AN: Thank you to Heppan, Disco Shop Girl, Elizabeth, and Porcelainangel for your comments. And now, chapter 3...

3

Darth Sidious turned around, breaking his view of Coruscant. Power surged through him, making ever part of him tingle. Never before had he exercised such energy before this endeavor. Soon the Republic would be his – no, he would be the Republic.

There were only two out there that could match his power. For now, they both were on the same side, against him. However, may he be a nerf herder if in good time one of them was not on his side.

Together, they would be able to defeat the only Jedi that could possibly think of taking them on. Darth Sidious smiled to himself. The Jedi fooled themselves, they could not see that he controlled the Senate already.

They couldn't sense him at all.

The ranks of the Jedi might contain near ten thousand, and Sidious might be one, but those ten thousand did the Jedi little good. For, if the light side of the Force were as strong as they championed, surely one of them would have found Sidious by now.

Thinking of how shocked the Jedi would be made Sidious's smile grow into an evil grin. Even a Dark Lord of the Sith allowed himself such frivolous pleasures from time to time.

There, through the Force, he could feel his next apprentice steeped in anger and frustration.

If it were possible, Sidious's grin grew wider.

Rash thoughts running through his mind, Anakin made no attempt to stop them as he paced the main sitting room of his quarters on Naboo. Looking out at the view beyond the balcony, he scowled. Sitting here, doing nothing, grated on his nerves. On top of that, he was furious with the Jedi for not attempting to get back to him after his message about Darth Sidious.

He had half a mind to hunt down the tyrant himself, just to prove something to the Jedi. Surely they would take him more seriously if he were to bring down the Sith.

One more look out at Naboo gave him an answer as to what he would do. It was not as brash as going after Darth Sidious, but the Jedi had to see reason. Without a word, he turned and went to his small sleeping room. Rummaging around for a minute, he pulled out his Jedi robes. As quickly as he could, he changed into them.

Adjusting his cloak, he smiled. It felt so good to be back in his Jedi gear. Before he left the room, he grabbed his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. Now he felt complete.

Anakin walked straight for the door of the apartment, saying nothing to the troopers that shared it with him. Just as he was about to reach the door, one of them noticed him.

"Sir! What are you doing?" he said, stepping in front of Anakin so that he was between the Jedi and the door.

"I'm leaving," replied Anakin bluntly. He moved to step around the trooper. The trooper matched his move, still in front of him. Another one of the soldiers noticed the slight altercation brewing at the entrance and stepped over.

"We can't allow you to leave, sir. We have direct orders from the Chancellor," the second trooper said.

For a second, that made Anakin pause. The Chancellor? Palpatine? Why in the blazes would he care?

Then it made sense to him. Palpatine gave them the orders so his identity would be safe. The fewer that knew he was a Jedi, the better. Not that it mattered now.

With an exasperated sigh, Anakin tried to push past the two men.

"I'm sorry sir. You're not going anywhere."

The white-clad trooper put his arm out to stop Anakin. Next to him, his partner drew his blaster as a warning, taking care not to aim it directly at Anakin.

To Anakin, the meaning was clear enough.

"You dare to threaten me?" he asked icily. His hand twitched, but he forced himself to not jump immediately for his lightsaber. While still impulsive, years of Jedi training finally had worked some magic and given him some self control.

"We only mean to protect you, sir." The two soldiers stood resolute.

Deciding that the time had come for some application of the Force, Anakin reached out. A little harsher than he usually might have, he made a suggestion to the troopers to let him past them. One of them wavered; the one with the blaster out did not. Instead, the blaster in his hands waved at Anakin.

For a second the Knight stood there, regarding them. It was highly unusual for someone not to give into one of his mind tricks. A little more irritated, he tried again with more force.

"I will stun you if I have to, sir," the trooper with the blaster said. "We have clear orders."

Anakin found himself staring straight down the wrong end of that blaster. In the corner of his mind, he knew they were just obeying the orders they were given – orders that were meant to protect him. However, as far as he was concerned, the situation had changed dramatically, and that required action.

