Episode 2 Chapter 6

Dark Side of the Moon

"My son, my grown up son," Shmi continued, fading fast. "I knew you'd come back to me. I knew it all along. I love you…I love…I love…" Suddenly, Shmi's voice faded, and she went limp.

"Mom?" Anakin asked weakly. "Mom? No…" Gently he laid her body on the ground, and immediately Willow en tot work, placing her hands over the older woman's heart and murmuring Latin. Anakin stared at the fallen form of his mother for a few moments, then looked up, and Buffy gasped in shock and fear at what she saw. The pain, the anger, the hate…

FLASH

Anakin, his grief all-consuming, rampaging through the camp, killing every living being in sight…

Anakin, making his ay through the Jedi Temple and into the Council Chambers, where he proceeded to slaughter a group of Younglings that were huddled there in fear…

Anakin, his eyes eerily reminiscent of a demon man she had once fought, cutting down Neimoidians in what appeared to be a control room of some sort…

Anakin, fighting furiously against Obi-Wan as they floated on a small platform over a river of lava…

A terrifying figure, clad in black armor, his cape billowing out behind him, a stead hiss of a respirator sounding from beneath the black helmet, a red lightsaber striking down an elder Jedi in some futuristic corridor… a figure she knew to be Anakin…

FLASH

And suddenly she was back in the hut, looking over Willow, who was still working on her mother, to the terrifying visage of a very angry Anakin as, for the first time, he tapped into the Dark Side to enact his revenge...


There were very few times in Buffy's life that she had been truly afraid. Scared, yes- in her line of work, she was scared all of the time. Demons, vampires, hellgods- all of them were scary. But truly frightening- well, there had been The Master. And Angelus' reign of terror ranked up their pretty high; and Dawn being taken by Glory- that had put her into a coma. But seeing the look in the eyes of her brother, at this moment, she was more afraid than she had ever been in her life. Not for herself, but for her brother.

For his soul.

"Anakin," she started, her voice shaking slightly. "Anakin, listen to me…"

"I'll kill them." Anakin growled, his hand tightening on the handle of his lightsaber. "I'll kill them all…"

"ANAKIN!" she shouted, then continued in a quieter tone, "Tīng qǔ wú yǔ yīn, yòu dì!" (Listen to my voice, younger brother!) Anakin turned his smoldering gaze back on his sister.

"I know how you're feeling now, believe me, I know." She said urgently, desperate to break through the haze of hate that had descended on him. "I know you're angry. I know you're scared. But giving into that won't help anything. It won't get mom home faster, it won't bring justice to those who did this to her. The only thing it will do is destroy you…ANAKIN!" he had gotten to his feet, so Buffy did the only thing she could think to do- she jumped up and hit him.

Hard.

Anakin crashed against the rack that had held his mother, then fell to the ground. In a daze, he looked up at his sister in shock.

"Now you listen to me." She said angrily, her voice trembling with emotion. "I have lost too many things- my family, my friends, my fraking world- but I refuse to loose you, too. Stop and think for a minute, Ani! All the hate, all the rage, the need for revenge- all of that is taking you down the road to the Dark Side. You go down that road, you loose your soul, and you become no better than the things that did this to mom!" Buffy collapsed to her knees in front of her brother, tears streaming down her face. "Please, Ani. Don't do this. Don't go where I can't follow…"

Anakin stared helplessly at the crying girl in front of him for a few moments, but before he could even thing to form a reply, a familiar voice caused his breath to hitch.

"You should listen to your sister, Anakin. You must listen to her."

Buffy's head shot up, as did Willow's, who had been tending to Shim during Buffy's exchange with her brother. "Okay," the Wiccan said, "I'm hearing dead people."

"Yeah, well I'm seeing them." Buffy shot back, looking into the corner of the room, where the bluish glowing figure of Qui-Gon Jinn stood.

"Hello, Buffy. You are looking well." the spectral Jedi said, then turned to the fallen Jedi. "I'm afraid I can't say the same for you, Anakin."

"Master Qui-Gon?" Anakin breathed. The rapidly unfolding events were beginning to become to much for the Padawan, and Qui-Gon noticed.

"Listen to me carefully, Anakin," he started, even as his image flickered like a faulty holprojection, "because I don't have a lot of time. This may very well be the only time I will be able to speak with you. Your sister is right- giving into the Dark Side is not the answer; the only thing it will do is hurt the one's you care about even more.

"Difficult times lie ahead, Anakin. Dark forces will try, and are even now trying, to take you down a path that you must not travel. But it is ultimately your choice. You must choose, young Padawan, between what is right, and what is easy." And with those final words, the astral form of Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master and former mentor to Anakin Skywalker, faded from existence.

