I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters, Lucasfilms does.

First ever fanfic, not sure what I am doing yet, so please be patient.

I just noticed that the website didn't recognize my double spacing in Microsoft Word, so I have inserted breaks into places where they are necessary. I am very sorry for any previous confusion. Hopefully the story will be much more clearer now.

Prologue-Part I

Mustafar-End of Episode III

It all became clear to Anakin Skywalker the moment he saw Obi-Wan standing inside Padme's ship. It was a trap, and the one person he loved more than anyone else in this pathetic galaxy had sprung it upon him. She had brought him here, led Obi-Wan here to kill him. Anakin Skywalker could not hear by now; he couldn't hear his own voice, couldn't hear his former master reasoning, his wife pleading with him. With all that he was Anakin stared at Obi-Wan, focusing every fiber of his hate onto his former master. The hate burned inside him, fueled him, giving him the strength, energy, and resolve that he sustained his will to live.

And then he looked at Padme and almost lost that will. How could she? After all they've been through, all that he had done for her, how could she betray him now? For her misguided beliefs in a corrupt government? For a Jedi Order that she barely understood? For Obi-Wan? He could not bear to see her snatched from him by his former master, his "friend".

The opposite of love is apathy, a feeling that Anakin could never feel for Padme. Hatred, however is quite a close relative of love, and hatred seized his fragile heart as he looked at his wife now. Hatred, betrayal, jealousy. He wanted to destroy her, to destroy Obi-Wan, to destroy his hurt, to destroy his feelings so that all that remained was pure apathy. Anakin did not see his hand move up, did not feel his fingers move closer together, and yet somewhere he was aware of everything he did, everything he felt. The pain of betrayal…he had betrayed the Jedi Order for her, killed Mace Windu, pledged his allegiance to his natural enemy, slaughtered children and younglings…

Oh God, what have I done?

Anakin's fragile mind finally collapsed, capsizing into a torrent of conflicting emotions of guilt, regret, hatred…love. He did not see anymore, did not think, did not analyze. He felt. Purely. And the Force took him. It carried him; it encompassed everything he was. And for a second, Anakin ceased to be.

Padme watched her husband in horror. She wanted to hold him, to comfort him, to tell him everything was alright, that she'll forgive anything and everything he's ever done. She wanted to rationalize herself, defend herself, her beliefs and accuse him of turning his back on everything she stood for. And when she saw the hate in his eyes, the premonitions of violence, she wanted to run away from this hellish planet, from the possessed remains of what used to be her husband, to forget everything, to not feel anymore. And then, to her horror, he disappeared. No, she could still feel him, his presence, but the man who stood threateningly before her just a second ago had vanished.

Obi-Wan Kenobi did not know what to do with his former Padawan, his best friend, his brother. Could he save him from the storm clouds that whirled in his heart? The more Obi-Wan saw, felt, the more he was coming to understand that Anakin Skywalker was beyond salvage. He was pure Sith now, pure darkness, pure evil, and it was his duty to rid the Galaxy of the greatest evil it was about to encounter. As his Padawan's eyes parted from his and onto Padme's, Obi-Wan felt a sick horror and guilt. He should have never brought her into this…but he had no choice. Thoughts previously focused on saving Anakin suddenly shifted to saving the innocent bystander that stood before him as Obi-Wan realized what Anakin was about to do.

"Anakin, no…" That was all he could say before everything stopped. No it didn't stop, it changed, everything changed. He couldn't see Anakin before him anymore, and yet he felt him surrounding him, stronger than ever…part of the Force? It couldn't be. Obi-Wan was a Jedi Master, and he knew what he thought he saw was…well…impossible, never recorded, unprecedented…and yet, as a Jedi Master, Obi-Wan knew what he felt. Who he felt. And, now trembling, Obi-Wan felt another.

The Galaxy was spread before him, wondrous, alive, infinite, his. It was all his, he saw all. Anakin felt he could control the endless masses of space and planets and living things that he now saw, and felt, with clarity. He was the force, and he would unleash the full fury of it…but did he really want that? Did he really want control? Power? Over everything? He knew he could have it, it was within his grasp, but to his increasing horror Anakin Skywalker realized that all he wanted was the one that was slipping away from him. Padme. He saw her, focused on her

your focus determines your reality

standing on a lonely planet, helpless, hopeless, clinging to life… No! Did he hurt her? Did he actually choke her like he had momentarily wanted? No, he hadn't. But then why was she dying, even now, slowly slipping away not from himself but from the world?

Look inside her, Anakin. Feel her.