Through the rest of him, though, he felt something else. In that familiar place, his temper was rising. No amount of Jedi training had been able to round out this part of him. With his new view of the Force, he reasoned that it was alright for him to do what he was thinking of doing.

He could feel the anger, the frustration, coming to a head – ready to unleash the power.

Reaching out to the Force, Anakin felt his anger taking over him for the third time in his life. These troopers would be sorry they tried to stop him.

"Oh, I don't think so," Anakin said menacingly. His eyes hardened, and before the troopers could react he whipped his lightsaber out. The blue blade hummed, making the only sound in the room. Despite the helmets the troopers wore, Anakin could sense their fear immediately.

Before they had time to react he brought the brunt of the Force down on them. Both men hunched over, as if they were going to be sick. To teach them a lesson for trying to defy a Jedi, he kept his control on them. With a hint of pleasure, he could feel their minds going weak as his hold on them denied their lungs air.

"Please…sir…" one of them gasped. It was the one who pulled the blaster on him, only now it had fallen to the floor.

And just like that, he snapped out of it.

Both of the troopers fell to the floor, the sound of them gasping for air muffled by their helmets.

Anakin stared at them in horror for a second, thinking, What have I done? I lost control again!

He stepped around them both, knowing that now he could not stay. He had to continue with this plan. Swallowing, he hardened his resolve. Out on the street, he decided on his course of action. Making his way across the city, it was really a short distance from his apartment he soon arrived at the sprawling beautiful building known as the Theed Palace.

Or what had been the sprawling beautiful building known as the Theed Palace thirteen years ago.

Focusing on his memory, Anakin could see the palace in its former glory – the incredible marble columns, the high domed ceilings, the graceful statues…

Before him, stood a shadow of those days. When the Separatists took over, their hired guards tried their best to bring down the palace. Columns had collapsed, parts of the roof were caved in. Everything appeared dirty and unkempt.However, lacking the proper resources (Anakin suspected that former Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray was in charge of this operation) they had failed miserably – the building still stood, even thought it was a loose sense of the term.

Approaching the palace, Anakin could see that a pack of Republic soldiers guarded the entrance, there in theory to keep any looters away. In reality, they had nothing else to do. As he walked closer they finally noticed him.

"Sorry, no one's allowed in here," the monochromatic filtered voice told him. "Direct orders of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine."

Anakin snorted. Of course Palpatine would make sure his name were attached to the orders. This had been his home, too, at one point. Knowing that what he came for had no threat to galactic security, Anakin decided to make use of his Force abilities to gain entrance to the palace.

Ever so slightly, he shuffled in his robes so that the hilt of lightsaber became visible only to the soldiers. With a small wave of his hand, he suggested, "I'm here on business for the Chancellor. Let me pass."

The soldier's head glanced down at the metallic glint made by the handle of the lightsaber. Looking back at Anakin, he said, "Oh. Yes, sir." Turning to his companions, he said clearly, "He's here on business for the Chancellor. Let him pass."

"Thank you," Anakin politely muttered as he stepped past them. Throwing his head over his shoulder, he called back to them, "And I shall let the Chancellor know that you were most helpful in this situation. The Republic could use more fine soldiers such as yourselves."

"Thank you, sir," came the flat reply.

Shaking his head, Anakin went inside the palace. There, a completely different scene met his eyes. Everything was destroyed – or at least partially ruined. What could not be turned into a pile of rubble without a blaster or brute force had been thrown against the walls. Statues were missing limbs, and scorch marks scarred the walls were blaster fire had gone astray.

Or perhaps not so astray. After all, Neimoidians had no sense of subtlety.

Despite the fact that the day outside was rather bright, the palace was dark. Wind whistled through broken windows, creating a ghostly sound throughout the entire structure. Nothing moved.

And that was when Anakin heard something clatter behind him. His danger sense flared and he whipped out his lightsaber, the blue blade becoming the only other light in the hallway. He spun around, robes swirling.

There was nothing there.

Feeling stupid, Anakin shut the lightsaber off and clipped it back to his belt. He scanned the hallway once more and spotted nothing amiss. Well, no more amiss than it already was. Slowly he turned back around and continued on his way.

