Prologue-Part II
They rendezvoused on an alien medical facility in a nearby asteroid belt. The last of the Jedi as well as one who was something else entirely. Who had stepped in the warm sanctuary of the Jedi and walked the dark hallways of the Sith. But now, the Chosen One had left the building entirely.
"Disturbing, your vision is." The last few months had taken its toll on the aged Whill, but Yoda still possessed the utmost serenity in his contemplation. "A dark time we have fallen into when our Code can not help us."
"The Code was the problem all along. It restricted us and blinded us to the adaptations of the Sith."
"Shades of Qui-Gon you have in you, young Skywalker. But right you may be."
Anakin gave a reluctant glance at Obi-Wan and continued. "Master Yoda, I believe I came into contact with Qui-Gon during my vision. He, somehow, I don't know exactly, but he guided me, talked to me." Anakin had his doubts about delving in an issue so sensitive to Obi-Wan.
"Know that I do. Been his Padawan for three years, I have." Yoda did not seem to be affected by the shocked glances he received, especially from Obi-Wan, who seemed to be nearing a breaking point from all the emotions he had been containing. His entire life had been ripped away from him and dissected in these last few months. His Padawan, who he had devoted so much of his life to, had turned to the Dark Side as a result of his failures. It had been a true miracle of the Force that he was back, but the fact that Anakin refused to accept his role as a Jedi hurt his Master even more. And now, his old Master, which he had failed and had died in his arms, was still alive? This was too much. Obi-Wan had so much he wanted to say, but he couldn't open his mouth.
Fortunately Anakin voiced one of his many questions. "How? I thought one loses their identity after death. And why have you not told us of this sooner? It could've helped our situation, maybe prevented….", he stopped for a second, and looked to the ground, "my identity crisis."
"Reveal him to us the Force will in time, as it has to Skywalker and me."
"And why not me?" For all his serenity and composure, his Master and his Padawan were Obi-Wan Kenobi's only weaknesses. Now, there was only anger, doubt, and guilt. "I was his Padawan. I knew him better than anyone else here in this room! We had a bond, don't you see?" Tears began to form on Obi-Wan's face, and he barely whispered his next words. "I failed him, and betrayed that bond. I failed him against the Sith Apprentice, and I failed his Chosen One with the Sith Master."
"Master, you didn't fail me." Anakin's words fell on deaf ears. "Master, the Jedi Council failed me. You were always on my side, you gave me your honesty when no one other than Padme would. The Council sent you to Utapau without me, and you had no choice in the matter. The Council refused to make me a Master, the Council asked me to spy on…on who I thought, was a friend. And I made my own decisions, Master, misguided as they were. Though I did not see this before, I do now. Darth Vader was not your creation."
Breath, Obi-Wan, breath. Release those dark emotions, let the Force flow within you. With a clearer head, he addressed his former student. "And is it because of your grudge towards the Council that you refuse to return to the Order."
Anakin put his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder and spoke calmly. "No, Obi-Wan. No. Just as I have been forgiven, I forgive the Council of its decisions. But I cannot return to the Jedi because one restrained by the strictness of the Jedi cannot destroy Sidious. I cannot take that path, for I have foreseen where it would lead." And who I would lose. Anakin shuddered as his replayed themselves in his head, of his dear Padme, and Imperial Troopers, and blasters firing, and his children dueling each other to the death for privilege of sitting on the right side of the Emperor Palpatine. His children.
Anakin sighed with relief as he recalled how they had reached this medical facility just in time. Those horrendous moments when he saw his wife in unspeakable pain, when he waited for his nightmares to become real. But Padme lived. And so did Luke and Leia. And instantly Anakin felt a bond so strong with each of them, it could only be compared to the ones he shared with his former master and his wife. And his mother. Oh mother, if only you could see them. But then, he knew she could.
Senators Padme Naberrie Amidala of Naboo and Bail Organa of Alderaan observed the Jedi's deep conversation, wondering whether it was wise to disturb them. Finally, Padme stepped into the room and pulled up a chair beside her husband. Organa found a seat between Obi-Wan and Yoda.
The Senator in Padme was back, the practical one, the one who felt the burden of billions of people on her shoulder. She spoke first. "I don't want to interrupt here…"
"Angel, you could never interrupt."
"But I see you can," Padme retorted to her husband with a sly grin on her face. "As much as I love to hide here, and take care of my babies" my precious babies "there is still the matter of the Empire and Palpatine at hand. We must confront them somehow."
