A/N: As always, thanks a billion for reading and reviewing! Only epilogue left after this chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

Anakin stood at the head of the stony table in the Hall of Remembrance, saying his last goodbye to his best friend, Dayla Telwis. The ceremony was long over, and now the Jedi were leaving the room. Some had looks of acceptance, while the other faces reflected sadness.

Tongues of flame were eating her body, turning her into ashes. Never again would he see her cheerful grey eyes watching him amusingly, never again would he laugh with her, never again would he comfort her or be comforted by her… She now existed only in intangible memories and holograms.

As he stood by the funeral pyre, the fire reflecting in his eyes, Anakin saw clearly how all people who loved him left his side one by one – Qui-Gon Jinn, his mom, Tak and Darriss, and now Dayla. Was it indeed his fate, to walk through life alone, causing death to everyone he held dear?

Anakin watched Dayla's vivid red hair charring and turning to ashes along with the rest of her body. A young woman, who had unconditionally loved him, was now gone from this universe, and black ashes were the only thing that remained of her.

Black ashes…it would be the only thing that would remain of him, and looking at the black sand, no one would ever think of a young boy with bright blue eyes, who wanted to see all the stars and who fell in love with an angel. His immeasurable love for Padmé would die with his last breath, and only black ashes would be left behind.

Nothing more.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi sat by the brink of a fountain in the Temple, listening to the merry splashing of the water. It sparkled joyfully in all colours of a rainbow, and just by simply gazing at it, the Jedi Master felt a warm comfort spreading over him, soothing the turmoil of his soul. How many secrets was Anakin hiding from him? Why couldn't he trust him?

Quiet footsteps approached him, and in a rustling of fabric, a figure clad in a black cloak lowered itself next to him. Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of the infamous dishevelled blonde head, and the glowing white Force signature told him that it was Anakin. Both of them sat in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence.

"Master, there is something you should know," Anakin began hesitantly after a moment.

"What is going on between you and Padmé?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, continuing his contemplation of the sparkling water. He had been sure that Anakin had been in love with Padmé, and the Senator's actions from yesterday confirmed his suspicions. But how far were the two of them involved?

Anakin took a moment before responding. "She is my wife," he said exactly as softly as Obi-Wan had. "We have been married since Geonosis."

Obi-Wan felt his jaw drop, as he took a calming breath. Married…Anakin was married. Obi-Wan knew that Anakin's and Padmé's relationship was much more than a mere infatuation, but marriage? It was an outrageous break of the Code, and by giving to his emotions and forming such an attachment, his former Padawan had betrayed all the entire Order stood for.

White circles danced before his eyes, and Obi-Wan covered his face with his hands, trying to get rid of the circles, but they kept coming, taunting him. Anakin had been lying to him for three years. Did he value their bond so little, did he put so little faith in his Master's friendship? Did he think that Obi-Wan would report him to the Council? The Jedi Master felt dizziness catching up with him, and the next moment, a warm hand touched his shoulder.

"Master, are you alright?" Anakin spike tentatively.

Obi-Wan gave an indistinct sound out. The shock was slowly wearing out, and the feeling of happiness for his brother replaced it. Anakin had never been an ordinary Jedi, and he could never follow the strict rules of the Jedi Order. And the more Obi-Wan thought about the Code, the less he cared about the fact that his former Padawan had broken it. Padmé made Anakin happy, and she brought some much-needed peace to him. All that mattered to Obi-Wan was that Anakin would find happiness in the arms of the Nubian Senator, and his friend's happiness meant to him more than anything in the world.

"I'm just disappointed, Anakin," Obi-Wan said kindly. He looked at his friend, and the young man hung his head in shame. "You should have told me."

Anakin bit his lip. "I was afraid that you would report me to the Council," he confessed. "But I was wrong." He raised his head and peered Obi-Wan into the eyes. "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I'm sorry for not trusting you as I should have."

Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "You don't need to apologise, Anakin," he said sincerely. "I was just taken aback, that's all."

Anakin lowered his eyes once more. "I'm responsible for Dayla's death," he whispered. "If it wasn't for me, she would still be alive."

Obi-Wan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Five years ago, right after Tak's and Darriss's death, I made a horrible mistake," Anakin said, his voice filled with immeasurable grief and shame. "I didn't mean to do it, but I…played with her feelings. We were intimate," he added in response to Obi-Wan's quizzical stare. "I put this night behind me, but she continued to dwell on it, waging hope that one day I would return her feelings. But I could never love her the way she loves me."

Obi-Wan put his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "It's not your fault," he said firmly. "Dayla chose this path, and you can't blame yourself for her choice. You can't save everyone, Anakin."

