Obi-Wan rode the transport to a small diner before going to the Jedi Temple. He felt happy for Anakin, that the boy had finally found some true happiness, but he also felt sad for him, because Anakin would have to lose his family. Most younglings after being brought to the temple were cut off from family members, cutting all emotional ties. Anakin had been too old and too attached to his mother when he had been brought by Qui-Gon Jin to the Temple.
"He'll be fine. He's the Chosen One," Qui-Gon had reassured Obi-Wan many times.
"But, Master, forgive me if I seem rude, but he's too old. He has too many emotional attachments," argued Obi-Wan.
"He will be fine." That was Qui-Gon's argument, and that was usually where it ended.
Obi-Wan smiled to himself as he thought of his late Master. The transport pulled up to the dock and the doors hissed as they opened, letting a stream of aliens pass out the doors onto the street. Obi-Wan stepped out of the transport and as his boots touched down onto the permapavement he felt a familiar sense of relief, though small, pass over him. He wasn't quite sure why flying made him so nervous . . . perhaps because Anakin had always wanted to see how close he could get to danger without killing them . . .
He walked into the diner and a waitress droid approached him. "Take a seat, I'll be right wit' cha!" she said cheerily.
"Thank you," he said kindly, and walked up to the bar. He sat down and took a look around him. Suddenly a huge alien with broad features and a large belly approached the bar and bellowed,
"Obi-Wan!"
The Jedi Master laughed. "Good to see you again, Dex!"
"What can I do ya for today?"
"Just a drink."
The big alien chuckled. "Rough day?"
Master Kenobi shook his head with a smile. "Quite the contrary, old friend. Quite the contrary. I just found out a good friend is about to become a father soon, and he has many more good things about to occur in his immediate future."
"I'll get you that drink then. Massassi Murder on the rocks?"
"No thank you, Dex. Just make it a Correllian Soda, would you?"
"Comin' right up!" smiled Dex, and he bustled away to get the drink.
. . .
Shaak Ti was meditating her room in the Jedi Temple. As always her thoughts were racing as she tried to quiet them. This evening's annoyment was the fact that the Young Jedi Skywalker was going to take the Trials, and become a Master. Many Jedi Council members were still gone, spread out through the galaxy, trying to defeat the Seperatist Rebellion, which had quieted a little since the death of Chancellor Palpatine. Master Windu and Master Yoda had concluded that Skywalker would take the Trials as soon as most of the Masters could convene.
It wasn't that Shaak Ti had anything against Young Skywalker. She truly didn't. He had trained a young Togruta Jedi named Ahsoka Tano, and for some reason that had struck a very harmonious chord with Shaak Ti. It could have been because the young female Togruta was Shaak Ti's alien race sister, or perhaps because young Tano reminded Shaak Ti of a young self long ago.
She shook her head wearily, her head tails moving with the rhythm. She rubbed her face with a sigh. Ahsoka Tano was also reckless and rebellious and proud, traits that Shaak Ti was certain had come from her master Skywalker.
Shaak Ti had not hidden her opinion that Skywalker was not ready to become a Jedi Master from Master Windu or Grand Master Yoda.
"He is young, reckless, headstrong, impetuous—"
"But he is brave, strong, intuitive, and able to adapt well," said Master Windu confidently.
Shaak Ti was not able to hide her incredulous expression, or her feelings of skepticism from them.
"Disbelieve us, you do," said Yoda. "Trust us, you will not. Skywalker, young though he is, a good Jedi Master will make."
"Masters, if you feel that Skywalker is ready, I will not go against your decision," sighed Shaak Ti, her rusty skin looking pale.
"Why don't you think he will become a good Jedi Master?" asked Mace Windu curiously.
"I—I don't know, really. Perhaps it is maturity," said Shaak Ti, resigned that her opinion no longer had a say in the matter of Skywalker's promotion.
"Shaak Ti," said Windu warmly. "I know that you may not want to hear this, but Skywalker proved himself on the day he destroyed Chancellor Palpatine."
"Forgive me for saying this, but I think you welcome him more because he saved your life, Master, not because he is brave or intuitive," said Shaak Ti sharply.
"Changed, he has," said Yoda quietly. "To overcome fear and a sense of betrayal, hard to do it was for him."
Brought back to the present by a soft knocking on her door, Shaak Ti stood up. She crossed over the blue carpet, feeling its comfort beneath her humanoid feet. She pushed the button for the door to hiss open and saw Obi-Wan Kenobi standing there, a kind look on his face as always.
"Master Kenobi," she said, with a hint of surprise and curiosity. "May I ask what you are doing here?"
