A/N: Hey, back on time! Here's the next chapter, enjoy. And thanks to all my great reviewers. I can't even believe how many people are reading this story! Thanks for the support!

Chapter Five: Choice

Screams echoed in Luke's ears as he bolted into an upright position. Breathing very heavily, Luke checked the room around him frantically, as if he were expecting a monster somewhere in the corner. When Luke found no threats, relief spread through his body and his breathing returned to normal. Luke wiped cold sweat from his forehead while he became aware of a whole new problem.

Yesterday's events came rushing back to him like flood waters. The former dread and anxiety hit him as his memory reformed, and Luke realized the nice, comfortable room he inhabited might as well have been a prison cell. He'd really gotten himself into a mess. This time, Luke saw no way of escape.

Luke rubbed his eyes before swinging his legs to the floor. He made his way over to the window, and pulled open the curtains. He wasn't ready for the blast of sun light that burned his eyeballs. Shielding his sight, Luke quickly closed the curtains again, mentally swearing to himself never to do that again.

He wondered what time it was, that the sun shone that brightly. Had he really been out for that long? Luke did feel fully alive and rested for the first time in awhile. At least now he'd be able to put up a fight against Skywalker. Without warning, the door to the room opened, and Skywalker stared at Luke from the other side. It was as if the Jedi sensed his name being thought about all the way from the other side of the apartment.

"Bad dream?" Anakin asked, knowingly.

"No." His voice rang with defensively.

"Come on," Anakin said titling his head towards the hallway. "I have the perfect remedy."

Luke cautiously followed Skywalker through the hall and into the apartment's living room. Skywalker plopped down on a black couch, and grabbed two hologame controllers. He handed one of them to Luke.

"A hologame?" Luke took the controller and sat on the other side of the couch. "Is this what you Jedi do all day?"

"Only when babysitting young Sith-in-training," replied Anakin as he powered up the holo projector.

Luke made an inaudible noise of protest before he focused his attention on the game. He hadn't ever played a hologame before. His life hadn't been like other kids, and his father hardly gave Luke money to eat much less buy an expensive hologame box. And even if Luke's family could afford one, his father would have told him to stop wasting his time and start training.

Once Luke got the basics of the game, all that mattered were laser guns and inter-galactic bandits trying take over Coruscant. While locked in action-packed combat, Luke forgot all about how he was in a Jedi's custody. They must have played the game for hours before Anakin finally switched off the projector.

"Why don't you get cleaned up while I make us some food?" Anakin suggested, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. "Padme left some fresh clothes for you in the guest bathroom."

"Okay," Luke said. A shower and new clothes sounded excellent, though Luke hated loving the idea so much. He couldn't get used to hologames and new clothes. It would only make things harder for him in the long run.

Luke wished more than anything Skywalker would start acting like a regular Jedi and stop being nice to him. In Luke's mind raged a constant battle on whether or not Skywalker was sincere in his efforts, or if it was all a trick to get Luke to betray his values. He wouldn't be turned into a self-righteous Jedi, and of that he was most stubborn.

"So, what was your nightmare about?" Anakin asked before taking a huge bit of his sandwich.

Luke shrugged, slowly chewing his food.

"It's not poison, Luke," Anakin said. He didn't mean to sense Luke's thoughts. It was just hard not to. "Have you been having a lot of nightmares recently?"

"What's with the twenty questions?" Luke got over his fear of poison, and started to down his lunch like the teenage boy he was.

"Well, the fact I felt the terror from your dream suggests it might be a vision." Anakin decided to be honest. It was the only way to gain his son's trust.

"You mean my nightmare is the future?" Despite Luke's efforts to act tough, fear dominated his voice.

"No," said Anakin calmly. Not one of his smarter ideas. "Never mind. It was probably just a dream."

Luke eyed Anakin suspiciously, but said nothing. He returned to inhaling the food in front of him. Anakin watched him, wondering if it was the right time to bring up the situation on Tatioone. Any information he could rely to Ahsoka would be helpful for her.

"Luke," Anakin started. "Did your father ever have plans to take control of Tatioone?"

"You realize I hadn't even been on that horrible rock in two years."

"Don't dodge the question," said Anakin, looking at Luke intensely. "It's important I know if Sith are behind the struggle on Tatioone."

Luke looked down at his almost empty plate. The boy may have hated the man who raised him, but Anakin knew it would be hard for him to make his betrayal official. Luke's silence was enough to confirm Anakin's theory that the Sith who kidnapped Luke was the very same one giving the Hutts trouble. But that wasn't the point of Anakin's question. It was essential Luke that take his first step away from the sith.

"Yes," said Luke, quietly. He avoided Anakin's eyes, poking at crumbs.

"How many are there?"

Luke bit his lip. "Two, if my brother is even on Tatioone. Gage has been chasing me around the galaxy since I left. I haven't seen him in awhile, though."

Anakin sighed, realizing Ahsoka would most likely be outnumbered. He needed to relay the information to the council. She needed backup, and quick. There was no way Ahsoka could handle two sith at the same time, no matter how experience she had. Despite Anakin's wish to inform the council right away, he decided that it was better for Luke that he waited.

It was strange. In all of Anakin's experience dealing with sith, never once had he ran into a team of three. Sith held tight to the ancient rule of two, master and apprentice. It seemed even stranger that this Sith Lord would use the disguise of father to train apprentices. The idea was strange, but brilliant, at least for the sith's goals.

As if on cue, Anakin noticed a message on his commlink. It was from Obi-wan, requesting Anakin's presence at the Jedi Temple. Something had gone wrong. With a calculating look at Luke, Anakin knew he had no other choice but report to the Temple immediately. He would have to take Luke along; though Anakin was sure the visit would have a negative effect on him.

Luke let his head rest against the cool stone of the Temple. Though he knew he'd only been waiting for Skywalker a couple of minutes, it felt like much longer. There was nothing to be done. No one was around to bother, not even Skywalker. He had gone into some room with a few other important Jedi after promising the meeting wouldn't take long.

It was odd, but Luke found himself not being able to wait for Skywalker to get done. At least with him around, there was something to do, someone to talk to. Skywalker wasn't that bad, for a Jedi. In fact, Luke felt lucky he ended up with Skywalker as a prison guard instead of some old Jedi like Windu.

Suddenly, like a great revelation, it occurred to Luke that he was in the hallway all alone. Escape wouldn't be easy, but this could be his only chance yet Luke remained on the stone bench. A great debate raged inside Luke's mind.

He could run, but like Padme told him before, he had nowhere to go. After sleeping in a comfortable bed, waking up to hologames, and a nice breakfast, life on the street almost seemed unbearable to return to. Luke had already betrayed his family after all, and all of his father's information on Jedi so far proved to be false.

Then there was the other side. There was freedom living on the streets, having to answer to no one. Living with a Jedi and a Senator didn't offer that. Plus, what would happen to him once the week was over? What were the Jedi planning on doing with him? Certainly, Luke wouldn't be allowed to stay with Skywalker forever. No, once the week was over, Luke's fate would be decided by the council, and he knew he couldn't let them choose his destiny. Luke wouldn't let them turn him into a Jedi, and if he didn't turn, they would likely kill him.

Luke blinked, and looked down the empty hall with his brilliant blue eyes. He had a choice to make.

A/N: Please review. That is all. Update should be up October first.

VAD

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1 2:4