Chapter 12

Dooku approached Anakin slowly. "Skywalker," he said. "Kenobi's force signature has left Naboo."

Anakin nodded slowly and turned towards him. "Yes, I know. But Mace Windu's has not."

A scowl appeared on Dooku's face. "And… It's a crime to leave him there?"

Anakin couldn't help but smile. "Oh, believe me, I'd like to, but no. He must be told."

"How do you know that Obi-Wan has not already contacted him?"

"Because Obi-Wan can't sense him," he told him. "The force is too weak."

"Yet I can tell that Obi-Wan's presence is gone," Dooku mumbled.

"Could you tell Mace was here?"

Dooku rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't know. Thanks for getting rid of my little praise party there."

Anakin laughed. "Yeah, next time, return the favor."

"Oh, I will."

Suddenly the ship lurched and they were forced to grab something to steady them.

"What just happened?" Dooku asked.

"Landing gear," Anakin mused. "Little early for sure, but they are needed for landing."

"You haven't taught him how to land?!"

The ship lurched again.

"Crash," Anakin corrected him. "This ship can't land. It's missing front wheels."

Dooku threw up his hands. "Don't you think that would have been nice for me to know before we left Mustafar?"

"No because you wouldn't have left."

Dooku opened his mouth to respond but shut it without saying a word. "Okay, yeah, you're right."

"Besides," Anakin told him. "We're flying most of a ship."

The ship heaved left and then to the right and began falling quickly.

"Skywalker, you get that boy out of the seat and get your Jedi-rear-end into it!"

A smirk appeared on Anakin's face. "Don't worry, Dooku. The ship won't blow up. Most likely, that is."

Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mara, and Luke sat cross-legged in the council room. Each of them had their eyes closed and the sense of the force grew stronger in the room.

A smile slid onto Obi-Wan's face. "Ah, yes," he said. "This is much better."

Yoda nodded and opened his eyes. "Force did start weakening, when young Skywalker?"

Luke opened his eyes and looked towards them before answering. "About… a couple months after the end of the empire."

Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open.

"Interesting, that is." Yoda nodded. "Death of the chosen one; ruins the force it does."

Mara frowned. "Master, how can that be? There is no proof that what Anakin Skywalker did actually balanced the force."

Yoda made a gurgling sound that turned out to be a laugh. "No proof you say? What proof would you like?"

Mara went silent.

"Master," Obi-Wan spoke up. "Are you saying the force deteriorated because Anakin died?"

"Saying that, I am not. Wondering it, I am."

"If that is so," Luke pondered. "Then we must find him for sure."

"And what? Not let him die?" Mara asked. "Everyone dies. All do, it is part of life. He is to die and become one with the force. Why would that make the force weaker?"

"In truth, Master, what Mara Jade says does make sense," Obi-Wan said. "And her question is legitimate."

Yoda nodded. "That it is, Obi-Wan; that it is. But the answer to it, I know not."

Luke swallowed, trying to deny what he was about to say. "Master, is it possible that Anakin didn't become one with the force?"

Yoda raised his eyebrows. "Possible, you ask?"

Luke nodded slowly.

"No, it's not possible, Luke," Obi-Wan told him. "When someone dies they become one with the force, for good or for bad. The force is only equal when the light and the dark balance out…"

He froze mid-sentence.

"Think that the light side was too strong with Skywalker dead, do you?" Yoda inquired.

Obi-Wan shook his head, at a loss. "Is it possible, Master Yoda?"

Yoda made a 'humph' sound and lowered his head in thought. "Know that, I do not. But know this I do. There has never been a dead Sith more powerful then the chosen one. In dying and coming over to the light side, our former knight may have disrupted the balance."

"Now what do we do?" Mara asked. "Make him evil and then kill him?"

Luke shot her a look of absolute horror.

"I'm not saying I like it, Luke," she told him, as gently as she could. "But what other choice do we have?"

Obi-Wan dismissed the idea immediately. "We can't do that. The council has already been possibly responsible for his last turn to the dark side. We cannot drive him away again… not without falling with him."

"True, what Obi-Wan says is," Yoda nodded. "Play with souls, we cannot. Let the Chosen One renew his post, we must. He has returned to us for a reason, he has. To fight one that will balance the dark side against him, perhaps."