As Anakin, Shaak Ti, and some younglings stepped onto the other ship, Anakin checked the hangars and found his starfighter, with Artoo in it. It had been a good thing to tell the astromech droid to pilot the ship back at the temple and follow him.

He then noticed Obi Wan, standing nearby.

Obi Wan rushed towards Anakin and hugged him crying out, "Anakin, it's good to see you safe. I was afraid you had been killed or something worse."

Anakin embraced his mentor and brother in all but blood, and sadly spoke, "Master, I…"

"Anakin," Obi Wan asked, "Is something wrong?"

Anakin remained silent for a little while before finally confessing, "The Chancellor is a Sith Lord. He was my friend, and he played us, he wanted me to join him. I refused, but now the Jedi Order is in tatters and Padmé has been kidnapped."

Obi Wan was about to say something, but Anakin continued, "I'm sorry, I should not have kept this from you. Padmé and I have been married since the first battle of Geonosis. She's expecting a child, and I've been having dreams of her dying in childbirth. Palpatine somehow knows about it, and he said that he had the power to save her. I refused because she wouldn't want me to, but I was too late to save her. I have failed you all, as a Jedi, a husband and a father."

With that, he broke down in tears.

Obi Wan was shocked to hear what Anakin had just said, but he could not help feeling sorry for Anakin, more than ever.

He cried out, "Anakin, why didn't you tell me? I know it is against the code, but I would have kept your secret. I would have helped you more. I should have been here and not on… I'm so sorry Anakin. I should have been here to help you. You should have told me. You are not just my student but my brother! Oh Anakin…"

And with that, the two brothers stood, embracing each other.

Anakin cried, "I'm so sorry."

Obi Wan whispered, "I'm so sorry, Anakin."

Anakin

On Coruscant, in the Council Chamber of the Jedi Temple, Darth Vader, having extracted himself from his trap with very minor injuries thanks to using the force to protect himself at the last second, was kneeling before Darth Sidious.

The younger Sith spoke, "The Jedi in this temple have all been decimated, save for the younglings, Anakin Skywalker, and two other Masters from what the clones told me. They were slain, inhumanely. However, Anakin will not join us."

The older Sith replied, "Skywalker shall not join us. That is why, I have created you. You shall certainly rise to great heights of power at my side, and achieve things that the original Skywalker shall never accomplish, thanks to his foolish blind love that he has for the senator of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, his wife. If you find Skywalker, you must kill him. There can be no mercy towards that pathetic fool."

Vader looked up and asked, "What must I do now?"

Sidious replied, "Go to the separatist council on Mustafar, and wipe out every single last one of them. Spare no one."

Vader replied, "Yes my Lord."

Sidious smiled wickedly and proclaimed, "You have done well my apprentice. Soon, after you have done your task, the senator, Padmé Amidala shall be yours. Take her for yourself, break her, and kill Skywalker should he try to save her. Soon, Skywalker shall die and Amidala shall be all yours."

Vader looked up, and smiled evilly as he thought of what he could do to the woman that Sidious has just said would be his.

He would make her his, and she would succumb.

Anakin Skywalker would die by his hand, and Padmé Amidala would sleep with Darth Vader.

Anakin and Obi Wan sat next to each other at a table in one of the rooms of Bail's cruiser. Seated with them, were Shaak Ti, Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Yoda, and Bail of course.

Bail spoke, "I do not understand why the clones have turned on the Jedi all of a sudden."

Mace explained, "The Supreme Chancellor is actually the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and has been playing both sides of this war from the very beginning. He controls the clones. A few other Jedi and I attempted to arrest him. I actually thought it would be better to destroy him, but he turned out to be more powerful than we expected. Skywalker and I were the only ones who made it out. And Palpatine is not alone. The massacre at the temple was led by his new apprentice Darth Vader, who happens to be a clone of Anakin Skywalker." He ended the last statement looking sadly at Anakin.

Anakin was absorbed in his own thoughts.

Anakin, 9 years old had just woken up from a nightmare.