"Qui-Gon!" Anakin shouted, reaching out to where the apparition had been, then slumped back down in defeat. There were a few moments of silence before Willow spoke.

"Look, I know all of this has shaken everybody up, but I have to point out that I'm expending a great deal of energy stabilizing your mother here, along with holding up a rather powerful silencing spell so that all of the bad guys out there don't hear you two yell at each other. So could we please decide on a course of action and get the frak out of here?"

Buffy nodded, then turned back to her brother. "We need to get out of here, Ani. But I can't have you going all 'Death Wish' on me. I need you with me on this, Brother. Are you with me?"

Anakin looked to his fallen mother for a moment, then turned back to his sister, his decision made. He stood up and pulled a small com device from his belt.

"Artoo, do you read me?" Several beeps and whistles confirmed his question from the small device, and Anakin continued. "Artoo, power up the ship. I want you to bring it down to us- land in the large clearing in the center of the camp. Don't argue," he said sternly at Artoo's protestations, "just do it." He replaced the com device back in his belt, then turned to Willow. "Can you keep her stable while you move her?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, but I can't move her far. Though I'm starting to sense you got that part covered."

Anakin nodded. "We can't get her back up the cliff, Buffy." He told his sister. "So we bring the ship down here. Willow will keep her stable and transport her to the shi; we'll provide cover for them. Defense only." He added, giving her a knowing look. "Duì bù qì, mèi mèi. I won't loose control."

Buffy smiled. "Who are you calling little?" She then unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it's silver blade, then lifted it in a salute. "Shall we?"

Anakin ignited his blue blade and saluted back. "Let's go to work."

All was quiet in the Sand People camp. They were a nomadic race, born and bred for desert warfare. They relished in hunting animals out in the desert, and sometimes in the remote farms that dotted the landscape, as well. And while most civilized people would think them mindless, they were, in fact, quite intelligent. They set their camps up to be not only secluded, but easily defendable from without and within- not that they expected to be attacked. They planned their raids carefully, so that there were always a few survivors left to spread the fear of their name.

So when the sleek, silver starship suddenly came off the cliffs behind the camp and landed dead center in the camp, to say that the Sand People that were guarding the human prisoner were surprised would be an understatement. But before they could react, the guard on the left was cut down by a blue beam of energy, even as his partner was cut down by a silver beam.

And then all hell broke loose.

Buffy and Anakin walked calmly towards the ship, casually deflecting energy b0lts fired by the Sand People's primitive rifles, while Willow carefully floated the injured Shmi behind them. A group of Sand People rushed them, and the two Jedi quickly and effortlessly dispatched them. Anakin's blue blade seemed to flow like liquid energy, cutting blaster rifles in half and severing arms at the elbows. Anakin lifted his hand and motioned at a large boulder that had fallen near one of the larger adobe huts. The boulder lifted off of the ground, then slammed down in front of the entrance to the hut, effectively sealing all of the remaining Sand People inside. The ramp lowered from the ship, and Willow floated Shmi inside quickly, followed by Buffy and finally Anakin, who turned aside one last blaster bolt before leaping through the closing hatchway into the ship.

"Artoo, get us out of here!" he yelled as he ran to the cockpit. The small astrodroid whistled in reply and fired up the thrusters, lifting the ship up into the air, and back towards the place Shmi called home...

Owen was standing on the ridge just above the Lar's homestead, looking off pensively into the east as the twin suns began their climb into the sky. Silently, Beru made his way up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Do you think they'll find her alive?"

Own shrugged. "I can hope." He replied. "That's all we can really do, until they come back."

Beru nodded and placed her chin on his shoulder. As she stared off into the distance, she spotted something that glimmered in the light of the rising suns, moving low and fast towards them.

"What's that?"

Owen squinted, trying to get a better look. When he realized what it was, he quickly turned and, grabbing Beru by the hand, pulled her back towards the homestead. "They're coming!" he yelled to her in explanation. "We have to go tell the others."

"I'm sure they'll be back soon," Padmè pleaded with the aged doctor, who was busy gathering his things. "Please, we'll need your help when they bring her back…"

"Look, little miss," the doctor said tiredly, "the only thing they're bringing back is a corpse. I'm sorry, I really am, but if Shmi's been held by the Sand People for a month, then there's just no way she's still alive. Hell, I'd be surprised if they come back at all…"

"They're coming!" Owen yelled as he ran into the hut, sliding to a halt in front of Padmè. "They've returned."

Padmè looked to the doctor, who sighed and nodded. "All right. Let's go tend to the wounded."

