9

Anakin peered at the holoprojection of his beloved Padme. Her face was growing worn and old, with lines running down the sides of her lips. She looked sad. In truth, she had every reason to feel so given the situation.

"Annie, nothing happened," She told him through tears. "But I thought he was you the entire time."

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Anakin smiled. His career was crashing down around him, his future quite possibly could be at the business end of an execution chamber, but the sense of knowing that his beloved was safe in most respects warmed his soul.

Though the two were lightyears apart from each other, their minds rested upon each other. In the solace of their respective homes,they stared deeply into each others eyes, watching the glittering rays of light dance in circles about their iris'.

"Everything is going to be fine, my love." Anakin said, bringing his hand up, caressing the image of her face. "Luke and Leia are both safe here on Balmorra."

"I hope this ends soon, Anakin. I don't know how much longer I can stand this political onslaught without you."

Anakin smiled slightly. "Padme, I want you to remember this. No matter what happens, I will be with you. In fact, I am standing there with you right now. If this takes a turn for the worse, I will still be at your side. When you are interrogated by the other members of the Senate, keep this thought in your mind. I am with you. The force is with you. Sidious' plague on the galaxy will soon be at an end."

It was then that the screen began to waver. The battery was giving out.

"I love you, baby," Anakin whispered, wiping a tear from his eye.

"And I love you," She replied as the holoprojector shut down completely.

Once again Anakin was left in a prison of despair. He was miles from home, tired, and angry. He wanted nothing more than to storm the planet and find his beloved. Actually, that wasn't true. He wanted Ollo's head more.

Anakin screamed into consciousness. A terrible dream had ripped him from sleep. He sat there in his bed for a few seconds, and slowly realized that it wasn't a dream. The voice that had echoed through his mind was still blaring through him. The very timbre made his stomach turn.

A ghostly voice repeated. "I am not just a part of you anymore." Over and over.

Under normal circumstances, Anakin would have dealt with his nightmares in solemn silence, letting them rot and decompose within his soul. But not now. He knew who plagued him, and he knew the face behind the voice. It was time to take a stand. A time to cast down the restraints of the dogmatic Jedi Code, and take a stand against his enemy. The temptations of the Darkside had faded away behind the misty veil of justice. Now was the time to act.

"We have unfinished business, Ollo," Anakin hissed through the force, knowing that it, in some way, would reach his clone. "The time of you defacing my name is going to come to a screeching close, my friend." He could feel Ollo trying to speak, but he didn't allow the clone to say a single word. "I am coming after you, Ollo. You cannot escape my wrath."

"What about your Jedi Code?" Ollo jutted in evily.

"As of right now, they mean nothing to me. I am going to track you down, and by the end, you will beg for the cold clutches of death."

The two lost connection with each other, as if Ollo had hung up on Anakin during a phone call. Anakin sighed, and rubbed his head. If one good thing came out of his nightmare, it was the fact that Anakin had found where Ollo was. He could now feel Ollo's presence, and it was coming from Dantooine's orbit. Apparently Ollo was planning to broaden his list of murders. That, Anakin vowed, would not come to be.

Anakin stood over Obi-Wan and Afe as they lay in their bed sleeping. He loomed over them in silence, and contacted them through the force. Instantly, they snapped into consciousness.

"What is it, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked through sleep caked eyes.

"Everyone, pack your bags. We're going to the Dantooine system now."

Obi-Wan sighed. "No, Anakin. I'm not going to tell you again that we can't leave Balmorra."

A smile formed on Anakin's face. "You won't have to. Because we're going. Now pack your bags, Master."

"Anakin," Afe complained.

He ignored their groaning, and headed into the other rooms to wake his children.

Ollo opened his eyes, and rose from his meditative position. An expression of fear, for the first time, washed across his face. Anakin was indeed coming. He could feel the Jedi's anger rising, but for some reason, there were no traces of darkness within him. Could it be that the young man had found a way to secure the power of anger without losing the purity of the light? Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

He stood and stared at the green planet throughout the window. Dantooine loomed before him, spinning silently in the vacuum of space. In the past days, Ollo had come upon an abandoned skyhook space station orbiting the planet, and had transformed it into his den of evil. It was headquarters for the final bout. If the chosen one was coming after him, he had better get prepared.

Ollo didn't know how long it would be before his twin arrived to slay him, but he decided to use it to his advantage.

(I don't necessarily like this chapter, but I've had a bit of trouble coming up with a way for Anakin to find Ollo. You wouldn't believe how many scenarios I wrote out, and then changed them due to lack of faith in the plot. I really hope this suits the story. As you can tell, I really don't have much self-esteem when it comes to my work, but I'll leave the judgements up to you guys. On another note, I witnessed the miracle of film making that is Episode 3 last night, and I encourage everyone to go see it. Make sure you look for Grand Moff Tarkin at the end! Anyway, please review and give me ideas on how to play this out to your liking).