"But I should never have given her the illusion of hope," Anakin contradicted bitterly. "Years later, my mistake broke her heart, and I'm afraid that it also broke Padmé's."

"I don't deny the fact that it was wrong of you, not only because you've broken the Code," Obi-Wan retorted calmly. "But you aren't responsible for her weakness of spirit. She is a Jedi, and she shouldn't have been behaving the way she did."

Anakin sighed. "I know that," he admitted wearily. "In my mind, I know that she made her choice herself. But a part of me still can't come to terms with it, and another part of me hates her for this spontaneous decision. Don't start with telling me to let go of hatred," Anakin added hastily, a shadow of grin forming in the corners of his mouth.

Obi-Wan chuckled reluctantly. "You will find your forgiveness in the Force," he said softly. If Anakin hadn't been feeling so low, he would have scolded him for forming yet another attachment, for his desire to keep everyone by his side. The universe didn't work this way, and Anakin failed to realize it yet. Obi-Wan hoped that his Padawan would comprehend the ways of the Living Force before it was too late.

Obi-Wan glanced sideways at Anakin, whose eyes didn't reflect the joyful game of the water's colours. They were full of grief and shame. And…there was so much depth to them that Obi-Wan couldn't help but explore them further. These eyes belonged to a man who had seen much of the world and not only the beautiful landscapes of such peaceful planets as Naboo. These eyes saw much pain, much death, and their owner had been through much suffering, far more than he should have been for his young age. Anakin was hardly older than a boy, but there wasn't anything boyish left in him. When, Obi-Wan wondered inwardly, did the little Ani from Tatooine grow into the young handsome man that was sitting next to him?

"Master," Anakin began shyly. "Taren said that you never cared for me, and that you would sacrifice me over the greater good without hesitation-"

"It's rubbish," Obi-Wan interrupted his Padawan more harshly than he intended to. "I love you, Anakin, and I always cared for you," he continued in a softer voice. "It doesn't matter that I had to promise my dying Master to train you. The Force wanted it to happen, and I'm grateful for it. And I would never hurt you."

Anakin just looked at him. "Thank you, Obi-Wan," he said quietly, but his eyes told the elder Jedi millions.

"Except," Obi-Wan said seriously, though he tried his best to hide a grin in his beard. "If you started slaughtering innocent banthas, I'm terribly sorry to tell you that I would have to defend them."

Anakin stared at him, abashed, and as Obi-Wan's words have sunk in, he burst into a loud laughter. Obi-Wan couldn't help but grin affectionately at his best friend and brother laughing cheerfully, the sound of his infectious laughter music to his ears. He cared about Anakin more than a former Master should have, and partly to his astonishment, Obi-Wan found himself not bothered by it at all. He had formed an attachment to Anakin, and if anything horrific happened, it would be harder for him to let go. But Obi-Wan didn't care about it. Watching Anakin laugh, he didn't believe that anything would happen that would make him regret about the attachment he had formed to the young man.

Because he and Anakin were more than brothers, and it would remain this way forever. Obi-Wan had never been surer about anything.

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It was already dark when Anakin entered the guesthouse Padmé had been allotted by the Senate. So much had happened during the few days he had spent on Coruscant. So many tears were shed, and hearts were broken. The events of these days changed him, and they affected Padmé as well. But despite everything that happened, he still loved his wife, perhaps even more than before.

She was already sleeping when he came into her room. To his immense relief, Taren hadn't hurt her physically. His heart constricted every time he thought what horrors this monster could have unleashed on his angel. But was Taren such a soulless monster as he had thought him to be? Evil had many faces and colours, and Anakin had been sure that Taren wasn't lost completely. He had been a Jedi once… What could possibly make him betray everything he stood for and turn to the darkness?

Anakin entered the bedroom. Padmé was sleeping, her magnificent hair sprawled on her pillow. Her face still bore traces of bruises and some minor scratches, but otherwise she was unhurt. As he came closer to her, a light of a speeder whooshing by, lit her face. It was covered with a layer of perspiration, and bore an expression of utmost fear. She was being plagued by another nightmare…

Anakin lowered himself cautiously on the bed and gently shook her shoulder. "Padmé, wake up," he called her softly, sending calming waves of Force to her. Her ragged breathing normalised as he kept soothing her through the Force, and her beautiful brown eyes flattered open.

"Anakin," she whispered relieved, the corners of her mouth twitching into one of the smiles he loved so much. "You are here, alive…You haven't been claimed by darkness…"

"What do you mean, Padmé?" Anakin asked her quietly, stroking her hair.

