Chapter Five: Sithly Seduction and Powers Gained

Anakin was bored. Well, bored and more than a bit worried. Harry had done more than train him to be a Jedi, he had also managed to instill more than a little of his dislike for politicians, and Palpatine in particular, in Anakin, and that was now helping the Jedi Knight to figure out what was truth and what was fiction in the web that he vaguely sensed being spun around him.

The Chancellor didn't miss a single opportunity to praise Anakin's accomplishments, while at the same time degrading the Jedi Council for not elevating Anakin to the status of Jedi Master yet. Anakin's quiet statement that he wasn't ready didn't seem to have much effect on the Chancellor at all, and Anakin had learnt to stay quiet and fume in silence at the badmouthing of the Jedi Order. It was with difficulty that he pulled his attention back to what Palpatine was saying.

"As I was saying Anakin, I need to take steps to further ensure the safety of the Republic. I can only do that if the Senate backs me."

"What steps were you planning on taking sir?" Anakin asked, carefully masking his boredom. Palpatine looked at him and sighed. To Anakin it seemed somehow fake but he pushed that observation aside for later pondering.

"Well, I need to have greater authority over the clone army. At present the Senate votes on which areas most need them and then they get sent. It's a time consuming process and in war things must often be decided quickly."

"I don't see how you could have that authority though sir?" was Anakin's neutral comment. Palpatine smiled at him, humorlessly. "I have on occasions attempted to gain emergency powers which would give me the power to send the clones where they're needed without all the drama of votes in the Senate. Unfortunately though, the Loyalist committee, headed by your wife, continually block my attempts."

Looking sideways at Anakin Palpatine said slyly, "If I didn't know that Senator Amidala was so loyal to the Republic I would almost think that she wanted us to lose."

Anakin had to clamp down on a flare of anger at Palpatine's obvious attack on Padme, but said nothing beyond, "My wife is a firm believer in democracy sir, she thinks that if you are given emergency power then the situation could decline into more of a dictatorship than she's comfortable with. I don't believe her of course, but she does deserve to be given a fair hearing."

Now Anakin felt sick, he didn't disagree with Padme at all but his spying duties required him to tell these white lies in order to keep the Chancellor happy. Any information he gained went first to the Council and then to Harry. Finally he asked, "What would you do if you did have those emergency powers sir?"

Palpatine smiled at him, a genuine smile. "I'd end this war now, without letting it drag on so much. But enough of me, how is the Jedi Council treating you these days? Do they trust you?"

'Now why is he asking me that' Anakin thought, puzzled. Out loud he replied, "They trust me sir."

"Do they? You're not a Jedi Master despite having more than enough power and wisdom and they don't trust you with secrets of how the Force works" was the statement from the politician.

Anakin's alarm bells were starting to chime now, softly, in response. Frowning, Anakin said, "Excuse me sir but, how would you know that?"

"I have my ways. The Jedi Council has grown arrogant. They see you, the most powerful Jedi in the history of the Order, and they keep you downtrodden, because they're afraid of your power. Afraid of your future."

Looking away, Palpatine muttered, "Especially Potter!"

Now the alarm bells were ringing loudly. "Why don't you like my former Master?" Anakin asked, deciding to go fishing. Palpatine smirked. "He's never trusted me for some reason. I wanted to get to know you earlier in your life but he stood between us."

Anakin couldn't deny this fact and said so. "I know he doesn't trust you" he admitted. Palpatine smiled and then leaned towards Anakin. Since they were sitting in his private box at the opera, no one would listen in.

"Have you noticed that the Sith and the Jedi are very similar?" he queried. Anakin looked at him in shock. Now he was definitely getting uncomfortable.

"The Sith use passion for their strength. They only think of themselves" he replied, wondering how the Chancellor knew so much. Harry's theory about Palpatine seemed more and more likely with each meeting Anakin had with the man.

"And the Jedi don't?" Palpatine questioned before going on to say, "The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, the only real difference is their points of view."

"Points of view?" Anakin asked. Palpatine shrugged. "The Jedi think of themselves as "good" and the Sith as "evil". They believe that if there is no darkness then the light will stay strong forever. They're wrong though."

"How so?" Anakin asked, interested despite himself. He was recording the conversation, as he had all of them, for security and he wanted to know the answer.

"Because Anakin, the light only shines in contrast to the darkness. Without dark there can be no light. So destroying the Sith actually weakened them though they refuse to admit it."

"You're saying that if a Sith were to attack, the Jedi would be incapable of stopping him?" Anakin pressed, unsure as to why he was sensing danger from Palpatine but wanting as much information as the man was willing to give him.