Reaching out to the Force, he tried to find a sense of Padmé. Too many different beings reached his senses and instantly he had to back off. He could feel the fear of the royal family, the teeming excitement of the Separatist rebels as they swarmed the palace and under it all a sense of vengeance.

That did not surprise Anakin. It was becoming more and more clear that the Trade Federation had been involved in the second Naboo invasion. Just a few steps back, a dismembered battle droid lay with its parts scattered all over the place.

One thing did surprise him – the sense of the Supreme Chancellor.

Palpatine had been here in those past few crazy minutes. There was no mistaking him.

But that made no sense. Surely the Separatists would have taken the opportunity to murder the head of the government they fought. Carefully, Anakin stepped over a statue that he knew had once been on the outside of the palace. Now it rested on the floor, an arm broken off, in a pile of broken glass. Someone had chucked it through the window.

I'm sure that got the point across, Anakin thought wryly. As he was about to turn a corner and go down a different hallway, he heard something behind him once more. He snapped to attention, but again there was nothing there.

All the rubble would give someone plenty of hiding places. The sense that he was being followed increased. In reality, this probably was a good place to sneak up on someone, even a Jedi.

Frowning, Anakin faced forwards again and continued down his new path. Here, there were no windows. He had entered the part of the palace that hosted the living quarters for the royal family.

He thought the Separatists had made a mess of the rest of the palace.

It was nothing compared to this – this one hallway made the rest of it seem sparkling clean.

Everywhere, items were strewn. All possible attempts to render everything useless had been made. Pillows, clothing, personal items…they all littered the hallway. Out of one doorway, leading to a bedroom Anakin assumed, lay a mattress with the center of it burned out by blaster fire. A pillow had been slashed with a vibrobalde, the stuffing falling out. The head to a child's doll had been ripped off and the rest of the toy was nowhere to be seen.

That made Anakin stop, a chill going down his spine. These people were monsters, and they had killed Padmé's family in cold blood. They deserved to pay for their crimes. His resolved hardened even more, he stepped into the hallway and once more reached out to find Padmé's lingering presence.

One of the rooms halfway down the corridor had belonged to her. If what Anakin came in search of was here, it would be in that room. Gingerly he made his way there, careful not to disturb anything as he did so. Stepping into the doorway he knew it without a doubt.

This was Padmé's room.

Feeling as if he were invading something sacred, he scanned the room. It looked just the same as the rest of the hallway – except that he could almost see the room the way it had once been, Padmé standing in the middle of it looking regal and elegant as ever. Giving the room a second glance he thought he could recognize dresses she had worn. Even after all these years he could still perfectly recall that beautiful white one she wore at the victory celebration after turning the Federation away the first time.

There was no sign of what he was looking for and his hopes fell. Forcing himself to remain positive, he reached out to the Force. And there…he could feel the slightest whisper of his touch…buried in the back of the dresser…

Anakin went over to the dresser, which no longer resembled a dresser. Anakin searched the items on the floor around it, then pulled one of the few remaining drawers out. He gave it a shake, scanning through the contents.

There it was. The exact thing he'd been looking for.

Nervously he reached out to pick it up. It made perfect sense for the Separatists to leave it – it held no monetary value, it was merely a simple token. And yet, through all these years, she still had it.

A trill of excitement went through him as he thought about giving it back to her, making him smile. Tucking the small thing into one of the many utility pouches on his belt, he turned around to leave.

And nearly jumped out of his skin. The small wooden drawer fumbled out of his hands and he struggled to catch it. He was unsuccessful, and it clattered to the floor, the rest of its contents now scattered.

Standing before him in the doorway, where it most certainly had not been before, was a droid. Its domed head clicked and whirred as his motion sensor tracked Anakin. Focusing on him, the thing let out a most irritated chirp.

"Like you have anything to be bitter about," Anakin muttered to the thing. "You nearly scared me to death."

The droid squawked back at him.

"Oh really? So now you think you can just sneak up on whomever you please?"

A low whine came from the blue and white droid, followed by a few whistles.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." Anakin took a look around the room, letting the horror of what happened there sink in. "Did you know her?"