Padmé inhaled shakily. She was trembling with fear, and Anakin scooped her in his arms, rocking her back and forth.

"I keep seeing the same dream again and again," she said weakly, clutching at his tunic. "You accuse me of betrayal, and then you say that I have broken your heart. And then…darkness suffocates you, and … I don't know what happens to you…"

Anakin kissed the top of her head and wrapped her into the Force glow, strengthening the soothing Force cocoon with golden threads of his love, unconditional and ever-growing. "I could never accuse you of betrayal, Padmé," he said gently. "I trust you more than anyone in this universe. And I'm not going to be taken by darkness, I promise you."

He had overcome the darkness within him when he had fought with Taren, and the beast was securely caged in his soul never to break free again. His love to Padmé would keep it at bay, and as long as his heart beat for her, the monster would never possess him again.

"But I betrayed you," Padmé mumbled into his tunic, sounding as though she were about to be choked by shame. "I have been unfaithful to you in my heart, and I have betrayed you by being furious with you for something you'd done years before we have met."

Anakin gently pushed her away and peered her into the eyes. He couldn't believe his ears, but as he gazed into her enormous brown orbs, he understood that he heard right. "You were an emotional mess at that time, Padmé," he contradicted firmly. "You were confused and dejected. I don't blame you for what happened between you and Taren."

"But I was ready to-" Padmé began, tears welling up in her eyes, but Anakin silenced her.

"A Jedi never thinks of what if's," he said, a fluent grin touching his youthful features. "It didn't happen, so stop blaming yourself. And I'm the one who should apologize to you."

Padmé shook her head. "No, Ani. You were a free man at that time, and you didn't owe me anything. Five years ago, I could have never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would one day marry little Ani from Tatooine."

Even if Padmé smiled encouragingly, Anakin still felt stabs of shame piercing his heart. He remembered Padmé's tear-stricken face and heart-wrenching cry of pain after he had broken the news to her. He remembered the deepest wells of despair that were Dayla's eyes in the morning after that fateful night… His momentary loss of control had such horrific consequences for all of them. Would he ever be able to make it right again?

"I should have told you about Dayla, Padmé," Anakin said earnestly. "You deserved to know about my past."

Padmé looked aside. "You said yourself that a Jedi never thinks of what ifs," she said, an unhappy smile brushing her features. She looked at him; her face an inscrutable mask to his eyes. "Ani, no matter how hard I try, I'll never be able to forget what happened between you and Dayla. But it happened, and it cannot be taken back."

She sighed. "All I know is that I still am madly in love with you, and this episode from your past doesn't make me love you less," Padmé added quietly, entwining the fingers of her hand with his mechanical hand.

Anakin glanced at her white fingers, looking so fragile and helpless between his black ones. Her pure hand entwined in his artificial hand that knew so much horror and destruction. Humanity and machinery…Innocence and the feeling of dirtiness… Padmé was the only anchor that held him at the Light Side, the only one who kept saving him all over again from darkness. Where would he be without her?

"Thank you," he whispered softly, feeling unable to say anything else. "I wouldn't want you to forget about it either."

Wordless, Padmé flung herself into his arms, and he rested his head on her shoulder. She was his best and only source of comfort. But would she stay by his side forever? What if something happened to her, and he wouldn't be able to save her? Or would he be the cause of her death, as it happened with his friends? Or … would she turn her back on him?

I won't forget the episode with Taren either, Padmé.

"I'll always be by your side, Ani," Padmé murmured softly, rubbing circles on his back. It was as if she were able to sense his deepest fears.

Anakin gently pulled away. "What?"

"I will follow you anywhere, Ani," Padmé said quietly but firmly, squeezing his hand. "I will follow you to the darkest path you take. I promise."

Anakin just looked at her, long and intensive, mesmerised by the depth of her brown orbs. "Never make promises you can't keep, Padmé."

She feigned a smile. "I will keep this one."

After several long moments, Anakin smiled, feeling yet again too stirred to speak. A sense of bright future by the side of his wife overwhelming him, he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss, a perfect mixture between tenderness and passion. He forgot everything about war and his coming departure with the first rays of the sun, he forgot that tomorrow the harsh bitterness of life would catch up with him. All Anakin could think about was the feeling of elation at spending the entire night with his wife, and the prospect of many such nights yet to come made him the happiest man in the universe.

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Darth Sidious sneered maliciously at the black night. His plan had worked perfectly. What were such virtues as love and trust? These were things that were valued by the weak. Love was nothing, love was weak. Love could easily be destroyed. Love held no power.

Only darkness had power. All things would come and go, but darkness would persist. Because darkness was the ultimate power.