A/N: Hey again. Hope you all like this chapter, I certainly had fun writing it and the next one that is waiting to be posted. I thought i'd give you all a nice surprise, a nice way to finish off the half term if anyone is on it right now. Oh yeah and my Thanks goes to my good freind Leighanne for this chapter causeI suffered from severe writers block at the end of the previous chapter and she gave me a few ideas which was nice. so thanks Leighanne and enjoy everyone else!

Hopeless4life - was it really that sad! Wow if you thought that was sad wait until you read chapter 10. I cried while I was writing it! Anyways thats a whole nother chapter...hope you enjoy this one. xx

sewardsfolly - Ah but will Obi-Wan understand and know what to do about it? Hmmm, well here's the chapter to answer your question. I loved writing this one, hope you like it too.

WoketteUK - No I was too weak to resist posting then and I am too weak to resist posting now. Look what you and your buddies who are reveiwing are doing to me, making me post early. tut I hate palpatine too and I had to fit him in somewhere, he may come into play later, I don't really know at this point. Anyway, enjoy and tell me what you think!

porcelainangel - OMG! Thankyou so much for your very kind reveiw! I always read these back to myself and think 'nah these are going to be flamed at some point' but your comments help so much. Here's another chapter specially for you, hope you read it and reveiw. :-)

Panicking, I rush into the medical room and stop dead in my tracks as I see Anakin, and the old thought instantly springs into my head.

"Oh this is not good."

He lies against the crisp whites sheets, sweat running in waterfalls down his pale face. His harsh, shallow breathing through the oxygen mask haunts me, punctuated with shudders and screams of agony, he vaguely mummers something, though his speech has become severely impaired.

I step cautiously, further into the room, but am sent reeling backwards as the impact and the strength of the dark side collides with my barrier of light. I easily fend it off, the earlier, happier memories of Qui-Gon and Anakin slicing through the tendrils of darkness. I continue reaching out, and curse under my breath as I finally reach Anakin's weakened presence in the force. The dark surrounds him, it wraps its long tendrils around his lungs, chocking all life out of them and reaching ever closer for his heart.

Fiercely, I push through the cloud, but stop dead as Anakin screams louder than before, and I see him arch in pain as the dark tightens its hold on his fragile body, fighting against the light I try to push through, determined to finish what it had started to do. I close my eyes and desperately try to block out the piercing howls and screams of pain from my young padawan. But every time I push forward, they, and Padme's heart breaking sobs break through my concentration and I have to back off.

Every push is like putting Anakin back through the torture of slavery, every push tightens the dark's grip and sends terrible waves of pain crashing through him. I realise I'm shaking now, ebbs of fear curling around my thoughts, tainting my thoughts. I push the dark away from me again, and for a moment, pure, untainted knowledge floods through me, and finally Anakin's only hope invades my mind.

Concentrating hard, I block Anakin's screams and wade directly into the heart of the black force cloud. I look around and see now, that the cloud was merely a cover, inside is a web of deceit, pain, suffering and anger, its many threads of darkness too tightly woven together to be unpicked.

I search around desperately in this web for the weak link, the one thing that could break up the whole chain of life taking darkness. All I need is one small glimmer, one tiny thread of light to weave into mine, to harness and fight with…

I can see the dark tendrils wrapping around Anakin's heart, and watch helplessly as it starts to squeeze and a searing pain races through my chest. I have become a part of Anakin and now I feel what he feels. Sinking to my knees I still search, my vision swimming, knowing that soon I will have to give up the search or the dark will take me where it is taking Anakin.

Then I see it, out of the corner of my eye, a small shimmer of light presents itself ever so faintly. I reach out to it weakly and it flies to my hand, entwining itself in my wall of light, making it glow ever stronger, making it impenetrable to the dark. Slowly, I wrap the light like a blanket around Anakin, smothering the dark, loosening its grip on Anakin's heart, but still clinging fiercely onto his lungs. I call out through the force, through Anakin's screams.

Anakin! Fight with me not against me. Fight against it with me. Please, one last fight then you can rest…one last fight…

With one almighty heave, the dark is broken, its tendrils of hate releasing Anakin's lungs, darting away from his existence. Slowly I bring myself back to reality, and rush to Anakin's side, slowing my own breathing, restoring in me the calm that I am renowned for. I grasp Anakin's human hand firmly. His breathing is still laboured, he still fights against the unnatural pressure against his chest. Despite that, he still breaks his hand away from my grasp and pulls the oxygen mask off his face. He looks to me, gasping for air, fear and pain still shining behind the ice, trying desperately to explain.

"Master…the dark…I'm sorry I…it's powerful…I couldn't stop…"

I strap the oxygen mask firmly back into its place over Anakin's mouth and nose and rest a gentle hand against his burning brow. I speak soothingly to him, using the force to further soften my words and also to gently push a sleeping suggestion through his mind.

"Anakin, rest now. The mask is not an enemy, it's helping you to breathe."

"Master…don't…leave...please…don't...leave..."

I choke up at the very thought that Anakin would think I would leave him like this. Why can't he understand how much he means to me? Doesn't he understand that his pain becomes mine? Or have I been shutting him out, pushing him away to preventan attatchment, so badly that he now feels I will abandon him? I fight back my tears and whisper softly to him.

"Shhh. Sleep Anakin. I'm staying right here, the dark won't hurt you again I promise. I'm not going to leave you alone."

He is still panicking, his breathing still reduced to short rasping gasps, but he gently succumbs to my sleeping suggestion, his eyes fluttering closed, still shaking ever so slightly, the fever still running rampant in his fragile body. Padme smiles a weak, thankful greeting to me, tear stains running down her pale cheeks. She slowly takes up her seat at the side of the bed, wrapping her long slender fingers around Anakin's mechanical ones.

I take my seat on the other side of the bed and watch my Padawan, starting to calm now as a peaceful sleep gently takes over. I take his human hand again and feel an overwhelming bond create between us. I have become a father to him and it is now that I realise Anakin is my son. He is my weakness, he has become, despite my constant efforts to prevent it, my only attachment, and for once, I don't care about the Jedi Code. As long as Anakin is beside me, safe, then I know that I am at my best.

Padme and I stay all night watching over his sleep, tinged with pain filled moans and bouts of burning fever. I have managed to save Anakin from the dark, but now we both face the ultimate challenge, fighting the darkness that still resides inside him, like an angry dragon coiled behind his heart, waiting for the opportune moment to strike a deadly blow.