chapter five / Old Anxieties, New Situations

Welcome back to a fun-filled week on this update! I have been waiting for this one for awhile. Interesting things will soon be revealed as we meet up with Siv, Anakin and Obi-Wan on a very important day to go to a very important meeting. What will happen as something new and oddly familiar is about to transpire? Enjoy this much needed (and longer) chapter.

Anakin walked very nearly in step with his former master, swallowing his anxiety and preparing his speech to the Council. If he was to leave the Order he would become retired, and supposedly never be able to come out of retirement. He realized what a step this was, but then again, being apart from Padmé was like learning to breath underwater without gills: it couldn't be done.

He loved her very much and never wished for more than simply being near her, and now, with the Republic at Peace and the Reign of the Sith ceased, he felt he could leave the Order and not feel the threatening tremor that called to him from the Dark Side. He no longer angered easily; he was now at peace with the living Force around him. His padawan was learning the ways of the Force, but still had difficulty controlling it. She was ambitious and mischievous, much like him years ago. With her, he felt like an older brother rather than the overly-critical Master he once thought his own to be.

"You know what will happen when you retire, Anakin?" Obi-Wan said, turning to him briefly but looking back to the hall ahead of him. "Yes, I believe I do, Master," Anakin replied, still reeling from what he was about to do. "The Council will decide whether or not it is to be, then grant me permission to leave, and I will become retire. It doesn't seem that complicated," Anakin chuckled, shaking his head from side to side, focusing straightforward.

Obi-Wan stopped and turned to Anakin. "Anakin, it isn't that simple. We need to find a suitable master for your padawan, Siv Miraluka. She still needs looked after because she us far from ready to face the Trials. She needs someone wise and someone well-seasoned in the Jedi Arts."

Anakin thought for a moment, and then his face light up.

"What about you, Master?" he said finally. Obi-Wan shook his head and gestured with his hands back and forth. "Oh no! I refuse to take another padawan so soon. Certainly no one so much like you were at that age," he laughed.

"But Master, she does trust you. She goes to you when she needs extra help on her saber techniques, does she not?" Anakin quipped.

Obi-Wan looked at the floor. His old padawan had him in a corner now. He would have to take her on. Maybe I can teach her to keep calm and not continue down this Dark Path she keeps looking for. "Okay, Anakin. You've got me. I will train your padawan when you retire," he said, after a long time. He began to walk forward again, but without missing a beat, quickly added, "But, you owe me big time. I expect a front row seat to your marriage to the senator."

Anakin laughed as all sorts of ideas ran through his mind. He was going to marry her, wasn't he? He was going to marry the woman he loved and have a family, like the one he had always wanted, ever since he heard the news of his mother's death nearly ten years ago this year, at harvest time. He remembered how the whole ordeal had gone.

Obi-Wan knocked tentatively on Anakin's door. A minute later, a sleepy-eyed padawan stared back at him with a bit of worry in his tired eyes.

"Master, what is it?"

Obi-Wan swallowed hard, trying to form the words in his mind.

Anakin sensed the painful tremor that came from his master. " Is something wrong?"

Obi-Wan asked for him to be allowed to come in. Anakin bid him in, settling himself on his bed, with his master in the chair near the desk.

"Anakin, I don't know how to tell you this, but your mother has died."

Anakin's face paled. He heard his blood pumping and could feel a sickness coming over him. Obi-Wan continued.

"She was out gathering mushrooms that were gathering on the moisture evaporators, according to her husband, Cliegg Lars. She was taken captive by Tusken Raiders."

"I remember her sending a holograph about him. And my brother-in-law, Owen. I've never had a family..." he said, his voice trailing off, shaking his head. The only person that ever cared for him was gone. He stood up, pacing the room, feeling his anger well up inside him.

Those sandpeople! They're monsters! They killed my mother!

Obi-Wan stood up and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. He, too, knew what it was like to lose someone close and dear. Even Master Yoda, himself, knew the pain of losing someone. Anakin turned to his master and looked at him through tears.

"She was in pain! I felt it! I could have helped her!" he yelled, becoming frustrated. Obi-Wan pulled him to the chair, looking him in the eye.

"What do you mean, you felt it? Were you having dreams about her again?"

Anakin nodded. "Dreams of pain and sorrow. I wanted to badly to help her, but I knew my duty was here and so I said nothing."

Obi-Wan knew he would have a hard time with this.

"Anakin, you know that even if you went to Tatooine, she most likely would have still been in danger. Those Tuskens are vicious and cold. They are nothing but monsters, and you know that."