"The children of Skywalker the Sith will seek. Strong in the Force they are."
"That may be true," replied Anakin, "but at this point I am certain that the Emperor only knows of one child. I can still feel him sometimes."
"Still, we must hide both of them," reasoned the Senator from Alderaan. "Suspicion will follow them wherever they go."
"Maybe it won't have to be 'they'". Obi-Wan spoke up for the first time. "If Palpatine only believes that there is one child, then we should give him no reason to suspect otherwise." He looked over at Anakin and Padme. "I know it'll be a painful road, but it could be the only way to save them from the Empire and the Dark Side."
Padme pondered this for a bit. "You may be right, old friend. But who will take care of the twins? Certainly the Empire will be tracking me and Ani down to the ends of the Galaxy."
"I can take the girl back to Alderaan. My wife has always wanted a daughter, as have I. Since the end of the Republic I have stood solidly behind the new Emperor and I feel that I have above any suspicions."
"Agree with you, I do, Senator Organa. Free of the aura of the Dark Side, you are. Free of inquiries, you are too."
Bail nodded looked at the couple. "Of course, my Lady, you will is final in this matter."
"Bail, I have known you for years, and I trust you wholeheartedly."
"And me too." Anakin put his arm around his wife. "At least, for a politician."
Padme looked back at Anakin. Are we making the right choice here? Will Leia be safe? His eyes answered her question. "It will be painful to be away from her…but…Ani and I are confident that is this the best choice we can make for her."
Obi-Wan: "What of Luke? Can Yoda take care of him and train him?"
"A dangerous place Dagobah is, especially for one so young." Yoda referred to the distant planet he would temporarily exile himself to. "Old and weak I have become, and not a good parent I fear I would make."
Anakin lost himself in thought for a bit. "Obi-Wan, I trust you. And I'm asking you a favor." Obi-Wan nodded curiously. "I want you to take the baby to Tatooine, to my brother-in-law Owen. I've got a plan circling around in my head right now. It's risky, but it just might work."
Anakin stood up. The hardest part was yet to come. He had always sworn to protect his wife from danger, but then, the road ahead was going to be treacherous no matter what path they chose. "As for myself, I must learn the ways of the Dark Side in order to defeat it."
Obi-Wan listened to that sentence in horror. He could not bear to lose his Padawan again. "You're going to go back to Sidious?"
"No. Absolutely not. Don't worry Master, I'm not dumb enough to let history repeat itself. Not anymore, at least. Besides, he knows that Darth Vader no longer exists. No, what I must do is travel to Korriban."
That one word seemed even more dreadful to Obi-Wan, who looked to Yoda for help.
"A dark planet that is, filled with the corruption of the Dark Side."
"I know. Peril awaits us at every step, but I…we can't afford to be cautious. Besides, Palpatine knows my rejection of the Dark Side, and the place he'll least expect me to be is at the center of that evil."
"But Padawan, you put your soul at risk. That Sith planet can corrupt even the wisest of all Jedi Masters."
"That is why I'm going to need a favor from my dear wife." Anakin looked to Padme and dropped to one knee. "Angel, you know I would give my life, my soul, to protect you from harm."
"I know that." But she could not hide the fear from her face, not fear for herself, but fear for the soul of her husband. She reached out for his hand and gripped it tightly.
"I need you now, more than ever. I need you to protect my soul. You have always been my light, my balance. You, more than anyone else, know my strengths, my weaknesses." Anakin paused for a second. Could he really do this? Expose her to a place so dark, so evil, so against her nature? Yet, it is the only way. "Padme, I need you to be my Angel in the darkness. Only you can save me from succumbing to the evils of the dark planet. My soul is yours, as it has always been, ever since our time in Naboo, our first kiss, our certain deaths on Genoiesis. Ever since the first time I saw you descend from the moons of Iego into a humble junk shop and into my life."
Their eyes were fixed upon each other's and Padme locked her husband's head to her chest in a furious embrace. She had let him slip away from her once. She would not let him go again. Never. No matter where she had to go, what she had to do. "Ani, you know I'll follow you to the ends of the Galaxy."
"I love you…"
"Truly, deeply."
"Always, forever."
They kissed.
Forever's a long time, my love.
Not long enough for us, nothing will ever be.
For some strange reason, Obi-Wan Kenobi did not have a bad feeling about this situation. Well, it's back to the desert then, where this all began.