As he asked the question, the hilarity of the situation hit him. He was standing in the middle of the Naboo palace having a casual conversation with a droid he didn't know and had stalked him since he first entered.

A series of blips and beeps answered his question.

"Wait. You know me too?"

The droid made a sound that indicated he clearly thought Anakin was quite dumb.

"Yeah, yeah…" Anakin searched his memory. He couldn't remember any other droids like this one – only the R4 models the Jedi employed for use with their starfighters. Then there was the protocol droid he began to build years ago…

"R2? R2-D2?"

R2-D2 beeped an affirmative.

"Well, we've got to get you out of here."

R2 let out a wary whine.

"Don't worry. I know just the place."

Anakin moved past the droid and began to make his way down the hallway. Noticing that the droid was not following him, he turned around.

"Are you coming or not, R2? Don't worry. We'll get you back in touch with some old friends," he said, with a hint of a smile.

That convinced the droid, and with a series of clicks and whirrs he followed Anakin. Soon enough they were back outside the palace, saying goodbye to the soldiers standing guard. Glad to be out of the ghastly palace, Anakin made his way to the spaceport.

Within a few minutes, Anakin found a small ship that would serve his purposes. A slight twinge of guilt went through him, since he was essentially stealing the ship even though he reasoned that it was for "Jedi business."

Once he was free of Naboo's atmosphere, Anakin settled into his seat. As the ship made the jump to lightspeed he closed his eyes and tried to feel relieved. Everything would get better once he returned to Coruscant. Anakin smiled as he thought how Padmé would react to the special cargo he was bringing her. Leaning back in his seat he watched as the star were replaced by the blue haze of hyperspace.

Hours later, Coruscant loomed before Anakin like a glittering jewel.

When he spotted the Jedi Temple, Anakin had a brief feeling that perhaps this was a mistake. Part of him wanted to go to Obi-Wan first, but now that he was a Knight, it was his responsibility to explain his actions to the Council. Maybe he should go see the Council first…

No.

He had to go see Padmé first. Five months was too long. The Council couldn't keep them apart forever. With a warm feeling flooding him, the flight to Padmé's seemed to be forever. But forever was the time they had been apart.

As he neared her apartment, he felt something shift in the Force. The slight disturbance dampened his smile for second. Reaching out, he could not find any sense of danger. His senses weren't alerting him to any threats…yet there most definitely had been something that made the Force twitter. Ignoring it, he landed the small ship and stopped the engines.

Shielding his eyes with his hand, Anakin looked up the face of the tall building. Near the top he thought he could make out Padmé's window. He smiled again, and a thrill went through him. Finally, after five long months… She would be so surprised to see him. Barely able to contain his excitement he went inside and rode the turbolift up to her floor, R2-D2 in tow. When it opened up, Anakin almost ran out of it only to realize that it was the wrong floor, and a cranky looking Sullustan came in next to him.

The Sullustan merely glared at Anakin, who made a point of turning his attention elsewhere. Perhaps as a habit he picked up from Obi-Wan, when the older Jedi tried to act innocent in his younger days, Anakin took a particular interest in examining the wall of the turbolift in great detail. The turbolift came to a stop again, and Anakin checked to make sure it was the proper floor before he skittered out of it.

At her door, he paused for a second. Reaching into the depths of his memory, he tried to recall her security code. Tentatively he reached out and punched in six digits. Anxiety trilled through him for a second as nothing happened. The door beeped.

"Who's there?" Padmé called out in alarm. "I'm warning you, I'm armed!"

Just then, the door started to slide open.

Calling on the Force's calming abilities, he nudged it to Padmé so she would not shoot at him as he hopped inside. At first he didn't see her. She was here, he had just heard her…

"Anakin?" Padmé squeaked from behind him. He whipped around.

She was standing against the wall, ready to take the intruder by surprise from behind. In her hand, she clutched a rather dull knife.

"'I'm armed?'" Anakin joked, nodding to the knife in her hand. A grin broke out on his face as his eyes rested on her face.

