Chapter Seven

Ciana's face seemed to get even paler, if that was possible. Anakin was beginning to get worried. Suddenly she scowled and slammed the door in her father's face. She turned to Anakin, staring at him, a madness in her eyes that scared him.

"DON'T let him!" she hissed, storming away from the door and down the hallway and out of his sight.

Anakin stared at the door as once again Ciana's "dad" knocked upon it. He took a chance and opened the door to face him. As Anakin watched this man, he was wondering if this really could be the same man that got drunk and had beaten Ciana severely, enough to make her run away, and cringe anytime anyone raised a hand towards her. Anger built in Anakin's system and before he knew what was happening, he had grabbed the man's shirt in his hand and pressed him up against the wall. Anakin glared down at him and wanted to laugh at the glint of fear evident in his eyes.

Anakin leaned in even closer and growled,

"Listen pal, " Anakin jerked on his "captive's" collar, "I don't know who you are, or what you want with Ciana, all I'm going to tell is that you can't have her." Anakin jerked on his collar again. "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" he practically yelled.

The man underneath no long had any fear in his eyes, and the thing that made Anakin's blood boil was the scowl upon this..man.

"Listen boy," he spat the word out like a curse, "get your filthy hands off me before I do something that will make you cry." He smirked as Anakin slowly let got of his shirt and stepped back.

"Good, now listen closely boy. I don't know who you are, or what you're doing here with Ciana, all I'm going to tell you is that…I will have her, you just watch, one day you won't be looking and wham, she'll be gone from you..forever. You remember that now, and don't forget it." And with that, he walked down the hallway and out of Anakin's sight.

Marius sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Damn! So close to get her…he shouldn't have spoken, as soon as the door had opened he shoulda grabbed her and gotten the hell off of this Force-forsaken planet. No, just wait..she'll be in your clutches soon enough…A beep from his comm broke his thoughts, and as he opened it he was sure who it was..

"Yes, my Lord?" he asked quietly, walking fast so as to get out of the view from the public. He continued to stare at the blue tiny little holoimage of Sidious.

Obi-Wan lightly caressed Padme's cheekbone as the other hand sifted through her mass of chocolate sweet smelling curls of hair. He inhaled her scent and leaned in closer, kissing her cheekbone, still caressing it. Force, she was beautiful, especially when she was sleeping, all the worry lines gone from her face. A small smile was on her lips now, and she moved closer to him, dreaming. It must be a good dream. I hope I'm in that dream..Obi-Wan thought, smiling. Padme's smile became bigger as she felt Obi-Wan's kiss on her cheek. She didn't want to wake up just yet..she mentally sighed and turned and opened her eyes slowly, looking at her handsome husband.

"Mmm, now that is a lovely sight to wake up to," she murmured, inhaling his scent. Obi-Wan's chest rumbled as he chuckled. He kissed her on the lips lightly.

"Hmm, you're telling me."

They both looked up as they heard the front door slam shut and they looked at each other, the same expression on their faces, as they heard a pair of feet running past their door and a bedroom door slamming. Obi-Wan started to get up but stopped as he felt a hand on his arm, and turned to see Padme looking at him, concern in her eyes.

"Please be careful, and gentle, what ever is going on out there must be held with the up most care."

Obi-Wan nodded while smiling, he kissed her on the lips once more.

"I know." And with that he got off the bed, donned a robe, and walked down the hallway.

He wasn't too surprised to find Anakin standing at the front door, staring down the hallway. He crept up on Anakin and stood behind him.

"Care to tell me what happened?" he asked.

Anakin didn't look at him, he continued to stare…more like glare, out the door and down the hallway.

"Ciana's dad was here." He said, his back stiffening. He was barely controlling the anger inside of him to go after him and choke that man to death for what he had done to Ciana.

Obi-Wan's eyebrows rose up in surprise, yet he didn't say anything. He looked down the hallway towards Ciana's room. He made a move to go towards his own bedroom again, but before he passed Anakin, he spoke softly.

"Be careful of your emotions, Anakin. Learn to control them." And with that he walked away.

Anakin's back stiffened even more and he longed to lash out at his former Master, but he knew that that wouldn't help anything. Anakin sighed and shut the door slowly, and turned, walking down the hallway to Ciana's room.

"Did you succeed?" the raspy voice of Darth Sidious asked.

Marius hid in the shadows, watching where he walked.

"No, my lord." He said frightfully, everyone knew what Sidious would do to someone who failed him.

Beneath his hood, Sidious scowled, and banged his fists against the arm of the chairs in anger.

"You know what I do to someone who fails me, Marius?" he asked slowly, he mentally smiled evilishly as he saw the fear in Marius' eyes.

"Y-yes, my Lord, but I promise…I will get her, it won't be long."

"How can I trust you."

"You..you don't have to, my Lord, if I fail, you are going to kill me, but I will capture her, after all, I am her father, and I know where she hides and I can track her down. When she was but a little girl, I implanted a tracking device in her, unbeknownst to her, of course, my Lord. That is how I finally found her. She can never escape me, and if she can never escape me, she can never escape you, my Lord. But, one question, what do you want with her…" he dared to ask.

Sidious' scowl became even deeper and he hissed.

"You dare ask a question of my actions?" Sidious banged his fists against the arms again to emphasis his anger and his question, "I know what I am doing, and I trust you, Marius, and for that I shall answer your question."

Marius leaned in even closer to the holoimage, as if that would help him hear Darth Sidious even easier.

"She is the key that we need to get Anakin Skywalker. We both know that he is attached to her…," Sidious smirked, "that foolish boy. If something happened to Ciana, Anakin would of course try to rescue her. If we have Ciana in our clutches, we will soon have Anakin Skywalker in our clutches, and he is the one I want. Yes, him, he is..The One…"

The way Sidious had said that made shivers go down Marius' spine. Yes, indeed, this Anakin Skywalker was very important…

"Do you promise that no harm will come to her, my Lord?"

Sidious hesitated, even though Marius was working for him, he knew that Marius was indeed Ciana's father, and of course he still had feelings for him. That will change…

"Yes, Marius, I promise no harm will come to your daughter." He emphasized 'daughter' and he saw Marius shiver slightly."

"We will talk soon, Marius. Contact me when you have gotten your daughter. It should not take long. I will be waiting." He said, and with that the holoimage disappeared.

Marius stared down at the comm., and suddenly shame filled him. He stopped walking and just stood there, thinking one thing. What have I done…