I know I'm evil for leaving you hanging! Ha, ha! But fear not, a quick update is at hand!

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The Emperor pulled a small box from his cloak pocket. "I'm afraid I won't be allowing you to access the Force this time." He pulled a hypospray out of the box.

Obi-Wan offered Sidious his arm without hesitation. Sidious pressed the hypo against Obi-Wan's skin. The fact that Obi-Wan maintained eye contact the entire time unnerved the Emperor. He felt like those eyes were dissecting him. Sidious motioned to the troopers, who placed Obi-Wan in binders and surrounded him. Then they moved off towards the shuttle. The Emperor grabbed Obi-Wan's lightsaber and his small suitcase, then followed quickly behind the troopers.

Once onboard the shuttle, Sidious joined a still-shackled Obi-Wan in the small holding cell. Obi-Wan sat on the small cot, still holding Sidious' gaze. Sidious returned the scrutiny, openly studying the younger man. "You gave in too easily."

Obi-Wan shrugged his shoulders. "I knew you were in the area. I kept up my shields as long as I could. But my shields started to crack. I knew that you would detect the crack. I knew it was only a matter of time before you found me again. What was the point of fighting?" Obi-Wan laid down on the cot.

"That doesn't sound like you." Sidious wondered what Obi-Wan was up to.

Obi-Wan turned his head towards Sidious. A small smile played at his lips. "You know me so well, do you?"

Sidious held his gaze. "Yes, I do."

"How did I manage to elude you for a year and a half then?"

"Because I didn't realize how well I knew you until recently. Once I did, I just put myself in your shoes and asked where I would hide if I were you."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "And you just naturally assumed Tantiv V?"

"No, but I did naturally assume the Outer Rim."

Obi-Wan snorted. "A good guess."

Sidious smiled at Obi-Wan. "No, young one, I knew."

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Sidious had Obi-Wan safely ensconced onboard his own Star Destroyer, which he had called back as soon as he'd sensed the crack in Obi-Wan's shields. He wasn't about to give Vader a chance to do any harm to Obi-Wan. Without so much as a word to Vader, Sidious headed back to Coruscant.

Sidious strode into Obi-Wan's guarded room. "I don't think you need those anymore." With a motion, Obi-Wan's binders came undone and fell to the floor. Obi-Wan massaged his wrists as he watched the Emperor.

Sidious stopped in front of Obi-Wan. "You sensed me when I first started searching for you."

"Yes."

"Don't you find that a bit odd?"

Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest. "I just assumed our mutual mind probes created some kind of flukey connection."

"Why would it do that?"

An irritated look flitted across Obi-Wan's face. "I don't know. I can't explain it."

"Ah, so you admit that there's a connection between us, then?"

Obi-Wan frowned. "Begrudgingly, yes."

Sidious cackled. My how he'd missed that wit! "Do you not sense it, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan's eyebrow came up. "Considering you're blocking my use of the Force, I can't sense anything."

"What I mean is, do you not feel that our connection through the Force is an indicator of a greater truth?"

Obi-Wan could tell where this was going. "No, I don't."

"Well, I do. I think that deep down you do as well and that you're just denying the truth."

"Oh, that's right. You know me so well."

Sidious smiled. "Better than you think."

Obi-Wan did not like the absolute certainty in the Emperor's voice.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Obi-Wan. You look like you could use it." Sidious turned and walked out of the room.

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Darth Vader paced the bridge of his Star Destroyer. He had just found out that the Emperor had left on his shuttle with a team of Stormtroopers hours before. He had the feeling that his master was going after Obi-Wan. The shuttle hadn't returned yet. He turned to a bridge officer. "Search for other Imperial vessels in the area."

"Lord Vader, the Emperor's Star Destroyer was nearby. But it went into hyperspace a while ago." He studied his readout further. "They look to be heading back to Coruscant."

Vader turned and walked towards his office. He has Obi-Wan! That's the only reason he'd leave so quickly AND without telling me. Vader was now in a quandary. Should he openly defy his master and go to Coruscant? But if he showed up on Coruscant, his master would know exactly why he was there. He wouldn't let me get near Obi-Wan. He had been so close to finding Obi-Wan himself! But he knew that as long as Obi-Wan was in his master's company, there would be nothing Vader could do to him. He was stuck…

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The Emperor walked quickly to Obi-Wan's room. He knew something was wrong. He didn't know how, as Obi-Wan was cut off from the Force, but he knew nonetheless. He walked into the darkened room. He heard Obi-Wan moaning. Sidious turned up the lights a bit.

Obi-Wan was thrashing around. His forehead and his bare chest were sweaty. "No, please! Please, not the children!" Tears trickled down his cheeks.

Sidious pulled up a chair next to the cot. He put a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder and shook him gently. "Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan continued to thrash about. "Obi-Wan!" He shook him harder.

Obi-Wan came awake with a start. It took him a moment to calm down. He turned and saw the Emperor. "Why did you order Vader to kill the children?"

Sidious knew that this could be his moment to start moving Obi-Wan towards the Dark Side. He could amplify the nightmare and the guilt…But one look at Obi-Wan's glistening, jewel-like eyes and tear-streaked cheeks and he knew he couldn't do it. He also knew that he didn't want to answer Obi-Wan's question directly.

