Chapter Thirteen – The Chosen One

Darkness. There was nothing but darkness everywhere Anakin looked. He didn't know where he was and he didn't know what had just happened. He reached out with both arms frantically searching for something.

"Padme!" He called. She was the only person he could think of who could possibly save him. "Padme! Padme!"

"Anakin."

He whirled around and there standing before him in the darkness was Master Qui-Gon Jinn. The Jedi Master looked just the same as Anakin remembered him from all those years ago, and even in this moment Anakin was just as dumbfounded to see him as he had been when he'd seen the vision of him on the planet Mortis. And here he was once again glowing in a beautiful, luminous, blue light.

"Master?" he asked.

Qui-Gon smiled warmly and approached him. "I'm very proud of you Anakin." He placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder and Anakin was taken aback at how solid the hand felt. He met the Jedi Master's eyes, which seemed to be smiling at him too. "I always knew it was you."

Anakin was confused by this statement. Master Qui-Gon's hand dropped and he took a step back, but before Anakin could speak, his surroundings became even darker and Master Qui-Gon was blending into the darkness from view and still smiling at him.

Anakin then felt a gentle pressure on his right shoulder and a distant male voice speaking.

"I think he's waking up."

He recognized that gentle voice but couldn't place it to a person. Closing his eyes tight, he found himself waking back into conscious. A bright light shone over his closed lids. He sat up so suddenly that he felt a sharp pain tug at his wrist.

"Anakin! Careful." A restraining arm gently wrapped round his chest and a hand touched his back "Easy now, you nearly yanked the tubes out." The owner of the arm eased him back down into soft pillows, he didn't remember feeling them under his head or the firm mattress he now lay on.

His eyes started coming back into focus, followed by his sense of feel, and then a second later, his whole body screamed with a faint soreness. His chest and left hand stung with a pain, which was also faint but still slightly sharp. His head was spinning from his sudden movement of sitting up. A gentle hand rested on his forehead.

"Easy, Anakin. You've been through a lot."

At last he could put a face to that familiar voice. Opening his eyes slowly he saw the blurred shape of Obi-Wan Kenobi standing beside the bed he lay on.

"Master?" he rasped.

"Yes Anakin, it's me." His palm came down to touch Anakin's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

Anakin stared up at the ceiling, which was paneled in white. "Awful," he replied.

Kenobi rubbed his shoulder lightly. "You haven't been out of the bacta tank for long, so I guess it will take some time until you feel better."

Anakin could now feel that his hair was slightly damp and then recognized the scent of bacta. Looking down saw that he was wearing a white medical robe, his gauntlet had been removed and tubes were inserted in his left wrist. He screwed up his face and rested his left arm back down on the bed.

As Kenobi gently raised the back of the bed so that Anakin was sitting up a bit, Anakin stared round at his surroundings and saw that he was in a private medbay ward room. A medical droid was standing in a corner, working a monitor, and a cabinet on the other side of the room held equipment, medicine and a jug of water.

Turning back to face his master he asked, "What happened Master?"

Kenobi's small smile faded, but he kept his hand on Anakin's shoulder as though worried he might try to sit up again. "Don't you remember Anakin? It'll come back to you soon, but I'll explain anyway. Palpatine attacked everyone in the courtroom and escaped on foot to the senate, but you and Master Windu went after him."

It all did come back to him then. Racing to the Senate, the destroyed office, the verbal conflict between Windu and Palpatine, the Force lighting, Palpatine's disfigured face, Windu engulfed in the lightning, and then throwing Palpatine through the viewport of the office.

"I killed him."

"Yes Anakin, Palpatine is dead. Master Windu doesn't remember much of what happened after Palpatine electrocuted him, but he thought he saw a faint image of you throwing Sidious from the viewport then collapsing soon after."

Anakin nodded slowly before sitting up on his own again. "Yes, I did. Palpatine still tried to turn me against you all with poisonous words and it almost took me. Master, I was conflicted with the fear of the dark side and the shadow of Master Windu wanting to expel me. I almost wanted him to…" He shut his eyes and placed his face in his hands, feeling the tubes attached to his left arm tug slightly.

Kenobi rubbed his shoulder. "But you didn't, Anakin. You stopped Sidious and you saved the Republic. You have proved that you are more strong minded. You resisted the darkness and saved yourself as well."

Anakin removed his hands but kept his eyes closed. "How is Master Windu?" he asked.

"There's been no lasting damage to him despite being struck hard by the lightning. I expect he'll be up on his feet again sometime after you will. The injuries you sustained on the other hand weren't very serious as we feared. Strong bruising to your lower back, the minor electrocution of the Force lightning, and cuts on your chest and hand."