Owen, Beru, Padmè and the Doctor quickly made their way back up top, with Cliegg floating behind them on his hover chair. Once they got up top, they stopped and stared as the ship set gently down on the hard earth and the ramp extended out. Not soon after, Anakin quickly walked down the ramp, his wounded mother cradled in his arms, and was followed by Buffy and Willow. Anakin walked passed the group and back down into the homestead.

"Is the doctor here?" Buffy asked as she walked up to the group. Padmè nodded and pointed to the elderly man standing next to Owen. "Good. Doc, our mom was pretty banged up. Wills' here did what she could, but she needs a doctor."

The doctor, to stunned by the turn of events to speak, merely nodded and moved back into the home. Buffy then turned back to Padmè. "You might want to go see to Anakin. He'll need a friend right about now."

By the time Padmè got to the room where Anakin had placed his mother, the only thing she found was the doctor working frantically over Shmi's broken body.

"I told him to get out and give me some room to work." He told her without looking up.

"Will she be alright?"

"She shouldn't be, the condition she's in." he replied, placing the diagnostic probe back into his bag and pulling out a package of bacta patches. "It'll be touch-and-go for a while, but I'm sure she'll pull through. Whatever your sister did probably saved her life."

Padmè nodded. "That's what she does. Well, I'll leave you to your work."

Padmè wandered around the homestead, passing her sister and Buffy as they sat around the kitchen table talking silently amongst themselves. She walked passed them, not having a set destination in mind. Soon, though, she found herself in the garage, where she found a pensive Anakin working on the Lars' land speeder.

"Ani," Padmè started as she approached the Padawan, "are you okay?"

"They had taken it apart," he replied, indicating the land speeder. "So I'm putting it back together. I'm good at fixing things. Always have been, even as a small boy. When it was just me and Mom…"

"Anakin, what's troubling you?" Padmè asked, placing a hand on his arm.

"I saw Master Qui-Gon tonight, Padmè." He replied. Despite the look of shock on her face, he continued. "He appeared to me, and Buffy, tonight, when we found Mom. And do you know why he came to me? Because tonight, I almost lost control. I wanted to kill them."

"Them who?"

"The Sand People," replied Anakin. "Every last one of them. I wanted to slaughter them for what they had done to my mother." Padmè found herself holding her breath at Anakin's confession, and dreading what he would say next.

"I would have, too, if it hadn't been for Buffy and Qui-Gon. He told me I had to make a choice- the quick and easy path, or the harder road. In the end, I chose the harder road, and save my mom. But there was a time there…I would have killed them."

"But you didn't" Padmè pointed out.

"But I would have!" Anakin retorted. "I'm a Jedi, Padmè. I'm supposed to be better than that. Beyond that! But when the time came-"

"When the time came, you proved yourself worthy of being a Jedi!" Padmè cut in. "You faced the darkness in yourself, and moved beyond it. You chose to put the safety fo your family, and my sister, above a petty need for revenge. That makes you a good man, Anakin." Her hand moved from his arm too his cheek. "Don't ever doubt that."

"But what if I loose control someday, like I almost did?"

"You won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because, I'll be right there beside you, all of the way." At his look of shock, Padmè offered up a small smile. "If you can't do something smart…"

"Do something right." Anakin replied with a small smile. He leaned into her, and she tilted her face up to meet his lips as they descended on hers.

The four spent the next two days staying at the Lars homestead. Buffy and Anakin took turns sitting with Shmi, along with Cliegg, who never left her side; and Owen and Beru. When Anakin wasn't sitting with his mother, he was stealing moments with Padmè. All the while, the doctor checked Shim periodically and changed her bacta patches, and Willow would help channel the planet's healing energies into her.

On the dawn of the third day, Anakin was standing outside, staring into the horizon when Buffy came out, looking for him.

"There you are," she said, coming to stand beside him. "Thought you'd be out necking with Padmè, not staring into the sun. Of course, both could be bad for your health."

"I don't know what you mean." Anakin replied. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I see nothing, I hear nothing, I say nothing." She replied. "But the question remains: what are you doing up here?"

"I've got a feeling that something's wrong, that we're missing something. But I don't know what."

Buffy was about to reply, but at that moment, Padmè ran up to them.

"You two need to get to the ship." She said breathlessly. "Artoo says Master Kenobi is calling for Anakin."

The three headed back to the ship, where Threepio stood with Artoo. "Oh, Master Ani!" the protocol droid exclaimed. "Thank goodness you've come. Artoo says he' has a message from someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi. Does that mean anything to you?"

Artoo quickly added in several beeps and whistles, and Anakin looked at the droid in confusion. "Retransmit? What's wrong?"

"He says it quite important." Threepio added.

"Well then, let's hear it." Buffy prodded. Artoo beeped and turned on his holo-projector.