She's so beautiful. There's nothing more perfect in the galaxy, he thought to himself. "It's just me."

Without another word Padmé ran over to him, the knife still in her hand.

"Hey! How bout you put that down before you kill me! Talk about a warm welcome!"

Padmé stopped, and looked at the knife then glared at him teasingly. "Well, how was I supposed to know who was coming through that door? I'm not a big Jedi like you. And you've been hurt!"

She put the knife down in the kitchen and bustled over to him. Instantly her hand went to the gash on his face, but she stopped, as if afraid to touch it.

"Don't you worry about that. I'm fine." Anakin put his hand up and intertwined his fingers with hers. She gave him a doubtful look.

"And just what is a Jedi like you doing getting yourself hurt?"

"Now you're just being mean."

"You should know that–"

She did not have time to finish her sentence because Anakin stepped over and kissed her warmly.

"I should know what?" he asked when done.

Finally. I'm home. This is where I belong. They can't keep me away from her forever.

"That I can't be mean."

"Oh I know you can't. But you are right now."

"And how's that?"

"You're not close enough."

With those words, he reached out and held her as tightly as he could. However, she did not feel as close to him as she used to. He glanced down, noticing that she was wearing a rather large dress, something akin to what he recalled her wearing as Queen those long years ago. Something else felt unusual about her, too. She fit in his arms differently.

Unable to place his finger on what exactly it was, he reached out to the Force. It flowed through him, greater than ever in the past five months. As the warmth flooded him, Anakin felt that he might actually be able to sleep in peace for once…his body started to give in to that idea…he felt out to Padmé even more through the Force.

And he jolted right back into himself.

That shift in the Force was from her. There was something very different about her in the Force. Sinking a little deeper, he could feel that she was still Padmé, yet something had changed radically in the way she resonated in the Force. It was almost like she could sense him back, which just did not happen. People did not spontaneously sprout Jedi talents and the ability to sense the Force. Either they could or they couldn't. It was that simple.

Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan's been here – and recently.

The revelation hit Anakin and his body tensed up again. He knew Obi-Wan's presence here had something to do with Padmé's change. Forcing himself to remain calm, he reminded himself, She loves you. You know it.

"Are you alright?" Padmé softly asked with concern. Holding on to him, she felt Anakin suddenly tighten up. She leaned back from him slightly to get a better look at his face.

He looked down at her, a troubled smile coming across his face. "I'm alright. Don't you worry about me." Anakin gently put his hand up to her head, running his fingers through her beautiful curls.

"I'm not the only one with longer hair," he muttered. "I don't remember it being so pretty."

"Anakin…you've been on Naboo."

It wasn't a question.

Anakin sighed, wondering how to respond to her and not bothering to figure out how she knew. "I wanted to tell you. Trust me, I did. It killed me to be there and not have you there with me. I thought it was so unfair that the Council ferried me off there and left you here. When you mentioned coming back…I almost told you but thought that if you came back then I could surprise you.

"Guess I still surprised you though, didn't I?" Anakin gave her a squeeze.

Padmé nodded. She leaned up and kissed him.

Anakin broke the kiss off, giving her a gentle squeeze. Without a word, he stepped away from her and sat down on her couch. For a second, she did not follow him and he glanced back at her. She was frowning at the droid in the doorway.

"Anakin…where'd that droid come from?"

"Um," he stalled. "I…found him on Naboo. I had to work with the Republic forces back in charge…and one day I… Well, anyways, he's the same one you had when you came to Tatooine, and so I thought I'd bring him back to you."

She gave the droid another glance and bit her lip.

Slowly she started to move towards him, saying nothing more about R2. Watching her, he realized she walked differently, like something was impeding her. She sat down a little clumsily and leaned her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her.

A sigh of content left Padmé. Faintly she whispered, "I love you."

Warmth flooded Anakin as he heard those words. They were exactly what he needed to hear.

"I love you too," he murmured to her. Not hesitating, he leaned over to kiss her again. He lost himself as every bit of him became attuned to her. Maybe being apart for a time had been a good thing. It made him realize how much he missed her, how much he loved her.