It was a relief to hear Windu was ok, but despite saving the Jedi Master, Anakin knew that he had chosen to eliminate the fate of joining the Dark Side with Palpatine and had instead resigned himself to face the fate of the trial about his marriage and his child. Windu's words he'd spoken after his earlier trial still echoed within his head.

"The decision of your sentence will remain on hold for now Skywalker, as Senator Amidala and Ahsoka Tano requested, but it will be returned to later. Remember that."

Clenching his artificial fist he took a deep breath. Then asked, "Where is Padme and Ahsoka? Are they ok?"

Obi-Wan straightened up. "I just let Ahsoka know that you're awake, so I expect she will be here in…"

Then at that precise moment, the door opened to reveal Ahsoka. When she saw he was awake she came hurrying in.

"Anakin!" She cried and rushed over to him. Being careful of his almost healed chest she hugged him happily. "Oh thank goodness you're awake."

Anakin felt his insides warm as he hugged her back. "Oh, Ahsoka."

When she let go she seated herself on the edge of the bed. "So Sky-guy how do you feel?"

Anakin relaxed back against his pillows. "Much better now that you're here as well." She smiled and took his hand.

His own smile faded a bit as he looked at the door which had closed behind her. "Ahsoka, was Padme not with you?"

Ahsoka's smile dropped and she shifted slightly. Anakin's heart started pounding and the heart monitor next to him began beeping faster. Obi-Wan put a restraining hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"Snips, where is Padme? Is she alright?" He asked, trying and failing to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Hush Anakin, I'll tell you," Ahsoka replied gently squeezing his hand. "After you ran out last night to go after Palpatine, I found her in a bad state, she was worried and at the same time she started having some painful contractions and could hardly stand. So I got her to a speeder and helped her get here as fast as I could. The pain and her fear for your life was too much for her to cope with on her own."

The machine began beeping wildly again and Anakin's breathing became faster as his eyes widened. "Is she alright Snips!? Please tell me!"

"Shh, Anakin she is fine. The moment they got her on a bed they said that the contractions were perfectly normal at this stage in her pregnancy and that she needed to keep calm and relaxed. She's not far from here and is resting at the moment, but I expect that when she awakens and finds out that you're awake too, I'm sure she will be right as rain in seconds."

Anakin's breathing and rapid heart rate returned to a normal rhythm and he leaned back against the pillows closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths to calm himself.

When he opened them again he said to Obi-Wan. "So tell me what happened in the courtroom."

Obi-Wan leaned against the wall. "Well the trial went as we expected it would go. All the evidence we provided including the security footage of your conversations with Sidious was all very convincing and although many were as shocked as you had been, they didn't need convincing, even when Palpatine was acting the innocent victim claiming we were all lying. But there was only one individual who was against the whole trial and supporting Sidious."

"Tarkin," Anakin stated as Obi-Wan nodded.

"Exactly. Admiral Tarkin was treating the whole thing as though the Jedi were deliberately trying to set the Chancellor up and take over the Republic. He would not stop throwing in pointless objections until it happened." Obi-Wan took several deep breaths before continuing. "When Palpatine was found guilty and sentenced to immediate execution, Tarkin drew his blaster and shot both of the caged Ysalamiri. At the same time a guard who was near Tarkin stunned him with his pike. It was then that the Force returned and Palpatine regained his powers, broke free of his binders and let fly his Force lightning on the whole room."

Ahsoka then spoke up. "We don't remember much of what followed after that because we were all on the ground in pain. But from what we saw on the security footage afterwards, Master Windu had seen Sidious's intent while everyone was distracted by Tarkin. He managed to leap clear of the Force lightning and pursue Sidious once he'd fled the room. Tarkin, on the other hand, was not so lucky. When the Force lightning exploded everywhere, the guard who had stunned Tarkin fell and knocked him from the high platform they were on and he broke his neck when he hit the ground. A death well deserved in my opinion."

Well at least that's another problem we need not worry about, Anakin thought before he continued listening.

"Anyway, Master Kenobi and I were amongst the first few that recovered and that was when we had our talk with you on the comlinks before you raced away to chase Darth Sidious. Once I was able to stand again, I went outside the room and that was when I found Padme and brought her here. Luckily, I was recovered enough to be able to remain at her bedside and keep her company."

Then Obi-Wan said, "Once I'd recovered enough to get back on my feet we heard reports of a battle at the Senate and I raced there with the rest of the Jedi. When we arrived at Palpatine's office, we found you and Master Windu, and at first we thought you were dead, but thank the Force you were both barely clinging to life. We then had you both brought here as fast as we could."