"Most would die yes. Only a few would be strong enough to fight, those being Master Yoda, Master Windu, Master Potter and you."

Anakin shrugged. "Thank you Chancellor. However, I must disagree with your sentiments about the Jedi. They're doing a lot to help in the war."

"Yes, yes they are" was Palpatine's distracted response. Then he settled down to watch the opera, not talking anymore for the rest of the performance.

The next meeting that Anakin had with Palpatine was a week later and it was every bit as disturbing as the rest. It started with Anakin and Palpatine having a friendly debate over the war, and then got down to the serious stuff.

After a bit of small talk to lead into the subject, Palpatine said, "How is your wife Anakin, is she well?" Anakin shrugged, a bit confused at the question.

"She's fine sir, a bit tired every now and then but otherwise she's in good health." Palpatine smirked before saying, "Have you thought about what might happen when your child is born? It is a dangerous process after all. So many opportunities for things to go wrong."

"They won't because I have the Jedi healers looking after her at present, she'll be fine" Anakin ground out, annoyed that the Chancellor was trying to make him doubt that Padme would be OK. A niggling worry rose at the back of his mind, his recent nightmares/visions of Padme's death during childbirth which haunted him and wouldn't let him rest. Even after Harry had told him that he was experiencing the same things it didn't ease his worry. He had to wonder though, at the way that Palpatine was homing in so accurately on his fears. Tightening his shields he tuned back into what Palpatine was saying.

"Have you heard the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise?" he asked. Mutely Anakin shook his head. Smiling Palpatine continued, "I thought not. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith that was so powerful, and so knowledgeable with the Dark Side of the Force that he could save people from death. Imagine that power Anakin, the power to save your loved ones from death. Keeping them alive, and with you, forever."

Anakin was shocked. He had to get this information to the Council. He now had a pretty good idea of which side Palpatine was really on but he couldn't give up his mission now. Not when he needed more information. He discounted the idea of saving people from death, he knew that that was a load of crap, but he had to admit it was tempting, and if he hadn't been the Jedi he was he might have been tempted to try and learn it. As it was though, he just became even more wary of the Chancellor and more and more disgusted at the fact that he had to remain in the guy's company. Finally the meeting ended and Anakin was free to go back to the Temple. He needed a long shower, and to spend some time with Padme, and then with Harry, Ginny and Damien. He needed some company that wasn't trying to get him to sympathise with the Dark.

Harry was in the middle of teaching Damien the finer points of Force control when Anakin entered. Anakin just stood and watched for a moment, remembering when Harry had taught him the same thing, in almost the same manner. The point of the lesson was to gain greater control over the Force, and use it for more delicate tasks, such as opening locks for example. The game was that Harry was willingly tied up and Damien had to unlock the locks that held the chains closed before a timer went off.

If the timer went off, Harry would turn a lovely shade of blue or purple, or red, or green, depending on how close Damien had got to completely freeing him. Thus it was a game, with no real pressure involved and it was fun for both teacher and student. As Anakin watched, Damien was working on the last lock and just before it came undone, the timer went off. Damien groaned and then looked at his brilliantly green Master in frustration.

"I'll never get it" he groaned. Harry chuckled, dispelled the colour with a flick of his finger and then said, "Yes you will. You almost had it then, you were only a second away from having me completely free. Just keep doing it at odd intervals and you'll be fine."

Seeing Anakin standing in the doorway he continued, "I think that's enough practice for today, we apparently have a visitor. Damien spun in his seat and grinned at Anakin. Despite having to call him Knight Skywalker in public, in private the two really were like brothers. Anakin smirked and walked further forward, reaching out to ruffle Damien's hair.

"Don't worry about the exercise Damien, when I did it, Harry stayed purple for about a month. You've been working on it for what, two weeks? That's very good."

Damien grinned at the praise and then replied, "Yeah but I was so close. I'll get it next time."

"Of course you will. Now, have you been introduced to the time honored tradition of pranking one's master?"

Harry groaned and entered the conversation, saying, "Yes he has Anakin, kindly don't corrupt him any further. He's doing well enough on his own."

The two younger Jedi looked at Harry, then at each other, and laughed before Anakin flopped down onto the couch. Harry threw a pillow at him, which Anakin caught with the Force. Then they engaged in their favorite game, pillow tug of war, with the Force. Damien sat and watched as the pillow floated back and forth between the two and then smirked. Entering the game suddenly and unexpectedly, his Force pull, at right angles to the opposing forces at either end, won as the pillow shot towards him. Damien caught it cleanly and then giggled when he saw the shocked looks on Harry and Anakin's faces.