He had dreamt about being rejected by Obi Wan and being sent back into slavery. Even his mother had rejected him in that dream and he had found himself alone, unwanted.

He got up from his bed and went up to Obi Wan's bedroom.

But he did not see him there.

He was wondering where his master could have gone when suddenly, he heard a soft voice speaking, "Anakin, aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

He turned around and saw Obi Wan, still clean shaven.

Anakin whispered, "I… I had a bad dream."

Obi Wan moved closer to him and holding him by his shoulders, he said, "What was it about young one?"

Anakin wailed, tears in his eyes, "I dreamt that you and the Jedi didn't want me, and you sent me back to Tatooine, and even mom didn't want me, and I was a slave again, all alone, and…"

He broke down and sobbed.

Obi Wan held the boy in his arms and said, "Anakin, your mother loves you. She knew that this path would not be easy, but that you would be able to walk it. She sent you because she wanted you to be happy. Don't worry about what the Jedi Council may have said back then. You are a smart boy Anakin. You are a sweet boy, and I would never ever reject you. You're like my own baby brother."

Anakin looked up at Obi Wan and said, his eyes full of wonder, "Really Master?"

"Really," Obi Wan replied, "I promised Master Qui Gon that I would train you, and I intend to keep my word. For me, you are not just my student but my brother, and I am proud to call you my padawan and brother."

Anakin looked up at Obi Wan even as the latter knelt down.

The boy said softly, "I never had a father, and you're the closest thing I have to one."

He paused before continuing, his voice full of emotion, "I know we shouldn't have attachments, but sometimes, can we pretend that I'm your son?"

Obi Wan cried out, "You are my son!" enveloping Anakin in his arms even as the small boy cried into his chest, "You are my son!"

Anakin was shaken out of his thought by Obi Wan tapping his shoulder and calling out, "Anakin, Anakin, focus, we need you to tell us what exactly happened between you and Palpatine."

Anakin remained silent and looked at Obi Wan and Yoda.

Yoda asked, "Say something, do you have, Skywalker?"

Anakin finally spoke, his voice full of emotion, "Palpatine praised me; he said I was the most gifted Jedi ever, but he only wanted my power, not me."

He paused before looking at Obi Wan and declared, "But you truly loved me!"

"Anakin!" Obi Wan cried out, feeling moved as he stood up along with Anakin.

The two brothers hugged each other tightly.

Anakin remembered how Padmé had tried to persuade him to tell Obi Wan about his fears, but he had refused saying that Obi Wan was jealous. And to think he had trusted Palpatine of all people…

But now, as far as he was concerned, Obi Wan was his brother, his master, his father figure, and his best friend.

There was no letting go of each other now.

A little while later…

Tantive III had reached Coruscant and was about to enter its atmosphere when suddenly, everyone in the cockpit heard a beep.

"We're receiving a message from the Chancellor's office," Captain Antilles in the pilot's seat announced as he turned to Bail who along with Mace Windu, Yoda and Obi Wan were right in front of the holocamera such that only the senator would be in the line of sight

"Let it through," Bail ordered. The captain followed the instruction and face of Mas Amedda, the blue Chagrian chief speaker of the senate came on the screen.

"Senator Organa," Mas Amedda announced, "The Supreme Chancellor requests that you attend to a special session of congress."

"I will be there," Bail assured to which the Chagrian replied, "He will be expecting you."

"Could be a trap," Bail suggested as he turned to Yoda and Obi Wan on his left.

"I don't think so," Obi Wan said firmly, "The Chancellor will not be able to control the thousands of star systems without keeping the senate intact."

"If a special session of congress there is," Yoda spoke, "Easier for us to enter the jedi temple it will be."

Meanwhile, Anakin was still sitting in the same meeting room, having not left it except to use the fresher.

If only he knew where his beloved wife was…

Would he lose another loved one?

No, it couldn't be.

Should he have taken Palpatine's offer?

No, he had been right to refuse. Padmé would never have wanted him to sell himself to an evil monster.

