I breathed deep as I stepped up to Obi-Wan's door and activated the signal. The chimes inside were interrupted by scrambling and the whirring as the door opened.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelled at seeing me, throwing his arms around my neck.

I stood firm as he hugged me, not easing into the embrace. He stood back and looked askance at me. "What's wrong, Padawan?"

A flash of my mother flickered through my mind, then I shook my head slightly and stood up straight as I could.

"I am not your Padawan any longer. I have made a decision and I'm leaving the Jedi Order. Do not try to convince me otherwise; my mind is set."

A look of hurt and betrayal crossed his face. "But, why, Anakin?"

"It is of no concern of yours. Good day, Kenobi."

I turned and promptly left the Temple, despite his pleas to come back.

"Why, yes, Ani. She's up in her room." Sabé stepped aside to allow me to go to Padmé's room. This was only one of the few times I'd entered her building the normal way. I took the turbolift up to her floor and walked towards her room.

Sabé must have called up ahead of me and told Padmé I was coming because her door opened just as I stepped out of the elevator. Padmé looked down the hall and saw me.

"Ani!" She ran toward me, her hair whipping behind her, arms outstretched. She jumped into my arms and kissed up and down my neck and cheek.

I held her close and smoothed her hair. "Oh, Padmé . . . " I whispered in her ear.

She gazed up at me, her brown eyes threatening to melt the cold that had built up inside of me from my exposure to Palpatine. She smiled and took my hand, leading me down the hall to her room.

Once inside, she sat me down and brought me a glass of the finest Alderaani wine and sat down beside me. She took my hand and kissed the band on my ring finger.

"Ani," she said, joy shining in her eyes, "I have some news for you."

"As do I for you," I replied.

"Oh, well then, you go first."

I stood up and set the wine, untouched, on the table. If I did not go first, I wouldn't have been able to go through with it. "Padmé, I have to leave you."

I could feel her heart breaking as she said, "Why, Ani?"

Looking down, wringing my hands, I thought, Why is this so hard? I went over and over what I was going to say, determined I was not going to waver. Take a deep breath and just say it.

"I have made a decision in the way my life will be, and you are not a part of this plan."

She stood up, gingerly holding her stomach. "Ani, I-I thought that . . . " She couldn't speak.

"Padmé, it's nothing against you. I just have new goals in life. You can no longer be a part of my life, and I can no longer be apart of yours. I'm sorry for any pain this might cause." I said it very business-like, carefully avoiding her eyes. I knew that if I looked into them, I wouldn't be able to go through with it.

I turned to walk out of the door, feeling a combination of satisfaction, pride, and, oddly enough, regret. I raised my hand to open the door.

"Ani, I'm pregnant."

My hand froze in mid-air; the world around me became blurry. I slowly turned around and looked at her incredulously. "You're what?" I asked quietly.

She smiled, despite the flow of tears coming from her eyes. Stepping forward, she looked at the floor and said, "We are going to have a child, like you've always wanted. Everyone says it's going to be a girl, but I'm not so sure."

Looking up, she stepped even closer, trying to read my reaction. My face was blank, but my mind was reeling. Padmé always said she did not need to be a Jedi to know what I was thinking. She could read me like a book, as I could her.

"Ani, we have created a life, and it is living inside me. Your child is living inside me. I know he is going to look just like you, with blue skies reflected in his eyes, his hair the color of wheat. He's going to become a great Jedi, like you. I just know it. Please," she said, her eyes pleading, "you can't leave me now. You promised you would always be here. I need you now, more than yesterday or any day."

My eyes fell to the floor. So many emotions were flooding through me. I tried to speak, but no sound would come out. I could only mouth, "A child . . . "

She came forward and took my hands, pleading with her crying eyes. "Ani, please say you will stay. Please say you will not leave me."

For a while, I was frozen in place, not knowing what to do. My confidence that I would be able to leave her without a second thought was crumbling around me. I'm going to be a dad. How can I leave her now?

All of a sudden, I heard a voice inside me. Power, Anakin. You know you want the awesome power only I can give you. Join me, and together, we will rule the galaxy! I pulled my hands out of her grip, turned, and ran out of the door and the building.

All the while, I felt a war waging inside of me.

"You want the power. I know it, and you know it, my young apprentice."

"Ani, you can't leave me now. I'm going to have your child!"

"Power, my boy! Anakin, join me! You will be more powerful than you could ever imagine."

"Ani, how could you abandon me now? I thought you loved me. I know you love me."

Hot tears streamed from my eyes as I ran. I did not know where I was going. I just ran, pushing people out of my way, knocking over many.

New voices came into my mind.

"This is your fate, Young One, if you give in to your hate and fear . . . "

"Anakin, I know you are the Chosen One. Do not give in the hate."

I stopped. I knew that kind, worldly voice. "Qui-Gon?" I was in an isolated alleyway behind a strip of clubs, so no one saw the image that appeared before me. It focused and I was looking into the face of my mentor from so many years ago. He was mostly transparent and bluish, now one with the Force, but he was there. He stepped toward me, disappointment in his eyes.

"Anakin. My, how you have grown, and into a handsome young man; taken a wife; created a child with her; turned to the Dark Side."

"Qui-Gon, I don't know what to do. I feel that I am already beyond turning back. Palpatine has a hold on me that I cannot shake off. Many times, I am so near coming back, but he pulls me back, and in even deeper than before. He is constantly in my mind, beckoning me to him. I want to turn back, but I can't. Qui-Gon, help me!"

