Chapter 15
Aric's eyes were wide as saucers as he looked up at Master Windu, almost wishing that he had misheard the older Jedi.
Mace frowned. "Will you not go get him?"
The boy tried to smile and glanced around at those watching them. He let out a small laugh and looked back to Windu.
"Uh… well—NO." The smile came off his face immediately. "I'm not going in there."
Mace's eyebrows shot up. "And why not?"
"Because Master Skywalker is beating the dirt of Count Dooku."
Obi-Wan let out a sigh and looked down at the ground. Anakin would need time before he was back to how he had been… Obi-Wan stopped. No, he'd always been like this.
Yoda chuckled quietly and Mace looked to him. "What is it, Master Yoda?"
"If know what Dooku said, you did; agree with Anakin's actions, you would."
There was a sharp thud from behind Mace and Aric causing Luke and Leia to both cringe.
Padme closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Then she opened them again and smiled. "Very well. Master Windu, please bring Anakin to see me when you arrive."
"We're already here," Aric pipped up excitedly. "That's why Master Skywalker had to knock Dooku out. He said he was going to dismember each of the senators, put them in a senate stew, and—"
Mace slapped a hand over Aric's mouth. "Very well, Chancellor."
Luke and Obi-Wan smiled and glanced at each other. Then the connection was over.
Yoda chuckled. "Like this Aric, I do."
Obi-Wan, Luke, Leia and Padme all agreed, but Mara had her mind on other matters.
"Master Yoda, if Aric will not be Anakin Skywalker's apprentice, who's will he be?"
Yoda smiled. "Be Skywalker's apprentice, he will. Take time, it will."
When Mace and Aric entered the cockpit, Anakin was leading the ship through a dive towards a docking station. Coruscant's beautiful cities sparkled in the afternoon sun.
"Is everything alright, Skywalker?" Windu asked.
Anakin nodded without turning. "Dooku is incapacitated. Everything's fine."
Mace glanced over at a tied up, sleeping Dooku, and sighed. These Sith, turned Jedi again, were still a bit rough around the edges, but give them time, and he was hopeful they would return completely.
Aric blinked and stared in wonder and the large cities. Naboo had been beautiful, with all of its scenery and magical sights, but Coruscant was still just as beautiful. Only Coruscant was made of buildings and airways.
Mace tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. "There, Aric, is the Jedi temple. That will be your home for awhile."
The boy's eyes widened as he stared at the tall building. "Whoa… It's huge!"
Anakin smiled to himself. He remembered the day he had first seen the temple, and he had thought the same thing.
Padme followed her escorts towards the Chancellor's office. It had not been used since Palpatine had corrupted the Republic 25 years ago, yet somehow if felt she had never left.
She had made this trip so often, she had it memorized and could have easily made the journey in her sleep, but the escorts felt important taking her there, so she let them. They were assigned to protect her. She would allow them to do their job… until Anakin arrived.
Luke, Mara, and Obi-Wan were on their way to the docking station to meet up with them. Padme would have gladly gone with them, but her protectors, along with stubborn Jedi, had declared she should not be in such an open location. There was no telling how people would react to having a chancellor, or if some of her enemies, or their families were still around.
Leia had agreed with the whole dispute and gone to meet with some senators to consider some steps in talking to the people. Who should be told first, when… etc. So Padme was alone…
But not for long, she hoped. Anakin was supposed to come to her, but part of her wondered if he would. How would he take the idea of her being alive after everything that had happened? She was at peace with the past, but was he? He wasn't Vader anymore, true, but he her Ani once more?
She told herself, he would be. He had to be. She loved him too much to see him any other way, and see him soon, she would.