Anakin trembled as he heard a familiar, yet ancient voice whisper to him. That voice became part of him, as it always had been. It was the Force. Qui-Gon. How?

It matters not. Anakin, you must feel. Let yourself go.

And Anakin Skywalker stopped thinking. He felt. He reached into his tormented heart momentarily, and then Padme's. And he finally realized that he was the one who was killing his beloved Angel, killing her inside. He felt her love for him, so complete, such an essential part of her, of who she was, that without this love, she did not want to live, to exist.

And he had betrayed that love. He was killing her. He was fulfilling his own prophecies, nightmares all the while as he tried to save her. His medicine was her poison. And then Anakin Skywalker transcended time.

He saw the past, the present, the future. He saw Palpatine…Sidious, his manipulations of the Senate, the Separatists, the Jedi's, his own heart and ego. He saw Sidious now, hurling Senate pods at Yoda in a battle the Jedi Master was predestined to lose. And he saw himself, hurting Padme, choking her, trying to hurt…kill, his mentor and best friend. He saw every nightmare come true, saw himself burning in the fire, unable to move, and then darkness. Pure darkness.

He saw the first time he met Padme, how he knew he was going to marry her (and kill her?), saw the kiss he stole from her, their exclamation of their love before certain death, their marriage…he saw his Padme dying on an alien table, in childbirth, in despair, and yet hope. Their child…children?…running away, hiding, hurting, because of him? No, the monster (Vader) that he had become, that he already was, that he always has been. Darkness, pure darkness.

There was only one past, one present, but as Anakin retreated from that dark path, he saw many futures, swirling about. He saw the light, he saw himself repenting, swearing another allegiance, back to Obi-Wan and what was left of the Jedi. And he saw darkness pursuing his light, his family, with no end in sight. He saw his family's never ending flight from Sidious, and again, NO! Padme dying. In his arms. Her precious life sucked away by the darkness, and lasers, and blasters. And he saw his children fall into the darkness.

Was she doomed to die, no matter what path he chose? Was the darkness always going to prevail? Was it useless?

Anakin, there is more to the Force than black and white.

There it was, how could he have not seen it, without Qui-Gon's prompting. There were so many paths, so many futures, so many colors in the middle, between the darkness and the light. All he could see was colors now, every single possible shade swirling into one, it was life, it was all the Galaxy was, for good, for evil, or for something in between. Yes, there was darkness in these colors, crawling about, but there was also light, and there was grey, and they all formed such a perfect precious balance with one another. The path was cloudy with colors, but suddenly all the colors rearranged themselves into something so beautiful, so alive, so breathtaking…

He saw, mountains, trees, animals…no, that was just a reflection…in a beautiful lake. There were meadows around the lake, waterfalls, a cottage…a family. It was him, and Padme…and two children, a boy and a girl Luke and Leia, and they, we, were all so happy, so free, so alive.

Anakin understood now. He understood what he needed to do, what his destiny was. He would bring balance to the Force, not around him, but within him. He could do it, he was the only one capable of doing it. And though he did not know where this path would lead him, he knew the final destination. So Anakin drifted out of the ethereal and back to reality.

Padme saw him first, as she always has. And though in her world her husband had only vanished for but a few seconds, those eternal clicks of the clock had overcome her with endless dread and loss, so relief was her first priority. Just seeing him again made her forget for a few moments all that had transpired in the last few days.

"Oh Ani, where…"

"It matters not, Angel." He walked towards her, with no malice in his swift, almost graceful, movements. Something was different about him. He no longer had a flame burning in his eyes; they were calm, understanding, and even wise. The innocence that had lingered even through the darkness of war was gone, replaced by a knowing look of someone beyond their years, not jaded, but knowledgeable. The intensity, the same glaring passion that she had first seen when he was still a little kid was still there, and she knew that his love for her remained unspoiled and unchanged.

He finally reached her and they locked each other in an embrace of those who had not seen each other for decades. It seemed like decades to Anakin, even though he had been gone only a few seconds. "Padme, I'm so sorry for everything…"

"Anakin, it's okay. I don't care what happened in the past. What's important is that you're back, you're…" she searched for the diplomatic word to use, "Ani again, not whatever possessed you before you…I don't even know."

"Anakin, it's not your fault." Obi-Wan was as confused as Padme, if not more because of what he knew, or rather felt, about what had just transpired. Still, as tried to maintain his composure, he could barely contain the inner joy over what he saw in Anakin right now. The darkness was still in him, but it was controlled now, he could feel it being held back by something greater. "We were all being manipulated by Sidious, myself included, and the Jedi Council…"

"And me too," interrupted Padme, not rudely, but calmly and comfortingly. "Me before anyone else, when I stepped into the Galactic Senate for the first time."