"I fear I am too late. Only one thing can save you. . . . " The image started to fade.

"Qui-Gon, what? What can save me?" It disappeared before I got an answer. I ran to where the image had been and fell to my knees, crying out into the silent darkness. "Qui-Gon! Come back! What can save me?"

No answer; only silence.

***

"Is everything ready, my young apprentice?"

It was after I had retreated from the alleyway and made my way to the Senate building, and I was now standing in the middle of Palpatine's office. He was sitting in his overstuffed, high back chair, fingers steepled, looking at me through baggy eyes.

"Yes, my Master." Though I had put up a mental block, Palpatine read what was foremost in my thoughts.

"Ah, an unexpected turn of events. Senator Amidala is with child -- your child. Well well well, this could be quite beneficial to us, could it not?"

"Yes, Master."

The beep of the intercom sounded from Palpatine's desk. "Yes?"

The blue image of his secretary appeared in miniature form on his desk.

"Someone to see you, sir. A Jedi Knight."

"Send him in." Palpatine up looked at me amusedly as the image vanished.

There was a short knock on the door, followed by whirring as Obi-Wan Kenobi entered the office.

Palpatine stood up in welcome. I hung my head and stood to the side as Obi-Wan crossed the office to Palpatine. I felt a searing glance from his icy blue eyes as he passed me. Palpatine came from behind his desk and held out his hand, feigning a pleasantly surprised look. "Well, an unexpected surprise, Jedi Kenobi."

Obi-Wan ignored the proffer of a handshake. "If I may, Supreme Chancellor, I would like to request an explanation as to why my Padawan came to me earlier today and said that he was leaving the Jedi Order."

Palpatine put on a cleverly-disguised fake astonished look. "Why, that is quite a surprise, to be sure. But why have you come to me for an explanation? There" -- he waved in my direction -- "he is. Why don't you ask him?"

Again, Obi-Wan ignored his gesture, his eyes blazing. "I have come to you because I sense that you are behind it. I don't know why or how you are doing this to him, but I will find out."

"Master Kenobi, are you threatening me? It is not in a Jedi's demeanor to -- "

"That is not a threat, Palpatine; it is a promise." He glanced over at me, and I quickly diverted my eyes back to the ornately patterned flooring. "Good day, Supreme Chancellor, Anakin."

With a flourish of his mahogany cloak and one last blazing glance at me, he turned on his heel and left the office.

A flicker of doubt entered my mind behind my now-reinforced mind block. Will I be able to pull this off?

***

A week later, I went back to see Padmé, but Sabé stopped me, with what appeared to be a look of contempt, and said, "I don't think the Senator wants to see you, Skywalker."

I looked at her, almost incredulously. "You are refusing me a visit with my wife? Please, step aside, Sabé. I will see my wife."

I stepped around her and went up to Padmé's senatorial suite and activated the signal. The chimes rang inside the room, but I heard nothing that signified that she was going to answer. Using the Force, I opened the door, the whirring breaking the silence inside the small foyer that also served as a meeting room.

I stepped inside, feeling the coldness of betrayal hit me at once. It wasn't a physical sensation, but one I could sense through the Force.

"Padmé?" I called quietly into the dark. No lights were on and the transparisteel was blacked out. I walked even further into the room, reaching out with my feelings to find her. She was in this room, sitting in a chair against the wall furthest from me.

I heard a click and a lamp came on, revealing Padmé's rigid form. She was looking at me from behind her desk with icy cold eyes, and her hands were folded neatly upon the glass surface, as if she were in a business meeting.

"Skywalker," she said in greeting, gently nodding her head.

"Padmé, I know you are angry with me -- "

"Angry does not even begin to describe it, Anakin." The way she said my name, so coldly and without the love and warmth that used to come with it, grated on my ears. I winced.

Stepping forward, I laid a hand on her still-folded ones. "Padmé, please, don't do this. I know you have a perfect right to, but please, hear me out."

She jerked her hands from under mine and stood up abruptly. "Do not presume to think that you can just walk in here and I will have forgiven you for utterly betraying me. I married you because I loved you and I thought you loved me, too. I thought I knew you. I thought nothing could come between our love, between us. But we came between us." I could tell she was holding back her tears.

"Baby, please -- "

The tears turned suddenly to anger, but she cried all the harder. "Don't you baby me! I am sick and tired of putting up with all of your lies! I can feel the change in you, and it's not a good change." She put up an accusing finger and advanced on me, forcing me back into a couch. "You might think that you are in control, but whatever is causing this change in you is what is in control. It has pushed me away. You are no longer mine, no longer my Anakin. You have turned into a monster!"

The fury was building beyond my control, and I exploded on her. "Listen, I was willing to admit that I was wrong, but it seems that you don't care. I came back here to apologize to you and you won't even let me fix the problem!? As usual, I am the one doing all the work here, for nothing! If you don't want me, you won't have me! Raise this baby on your own."

I felt that if I stayed much longer, I would have gotten physical, so I turned and stalked toward the door. Turning around swiftly just before opening the door, I said, "I was willing to give anything for you, anything, even the entire galaxy! I was willing to forsake Palpatine and return to you; that is why I came back. But it seems that you do not want me." I stormed out of the door and, seemingly, out of her life forever.