A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! Your comments mean so much to me! Sorry this took way long, but I've been busy. But, enjoy this chapter and please review!

Chapter 17

"I don't trust him," Anakin said as he stood by Luke, leaning on the counter.

"He does seem a little off… Perhaps he's just uncomfortable after whatever he went through. I mean, you did kill him. Maybe he's holding a grudge," Luke replied.

Anakin laughed uneasily. "You honestly believe that this man is the real Obi-Wan? No, the one I knew never seemed this way."

"Well after what you did, I'm surprised he didn't kill you right then when he walked in the room," retorted Luke as he walked away from Anakin, and began to pace the room.

"So you're mad at me too now Luke?" asked Anakin. "Well this is just great."

"You never even apologized for what you did, or ask for forgiveness!"

"Luke, do not ask me to beg for forgiveness; I can't do that," said Anakin, beginning to tense up.

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about! You prance about like you never did anything wrong!" cried Luke,

"Prancing about? What are you kidding me? Inside I am tearing myself apart over this! I ruined my family, the republic, my best friend, everyone who ever cared for me! Do not think for one moment that I don't regret what I did. I will never forgive myself. But I cannot ask anything of you, even forgiveness. I know it to be impossible for all the things that I've done. There are some things in the past that you can never understand. Some things that can't be explained, that shouldn't be. There were more intense, deeper feelings than what I told you about earlier. If I tell you now, I know that you could never understand; the dark side has impenetrable power. Neither you can understand that, nor did the council understand that so long ago. They thought they knew everything about everyone, every rule, everything about the force. But they didn't. The dark side held certain things at that time that I thought I couldn't live without. Not only things that I thought I could save Padme with, but also… I wanted something more. My life wasn't complete without it."

Anakin paused and saw the look that Luke was giving him. This filled him with more rage. "See! Even when I am trying to explain myself you look at me with disgust and pity! I do not need your pity! You cannot offer me anything that I do not already have! I have felt every power, every emotion that you could not understand! No one could! I felt trapped, alone, helpless… The dark side offered an escape to those feelings! You have no clue what I went through; no clue about what I felt, or why I did anything that I did." He paused and looked his son straight in the eye, penetrating his soul. "I'm through with it. With these idiotic trips of yours, these arguments... these problems. I've had more than enough to deal with. I don't even know why I wanted to help you in the first place. You're no son of mine."

With that Anakin drew up his hood and walked through the door, leaving a both confused and saddened Luke behind.

After Anakin had left Luke behind, he went off to try and find Janira. Perhaps she could help him; she usually understood these things. Sure she may be mad at him, but Anakin knew that she would never treat him like Luke had. It seemed that Anakin never understood his son. He was just so... so innocent... or pure… or something. Just seeing how much his son had accomplished for the good of mankind made Anakin feel guilty and like Luke was better than him. Anakin scoffed.

Luke better than me? Anakin thought. Nonsense.

But Anakin frowned, knowing that Luke did have better qualities than him. Luke did not try to destroy the Republic; he saved it. He did not turned against all the people who loved him; he helped them grow. It was then that Anakin realized that he was not mad at Luke for putting him down, but because every time he was around his son, it just made him realize what a bad father he was. Not just how bad a father he was, but also how horrible a person he was. What Anakin really needed right now was someone who would tell him that he wasn't all horrible; and that someone was Janira.

Truthfully, he had no clue where to look her; he had no idea where she would go. So he decided to just look in every nook and cranny until he found her. Luckily, Anakin didn't have to look that hard for her, for he found her sitting atop a hill, looking at the stars. His steps faltered a bit, unsure of whether or not he could approach her, but before he could decide, Janira turned around and looked at Anakin.

"Well would you look who it is," she said as she turned back and looked at the stars again. "Finally realize that my plan was the only way to go?

"Actually," Anakin replied as he walked over to Janira and sat down beside her, "I have something to ask you."

"Oh. Well, then go on and ask already. I'm busy."

Anakin frowned at her last words, but decided to let them pass. He sighed and took a deep breath. "Am I... really a horrible person?"
Janira glanced over at Anakin with a confused look on her face. Shaking her head she said, "Is that really all you can think about?"

He didn't answer but just continued to stare at her.

"I mean, seriously. What's done is done, and you really need to move on. You can't change the past, Anakin. Yeah, you did make some bad decision, but you can't change that now. You need to move on with your life and decide what you want to do right now. Do you want to try and stop this menace? Or do want to sit back and just watch everything be destroyed all over again? Or, I guess if you want to, you could even join Larveus and help him. The choice is yours and yours alone."

Nodding slowly, Anakin pondered this for a moment. Then he put on a smirk and looked at Janira. "I think I want to join Larveus."

The look on Janira's face made him laugh for the first time in a long time. Janira began laughing too and then punched him in the arm saying, "That's not even funny Anakin!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. I guess after what I've done I shouldn't be talking like that, huh?"

"No kidding."

"Thanks Janira."

"No problem."

Anakin sighed. "Now if only Luke could have the same attitude."

"Ha!" Janira replied as she threw her head back. "Luke never sees the bright side of things. He's always so serious. But... that's what makes him such a good Jedi, ya know? Sometimes you need to be serious in order to get things done, or to make a plan."

"I guess so. But Luke does remind me a lot of Padme. Even though he does have my dashing good looks."

"Oh yes, if you mean looking like a pile of stinking bantha fodder."

"Hey! I knew a lot of people who liked this," Anakin said defensively as he pointed at his face.

"Only if you mean –"

"Well, well, well, would you look at who we have here," a sudden voice came from behind them. In an instant both Anakin and Janira were on their feet, facing the person.

"I always knew you were in this just to get the girls, Anakin, going against all the rules," the voice replied menacingly.

"You're not Obi-wan," Anakin replied through clenched teeth.

"You're quite right at that, but your boy is so easy to fool," the pretend Obi-Wan enticed as he showed a captured Luke in front of them.

"Luke!" Janira cried as she attempted to go to him, but Anakin held her back.

"He was so easy to fool… and capture. Perhaps you didn't teach him enough, Skywalker. But oh wait... you didn't even teach him anything did you? Because you weren't there!" yelled Obi-wan, as he pushed a button on his arm, which caused the Obi-Wan "shell" to disappear, reveling Larveus behind it.

"I knew it," growled Anakin.

"Oh, did you now? You certainly didn't show it," Larveus paused and eyed Janira, who was trying not to meet his gaze. "Janira!" he barked. "Come here!"

Slowly Janira began her way over to Larveus' side and stood next to him.

"You did very well, my friend," Larveus said, all the while looking in Anakin's eyes.

"Thank you," Janira replied quietly, still looking down.

"What?" questioned Anakin, utterly confused.

"You didn't know? She was working for me the entire time. Helping me to capture Luke here," explained Larveus.

"Then why'd she bring me back alive?" asked Anakin.

"Well, we thought you'd be a great asset to the team," said Larveus. "So, what do you say, Skywalker. Join us."

"No. I will not make the same mistake twice."

"No Anakin, if –" began Janira, but she was cut off by Larveus, who grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

"Ah, ah, ah, Janira, no ruining the surprise. Now, come on Anakin, What do you say?"

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