And then he would have lost the one person who had truly loved him like a father and a brother.

But now, he knew that Palpatine had been the wrong person to trust.

Looking back, he wished he had just told Obi Wan in the beginning.

The statement he had made when Padmé had suggested that option stung him to the core, 'He's jealous of me.'

But now, everything was at stake.

What was he to do?

Just then, he heard a female voice call out softly, "Master Skywalker."

He turned around and saw Sabé nearby, dressed in a white outfit that looked so similar to the one Padmé had been wearing when they had been trying to rescue Obi Wan three years ago from the separatists on Geonosis, except, the abdomen was fully covered.

Sabé moved closer to the jedi knight and said, "There's something important you should have."

With that, she clasped Anakin's hands in hers and held them as she carefully placed something she had been holding into his.

They then parted, slowly, and Anakin said, "Thank you."

He then looked at it, and his eyes widened as he realized what it was.

A binary beacon was sitting in his very hands!

"Padmé has the other one," Sabé continued, "I was asked to give this to you in case something happened…"

But before she could say anything else, Anakin jumped and stood up straight, looking at the beacon in his right hand with fierce determination.

He whispered, "Padmé, I'm coming for you!"

And then, he pulled out a comlink and spoke, "Artoo, get to my starfighter now! I'm going to get my wife out of there, away from whoever has her!"

When the corvette landed, Bail wished the three Jedi Masters in the cockpit good luck and headed to the senate building in his speeder.

As they were about to exit the cockpit themselves, an Alderaanian guard suddenly came running up to them and cried out, "Master Jedi, I just saw a starfighter take off! I thought you should know."

The Masters looked at each other and Obi Wan muttered, "Anakin, what are you up to now?"

Anakin, having just prepared his starfighter, was hurtling through the atmosphere, praying desperately to the force that he would find a hyperspace ring quickly enough and get to his wife, wherever she was.

Just then, he heard a beeping sound and the next moment, the hologram of Obi Wan showed up before him.

"Anakin," Obi Wan cried out, "What in the blazes are you up to?"

"I have a binary beacon and Padmé has the other one," Anakin replied, "I'm going to find her and rescue her from whoever has…"

"Skywalker," Mace Windu on Obi Wan's end cried out, "Listen that's quite…"

"I don't care how impulsive you think I may be," Anakin cried out a little hotly, "But I'm not losing my wife like I lost my mother!"

On Obi Wan's end, Obi Wan was just about to say something when suddenly, Yoda, whose eyes had been closed in contemplation, opened them and spoke, "Go Skywalker. Save your wife, you must. Send Kenobi to help you, I shall. Tell anyone on board where you are going, did you?"

Anakin's mouth was open in amazement and gratitude for Yoda's statement for a few moments before he replied, "I think Master Shaak Ti saw me. I told her just before I took off."

"Good that is. May the force be with you, young Skywalker," Yoda concluded before ending the transmission.

Anakin felt a surge of gratitude, love and determination as the transmission ended. By that time, he had already exited the atmosphere and was searching for a hyperspace ring.

To his intense relief and delight, he saw one not too far away and with joy and excitement enveloping him, he flew straight towards it and hooked on to it before blasting off into hyperspace.

Meanwhile, Yoda turned to Obi Wan and said, "Go you must. Your help, Skywalker may need."

Obi Wan nodded and raced towards the hangar as fast as he could.

As soon as he entered, standing near the starship that had once belonged to General Grievous, was none other than Shaak Ti, looking ready to dash off into Padmé's star skiff.

Shaak Ti turned to Obi Wan and cried out, "Kenobi, Skywalker has gone to save his wife. He took his starfighter instead of the star skiff. That small ship won't be big enough. I managed to put a tracking device on his ship, so finding him shouldn't be a problem."

Obi Wan looked at her and said, "Good thing we will be able to track him. He'll need all the help he can get."

And he thought, "Always on the move. Anakin, did you forget that your starfighter is too small, especially for you and a pregnant woman?"