"I won" he said with a grin. Harry shook his head. "Sneaky thing aren't you. Well done. Unfortunately you shouldn't enter the game without knowing the rules."

"What rules?" Damien asked, confused. Harry smirked. "Anakin and I agreed that the winner of this would do the dishes."

Now it was Damien's turn to look shocked before he smirked. "You're just saying that to get me to do the dishes Master. It won't work."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" he asked calmly. Damien shrugged. "Because it's normally the loser that does them not the winner."

Harry exchanged a glance with Anakin. "You know Padawan, you're absolutely right. However, if you don't do them then you don't get to go to the Senate with me later on. There's an important vote on whether or not to give the Chancellor emergency powers in order to end the war and I had planned on taking you with me so you could get a look at how the Senate works in real life."

Harry shrugged and then said in a mock sad tone, "But if those dishes aren't done then you won't be coming and that would be very bad for me."

"Why."

"Because I need you with me to keep me from turning tail and running" Harry smirked. Damien chuckled, he knew very well that his master wouldn't turn tail and run from any politician, but he did want to go with Harry. He hadn't had the chance to go outside the Temple very much and he didn't want to lose the chance he now had. With a theatrical groan he headed into the kitchen to do the dishes.

An hour later Harry and Damien were standing in an alcove off the Senate chamber, listening to the arguments. Damien didn't understand the majority of it so Harry provided a running commentary through their bond which simplified matters for the Padawan.

"Members of the Senate" Palpatine was saying. "I realize that this is an important decision for you to make and I promise that if you give me this power I will lay it down once the crisis has abated."

Damien looked at Harry as he snorted quietly. Leaning towards him, Damien asked quietly, "Don't you believe him Master?"

Equally quietly Harry responded, "No Padawan I don't. He's always been far too interested in Anakin for my peace of mind and he's never much liked me. Plus I get the sense from the Force that he's lying. "

Damien shrugged, deciding to leave further questions for later, as his Master had indicated that he should pay attention to what was going on in the chamber.

Most of it was incomprehensible to him but Harry's commentary simplified things, and Damien was able to understand that there were two sides to this debate. One was the Loyalists, who didn't want the Chancellor gaining emergency power as it would take away the democratic processes of the Republic, and the other side was the Chancellor's supporters who wanted him to have those powers so he could end the war.

They'll put it to a vote now Damien, all the arguments have been made came the mental comment from Harry. Damien nodded before replying, Which side are you on Master?

Jedi don't take sides came the automatic response from Harry. Damien turned and gave his master a look that said quite clearly that he didn't believe him.

OK Padawan, I'm on the Loyalists side here. I don't like the feeling I get from the Chancellor and I think giving him more power is a bad idea.

Damien nodded and then watched intently as the voting process commenced. The end result was close but Palpatine got the emergency powers he wanted. Looking over across the Senate Damien could see Padme looking rather upset at the result. So did the rest of the Loyalists he noted as he scanned the area.

A hand on his shoulder alerted him to the fact that Harry was ready to leave. Quietly the two Jedi left the Senate chamber and made their way back to the Temple. Harry was deep in thought, but not so deep that he didn't hear his apprentice say "Thanks for taking me with you Master."

Smiling, Harry replied, "It was a good chance for you to observe the workings of the Senate first hand rather than reading about procedures from datapads. Did you enjoy it?"

"Yes, and thanks for the commentary. What do you think the Chancellor will do with these new powers?"

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure Damien. I just hope he doesn't pull an Umbridge."

"Pull a what?" Damien asked, confused. Harry looked over at him and grinned. "I'll explain when we get back. It has to do with when I was still living on Earth."

"And attended Hogwarts" Damien confirmed. Harry nodded before swerving to avoid a learner driver that had stalled in the traffic lane. Once they got back to the Temple though, Damien let out a yawn, prompting Harry to look at the time and frown.

"That explanation can be left until tomorrow I think. You're almost asleep on your feet and I need to talk to both Anakin and the Council about the outcome of the vote."

Damien looked stubborn. "Can't I stay up, I want to hear that explanation."

Harry shook his head. "No Damien, it's likely that I'll be another couple of hours and you need your rest. Go to bed, and sleep, the explanation will still be available tomorrow."

Damien grumbled and growled but nonetheless headed off to bed. Harry waited until he was asleep before calling Anakin and the Council on his comlink.

"We have a problem" was all he said.