Anakin nodded. He knew he might have not been able to save her; she would be well beaten down and bloodied before he could even find the right camp where she was being held captive.

"Master?"

"Yes, Anakin?"

"I'm going to miss her."

"I know you will," he said, a tear sliding down his own cheek. "I know."

He knew his mother would be proud of what he had accomplished to bring and end to the reign of the Sith and squashing hopes of the Galactic Empire that Palpatine wanted to create so badly.

-------

Obi-Wan walked Anakin to his room, and then, bidding him goodnight, left for his own room. Anakin pulled off his robe and laid it over a chair. He sat on the bed, taking off his boots and placing them by the bed. He went to the bathroom to shower and after getting out, turned his comlink off for the night. He rubbed the towel over his head, shaking the water from his sandy-blonde hair. He walked to his bed, and after turning down his bed sheets, reached in to the Force and turned off the light.

That night, he dreamed.

Anakin was staring at his padawan Siv, while she held her lightsaber in her hand. Her gloves were blood-drenched and she had a smirk on her face. They were standing in the Council chamber, where he had been talking to Master Obi-Wan only a moment before.

"Siv! What have you done!" Anakin yelled, igniting his own lightsaber and watching her with horror.

Siv's eyes danced as she walked circumspectly around her master.

"I just did what I should have done years ago. He was making you weak, Master," she growled, her blue saber turning to crimson as she spoke.

"I have freed you, Master. I also am the one who tried to kill HER!" she screamed, pointing her finger to the senator, who sat at the other edge of the room, staring at the scene in horror.

"Siv, if I have told you once, I have told you one thousand times! You can't let your emotions rule you!"

Siv lowered her eyes to the bleeding body of Obi-Wan and then to the frightened senator.

"Master, if you won't love me for this, then you must be destroyed, too."

Anakin pointed his lightsaber toward his padawan.

"I will do what I must."

"You will try," she said

Anakin woke in a cold sweat, beads dripping from his face and down the nape of his neck. He leaned forward, his cybernetic arm clicking and whizzing as it reacted to the nerves in the rest of his arm. He pulled the bed sheets off and got up, wrapping his robe around him. He walked out to his balcony that overlooked the city. It was small; just room enough for two people, but that was all he ever needed. He didn't need more than he had right here at the Temple.

His thoughts drifted back and forth between the confusing things his dreams brought him. He knew that it wasn't just a dream, but a possible future, if something wasn't done about the events surrounding it. He had learned to trust his feelings more than the actual dream, although it would and could, potentially come true. Master Yoda called it Force sight, and it was actually started with the Miraluka clan.

How things change, he thought. But what about Siv? Could she really be playing with the Dark Side?

-------

Across the hallowed halls of the Temple, a certain padawan awaited the morning dawn. She had already showered and dressed and, now, was waiting for the guards to knock on her master's door to tell him what had happened to his beloved senator. Siv's thoughts traveled to and fro between the present and past. From those dreadful days she spent as a Youngling in the care of Master Yoda to becoming the padawan of Skywalker. She felt the sting still of Obi-Wan's harsh words against her.

You're midichlorian count is too low. It would be dangerous to train you. I won't do it..

He had made her worthless in his eyes and those of her fellow padawan learners. She could still hear the whispering as she was passed off as a wannabe and nothing more. She told herself that she would do great things and that no one, not even Master Kenobi, would tell her she couldn't do something. It was Anakin who chose her after everyone else had been chosen. It was Anakin that said he would give her a chance to prove herself. It was on that day that she pledged her life to serving her Master and no one else but him. She would dedicate her life to learn all he knew and nothing he didn't. She could still remember the looks from the other padawans when he took her hand and laid a practice saber in it. Her very own practice saber. She would learn with it until she made her own. That was part of the Trials: making your own lightsaber. Her hand went down to the metallic cylinder resting on her hip.

Now that I am grown, I bet Master Obi-Wan is jealous of me. Wishing I was his padawan.

"Well, you can't have me now. I serve Master Anakin Skywalker now. No one but him. He is my lord and no one else, not even the Council is better than him," she stated, under her breath. She was enamored of him and of who he was. She had heard him tell her the stories of how he almost had crossed over to the Dark Side many a time. When Count Dooku taunted him on Geonosis. When Chancellor Palpatine called to him in his office. It was the call of the Dark Side. He never heeded a word. It was Siv who could hear the taunts and wished for there to be a way she could free herself from them. She had already killed the senator, and with that, she knew, her fate was sealed. She had crossed over.

