A/N: Word of advice for this chapter, keep reading, it will make sense eventually. I wrote this chapter the way I did on purpose. There is a reason for all this craziness. Enjoy!
Chapter 22: Jedi Business
"How dare you even suggest a thing!" Anakin shouted at Obi-Wan. Heads turned to stare at both Obi-Wan and Anakin at the sound of the younger Jedi's voice. They were standing in the middle of an open square in front of the Senate building, that Obi-Wan had lead them to. The two Jedi were facing each other. Obi-Wan had a calm but serious look on his face while Anakin was glaring at him.
"You cannot deny that this search has gone on long enough." Obi-Wan stated calmly. "We have not found her, she is probably dead."
"Don't you say that!" Anakin yelled. "She is not dead, I will find her!" A crowd was gathering and forming a circle around the two Jedi. All were perplexed as to the source of this argument.
"I fear you will be highly disappointed when and if you do find her. She cannot be alive after all this time." Obi-Wan stated, casting his eyes to the ground and shaking his head sadly.
"I cannot believe you are going to give up on her. How dare you! I thought you were my friend!" Anakin yelled once more, a few people gasped at the look of grief on his features.
"Do you know what is going on?" One of the spectators whispered to another one.
"No, but it seems Jedi Skywalker and Kenobi are having a disagreement or something."
"Like that fight that was on the holonet a while back?"
"Not sure?" The last spectator finished before falling silent at the sound of Obi-Wan's voice.
"I am your friend, Anakin. But someone has to make you see reason. Padmé is gone and it is not sensible to keep looking for her. Jedi resources could be spent elsewhere."
"Senator Amidala!" An echoing gasp ran along the spectators.
In response to his audience, Anakin turned to them and said, "Yes, my wife, Senator Amidala has been kidnapped and the Jedi will not help me find her!"
"She has been gone for over eight months. She could not have lasted that long." Obi-Wan calmly reasoned. A few people gave him an indignant look. Senator Amidala was very popular and many in the crowd agreed with Anakin that the search for her should continue.
Obi-Wan sighed, "Anakin, there is no point in arguing about this. Search your feelings, and you will know what I say is true."
"Never! She is not dead!" Anakin yelled once more and a few in the crowd repeated his statement.
"Stop this now." Obi-Wan stated sharply. "Let us go back to the Temple. We will discuss this with Master Yoda."
"No, if you will not help me, I will find her on my own." Anakin growled. His breathing had accelerated with the effort of holding back his anger at Obi-Wan's statements.
"Anakin, listen to yourself, this is madness. Come with me." Obi-Wan took a step towards Anakin as he finished and held out a hand as if to steer his friend towards the Jedi Temple.
Anakin took a step backwards and ignited his cerulean lightsaber in defense, "No, I will find her. You cannot stop me. Now leave!" There were more gasps and a soft murmuring from the crowd in response to Anakin's actions.
Under the Senate Building, Sidious was leading Bail Organa through the catacombs that held Padmé. A medical droid had just given him some wonderful news; his new apprentice was arriving today. Very soon, the galaxy would once more be his, and his waiting would be over.
Sidious could have had one of the medical droids remove the child from Amidala immediately and then dispose of her, but Sidious did not want her death to be quick and painless. He would make her endure her labor, and once the child was born kill her. Sidious smiled to himself as he whispered, "All that effort, and she will never know her child."
With the end of that statement, Sidious had finally led Organa to the door of the room holding Padmé. However, before he could open the door, Sidious felt a large ripple of anger and anguish in the Force. Locking onto its source, he realized it was from his former treacherous apprentice.
With the birth of his child, Anakin's death was imminent too. Anakin would not survive Padmé's death, for losing her would tear him apart. As a result, the Sith Lord could not help but be thrilled with the feelings of suffering that were currently rippling off of his former apprentice. He cackled with the knowledge that both Padmé and her husband would suffer before their deaths. Taking a moment, Sidious immersed himself in the Force in order to revel in Anakin's pain before seeing to the arrival of his new apprentice.
"Don't do this." Obi-Wan warned taking a step back from Anakin. "Remember how this ended last time. Padmé would not want you to fall apart."
"I will do what I must. I will find her!" Anakin growled once more, but he lowered his saber slightly with Obi-Wan's retreat.
Obi-Wan paused for a moment before taking a step towards Anakin once more, "You are letting your emotions rule you. Get control over yourself."
Anakin raised his lightsaber in defense again stopping Obi-Wan in his tracks. "I know what I am doing. If you Jedi had an emotional range higher than a Tatooinian worrt with a womp rat dancing in front of it, you would know that."
Obi-Wan blinked in surprise at Anakin's insult before continuing, "This has gone on long enough. You are creating a scene, now come along." He then took another step towards Anakin.
"No! You cannot stop me! I will find Padmé without the Jedi's help!" Anakin shouted as he changed his stance from defense to attack.
With a quick motion, Anakin swung his lightsaber at Obi-Wan, but the attack was deflected when Obi-Wan ignited his own lightsaber. Around them, the crowd gasped and slowly backed away to give the two Jedi a wider berth.
"Explain to me how this is helping you find Padmé?" Obi-Wan asked as he swung his blade over his head to block an attack to his back. "You are acting like a lunatic Jawa lost on a droid-free planet."