Leaning away from her he fumbled with one of the small utility packs on his belt. Finding what he wanted inside, he pulled it out.

"I also brought you this," he said softly, holding out the small jopar carving to her.

Padmé's jaw fell open in amazement. "Where did you get that?"

"I found it for you."

"You were in the palace, weren't you?"

He smiled secretively.

"I…I forgot it was there. Where'd you find it? I thought they wrecked everything."

"I just…never mind," he grumbled, turning away from her

"Anakin…" She reached out to take it from him, but he pulled his hand away. "I didn't mean it that way. But honestly, you were just a small little boy. I'd be lying to you if I told you thought about you every day."

Anakin's hand trembled slightly, still holding the small jopar carving. That certainly hurt…he supposed he always knew she had not remembered him every single day. After all she was a queen; he had just been some slave boy on a backwater planet…

The absurdity of their whole relationship hit him. She was a queen. He might have become a Jedi, but he really was just a slave. No amount of Jedi training or refugee status would change either of those facts.

"Fine." He leaned forward and simply dropped the small trinket on the table. It hit the tabletop with a loud clink. "I just thought you might like to have it back."

Anakin remained leaning forward, crossing his arms over his knees. Looking at her from the corner of his eye he said, "I brought it back for you just because I love you. I thought it might make you happy. I guess I was wrong."

"It did make me happy. It's just that…" she trailed off.

"What? It's just what?" he accused. He searched her face, seeking an answer.

Obi-Wan. It has something to do with Obi-Wan–

He did not have the time to expand the thought, and she did not have the time to answer for Anakin's comlink began beeping.

His head drooped and he closed his eyes, muttering, "Sithspawn."

Now…of all the blasted times…it has to be NOW, he thought bitterly. Irritated, he turned and sat straight up.

"Anakin Skywalker," he said into the comlink, his voice sharp and strained.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan spoke from the other end. "What in the blazes are you doing here? And where are you?"

Anakin rolled his eyes, holding in another curse.

"Oh, never mind that. I suggest you get back here immediately. You've defied direct orders, and the Council wants to speak to you."

"Yes, Master," Anakin replied, as a little bit of irony – sometimes the Jedi made him feel like a slave all over again. On the other end, he could hear Obi-Wan cut the connection.

To Padmé, he said, "I should go." Brusquely he stood up, robes swirling about him, and he grumbled, "I'll see you later."

"Anakin, wait!" Padmé called after him.

However, he said nothing, did not turn back to look at her. On his way out, he nearly slammed the door shut behind him.

So much for a happy homecoming, he thought bitterly as he made his way back to the ship. Flying across Coruscant the short way back to the Temple he forced himself to put the bad moment with Padmé out of his mind. Dwelling on it would only make him more anxious, and now he was going to have to defend himself in front of the Council…

A knot twisted itself in Anakin's stomach as he landed the craft and hopped out of it. The technician gave him a smile and a warm "Welcome home, Master Skywalker," to which Anakin merely nodded. Normally he might have chatted with the man for a minute, as he loved helping the technicians tinker with the spacecraft. Right now though, he had much more pressing business.

Wishing his stomach would decide whether it wanted to reside inside him or not, Anakin tore through the hallways of the Jedi Temple trying to keep his irritation in check.

Of all the times for the Council to call him.

And for them to do something so insulting as to track him down through Obi-Wan, as if he were still a Padawan…it was insufferable.

The sound of each of Anakin's footsteps made a solid thump on the floor with his heavy boots. His face was calm, but he was given away by his furrowed eyebrows. Before knocking on the Council chamber door, he took a deep breath and forced himself to at least appear calm.

There was no response from the Council after his knock other than the door opening. Not a good sign. Anakin knew, though, that he had disobeyed a direct order. He was ready to defend that choice – no matter what the Council thought.

In the simple room, Anakin bowed deeply.

"Masters," he acknowledged. Standing straight again, he looked directly to Yoda and Mace. A familiar presence tingled nearby in the Force, but he ignored it. There would be time to talk to Obi-Wan later.

"Anakin Skywalker," Mace said coldly. "What a pleasant surprise it is to see you here."