"You may," smiled Kenobi. "I know it is late at night, but . . ." He fumbled underneath his robe for something. He pulled out a cylindrical tube. "I was asked to deliver this to you."
Shaak Ti scrutinized the human and took the tube from his hands.
"Not all humans are arrogant and swayed by circumstancial evidence," said Obi-Wan mysteriously. His smile was wide. "But I, like Master Yoda and Master Windu believe that Young Skywalker is ready for the Trials to become a Jedi Master."
"You too," muttered Shaak Ti. She shook her head. "That's why you're here? You came to mysteriously hand me a message tube and try to sway me to accept Skywalker?"
"Well, I won't say it didn't cross my mind. But I am confident you won't need to be 'swayed'," said Obi-Wan kindly.
Shaak Ti sighed. She was quite beautiful for a Togruta. The ends of her black and white striped headtails twitched in agitation as she handled the tube between her rust-colored hands.
"What is this?" she asked wearily.
"A holofile I thought you would like to play on your 'projector," said Kenobi simply.
"Thank you, and good night, Master Kenobi," she said turning away.
"Wait," said Obi-Wan hesitantly. She turned, an eyebrow raised.
"Yes?"
It seemed like he had almost become embarrassed. "I ask you to watch it with an open mind. Try to forget the young Jedi you know, or else, try to see how he is different."
She sighed again, but nodded. "I will. For you, Master Jedi, I will." Then the door slid shut and she was alone in her room, holding a tube, feeling weary and tired . . . and alone.
. . .
Anakin could not hide his nervousness, not even from Padme.
"You're shaking," she commented, as she stepped out of the walk-in closet with some of his clean Jedi robes. "Why are you so nervous?"
"A Jedi is never nervous, worried, or anxious," he said matter-of-factly, trying to convince himself.
Padme laughed, her eyes sparkling. "Then you must not be a Jedi today, Ani."
He dressed in dark Jedi robes, pulling a glove over his new prosthetic at the last, making sure the glove fit over the new metal. He gave his wife a rueful smile.
"I only worry about you, Padme. My love for you overwhelms me sometimes."
She sat him on the bed with her and gazed into his blue eyes. "I have been excused from matters of State for a month since I am close to giving birth. I don't want you to worry about me. I have C-3PO and R2 here with me, and handmaids and anything I need in a moment, all waiting on the push of a button or a holocomm." She brushed his sandy blonde hair away from his eyes and kissed his forehead. "Please, go back to your Jedi duties. I will notify you immediately if I must go to a Medic Center, all right?"
Her eyes were pleading with him to agree with her and do what he needed to as a Jedi. He finally nodded and allowed himself to smile at her. Fear rose up in him like bile, but he calmed himself with the Force, feeling its energy boost his spirits.
"I like it when you do that," whispered Padme, leaning against him.
"When I do what?" he asked.
"Calm yourself with the Force. I can feel it. It feels—it feels like home, on the lake on Naboo." She buried her face in his robes and held tightly to him. Then she let go with a smile.
"Now off with you, handsome Jedi. Your duties await."
He nodded. Cupping her heart-shaped face in his hands, he kissed her lips gently. When they broke the kiss, he too felt peace strongly through the Force, and knew that he could leave her for another day.
"I will come back for you, milady," he said with a smile.
"Good!" she called as he strode to the door. He opened it and looked back at her. She smiled and waved, her brown ringleted hair, her fair skin, and her bright smile etched into his mind as he waved and left the apartment.
. . .
"I want to see him!" the young Jedi was almost shouting.
"Ahsoka, you must be patient. He's recovering from an injury—" Obi-Wan's voice was explaining.
Anakin came around the corner of a marble pillar to see his former padawan, Ahsoka Tano, angrily talking to his former master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"She never had a knack for being patient, Master," said Anakin with a smile. Then he pointed at Ahsoka, "And you, Snips, why are you so upset? Anger leads to hate, you know."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "You would know all about that wouldn't you?" she retorted.
Anakin decided to ignore the comment, clearly directed at misdemeanors in his past. Instead he walked up to Obi-Wan and Ahsoka very calmly.
"Master, have the rest of the Jedi Council arrived?" he asked. Ahsoka looked anxiously from one Jedi to the other.
"We're waiting on a few, Anakin. But with the Seperatist movement, there are still many planets that are in need of being rescued from droid armies," said Obi-Wan with a tone in his voice that sounded like worry. "In fact, after you take the Trials, it will probably be time for as many of us to leave Coruscant as possible, without abandoning younglings, of course."