Anakin raised an eyebrow and quickly started another attack at Obi-Wan to hide his amusement at the elder Jedi's weak insult. He needed to be projecting anger and pain and laughing at Obi-Wan was not going to help him do that. Trying to refocus his attention while he continued his attack Anakin called out, "You never understood me! You stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking, nerf herder!" After he said it, Anakin realized how silly that sounded and started moving in a fast series of spins and jumps to hide his smile from the crowd. The worry and concern emanating from the onlookers would help conceal his amusement, but Anakin also called upon the Force to hide his light-hearted emotions. Both Obi-Wan and him were trying to lure the Sith Lord out of hiding with strong anguished emotion and humor may ruin their plans,
Obi-Wan bit his lip in an attempt to hide his own amusement as he replied, "Better than a lovesick, bantha-brained, lazy Hutt. If you spent more time on Jedi studies you would know that." Obi-Wan was silently hoping the Sith would fall for this trick soon, both Anakin and him had been thinking of unhappy moments in their lives and projecting the emotions they inspired. However, their senses of humor were working against them and quickly dissolving their illusion.
The crowd around the two Jedi had failed to hear the ridiculous insults being thrown by the two men. They were focused on the seemingly deadly battle that was occurring before them. Several times, it had seemed that one of the Jedi was about to disarm the other, and there was a great deal of apprehension as to the outcome. Several in the crowd agreed with Anakin, but an equal amount of people could see Obi-Wan's point as well, so neither Jedi was favored to win.
Sidious laughed in triumph when he realized Anakin was locked in another fierce battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi. "He was always a fool." He stated to himself as he smiled at the scene he was sensing through the Force. Thoroughly enjoying the situation, Sidious focused most of his attention on the battle. He hoped that one of the Jedi would succeed in killing the other this time. Unfortunately for Sidious, by shifting his focus to the battling Jedi, he gave Organa a chance to regain control over his own mind.
With a violent lurch, Sidious felt himself being pushed from Organa's mind, as the Senator repeatedly mumbled, "Must… Stop… Must… Stop…"
"Nooo!" Sidious growled in rage. He quickly pushed against the Supreme Chancellor's mind and took control once more. "You serve me Chancellor, and soon you will not be able to stop me. I will have a new apprentice, and once more the Sith will rule the galaxy!" Sidious finished with a loud and maniacal cackle that echoed in the catacombs before entering the room that held Padmé. After Organa's struggle, The Sith Lord was no longer interested in Anakin and Obi-Wan's fight. Those two could kill themselves if they wanted. Sidious' focus was now on the upcoming arrival of the new Sith apprentice.
"The Senate Building!" Anakin shouted as he felt Sidious' presence appear suddenly. Both Obi-Wan and him had been waiting for the Sith Lord to take their bait. Like previously, the Sith's presence had not been visible for long. However, since they were ready for it and knew what and who they were looking for, both Anakin and Obi-Wan were able to lock onto the Sith's location.
Obi-Wan had devised this entire fight to see if they could catch the Sith off guard. Anakin was slightly ashamed that he had not come up with the plan. He should have remembered that his former master's weakness was his overconfidence and lust for violent and painful emotions.
"Below the building." Obi-Wan added as both Anakin and him deactivated their lightsabers. The entire crowd of onlookers was confused by this exchange. They did not understand why the fight had stopped so suddenly. "But, we did not see that in the blueprints to the building."
Anakin shrugged as he stated, "Must be a secret that Sidious built."
"How are we going to get in there?" Obi-Wan asked as both he and Anakin started walking towards the Senate building. The crowd slowly moved with them.
"Not sure, but I suspect there has to be a secret passage, probably in the basement. It should be similar to that passage I showed you under the old Imperial Palace. Obviously, my former master did not show me all of his hiding places." Anakin's brow furrowed in anger at this fact because he knew he should have thought of this sooner. He knew his former master had deceived him many times and he should have known other hiding places existed.
"And you are surprised by this?" Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow skeptically as he spoke.
Anakin shook his head and sighed in frustration, "I should have thought of this, but that does not matter now. We know where he is and we must save Padmé!" Again, Anakin wished that he had thought of this sooner. However, he never suspected his dead, former master would be behind all of his troubles. He had not been aware that someone could come back from the afterlife.
"Very well, let us hurry. I'll contact Master Yoda along the way." Obi-Wan stated as he pulled out his comlink.
Anakin quickly turned to the crowd. The entire group looked completely lost. With a serious tone, Anakin responded to the stunned crown with, "Jedi business, go back to your lives." Then both he and Obi-Wan broke into a run as they headed to the Senate building. Had the situation not been serious, both Jedi would have teased one another over their feeble insulting skills. Instead, they both cleared their minds and called upon the Force to guide their actions for their upcoming battle with the Sith.
As Obi-Wan and Anakin left, one of the spectators in the crowd loudly asked, "Do you know what that was about?"
"No." Several answered in response as they stared at the retreating backs of the Jedi.
"Well, if that is how Jedi act to one another, I would hate to see what they do to their enemies." Another person said in response. With a few more confused glances at the retreating Jedi, the crowd dissipated. All were confused by the spectacle they had witnessed and continued to ponder it as they went their separate ways.
