Thanks to everyone who is reading this. I hope that it will continue to entertain you.

Chapter 7

It is a rare occasion where a full-fledged Jedi Knight is rendered into a helpless bystander, but Obi-Wan felt like he was a mere youngling again, nervously looking into an uncertain future. Only this time it was not his future at stake; it was his Padawan's, and contrary to his comparisons, Anakin's future seemed to already be set in stone, at least in the eyes of the Jedi Council.

"Disturbing this is, if young Skywalker has been trained in Sith techniques."

"Master Yoda, how many times do I have to say this? There is no way Anakin has had any contact with any Sith. I am with him twenty-four standard hours every day, and I can assure you that I am the only one training him."

"If he was so well guarded," retorted the blue holo-image of Master Saesee Tiin, "how was it that it was two full days after he escaped that the Council learned of his absence?"

Adi Gallia stepped into the conversation. "In Master Kenobi's defense, he did try to inform the Council the moment he learned of young Skywalker's absence in the morning, but no one believed that he had actually left the Temple until it was too late to track him down."

"Regardless," dismissed Tiin, "if your Padawan was able to make his escape during the night, then he would've also been able to receive Sith training during the night."

"With all due respect, Master Tiin" replied an exasperated Obi-Wan, "are you suggesting that we have a Sith Master roaming the hallways of our Temple completely undetected?"

"That is what scares us the most," admitted a grim-faced Mace Windu.

"Adapted," added Yoda, "the Sith must have, to be able to cloak themselves in secrecy and infiltrate our Temple."

Am I really hearing what I am hearing? Does the Jedi Council really believe that a Sith was posing as a Jedi? Force, what if they think it's me?

"Master Kenobi," said Mace as he was looking to steer the discussion towards its conclusion, "I understand that you care for your Padawan. It is a sign that you are a good Jedi and a good master. However, we cannot deny what you have seen with your very own eyes on Tatooine. A boy of his age does not learn how to use Force Lightning by himself. The very fact that he already has learned the technique demonstrates how powerful he is and how urgent the situation has become."

Obi-Wan remained speechless. There was nothing he could do, he realized, to convince the eleven members of the Jedi Council that he had not felt any hints of the Dark Side through his training bond with Anakin. Again, Adi Gallia came to his rescue, or at least that was what she thought she was doing.

"What are our orders now, Master Jedi? Do we report home to the Temple and discuss the issue further?"

"No," replied Mace. "You will go to Naboo."

Obi-Wan's head perked at the statement. Somehow he should have known that his old Padawan would have found his way to that planet. Obi-Wan suddenly wondered if the Queen was in any danger.

"The holo-nets report that there has been an assassination attempt on Queen Amidala that was allegedly thwarted by one Jedi Knight named Ranakin Skyesolo. There is no Jedi Knight, Master, or Padawan of that name, as it is obviously an alias of our rogue Padawan. The two of you must go to Theed and apprehend young Skywalker before he can do any more damage."

Obi-Wan remained speechless as Adi affirmed their orders to the council. It just didn't add up, he protested in his mind. If Anakin was a Sith, what was he doing saving the Queen's life?

After the transmission ended, the ten present Council members gathered together in meditation. It was hours later that Master Yoda finally broke the silence.

"A test this is, for Master Kenobi. If let go of his attachment to his former Padawan, he can, then a successor for Master Mundi's seat on the Council, we will have."

The other members nodded in agreement.

Despite his lofty status on the Nubian social ladder, there was no one that so utterly repulsed the sensibilities of Cnal-Ides Broos so much than the man he lampooned to some of his more distinguished colleagues as "The Royal Repsaj." Not even the lowest of the lowlifes in his band of conspirators.

A man of such intellect and fame as himself did not plan regicides as a whimsical hobby. Nor was Broos one of those idle anarchists who prayed for the fall of the government only as a metaphoric goal that brought vague excitement and phantom meaning to their otherwise mundane lives. In fact, from the very beginning of his days as an eager university student Broos had always thought of himself as a most fervent patriot dedicated to preserving Naboo's sacred way of life that its wise forefathers and tumultuous history had so painstakingly outlined for their descendants.

No, Cnal-Ides Broos had not come to the decision of regicide easily. In fact there was not one minute of his current existence in which he did not rethink every one of the mental steps his mind took to reach its conclusion. Even with the decision made, the chivalrous part of him still did not stop objecting to the fact that he was plotting the death of a young girl who had not even reached the ripe old age of twenty.

But it was that fact that reminded Cnal-Ides of the urgency of his situation and the upcoming threat to his beloved planet. Tyrants that could be easily recognized by the people were just as easily disposed of by the popular will. It was the ones that possessed that uncommon charisma, charm, and beauty that were the most dangerous, for they always held suspended the masses in an awed hypnosis until it was too late for the people to escape their trap.