"I know. I saw everything. Palpa…Sidious has been behind ever dark events that have transpired ever since we met. The Trade Federation, the Separatist War." Anakin paused for a second.

"Me." He stepped back from Padme and looked at both her and Obi-Wan. "Still, I chose to do what I did. I committed…horrible crimes."

"Padawan, do not dwell on the past. You know we will forgive you, no matter what you have done. Come back to the light, Anakin. Rid yourself of this darkness that corrodes your soul every second it continues to thrive within you."

"No, Master, I can't." Anakin ignored the looks of disappointment and shock and continued. "I can not be a Jedi. I know the darkness inside me, and it has and will always be there." He now looked at Obi-Wan with pleading, penetrating eyes. "But believe my words, Master, I will never be a Sith. I will not turn to the dark side…again."

Anakin responded to his audience's silent confusion. "Obi-Wan, I saw…no, felt, someone from our past."

"Qui-Gon. How?"

"I do not know. He is as much a part of the Force as the Force is a part of us. He spoke to me. He told me there is more than just light and dark."

"That's, that's…" Years of training and learning did not give Obi-Wan a suitable response to that statement. "Well, what else is there then? Anakin, what did you see when you…"

"Became one with the Force. At least that's what I think happened. I saw everything Master, I felt everything, I was everywhere. I saw things that has been and will be." He shifted his gaze to his startled wife. "Oh Padme, if only I could explain to you, show you, the truly wondrous things in this Galaxy. And yet you stand out, Angel. You are the one jewel in this world that stands out from all the other rocks."

"Ani…" Padme could not tell if her husband was a sage or a lunatic. All she had to go by was the fierce intensity in his eyes and the passionate smile he was giving her. He put a finger over her mouth in order to calm her and give her the answer.

"Padme, you are my reality. You are all that matters to me in this world. And what a fool I've been." Tears trickled down his eye and Anakin could no longer look his wife in the face. "I've been trying to save you from myself, from what I had become."

"Ani, I trust you Ani. I know you would never hurt me." She placed both of her hands softly on his cheeks, wiping away his tears. "You were trying to help me, misguided as you were, and Palpatine took advantage of you."

"But I did hurt you. I can still feel it now, and if there's anything I can do…" Anakin trailed off, trying to hide his shame from his wife.

"Oh Ani, all that matters is that you're here now, that you're back. I forgive you, Obi-Wan forgives you. As long as you see the light again."

An excited smile crept back onto Anakin's face. "Oh Padme, I've seen that light. It's so beautiful, so colorful, I wish I could bring you to where I was."

Silence reigned for a brief moment on the fiery planet of Mustafar. Obi-Wan did not want to intrude on the couple's moment, but he couldn't ignore the problem at hand. "So what now, Anakin? You say you won't be a Jedi or a Sith. What will you be then? What are we going to do about the Jedi? God forbid, if Yoda failed, what are we going to do about the Sith."

"Yoda failed, Master. He understands now too. He was fighting a battle he couldn't win, against an enemy that has been preparing against us…the Jedi for the last one thousand years." Anakin looked back at Obi-Wan. "No Jedi can defeat Sidious. I've seen it. I've seen what happens if I return to the Order…or what's left of it." Anakin's gaze turned to the ground as he finished his sentence, both out of shame of what he had said and fear of what he was about to say. "Darkness will win. And Padme, you will die, and our children's fates will be in the hands of Sidious."

"Children? What do you mean children?"

"Padme, you are carrying twins. A boy and a girl."

Excitement returned to Mustafar. This was news to Obi-Wan, but then he had already known it somehow. Padme's eyes, however, shone found joy for the first time in awhile. "Twins, Ani? Are you sure? I didn't know. I don't know what to say."

"Say that they'll be safe, Padme. That we'll be safe." Anakin looked up at Obi-Wan. "You too, Master. You are a brother to me, you are my family too." Anakin withdrew from Padme's arms and hugged his only friend in the world. "I'm sorry, for everything. I mean it."

"I know you do. Let's not worry about that now though."

"No, let's not." Anakin stepped towards the Nubian ship and beckoned the four most important people in his world towards it. "We have a stormy future to worry about. It was cloudy, and I couldn't see through it all. But I have an idea of what I must do. And if I do it right, Padme, I know we'll be alright. We'll be back on Naboo again, and we'll be happy. All of us."

"If you say so, then I believe you with all my heart." Padme followed her husband onto her vessel, with Obi-Wan and two very confused droids trailing behind them.