Never in all his years had Anakin heard Mace use sarcastic words. He swallowed, realizing that perhaps he was in more trouble than he first believed.

"Well?" Mace questioned. There was no mercy in his voice. "How do you explain yourself this time?"

In his mind, Anakin could hear the unspoken, "Without Obi-Wan to rescue you," behind Mace's words.

"I received a transmission from the Dark Lord of the Sith–" Anakin began.

Mace cut him off, "We know." The Jedi Master shifted in his seat, so that he sat taller and looked more imposing. His movement made Anakin step back from him ever so slightly. "Please, enlighten us as to how this changed your mission directives."

Anakin's throat went dry. He opened his mouth to speak, but found himself incapable of stringing two words together. Shutting it, he swallowed. Forcing his thoughts to focus, driven by his annoyance, he found himself able to speak.

"I felt that the fact that this Sith Lord was able to track me down when I was seemingly placed there under the protections of this Council made my orders invalid. I felt that when I placed a transmission to the Temple and received no response back about this urgent matter that it would obviously be best for me to return," Anakin growled, his voice dripping with insubordination.

"And so now, you feel that it is best for you to decide where you go and what you do when you wish Skywalker, regardless of this Council's advice?" Mace said dangerously.

"If you feel that you are ready to know what's best for you and those around you, as you plainly believe, then perhaps you should be the ruling body of this Council. Perhaps you would have ignorance rule instead of wisdom, insolence instead of respect, and anarchy instead of order?"

Mace's words stung. Anakin kept his gaze steadily on Mace, regardless. There was no way he would back down; he would not show his weakness to the Masters. In his seat, Mace leaned forward. His eyes remained on Anakin, where Anakin could see Mace's struggle to keep his anger in check.

"Furthermore," Mace continued, his voice quiet and low, "whatever danger you perceived from this Sith Lord has now increased. By returning, now you have placed the danger not only on yourself, but on the rest of the Jedi here."

Swallowing, Anakin shuffled backwards a step. This slow verbal assault, no, slaughter, was not at all what he expected. The truth to Mace's words, while scathing, sank in to Anakin.

He had made a horrible mistake. Somehow, the Sith Lord was able to track him…and now he had led them straight to the rest of the Jedi…but any Sith Lord should know that the Temple resided on Coruscant. Anakin's stomach knotted up, he felt sick.

He led the Sith Lord here.

Images of the Temple burning flashed through his mind.

The Council room was aflame, and a dark figure stood in the center of it, laughing. Death all around. Smoke choked the air.

The vision passed through Anakin's mind so fast he almost did not realize what he was seeing. He knew it was real because he felt the smoke burning his eyes and his nostrils, making his head spin. His insides turned over, leaving him feeling nauseous and weak.

Trying to keep control of himself, so as not to be sick all over the place and also to remain standing, he looked to Yoda for help. All through the interrogation the little green master said nothing. Yoda merely blinked at him, his expression showing nothing of what he thought. Anakin took a step back from the Council, completely unsure of what to do.

"Also led the danger to others close to you," Yoda said softly. His eyes settled on Anakin, almost looking through him. They stayed on him, half-way closing lazily.

Or knowingly.

Anakin's heart pounded.

"See through you, we can," Yoda continued. "Yet still clouded your future is. Yes, still clouded."

He stooped speaking as suddenly as he started. Anakin stared at him.

What in the blazes does THAT mean! he thought. That damn old swamp toad can't say anything that makes one iota of –

A glance from Mace made Anakin cut that trail of thought off immediately. He was already in enough trouble; no need to invite more. Opening his mouth, Anakin was about to speak but Mace beat him to it.

"You are dismissed, Skywalker. We strongly suggest that you stay near the Temple. We have to discuss the proper course to take with this event."

Anakin nodded, bowed, and turned to leave the Council room. Outside it, as he made his way through the hallways, his boots sounded hollow and dead on the floor.

Event. I can't believe that's how they see me.

But you should…that's how they've always seen you…just a burden…

He shook his head to clear the thoughts.

