"Exit your shuttle slowly, and keep your hands where we can see them." Anakin heard the same accented voice from earlier speak to him.
Anakin slowly stood up from the pilot's chair and turned towards the shuttle exit. He paused for a moment, squared his shoulders, and took a deep calming breath. He was going out to meet his destiny. He had a job to do, for the galaxy and although she did not reciprocate his feelings, for the woman he loved. He would not let either of them down.
Anakin double-checked that his lightsaber was secured to his belt and took another calming breath before he pushed a button to release the shuttle's exit ramp. He then made his way out of the shuttle for his meeting with the Rebel Alliance.
Padmé tried to keep herself preoccupied with other thoughts, but she kept catching herself staring at the discarded comlink. Her curiosity and stubbornness were waging a war inside of her. As time past, she grew more anxious to know the outcome of Vader's meeting. She wanted to know if her friends were safe, or if they had fallen at Vader's hand.
Another part of her also wanted to know if Vader was truly sincere. Had he actually changed since he last Force choked her? Padmé had to admit that he had been a perfect gentleman since that event, she wondered if Anakin Skywalker had truly vanquished Darth Vader.
Padmé stared dreamily off into the distance, lost in her own thoughts of Anakin Skywalker, the man she loved. However, she soon realized what she was doing, and shook her head to clear this thought. Her eyes fell on the comlink again, and they narrowed at the sight. Darth Vader had been a gentleman and acted like Anakin Skywalker before, only to turn back to his normal, violent self. There was no evidence that he would change his ways. Padmé turned away from the comlink again as she continued to muse.
Padmé sighed, could she honestly say there was no evidence that Vader had turned from darkness? He had openly denounced Sidious, something he had never done in the past. In the past, Vader seemed to idolize and almost worship his master. Padmé glanced back at the comlink as her thoughts tried to persuade her to believe in Anakin.
She tore her eyes away from the comlink again, only to glance back at it a few moments later. After several iterations of this, Padmé gave an irritated sigh and carefully got up from the bed and made her way over to the comlink. As she slowly picked it up, she was disgusted with herself and her own curiosity, but she could not stand it any longer, she had to know what was going on.
Sitting on the couch to stave off her dizziness, Padmé turned on the comlink and started to listen to Vader's meeting.
"To what do we owe the pleasure of your vile presence, Lord Vader?" Bail Organa spat out once Anakin was outside the ship.
Obi-Wan and Yoda carefully watched the Sith Lord as he seemed to hang his head in shame before he replied, "My name is Anakin Skywalker, I come before you in peace."
Both Bail Organa and Mon Mothma snorted in laughter at this comment. "We would much prefer to see you in pieces, after all you have put us through." Mon Mothma replied angrily.
Anakin stared up at her sadly and replied, "I have done many things of which I now regret. I was blinded by a web of lies and deceit, supported by the manipulation of my emotions. Through the darkness of my life, I could and would not see the truth. However, it is clear to me now that both the rebel alliance and myself want the same thing. Peace and security for the Republic. I have been fighting on the wrong side, and now that I can see it, I offer to help you.
Both Yoda and Obi-Wan's eyes widened at Anakin's speech. However, before they could say anything, Bail coolly responded, "You say you have changed." Bail paused for a moment, quirked an eyebrow, and then continued. "If you have truly changed your ways, where is Senator Amidala?"
Anakin looked up at Bail and calmly answered, "She is safe. She is aboard my ship, just outside the system."
"You have not changed, you are still keeping her as a slave." Mon Mothma angrily hissed.
Anakin shook his head before replying, "She has never been my slave, and she is not one now. She is released, and is free to join you at anytime. I did not bring her with me because I did not want any harm to befall her. I knew that with my reputation, there might be a chance that my shuttle would be shot down."
"We are not animals, like you." Bail angrily replied. His eyes narrowed as he continued, "How are we to believe that after all the atrocities you committed against us, that you have suddenly turned away from the Empire."
"How can we trust a Sith?" Obi-Wan added.
With this statement, Anakin called his lightsaber hilt into his hand. In response, both Yoda and Obi-Wan called their lightsabers to their hands and ignited them. Blue and green blades were held out, ready to strike at any moment. However, Anakin never ignited his blade. He looked down at it briefly, as the hum of Yoda's and Obi-Wan's lightsabers filled his ears. Then he lightly tossed his saber away from him to his right. It made a clanging noise as it hit the durasteel floor of the Tantive IV.
Anakin then knelt to the ground and bowed his head.
In response, both Yoda and Obi-Wan disengaged their lightsabers, but still kept the hilts firmly pressed into their hands.
"Your lightsaber, a Sith weapon. Important it is. Discard it, you should not." Yoda stated.
Silence fell on the room, as Anakin did not respond to the Jedi Master's comment. Obi-Wan stared down at Anakin, curious of the Sith's actions. Meanwhile, Yoda closed his eyes and used the Force as he fell into a light meditative trance.