"You are not to blame for what happened, Obi-Wan. Vader followed my orders of his own free will."

"But…"

"Shh." The Emperor put his hand on Obi-Wan's forehead. "Sleep, Obi-Wan"

The sleep suggestion started to work right away. "Don't want…sleep…nightmares…" With that, Obi-Wan was asleep.

Sidious wiped the tears off of Obi-Wan's face. "I will keep away the nightmares, young one." He sat back and sighed heavily. He stared at Obi-Wan in contemplation. I am certainly not acting like a Sith! If he was unwilling (or even unable) to hurt Obi-Wan, how was he going to turn him to the Dark Side? Suddenly the galaxy seemed a whole lot more complicated. He made himself comfortable for his long vigil.

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"Time to get up, Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan blinked, but immediately closed his eyes at the assault of light. "Come eat some breakfast." He slowly climbed off the cot, squinting as he looked for his tunic. He pulled in on without bothering to close it. He made his way over to the small table where the Emperor was standing.

Sidious couldn't help but smile at Obi-Wan. His clothes were rumpled, the tunic was hanging open, his hair was askew and he was rubbing his eyes, trying to get them used to the light. Sidious could imagine that Obi-Wan had looked just like this as a boy in the mornings.

The Emperor sat down as Obi-Wan took his seat. He noticed that Obi-Wan's eyes were now fully open and studying him.

"You could have used my nightmare against me, why didn't you?" Obi-Wan's eyes contained an innocence that reminded Sidious again of a boy.

Sidious found that he couldn't hold Obi-Wan's gaze. He looked over to a spot on the wall. A frustrated look flitted across his face. "I don't know." He slowly moved his eyes back over to Obi-Wan, who was still studying him.

"Thank you for helping me to sleep."

Sidious looked a bit surprised. "You're welcome." He paused, wondering if he should ask his next question. "Do you have nightmares often?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Yes. This particular nightmare is the most frequent. It started off as a vision. The vision was so real, like I had been there during the destruction of the Temple." Pain was imbedded in his eyes. "Now it returns to me as a nightmare." Obi-Wan ran his fingers through his hair, suddenly aware that he'd just spilled his guts to a Sith. He self-consciously grabbed a piece of fruit and started eating it.

Sidious was very aware of how…weird this moment was. It was nice, but weird. Here were a Sith and a Jedi having an intimate conversation over breakfast. It was ironic, to say the least.

A wicked-looking smile crept onto Obi-Wan's face. "Does Vader know I'm here?"

"No, I left him without saying where I was going or who I was going after. Though, I doubt it will take him long to figure it out." Sidious cackled. "He'll be livid that I found you first."

"Oh, yes. I'm sure he was imagining many horrible deaths that he could subject me to."

"He can imagine all he wants, but I won't be letting him anywhere near you again."

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Padme flew into the thick atmosphere of Dagobah. She scanned for the swath of land Obi-Wan had landed on the last time. She knew that she wasn't near the skilled pilot that Obi-Wan was. She hoped that she'd be able to land this thing on solid ground.

She managed to land her ship on the small piece of land, though it was tottering a bit on the edge. She prayed that it would hold up as she made her way through the swamp. As Yoda's hut got closer, she saw that he was waiting in his doorway.

"Unexpected this visit is, Padme. Come in, talk we will."

Padme told him everything that had happened. "Yoda, I'm not going to just sit back and let Obi-Wan sacrifice himself like this."

"A disturbing turn of events this is. Unexpected and unusual this connection between Obi-Wan and Sidious is."

Padme looked at Yoda pleadingly. "What should I do? Just don't tell me to go back to Tatooine and wait. I have to do something. I won't leave Obi in Sidious' grasp."

"Tell you to go back I will not. Useless I know it would be. Contact Bail Organa you should."

Padme was hoping to avoid that. Bail had put himself in enormous danger to help them once before. But she also knew that he was probably Obi-Wan's best chance. "Okay."

"Danger I do not sense for Obi-Wan. Strange that is." Yoda closed his eyes in concentration. "Protective Sidious is of Obi-Wan. Protecting him from Vader he is." Yoda shook his head. "Very unexpected behavior for a Sith this is."

Padme nodded her head. "I know. But that's just it. He's never going to want to let Obi-Wan out of his sight again."

"Yes. Great deal of planning this will take. Easy to rescue Obi-Wan, it will not be this time. But rescue him you must. A mission he has yet to complete. The Force will be with you." Yoda eyed Padme closely. "Angry with Obi-Wan, you are not?"

Padme smiled sadly. "No. I know why he did it. He did it to protect Luke and I. Everything he does is always to protect the children and I. I just wish he'd think of himself for a change. It's like he feels he has a penance to pay where we're concerned."

Yoda placed a clawed hand on her arm. "No, that is not it. Yes, guilt he feels and will always feel. But guilt it is not that drives him to protect you. Love it is."

Padme smiled at Yoda. "Thank you, Master Yoda. I WILL get him back."

"Know this I do." Yoda walked with her to the edge of the swamp. "Say hello to Bail…and to Obi-Wan for me."

"I will." Padme quickly made her way back to her ship. She entered the coordinates for Alderaan and took off into the mist.