Chapter Four

Anakin stood, perfectly balanced, his newly constructed blue lightsaber humming to life. His former sith blade hung at his side. He would never destroy it – destroying it would mean relinquishing a part of him.

"C'mon, master. Is that all you got?"

Obi-Wan panted slightly as he regarded his former apprentice. "I don't know what the emperor has done with you, but you're as powerful as ever."

Anakin nodded, then launched a flurry of strikes against his former master, his last strike hitting Obi-Wan on the side. Fortunately for Obi-Wan, these training lightsabers weren't lethal – they just gave the victim a nasty sting.

"OUCH!"

"You're right. I'm as powerful as I was since I last faced you. Which was hard since, y'know, all of my limbs are missing."

Obi-Wan smiled, in a grimacing kind of way.

"But it wasn't Sidious' doing, master. It was yours."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, don't you remember?"

Obi-Wan smiled. Of course he remembered. Training Anakin was his greatest achievement ... well .. until Anakin turned to the dark side, anyway.

"Yeah .. slicing off my arm and legs, that wasn't very nice, master," Anakin teased. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. He knew Anakin had forgiven him, but he also knew that the former Sith would never stop tormenting him about that day at Mustafar. That day he struck down his own padawan, and left him to burn alive.

Anakin must have sensed his master's discomfort, because he activated his lightsaber. "C'mon, Obi-Wan. Give me all you got."

--

Darth Sidious looked at the half constructed Death Star from a window aboard his star ship. "Darth Petra," he drawled, "you have done well these past few months ... I am going to send you on a mission."

Tarra nodded. She never liked being called "Darth Petra". Petra just sounded so ... stiff. All the same, she could barely contain her excitement – she was being sent on a mission. If she did well on her missions, Sidious had promised that she could seek her revenge.

Darth Petra's face split into a grin.

Sidious cackled, obviously sensing Tarra's excitement. "Good ... you are learning well ... now, On Naboo there have been several uprisings. I want you ... to crush them."

"Yes, my master." With that short, terse answer, Tarra strode from the room.

--

Anakin was working on his fighter. Again. Obi-Wan smiled. Anakin had always been fascinated by starships. "Anakin, how long are you going to work on that thing?"

Anakin finished turning the last bolt with a grunt, then crawled out from under the ship. "As long as I need to, Obi-Wan."

He continued excitedly. "I've added a hyperdrive unit, and another engine in the back, so if my forward engine gets hit, I can switch controls to the backup. I've also added missile capabilities and more intricate gunnery –"

Obi-Wan held up a hand, motioning for him to stop. "Anakin, your fighter is the best in the galaxy already! But that wasn't what I came here to talk to you about."

Anakin put his wrench aside. "What is it, master?"

"Bail Organa just contacted me. Naboo is under attack from Imperial troops."

"Naboo?" Anakin froze. Naboo, of course, is – was – Padme's home planet. "Why, what did they do?"

"It seems the Rebels on Naboo have fallen out of grace with the Emperor."

"Whoops," Anakin breathed. Then, after a long pause, he said, "We have to help them."

"But you haven't completed your training yet," Obi-Wan started to argue, but he knew Anakin had already made up his mind. And, as he well knew, when Anakin made up his mind, there was nothing in the galaxy that could stop him from reaching his goal.

"We're going, Obi-Wan. I'm not going to let any more people die because I didn't save them. First my mom, then Padme, then ..."

Obi-Wan's stomach churned. This was sounding disturbingly like what Anakin said before he turned to the dark side. "Anakin, you can't save everyone."

"I know, master. But this is Padme's family we're talking about."

So it hadn't been about the whole planet. Anakin just felt attached to one family. "No, Anakin. This is the planet of Naboo we're talking about."

"But you just said –"

"Forget what I said. We're moving. Now."

Anakin stood beside Obi-Wan, stunned at how quickly his former master had changed his mind. Obi-Wan Kenobi then turned and strode towards his ship.

Anakin turned slowly. "C'mon, Artoo. You're going home for awhile," he said. Looking at Obi-Wan again, he decided that his Jedi mind tricks must have gotten better. Either that, or his mind was playing tricks on him.

--

GO CHAPTER 5