The walk to the hangar was a long one—at least for Obi-Wan.

No words were exchanged between them while they walked to the hangar; although there were quite a few questions that Obi-Wan wanted to ask the woman, he kept his mouth shut, for something told him that the timing wasn't right.

Finally, once they had reached their ship, lady Pariah spoke.

"I know that you are angry, but you will soon see that the Emperor knows what is best."

"I will never see it that way; only a cold-hearted wretch can take two children away from their loving parents, only to be raised in a place where hatred and anger are seen as the right way."

Pariah's face twisted a little; "I will let that one go, only because you do not know what it means to be a Sith."

Obi-Wan could hear the anger rising in her voice. "How did you come to be in his service? Was it through the same circumstances as these poor babies we are about to steal?"

"We should be going now," she said stiffly.

So the entered the ship, and soon flew out of the hangar, on their way to Naboo.

0-0

Obi-Wan had a terrible feeling of guilt as he flew the ship alongside the blond Sith Lady; he felt guilty for what he was forced to do to Anakin, for he had made this sacrifice so that Anakin and Padme could leave a peaceful life together with their child.

But now, all of that was about to change: he had no chance of warning them, as he had hoped, and with a Sith going with him, it seemed almost impossible to sabotage the mission, for if he failed, chances were that she would be able to pick up the pieces and finish what had been started.

Speaking of the woman, in some sense, it was slowly beginning to come back to him; her blond hair seemed all too familiar, and he had noticed that her blue eyes had changed to a darker shade when he had angered her. It all seemed too familiar, yet he could not identify her.

Lady Pariah glanced over at the pondering Sith; she began to wonder what he was thinking. Yes, she had recognized him from the first moment that she had seen him, it had been such a long time, but she could tell by the look on his face that he didn't recognize her.

But she was sure that that would soon change.

000

It was a beautiful silence as Anakin and Padme put the sleeping twins in their cribs; Padme had seen a noticeable change in Anakin that day.

He no longer seemed angry, instead, he had spent most of the day with herself and the twins; it was needless to say how much Padme appreciated this.

Once the twins had been put in their cribs, Anakin and Padme finally had some time together. They went out onto the balcony and gazed into the starry sky; although Padme initially had some fear that Anakin would get angry again of she brought it up, she knew that she had to ask, regardless of the possible consequences.

"Anakin…can I can you something?" she finally asked.

"Sure," Anakin answered casually, putting his arm around her.

"For the past few days you was really angry and wanted nothing more than to be by yourself, and now—now you're acting just fine…normal, as if none of that ever happened. I just don't understand."

Anakin half expected this question somewhere along the line; he sighed and looked down at her. "You don't have to understand; we can just get on with our lives now."

"Why won't you just tell me what happened?" asked Padme, removing his arm and stepping a few inches away from him.

"Padme, this can wait; tonight was supposed to just be about us—so that we could spend some much needed time together, you and I both know that we won't be able to spend a lot of time together…just the two of us at least."

Padme knew that Anakin was right in some sense, but how could she just let it go?

She knew that something had happened and she wouldn't feel okay until she knew.

There was a long silence until Padme broke it.

"We are married; I love you, how can you keep this from me? Is it something so terrible that you think it'll make me love you less? Because if that's was it is, then you don't know me."

Anakin took a deep breath and stared ahead; "Believe me Padme, it isn't that…it's just…" he stopped, allowing his voice to trail off.

"What is it, Anakin? You can talk to me," she said, her tone softening.

Anakin put his head down, and refused to look her in the face. "He took the fall for me," he choked.

Padme stood there paled and as stiff as a board, staring at him in disbelief. "What?" she finally asked, it was impossible to detect whether she was angry or just shocked.

"He became a Sith so that I could be here, with you and the twins," said the guilt-ridden Anakin. He thought that he was on his way to getting over it, but now that he was talking to Padme about it, the feelings were beginning to rehash.

Tears began to run down Padme's pale cheek. "Now I understand, Anakin," she said, embracing him. "Now I understand."

000

It had only been minutes ago since Lady Pariah had taken full command of the ship, for she said that she knew where to land.

Seeing that he was not tired, Obi-Wan stayed in the cockpit, and for the first time he had been able to watch her fly the ship; she flew at a near perfect speed, and yet with some sense of caution, which reminded him of a woman whom he used to know, but had pushed her out of his mind…until now.

That woman was one whom he had thought dead, that woman was Siri Tachi