"That weapon is your life, you should not have thrown it away." Obi-Wan stated into the silence.
Anakin looked up at him. "That saber was part of my life, but I am no longer a Sith apprentice. I renounce that title, and with it my claim to that saber. Sidious was using me to support his own selfish aims, I was blind to see it from my emotions of fear, pain, and anger."
Yoda's eyes opened at this statement and he looked at the young man kneeling on the floor. He slowly walked over to the man and quietly said, "Young you were, when your mother died."
Anakin nodded but remained silent.
"Much anger and hate, this caused." Yoda continued.
Again, Anakin nodded in response.
"Easily influenced by the dark side, you were." Yoda stated.
Anakin just hung his head in shame at this comment.
There was a long pause for a moment before Master Yoda replied, "What information of the Empire, have you?"
Anakin looked up at the diminutive Jedi, shocked that the aging Jedi Master seemed to trust him.
"Master Yoda, you cannot honestly believe him?" Bail Organa called out. "He is a Sith!"
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and begun his own meditation as Yoda responded. "Mistakes we make in our youth. Learn from them, we must. Work to fix them, we can. Dangerous is the dark side, but not invincible."
Obi-Wan opened his eyes, and smiled down at Anakin as he added, "He is telling the truth, there is no darkness clouding his Force presence." Yoda looked up at Obi-Wan and smiled as he nodded his head in accordance.
Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and the rest of the rebel troops present in the shuttle-landing bay, looked on warily as Obi-Wan grasped Anakin's right hand and then pulled him up into a standing position. He maintained his hold on Anakin's hand and shook it as he said, "Anakin Skywalker, welcome to the Rebel Alliance."
Apart from the Jedi, the remaining rebels were wary of Anakin's sincerity, but their doubts were relieved when Anakin provided them with the location and movements of the Imperial fleet, and the best way to get to Sidious on Coruscant. Anakin talked for hours, providing the rebels with a wealth of detail about the Empire to help them win their struggle.
When he was done, all the rebels were smiling at Anakin, happy that they could soon restore the democracy they had been trying to restore for so long. "Senator Amidala will be released as soon as I get back to my ship. She can take my shuttle to meet up with you. I will take The Executor far away, so that my crew cannot interfere with your plans." Anakin stated.
"I still cannot believe you are helping us. What made you change you mind about Sidious?" Bail Organa asked.
"Revealed, the truth was." Master Yoda replied before Anakin could answer.
Anakin smiled. "Yes, it was, and not a moment too soon."
With that final statement, Anakin was escorted out of the conference room he had been in for the last few hours, and taken back to his ship by Obi-Wan.
"Master Yoda, how can you trust him?" Organa asked.
"Trust in the Force, I do." Yoda replied.
Back in the shuttle bay, Anakin was walking alongside Obi-Wan toward his shuttle. Anakin's lightsaber was still lying on the floor, and Obi-Wan called it to him. As they continued to walk, Obi-Wan held the hilt out to Anakin and said, "Here, take it."
"No, I am no longer a Sith."
"It is only a Sith weapon if you wield it as one." They arrived at Anakin's shuttle and Obi-Wan pressed the hilt into Anakin's hand as he repeated, "Take it, you might need it."
Anakin reluctantly took the saber from Obi-Wan's hand and replaced it on his belt. He decided to humor Obi-Wan for the time being, even though he would never use the weapon again. He turned to embark his shuttle, but quickly turned around when he heard Obi-Wan call out, "Anakin!"
Anakin just caught something that Obi-Wan threw at him in his hand. He looked at it, and saw that it was a blue lightsaber crystal. Obi-Wan smiled as he replied, "May the Force be with you."
Anakin humbly replied, "May the Force be with you too," before he readied his ship for the return flight to the Executor.
Padmé could not believe her ears. Anakin had been telling the truth, he had turned from darkness. Darth Vader was no more, and Anakin had helped the rebellion. Soon freedom would be restored to the galaxy.
Her heart raced as thoughts of Anakin flooded her mind. The man she loved, was no longer consumed by the Sith, she had overheard Master Yoda over the comm. say so. Padmé was so excited by this turn of events that the second Anakin walked through the door she wanted to leap into his arms and kiss him. All of her doubts and anger at him had been completely forgotten by the conversation she had overheard.
Padmé walked out into the sitting room, and sat on one of the sofas in anticipation of Anakin's arrival. She wanted to be there the moment he returned.
Hours seemed to pass by, and Anakin still had not returned. With every minute, Padmé's excitement seemed to double as she anticipated his arrival. Finally, after what seemed like ages since the end of Anakin's meeting she heard the sound of the lock to his quarters being released. She quickly stepped from the sofa and approached the door to meet the person behind it.