"That stands to reason," said Anakin understandingly, nodding in agreement.
"Well I could have stayed—" began Ahsoka hotly, but Anakin silenced her.
"Yes? Where? In captivity on Mon Calamari?"
"You know very well that I came back with General Kit Fisto—" she began again.
"Well, he's dead." Anakin's soft interruption brought silence to the empty room. Obi-Wan stood a little awkwardly, watching Anakin talk in such a way to the younger Jedi.
Her expression went dark. "I know that."
"Do you?" asked Anakin accusingly. "Really? Because you act like his sacrifice, and the sacrifice of many other Jedi's are to be batted away, burned up, wiped clean."
Obi-Wan cleared his throat, and Anakin sighed, rubbing his face. "I'm sorry Ahsoka. I am just so—tired—of war. And the clean-up we have ahead is very . . ." he searched for a word.
"Overwhelming?" supplied Ahsoka, now calmer.
"Exceedingly," agreed Anakin with a small smile.
"I'm glad you're alive, Master. I look forward to seeing you around more," said Ahsoka, her headtails twitching. Her rust-colored face twisted into a wry smile. She walked away, her boots clicking on the marble flagstones as she left the room.
Anakin turned to Obi-Wan, who gave him a smile.
"I think she's ready for the Jedi Knight Trials, don't you?" said Obi-Wan brightly.
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Don't be getting any ideas, Master."
"Well, why not? She's been through the wars, she has probably passed at least three of the trials by doing so."
Anakin looked pained. "The last thing she needs is more pride, Master. Becoming a Jedi Knight would only fuel that pride."
"She was Commander Tano, Anakin. Just like you. I think that has some merit?"
"Well, especially if she's more like me . . ." said Anakin thoughtfully, watching the doorway where Ahsoka had exited. ". . . I don't know, Master."
Obi-Wan smiled kindly. "You will both do well. Very well."
. . .
Ahsoka entered the Jedi Council chambers and found Grand Master Yoda sitting alone in his chair, meditating quietly. He opened his eyes as he felt her through the force, and a small smile snuck its way over his wrinkly green features.
"Come closer, young padawan, come closer," he growled in his squeaky gravely voice. "Much grown over the course of the wars, you have. Much has happened, since becoming Skywalker's padawan."
Ahsoka allowed herself to smile. "Thank you, Master Yoda."
"Take the Trials to become a Jedi Knight, you must," he said.
"Do you really think I'm ready?" she asked. Her montrals quivered, a sure sign of her growing excitement.
"Ready as ever, you are," Yoda assured her. "The time is coming when prepared we must be to fight a growing threat. Many Jedi Knights we will need, when that time comes."
"I agree with Master Yoda," a confident voice said, echoing slightly in the empty chamber. Ahsoka turned, surprised, to see Anakin come striding into the room to stand beside her.
"There isn't really anything else you can learn from me, Snips," he said, shrugging.
"Not true, that statement is. But the fact remains, that Jedi Knight you must become," said Yoda wisely.
"Well, even if it isn't a totally true statement, it does reflect how I feel about your ability to take on the Trials," said Anakin. Ahsoka felt her cheeks take on a red glow, hard to see against the color of her skin, but her downcast blue eyes said enough about her embarrassment to be complimented by her master.
"In time, see you both become stronger, the Jedi Council will," said Yoda. "Anxious and happy for you, I am. Happy for each other, you both should be."
. . .
The Masters had allowed Anakin to remain on the Jedi Council, even though he had not yet attained the rank of Master yet. They spent a great deal of time conversing about the Separatists and where they could possibly find them.
"An important mission, this is," said Yoda wisely. "To find and disband the Separatists, the Jedi Council must."
"This would be a good mission on which to send Young Skywalker and his former apprentice," said Master Windu thoughtfully.
"But Master," said Shaak Ti. "It could just be a wild goose chase for all we know. Perhaps the Separatists could even be hiding on Coruscant, and not on another planet."
Obi-Wan Kenobi sat thoughtfully, listening. He raised his arm, and the eyes in the room rested on him.
"If I may say something?" he asked. Both Master Windu and Master Yoda nodded, and the rest of the Council watched him.
"When I was on Geonosis a long while ago, I was able to spy on the Separatists. I think Geonosis would be a good starting place to find clues as to where they have gone. They may have left some traces there, perhaps a holodisk or a hologram left in their 'projector. As I spied on them, I did see plans for a space station. Maybe they left something there."
"Without Dooku, maybe there's a chance that they haven't covered all their tracks," said Windu, nodding. "I see what you're saying Obi-Wan."