But where did it begin? Was it when I told the Senator I hated her or was it when I was mad at Master Obi-Wan for not choosing me? I don't remember. That was so many years ago. I just need to tell my Master how I feel. Now that she is gone, I can freely entertain my thoughts about my Master.

Siv let out a yawn and let that be the end of her ruminating. She knew what she had done and now what she must do. Profess her love to her Master. It was then that she heard the voice again.

"Siv.."it called.

Siv ran over to the hologram projector, careful to watch her dozing roommate through the corner of her eye. Anakin sometimes used this projector to call to her to request her when they were not scheduled. She pressed the transmission button and was soon greeted by the ominous voice again.

"Yes, sir. I am here," she replied, solemnly, like she wasn't herself.

"Did you do what I have asked? Did you take my advice, my very inquisitive friend?" the voice growled.

Siv nodded. She told the figure of how she had poisoned the Senator and started a fire in the suite, causing the whole room to burn to nothing but a charred mess.

"Excellent. You have done well. You shall find that by eliminating the cause of oppression, your Master will see you as the real affection of his heart. Only one thing still stands in your way. The Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Siv's jaw dropped. She didn't know what to say to that idea, but she knew what she must do. The figure had been coming to her, pleading and edging her to do what she felt was right. What was best for her and her Master. It was nothing more than a cloaked figure, but it had a quality about it that she just couldn't name. A characteristic that seemed all to familiar, yet elusive in nature. She agreed to the figure's ideas and how it knew so much about the inner workings of the Senate and Jedi Council. She was stunned to understand how Master Mace Windu had killed the chancellor of the Senate many years ago, but it was covered up by the Jedi themselves, trying to cover a dark secret.

"How will I be able to rid of him? He is a Master, sir."

"You will find that the Jedi Council is convening in a few hours. Then the time will come to destroy him, when he is near and unexpecting."

"But the Council will surely capture me and send me to the Detention Center, if not worse!"

"Silence! I will send someone to aid your escape. You will then meet me at the Senate Building at 0100 Standard Hours to heed to the rest of my instructions, young Jedi."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

-------

Anakin had just finished getting ready for Obi-Wan when his old friend appeared at the door, knocking.

"Come in!" he shouted from inside his suite.

Obi-Wan stepped in, his palms sweating with anticipation of the day's events. He exhaled, allowing the Force to calm his nerves.

"Almost ready, Master. Just give me a few more minutes," he called, buckling his boots.

"Take your time, Anakin. Today is a big day," said Obi-Wan.

He looked around the room. A holo-image of a Master and a newly-appointed one caught his eye. It was the knighting ceremony of Anakin Skywalker becoming a Jedi Master.

An investiture worthwhile, he thought. Masters Mace Windu, Shaak Ti, Ki Ati Mundi and himself looked on as Yoda knighted Anakin, giving him the privilege and duty of taking on a padawan learner. Funny how things work in the Force, he thought. Siv is his padawan and reminds me so much of him at that young age.

Anakin appeared from his bedroom. "Ready to go?" he asked, his anxiety showing from every line in his face.

"Of course."

Anakin and Obi-Wan walked out of his suite and down the hall to the Jedi Council Room. As they walked, both shared nervous laughter. Finally, Obi-Wan spoke. "You're sweating. Relax!"

Anakin turned to face his master briefly. "I am about to do something I've waited ten years to do, Master," he said.

Obi-Wan scoffed and turned back facing the hall.

"You haven't been this tense since your first day training Siv," he replied.

Anakin was thoughtful for a moment and then began to explain the dream he had. "I had another dream last night."

"About what?"

"About Siv," he swallowed hard. "She had her saber out and she had just... murdered you."

Obi-Wan stopped and leaned forward toward him. "Me? Siv killed me?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes. She just killed you and was aiming her weapon at Padmé and I... I wanted her to stop, but... I..." he trailed off, emotion thick in his voice.

Obi-Wan gave him a pat on the back and they both began walking again. "You must be mindful of your Forcesight, Anakin. You know how those dreams work," he said, sounding like he was when Anakin was just an ambitious learner.

"I will. Not all these dreams come to pass. Remember the dream I had about Master Windu? About being thrown out of a window in the Chancellor's office? Never happened, did it? I didn't fear it, so I was able to think rationally and correct it by doing what I should have.

"That's true," said Obi-Wan. "Master Windu still has not lost faith in you to this day because of your obedience to the Force."

Soon, they found themselves at the Council room. "Oh, I need to do something before I go in. Wait for me, okay?" asked Anakin.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Sure."