Ahsoka turned back to Anakin. "Padme was so concerned when she heard that you had been brought in and were being treated for injuries. So Obi-Wan remained here to keep an eye on you so that we could get instant responses on your progress. She seems to be a lot better now though, seeing that she managed to sleep all through the night without any trouble."

"When can I go and see her?" Anakin asked.

Kenobi stepped closer. "The medics say that you need to remain in bed for a little bit longer, Anakin. You need to give your body time to recover properly, then you'll be strong enough to be there for Padme. I promise you that she is perfectly safe. Here in the medbay there are plenty of medics who will see that she remains healthy and well along with the baby. And you know there is no more reason to fear Palpatine or the Separatists."

Anakin wanted to disagree, but he knew his master was right. There was nothing more to fear today or tonight, he was sure. He lay back and closed his eyes deciding that if he rested now, then time would pass quicker and he would not have to bore himself to death waiting it out. Unsurprisingly, he fell asleep in less than a minute and fell into an unexpected but welcome dreamless sleep.

When he awoke much later on, he opened his eyes and saw that Obi-Wan was seated in a chair against the wall and looking at a data-pad. His hand and chest were not stinging anymore. In fact the wound on his left hand had sealed up as well as the cut on his chest when he opened his robe to check. His body no longer screamed with the memory of the pain from the Force lightning and his head felt clearer. What an amazing wonder a good sleep could give you when you're not taunted by disturbing nightmares.

"Anything to report?" Anakin asked curiously.

Obi-Wan's head snapped up at the sound of his voice. "Oh, Anakin. I didn't realize you had woken."

Anakin smiled amused. Obi-Wan came over to beside his bed.

"Well the events of the other night are now all over the holonet news."

Anakin looked at him in amazement and Obi-Wan smiled.

"It's all good news for us and so far nothing negative to report." He reached over and pushed a button on the wall.

"What's that for?" Anakin asked.

"The medics asked me to let them know when you woke up so they could bring you some food and remove the tubes from your arm. I expect you must be hungry enough to eat properly now." Anakin now felt the dull ache in his stomach which must have been indicating his apparent hunger to which Obi-Wan was referring to. He nodded and stared up at the ceiling.

"What does the report say about what happened?"

Obi-Wan took his seat again. "I'll tell you once your meal arrives because I only have a few more lines of it to finish reading."

Anakin complied and rested there until the door opened and two med-droids rolled in, one carrying a tray the other came beside Anakin's bed and gently removed the tubes from Anakin's left arm and dressed it over. The other droid wheeled a small mobile table out and set it so that the table was over Anakin's lap and set the tray over it.

"Enjoy, sir," it said before leaving the room. Taking the lid off the tray, he was delighted to see a warm stew, a plate of fruit, two bread rolls and a plastic glass of fresh juice.

Just as he picked up his spoon to dig into the stew Obi-Wan started speaking. "It seems you've become a bigger hero overnight, Anakin. Apparently when you and Master Windu cornered Palpatine in his office, there were many eye witnesses in the neighboring buildings who observed the whole thing." There was no doubt that the fight would have caught bystander's eyes; with all the Force lightning and shouting that had occurred. "They all say that they saw you lift Palpatine up with your bare hands, hold him high then hurl him out of the window as though he weighed nothing at all to you."

Anakin paused for a moment, stirring his stew slowly and remembering how the Force had surrounded him in the peculiar way that it did in that moment. "I don't know, master. It was as if the Force and I became a single being or something. I didn't even feel that I could have done what I did before it happened. I was so overcome with shock and the indecision of which fate to choose."

"And which fate did you choose Anakin?"

"The one which I knew would not cause harm to billions of others and the one which I knew Padme would have chosen had it been her."

There was a short silence in which Obi-Wan did not take his eyes off Anakin who was casually stirring his stew and not meeting his gaze. "It appears that your bond with Padme is stronger than I thought it was. Your joint love and devotion for each other has been the talisman which saved and prevented you from turning to the dark side three times now."

Anakin did not answer; he continued stirring the stew and pondering his master's spoken words. Then he suddenly remembered something else. "Master, before I woke up last time, I saw Master Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan was surprised. "I don't know if it was a vision or just a dream. He was standing before me in a glowing light like when I saw him on Mortis. He then spoke to me and said, "I always knew it was you."

Obi-wan stroked his beard. "I think he was referring to you being the "Chosen One". He always believed you were even when you were still a child."