So it was that every time Cnal-Ides questioned his motives and his reasons he gained more resolve to go forward with his decision. He did not expect to receive any personal gain from the outcomes that would follow the death of the Queen. Perhaps he would be hailed as a hero and a visionary in distant years to come, but as a practical man Broos knew that if and when his role in this assassination was discovered, his name would be sullied permanently and at best he would live the rest of his life out as a pariah. At worst his life with end as an unthanked martyr.

And as much as it hurt him to have to resort to such unnatural means to accomplish his task, he knew that it must be done, even at the cost of his life and countless others. Though he had always suspected so, it still surprised him when Repsaj did not deny his complicity with the Nemoidians five years ago during their invasion. Now, as he ordered the governor to contact his former allies, Cnal-Ides knew that he had a tough task ahead of him, brokering an agreement with the greedy Trade Federation while at the same time maintaining the safety and integrity of his Naboo.

Anakin shifted nervously in the uncomfortable silence that accompanied him and the Queen throughout the bulk of their journey to Valkryno. Only moments before he had been a proud Jedi Knight who had valiantly saved the life of a Queen. But now he possessed neither of the boldness of Jedi Knight Ranakin Skyesolo nor the aristocratic confidence of Leo Naberrie. He was Anakin Skywalker again, a newly orphaned young boy who somehow found himself with the daunting task of protecting not only a Queen, but a woman that he had loved since the day he first set his eyes on her. But then, he had been a Jedi, and tasks like this should have been second nature to him. No, what made him so uneasy was that he now held Padme's undivided attention, and the burden of conversation and entertainment fell solely upon him.

Sensing his discomfort, Padme tried to make conversation, pointing out the villages, mountains, and rivers they passed on their speeder ride to her home village.

"And over there are the Nubaya mountains." She pointed to a steep mountain range to their left with snow covered ridges and sighed sadly.

"What's wrong, your majesty?" Anakin wondered if those words were the first ones he had spoken throughout the entire journey.

"Anakin, you know you can call me Padme right now, when there's no one else around."

"Yes, your majesty," he said, unaware of his slip.

Padme giggled to herself at the sight of Anakin's innocent nervousness, but then returned to more solemn issues. "There are villages in those mountains, isolated ones, that are on or over the brink of poverty. People are starving to death. Even the kids." She paused. "Especially the kids."

Anakin remained silent, but noticing a single tear rolling down her cheek, he gently used the Force to push it off her face.

"I've tried sending aid to them many times. Money does not have much meaning in those villages, but even when I send them packages of food and clothing, they leave the packages unopened. Their traditions and customs do not allow them to accept our help." Again she sighed, but this time in frustration. "Their rules and laws are so arcane, but those people are so stubborn that they will not violate them even when so many of them are suffering and dying. I don't know what to do with them, Anakin. It just kills me inside to see all this suffering and not be able to do anything about it."

"I know," Anakin said without even realizing it. Suddenly, he wasn't on Naboo sitting beside his beloved Queen anymore. He was back on Coruscant, tossing and turning on the barren Jedi bunk he inhabited as the nightmares of his mother tormented his sleep. He was back on Tatooine, holding her in his arms, listening to her dying words to him. He was in the middle of a Tusken camp, helpless and surrounded by the horde. But no, he had not given himself up to certain death. He would live, and he would avenge his mother. He knew that, and he was determined to make it happen. He did not even notice the strange new sensation of electricity creeping out of his flesh at first.

"Anakin!" Padme's voice startled him out of his ecstatic nightmare. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Padme." Anakin tried to depict on his face the very meaning of calmness when he looked at her.

"Your eyes," whispered Padme with concern, "they seemed so distant."

"I was just listening to your story, Padme, and looking at the scenery."

"And you were crying."

"I was," Anakin asked in surprise.

Padme took out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears that dotted his face in response. As she did so, Anakin's entire body tensed. He felt ashamed at revealing his weakness to her. It just seemed to add up endlessly, all his mistakes with Padme. Starting from the moment he had haphazardly and foolishly opened his heart and admitted his love for her, only to be met with a polite rejection that he knew he should have expected from a Queen. Even staying silent to avoid any further mishaps of the tongues hadn't worked.

When her work was done she put the handkerchief in her pocket and admired her work. For a few seconds the two of them stared at each other, one in shame, the other in confusion. The setting sun that reflected off of Anakin's face gave it a surreal glow as he squinted his eyes in an effort to keep her in his sights. Padme admitted to herself that though he was still a boy, Anakin was quickly growing into a handsome young man. Perhaps a little too quickly in her opinion. He even had charm too, if only in those rare moments where he abandoned his vow of silence and was able to carry on a somewhat normal conversation with her.

A whistle from the R2 unit interrupted the two as the droid that had been navigating the speeder during the trip informed them that they had reached their destination. As she looked around at the familiar surroundings of her village, Padme was surprised how quickly they had sneaked up on her.

"We're home."