"Anakin, my long-range transmitter has been knocked out. Retransmit this message to Coruscant."

Anakin turned to Padmè. "Patch it through to the Jedi Council chamber." He asked of her. The Senator moved over to the communication panel and flipped several switches, then nodded at Anakin. The Padawan turned back to Artoo, who started the message again.

"I have traced the bounty hunter Jango Fett to the droid foundries of Geonosis. The Trade Federation is to take delivery of a droid army here and it is clear that Viceroy Gunray is behind the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala."

"Why that no good son of a whore…" Willow seethed. She had just come onto the ship looking for her sister, and had overheard what the Jedi Master had uncovered. The Witch's eyes darkened as her anger swelled. "When I get my hands on that slimy…"

"Later." Padmè urged, and the two turned their attention back to the hologram.

"The Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance have both pledged their armies to Count Dooku and are forming an- wait. Wait!" The hologram had swung around and ignited his lightsaber, and started deflecting blaster bolts away from him even as he backed out of the camera's lens. The source of the shooting came into view a moment later as three droidekas appeared. Before it could show anything else, the hologram flickered and died as Anakin looked helplessly on, powerless to do anything to save his Master.

TBC

A/N:

Another week without a Beta. Please, someone, step up! I need a sounding board/Editor to take my foul-ups and make them look good!

I'm currently hard at work on Chapter 8. At this rate, I'll probably have Episode 2 wrapped up by Chapter 10. Then, the following week, we start Episode III- and let me tell you, it's going to be a BIG departure from the movie. Oh, and Buffy gets engaged.

Heh. I'm evil.

Review Responses:

Lightdemondarkangel: I'm glad you like Faith. 'Cause you'll be seeing her soon…And let me just say, I'm going to start moving away from cannon starting, well… this chapter. So some things that were, will not be.

Allen Pitt: True about the translators, but the Jedi don't usually take them out with them into the field, which is where they would speak in Corellian. As for the Jedi- Palpatine got it right, when he told Yoda that his arrogance had blinded him. The Jedi got so set in their ways, so used to being the wise advisors and the protectors fo the peace, that they allowed a Sith Lord to make his way to the top position in the government and never even realized it. I'm not going to change that-yet. But they will be shaken up in the future, especially at the end of Ep. 3.

Stcobb: Here ya go.

Miracle Angel Summers: I'm glad you loved it. Hope you like this chapter as well!

General Mac: I think this chapter showed how Buffy can keep Anakin from the Dark Side. All he needed was exactly what Buffy had- her friends and family by his side, all the way.

Just Me Prime: Hope you liked what I did here.

Jedi-Princess: Now here is a dedicated reader- she has a torn rotator cuff, and yet she still takes the time to respond. I hope you get better soon. As for Taboo Tuesday- I'm kind of ambivilant about it. Cena is still champ, which I dod like, but I got to admit I never thought he'd last this long. The biggest thing, though, is what happened last week- Christian quits, Austin walks out, Torrie is apparently fired, but then that was proven false; Vince is on a crusade against the internet fans, Joey Styles on commentary; and all of this happened before Wednesday. Once more, feel better soon!

Damia- Queen of the Gypsies: Well, hope springs eternal, and in this case it paid off. Thanks for the review!

Cycloneozgirl: I have a plan for a Buffy vs Anakin, but it isn't what you might think it would be. As for other characters shoing up- well, you got a little Qui-Gon here (and I'm thinking of giving him some more screen-time later on), Faith shows up in a few chapters for a bit. Other characters may put in an appearance in Episode 3, including characters we've all know from the Original Trilogy.

Winter2: You will find the meaning of the first part of the vision at the end of Chapter 8 (which I am writing right now). Hope you like what I did between Buffy and Anakin here, and thanks for the review!

Devine-desire: Well, in that case, I hope you like what I did here. As for Buffy, see my author's note for the status of her 'fluffy'.

I really hate that word.

Well, I'll tell ya- my beta, Katilwen, told me a few weeks ago that her new job schedual was very hectic. Shortly thereafter, I stopped hearing from her. So I'm going to say that she just doesn't have the time anymore. Hwoever, if you want, I'll beta your story, if you'd try to beta mine. Reply in a review, or reach me at the e-mail address in my Bio.

Sean-Malloy-1: 'Force-Wedgie'? That's comic gold right there. Buffy will be calling Palpatine 'Old Man', though; she really doesn't like him. And yes, I got 'Revenge of the Sith' the day it came out. And watching it just makes me want to finishe this Episode faaster to get to the really good stuff.

Well, that's all for today. Coming next chapter- The gang goes to resue Obi-Wan, with catastrophic results.