Anakin nodded. "I remember."

"By killing Dooku and Palpatine you destroyed the Sith and fulfilled "The Chosen One's" prophecy." There was no doubt that his master was right, but Anakin had always been unsure about the whole "Chosen One" business. Only now did it seem to make more sense to him.

Obi-Wan gazed back down at his data pad. "I can see that the holo-net news was absolutely right as well. The headline of the report is titled, "The Hero With No Fear's Greatest Triumph." And what you did, certainly had to be your greatest triumph, not just for Jedi but for the Republic, democracy and the entire galaxy. For that, I am very proud of you, Anakin."

Obi-Wan's last words made Anakin raise his head and look at his master in wonderment.

"I mean it Anakin, no Jedi in history has ever achieved something as big as you have in the past few days. And because of that I see no reason why the Council should expel you."

Anakin's jaw dropped and he could not find words to express what he felt right now. Obi-Wan smiled and came over to clap him on his shoulder.

"Now, I suggest you finish your stew before it gets cold. I'm just going to check on Padme and report to the Council. And I'm pretty sure you will be able to see her before the day is out. You just need one more check-up from the med-droid first." That was all Anakin needed to hear and as his master left the room he went back to his food.

True to Obi-Wan's word, Anakin had one final check up from the med-droid that afternoon and it reported to Obi-Wan that Anakin was in good enough condition to leave that evening. And while Obi-Wan went to sort out his discharge the door opened and Padme walked in. She too was wearing a medical robe just like he was and her hair was loose past her shoulders.

The two of them gazed at each other as though they had been parted for months and tears filled her eyes as she looked at him. Unable to wait any longer, Anakin slipped out of bed, she came slowly over and they met each other in a passionate embrace and a loving kiss. It lasted for so long until they both stopped for breath and rested their forheads against each other's and breathed in each other's breath.

Anakin felt whole once again as he breathed in her sweet scent, felt her smooth skin touch his and her soft hair tickle his cheek as she leaned in to hug him.

"Ani, oh Ani…" she sobbed, her voice becoming choked. "I was so worried…after you fled I could not stop thinking about…the whole time I was…"

Anakin held her close and rubbed her back soothingly. "Shh, I'm fine, Padme." He led her over to the bed and they sat down still holding each other. Anakin placed his flesh hand on her stomach. "The baby?" he asked.

She put her hand over his. "The baby is fine, Ani. The med-droid assured me that it's still good and healthy just like I am. The contractions I felt the other night was something which women usually feel during pregnancy, so there's no danger."

A kick nudged both their hands and Anakin gasped in surprise. He slid off the bed and knelt down on the floor. Gently, he rested his cheek against her stomach and she stroked his hair.

"I feel that she can sense me," he whispered longingly, rubbing the bulge tenderly.

Padme giggled softly. "I think you're right. Your son is just as gifted as you are." He looked up at her and they laughed happily together. He stood up again and they shared another loving kiss.

"Ani, there is something else I need to tell you."

He sat back beside her on the bed and put his arm round her. "What is it?"

"The med droid said that I may deliver in a day or two." Her hand caressed her belly and Anakin was overjoyed to hear this bit of news. In a day or two he would get to meet his child. But at the same time he feared what would happen in the birth. "I don't want the baby to be born here in the city, Ani. I want to go back to Naboo, so that when our child is born they will breath in the fresh air of Lake Country. And it will be quieter and calmer not just for the baby but for us as well." There was a small break in her voice as she spoke and it hurt Anakin to hear her like this.

It was understandable and Anakin completely agreed. What they needed was a different environment and get themselves in a calm place of mind for all that was to come. But although Anakin's fear of the birth wouldn't go away, he wanted to return back to Naboo just as badly as she did. For when they had gone there the short time ago, all his troubles had faded away. Now he held onto the hope that the same thing would happen again if they did manage to get back. Also there was the approaching trial to think about. But he was determined to fulfil this request for Padme and his own wish to return to the beautiful planet.

Placing his left palm on her cheek pressed his lips to her forehead. "Don't worry, my love. I'll take care of everything."

Author's Notes
Hello there my readers!
So Palpatine is dead and gone, Anakin and Windu survived, Anakin has had an encounter with Qui-Gon and Padme's pregnancy seems to coming to an end. How exciting this is. I know some of you will be wondering what will happen with Anakin's trial, but have no fear, I haven't forgotten about it.

All the reviews that came flying in after I posted the previous chapter felt GREAT! So please keep it up!
And Thanks very much to Carrie2sky for beta reading!

May The Force Be With You!
LouisaJane007