"It was so long ago, Master Kenobi," said Shaak Ti suddenly. "When young Skywalker was still your Padawan. How can you even be sure there's anything left?"
Obi-Wan honestly shrugged and shook his head. "I can't. I was just hoping to gather a lead from there."
"I will go," said Anakin. "Master Obi-Wan shouldn't have to risk his life looking for bits of evidence."
Obi-Wan gave his friend a questioning look. "Anakin, your life isn't something to be wasted either."
"Well I don't see who else we could spare," said Anakin, sounding a little frustrated. "I don't see why I can't go, after I've taken the Trials."
"You don't know where to look. And I'm getting old. It won't be such a great loss to the Council if I happen to die."
"Who said anything about dying? I thought this was recon!"
"Stop your arguing," said Master Windu, frowning at them. Obi-Wan looked resigned and sat back in his chair, folding his arms, while Anakin stayed at the edge of his seat, looking irritated.
Shaak Ti slightly smiled. "Remember when Qui-Gon Jinn brought Anakin to us as a boy? His faith in him was so strong. Now our faith also must be strong in him. He is the Chosen One." She nodded at Anakin, who tilted his head back in respect.
Master Eeth Koth, a Zabrakkian, snorted. "I thought Qui-Gon had kind of lost it toward the end before he was killed by a Sith," he said with his nose wrinkled.
Obi-Wan's face changed. "You will take that back, Koth, or you will regret that statement."
Master Yarael Poof's small face looked alarmed atop his long, high neck. "Please, please. Let us all calm down."
Master Koth narrowed his eyes at the Quermian. "You just keep out of it, Poof!"
Anakin stood. "STOP!" he shouted, holding his arms in the air to quiet everyone. The chatter and arguing stopped slowly, tittering away into silence. He turned to Eeth Koth, his expression a mix of irritation and curious indignation.
"I know that you don't like me, Master Koth," he said calmly. "For whatever reasons that are your own. All right. Whatever I did in the past to wrong you, I sincerely apologize. But I must ask you to keep your aversions of me out of conversations when talking about deceased Jedi Masters."
"I don't trust you, Skywalker," said Eeth Koth simply. "The fact of the matter is, you were a puppet for the Sith Lord. How do we know, even now, that you aren't a Sith in disguise, waiting for the moment to strike?"
"I agree with you," he said, negotiating. "You have no reason to trust me, I know. Especially since I was under the hand of Chancellor Palpatine for such a long time. No Jedi should have such an alliance as I did with him. But it was not the Jedi that I betrayed that night when Master Windu, and three others who are now dead, went to arrest the Chancellor!" he said loudly, looking around him. His face was a contortion of sorrow. "I wanted something very much from Palpatine that he alone could have given me. But I denied it, and I destroyed him with my own hand. If that alone cannot convince you that I am true to the Light Side of the Force, then I ask that you would allow me to prove my loyalty by this mission." He sat down, feeling a little dizzy.
"Well said, Young Skywalker," intoned Mace Windu from his seat, carefully rubbing his chin. Anakin nodded dully. He felt alone, a feeling not utterly alien to him since he had married Padme.
Master Yoda spoke. "Listened to Skywalker's heart, we have this evening. Felt his sorrows and worries, I have many times. Wrong it would be, to deprive him of this mission. Terrible we should feel if not allowed he is to continue on his destined path."
"Hear, hear!" said Master Poof heartily.
"Tomorrow we will hold the Trials for Anakin," announced Master Windu, looking around the room at the Masters gathered. "This Council has already agreed that through the course of the Clone Wars, Young Skywalker has proved himself in the Trials of Skill, Courage, and Flesh. All that remains are the Trials of Spirit and Insight."
Obi-Wan looked over at his former padawan, who was sitting up straight and had an impassive look on his face. Anakin, feeling his master's gaze, looked back at him unblinkingly, and then nodded to him respectfully.
"Anakin," said Mace Windu, looking pointedly at him. Anakin locked eyes with the dark-skinned Master. "Tomorrow at daybreak, you will begin the final two Trials, and we shall see if you are truly made to be a Jedi Master."
"He's the Chosen One. Don't you think that already makes him a Master?" asked Eeth Koth sarcastically, but quietly. Windu chose to ignore his slight.
"The Council is adjourned," said Mace. "It will meet again tomorrow just before daybreak."
With that dismissal, the other Masters got out of their chairs and left the Council chambers. Anakin remained behind with Obi-Wan, both sitting thoughtfully.
"Master, do you know why I irritate Master Koth so much?" he asked, knowing the answer for himself.