At first, Anakin thought that once he explained the reasons behind his actions the Council would understand the threat this Sith Lord posed. It seemed they still did not believe him in that area. All they were content to do was nitpick over his stupid return to Coruscant. They failed to see reason, and Anakin's anger surged again.

Once more, he felt like a slave working for a belligerent master. This time he had twelve masters, and one that especially got a rise out of grinding Anakin down.

Furious, Anakin realized that he had nowhere else to go but to his quarters. The idea of going to his room to sulk was pathetic, which made him all the more livid. At his quarters, Anakin shut the door shut with an extra nudge of the Force so that it slammed loudly. The sound made him scowl, yet feel satisfied at the same time. No sooner had it shut than it whipped open again.

Anakin spun around, ready to give Obi-Wan a piece of his mind.

And standing there was not Obi-Wan, but Barriss Offee.

"B – Barriss?" Anakin croaked. He stared at her in disbelief.

The woman shook her head at him, and slightly rolled her eyes. "What's got you all in a stir?"

"What?"

"Please. You're back. So that means rumors. You're angry. So that means more rumors. I'd prefer to know the real story, thank you very much."

A string of words came out from Anakin's clenched jaw, of which Barriss was only able to make out "Council," "not listening," and "Naboo."

After he finished, she shook her head at him.

"You always overreact," Barriss said simply. He glared at her. "The Council's not going to expel you."

"How do you know?"

"Because they do care about you. They want to see you succeed. Sometimes we just have to learn lessons that are harder than others, and sometimes they just teach them a little harsher than what might normally be expected. They just want to make sure you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

Barriss studied him for a second before answering. Usually she did not mention his being the Chosen One. It was not in her nature to play on pride and status. Quietly she said, "One day, you'll sit there on that Council, Anakin. They know it. So they just want to make sure they've taught you everything they possibly can."

Anakin sighed. There was some truth to her words. If the Jedi were fed up with him, they would have thrown him out a long time ago. At the same time, he felt that if they kept him around because he might be this "Chosen One" (another thing that bothered him, but that he would think about later) it was too much favoritism. Jedi should not be allowed such license.

"They do this so that you know you're not their favorite, so that you know what you have learned is real – not just all because of blind faith in some old prophecy," Barriss assured him, almost reading his mind.

He stared at her. She smiled knowingly back.

"Your thoughts give you away, Anakin. You still need to work on that." With those words, she smiled again and left.

Anakin stood there, his hand raised in midair to accentuate what he had been about to say, but now it pointed in the direction she left a couple times before it fell back to his side. Visits from Barriss were rare, since they both were often on opposite sides of the galaxy with the Clone Wars. She was the closest thing to a friend he had at the Temple besides Obi-Wan, and she had been ever since they first met on the mission to Ansion three years ago. Somehow, with just a few words, she was always able to pull out what troubled him – even things he did not know troubled him – and make him look at it in different way.

Settling into his sleeper mattress, Anakin closed his eyes. Barriss was right. He could weather whatever the Council decided to give him. He always had before, so there was no reason he wouldn't now. Someday…someday this would all work out. After a few minutes, he dragged his thoughts away from the Council.

At first, they wanted to rest on Padmé, but that only made Anakin irritated, not to mention sad. Now Padmé was keeping something from him. Another worry was just what he needed at the moment.

So much for that comfort, Anakin thought despairingly. He rolled over, bunching his pillow up to make himself more comfortable physically and wondering what to do. He was in a royal mess that was for sure.

Obi-Wan.

So far Anakin had not seen him at the Temple. The fact that Obi-Wan had been sitting in the Council room, just behind him, did not register because of his anger during the session with the Council.

Surely Obi-Wan would listen to reason. If Obi-Wan didn't listen…then that would be one more way in a million that Anakin would be pulled. He already felt spread too thin, too stressed out for his age. Perhaps he would to talk to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, too, when the politician returned to Coruscant.

In the meantime, Anakin decided he would do his very best to be the model Jedi. It was of the utmost importance that he regain the trust of the Council, even though that trust had been very small to begin with. If Anakin could bring it back, and even make them trust him more, then he could start working on his other problems.

To be continued...