Luke and Leia waved as their friend vanished.

Padmé got up early the next morning, planning on going to check on the twins. When she found two empty cots she gave a cry that sent Obi-Wan flying out of his cabin at a million miles an hour.

"Padmé? What is it?" Obi-Wan panted, his hair still mussed up from sleep.

"The twins! Where are they? Oh no…" Padmé moaned "They're with Anakin!"

The two set off at a dead run for Anakin's cabin.

"Luke? Leia?" Padmé sprinted through the door and came to a screeching halt about two metres in.

Luke and Leia were, once again, asleep on Anakin's chest.

Luke looked up sleepily, "Momma…" He smiled.

Obi-Wan crept closer to Luke and reached out a hand. "Luke," He said urgently "come with me. Get off your daddy."

Luke reared up indignantly "No!"

"Luke…" Obi-Wan's eyes widened as he saw Anakin's bare throat. "The collar…" Then he saw the leads for the heart monitor strewn all over the deck. "Oh, Stars!"

"Is he..?" Padmé whispered

"Da' sleepin'." Luke explained, smiling. "Watch!" He patted Anakin's cheek softly, "Wake up, Da'!"

There was no movement from the form on the bed, and Padmé choked back a sob.

Then Anakin groaned loudly, earning a giggle from his two children. His eyes fluttered open…

"Da'!!" Luke hugged his father tightly, followed closely by Leia.

"Luke?" Anakin rasped "What…" Then his eyes found his wife, "Padmé?"

"Anakin?" Padmé inched forward, still cautious.

"Where am I?" Obi-Wan came into his view and he drew back. "Master..?" Anakin called tentatively.

Then he could speak no more, because he was being smothered by the bear hug Obi-Wan gave him.

An hour later, Anakin was eating a little, hearing the story of his rescue, and having two small children cling to him.

"Wow," Anakin spoke between mouthfuls of bantha stew; "you guys spared no expense. After all I did to you, Obi-Wan…"

"It's alright, Anakin. You're back with us, that's all that matters, I suppose." Obi-Wan shook his head, "I thought I had done something wrong in your training…"

"No!" Luke spoke up, "You didn't do nothin' wrong. That Da' survived said you did somethin' right!"

"Luke?" Padmé asked incredulously in the silence that followed, "who said that?"

"Qui-Ga."

"Who?" Anakin asked, mouth gaping open.

"Mashtah Qui-Ga!" Leia replied. She turned to Obi-Wan; "He can hear you." She made a face, "Said 'Tell Obi-Wan that the guidance that he needs is within, I can't help anymore. Tell him that, if he looks, he'll see that he doesn't need my help."

While Anakin and Padmé gaped at their three-year-old child, they heard a Thump.

Obi-Wan had passed out.