"I can see into your soul , you are not following your heart at this moment. You are troubled.You are filled with rage at his actions against those you've loved.
The only ones you've ever opened yourself to enough to care for... He wiped them out like insects. If you are honest with yourself, you know he cares nothing for you, only for what you can do for him. To increase his power."
As I sat there silently absorbing all she had said and this new revelation, she looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, and then came the question I had been avoiding within myself. "Answer me this ...Anakin Skywalker. Look within yourself, within the heart that still beats inside you. Do you grieve her death for her sake, because her light was extinguished so tragically...or for yourself?" All composure I had attempted to maintain up to this point evaporated with that question. I stood up to my full height, and glared at her, "Do not presume to pry into my soul and attempt to degrade my love for her! You do not now as much as you think you do, old one!" I stalked around the chair and stood face to face with her, so close I could reach out and choke her if I so chose. I looked her squarely in the eye and spit out, " If you dare speak another word of this I will destroy you. I will teach you the appropriate way to speak to a Sithlord! I will have the answers I came here to find. Where is Yoda!" She did not move, did not flinch, nor even blink at my tirade.She simply stood there waiting patiently for me to finish, like a mother waiting out the tantrum of a petulant child. After a few moments ticked away, she sighed deeply and walked over to another wicker chair a few feet away. She slowly sat down, like the aged do when pains have made rising and sitting difficult and painful. Then she raised her hands, and thinking she was going to attack, I immediately ran my own hand up to my light sabor hilt. But I stopped when I saw a small wooden chest floating it's way towards her. It paused briefly when it came to her, then gently rested itself on her delicate lap. She glanced at me warrily, then beckoned me to her. I walked over until I was a few metres away and she opened the box. When she opened it I saw a blue light eminating from whatever was inside it. "This is the Star of Morgmaa. I was chosen as its keeper by Jedi Master Windu when he became head of the Jedi Council. It has the power to show the location of any Jedi you wish it to... he knew the Empire were wiping out all Jedi and thought it would be safer with me, which obviously proved to be true since he has met his... demise." She glared at me when she said this, and I felt a momentary twinge of remorse for Master Windus death at my own hand when I was trying to prove my loyalty to Sidious.
My mind registered all of this information and I felt a smile take shape upon my face. This would solve all of my Mast...of Sidious' problems. I refused to call him Master any longer. I would decide later what to do about the Empire, but he would not live.
This was the one thing that would have made his dream of making the Jedi completely extinct a reality. And I had it within my grasp, if I would simply take it. After all...how much of a fight could this ancient put up?
"That would not be a wise move on your part, Anakin Skywalker. You do not know the power you are dealing with. I will help you find Yoda. But you will not harm him, and you will not turn him over to your Master. He is far too valuable to you alive. You would be wiser to listen to your heart this time." I looked at her, the confusion plain in my face, so she replied, "He knows of what I speak. He will know why I have sent you to him, but I can see your heart is still torn. I will not turn him over to your Empire to be slaughtered as you have done to so many Jedi before him."
I glanced away for a moment so she could not read the expression in my eyes, the regret of things I had done that bred there. But her senses took hold of me and I could feel her searching my mind with the Force. Opening my soul to her, revealing my deepest secrets. I tried to nudge her out of my mind, but her power with the Force was shockingly stronger than even my own and she overpowered me easilly. "He knows you are useful to him as long as you depend upon him, so he keeps you that way by removing any other source of caring, or comfort you have, don't continue to allow this!" She pleaded. Those eyes pierced me like two tiny blades of steel. My shock at her use of my former name overthrew any argument I could muster. How she had known it was not yet a question I had had time to fathom. The power this old one posessed was amazing to me. I had grown to believe I was the most powerful wielder of the Force. But here stood a tiny woman, whom, if I didn't know better I'd say was...the physical embodiment of the Force itself! My own thought nearly knocked me over with the sheer amazement of it. It couldn't be. She was simply a woman, who admittedly had been very well trained in the ways of the Force, but was she...The Force in physical form?
She paused, put her hand up and an intricately carved wooden walking stick floated over to her. She grasped it, placed the end gently on the floor and strained to stand, using the stick to hoist up her tiny frame. Then she hobbled over to the other side of the room and turned, presenting me with her back once again. I was humbled so by the being so much more powerful than I that even this action did not anger me. I almost had the impuls to foolishly bow to her as I had once done to Master Yoda. She hobbled over to me and placed the small box in my hands.
I now had it in my control. Absolute power and an Empire in my firm control, with not a single Jedi left to question me, or a chance to regain any honor Padme had ever placed in me. She had believed in me, had always held steadfastly to the good she saw in me.
Conflict burned inside my being, stirring the pot until it was a frothy mass in my mind, brimming to the top, about to overflow. What was more important, power, or honor? Which would engrave one into the memories of the gallexy? Which create a legacy? And which would be my downfall?
If I went to Master Yoda, nothing guarunteed he would forgive my heinous actions. Nothing said he had any reason to believe my heart had changed. If I were to humble myself before him, and beg for my life back, what would come of it if he shunned me for what I was now? Would he attempt to bring me down, forcing me to commit another act of murder? For I would not accept death in any form as long as Sidious was still alive! I would kill Yoda if neccessary, in order to live long enough to avenge my loves death. As I stood there, I realised that she once again was in my thoughts, listening to everything as it played in my mind. "Yoda will not draw a light sabor unless you attack him first." She said, " He waits for you, he expects you to come to him. He welcomes your return to the Light, as long as you do it for the correct reasons. You see, if you return only to gain vengeance upon Sidious, you will be easilly returned to the Darkness. Anger leads to hate...Hate to the Dark Side. He warned you once, you would not listen then. Please Anakin, do not repeat past mistakes. Learn from them. Do this because you know it's the right thing to do. Do it for yourself, as well as for Padme. Don't you think that's what she would want as well? She would want you to be happy, not to force yourself into something for her benifit."
I nodded and looked down at the box in my hands...I opened it and looked at the Star of Morgmaa. It was a beautiful glowing purple orb, about the size of a grapefruit. I wondered how such an artifact ould tell me where Master Yoda was. As soon as the thought entered my mind...the ball seemed to fill with smoke. It got more and more dense as I watched silently, then the smoke slowly cleared. Once it had cleared completely I saw an image of Master Yoda,...clear as day. He was sitting beside a small pond, watching fish jump playfully. He looked to be deeply in thought, perhaps meditating. Then all at once, as though he had felt me watching him, he shuddered slightly and opened his eyes. He tapped his stick on the ground gently, and then stood. The image slowly began to fade, and the word Coruscant crept into my mind.
That must be where he is, I thought. I closed the box and ran my finger over its wooden cover as a wide, slightly lopsidded grin slowly took shape on my lips...Coruscant, eh? I hadn't been there in quite awhile anyway. The old woman didn't say anything, simply looked at me with a slightly nervous look in her eyes, and sighed deeply.
I placed the box inside my cloak, bid her farewell, and left. I had made my decision, and consequences be damned.