Obi-Wan's smile was wan. "I have no idea, my young friend."
"It's because I'm better than he is. He fears me, therefore he hates me." He laughed dryly. "Not that he'd ever actually admit to hating me, because then he'd be susceptible to the Dark Side. . ." he trailed off, staring into the air.
Obi-Wan shook his head with a smile. "You and your pride, Anakin, are the only things holding you back from being a truly great Jedi."
. . .
Ahsoka Tano was wearing a helmet with the blast shield down, holding her green lightsaber and her yellow-green shoto in the Shien variation of form V. Three Marksman H training remotes circled about her in the air, ready to shoot little blaster bolts that were, essentially, harmless, but would sting on skin contact.
As if sensing when she let her guard down, they all began firing at her simultaneously, a rigourous exercise that had her slicing her lightblades through the air quickly, trying to keep the irritatingly painful bolts from hitting her rust-colored skin. She was at this exercise for a good thirty minutes, and then the remotes stopped firing their blasters and hovered away to the side of the room, where they settled down to the ground and deactivated.
The hums of Tano's blades was silenced as she turned them off, and she pushed up the blast shield on the helmet to look around. Anakin was standing in the doorway, holding a training remote in his right hand, and wearing a confident smirk on his face.
"Is something funny, Master?" asked Ahsoka impertinently.
"You know, I think that it is universally true that all females have a temper that flares up for no good reason," grinned Anakin, as he set the remote into a cubby on the wall and then walked toward her.
Her eyes narrowed. "What made you make that assumption?"
"You are always in a hurry to get mad at me," he said conversationally, as his smile dared her to make something of his remark. "And Master Shaak Ti got a little upset with me the other day when I nearly ran into her."
"Maybe Master Ti knows something about you that the rest of us don't. And maybe you're highly irritating sometimes," said Ahsoka, sounding angry, but only teasing her master.
"Master Obi-Wan would probably agree with you about the irritating part," said Anakin ruefully.
"Maybe one day I'll ask him how he put up with you," she said, taking the helmet off.
"Maybe you should," said Anakin, taking the helmet from her. He put it on his own head and pulled the blast shield down.
"What, are you going to have me fight you now?" asked Ahsoka. "You know that's completely unfair. You have a huge advantage over me."
"What advantage is that?" asked Anakin, his voice slightly muffled. "I can't see and you can, and your hearing is a thousand times better than mine, even with this old helmet off. I'd say you have the advantage, Snips."
She didn't even try to take her lightsabers from her belt. She just stared at him.
"Seriously? You're going to pretend that you're not really good at using the Force or using a lightsaber? C'mon, Master, I'm not stupid. Even if your physical eyes can't see, you can see a ton just by using the Force to feel around you."
"Then I won't use the Force," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well I don't want to slice you in half!" complained Ahsoka. "Why don't you just use a holocron to fight with? I'll be too easy for you, and if you don't use the Force, I'll end up chopping off once of your limbs by accident."
"Let him leave the helmet on," said a voice from behind them. Master Shaak Ti appeared from the shadows of the doorway. "I have no problem sparring with Young Skywalker."
Ahsoka's eyes grew huge. "M—Master," she stuttered.
"Is there a problem, Padawan Tano?" asked Shaak Ti kindly. "Let Skywalker use the Force all he wants. With that helmet on, he will have a hard time fighting me." The smile on her face and the twinkle in her eyes reflected the joking tone in her voice.
"Ah, Master Ti," said Anakin beneath the helmet. "So you've come to teach me a lesson I won't soon forget, right?"
"You're very proud, Skywalker," said Shaak Ti, finding it hard to be truly irritated with his demeanor. "I just intend to bring you a little closer to the ground." She chuckled.
"Master Ti, I don't think this is a good idea," said Ahsoka nervously.
"I won't hurt him," said Shaak Ti.
"It's not him I'm worried about," said Ahsoka, seeing Anakin's grin beneath the blaster shield.
Anakin took a moment to Force-grab a training lightsaber from the nook in the wall where the training equipment was stored. Shaak Ti did the same for herself, though she wished they were using real lightsabers to try out their skills. She truly wanted to see Young Skywalker's skill for herself.
"For future reference, Snips," said Anakin, activating the yellow blade, "you don't have to hack me into little pieces. Training lightsabers aren't just for Younglings, you know."
Shaak Ti activated her lightsaber, which happened to have a green blade. In truth, she disliked other colors for blades, and cherished her own sapphire blue blade in the lightsaber hanging at her belt.
"All right, Young Skywalker, show me the power of the Chosen One!" She sounded eager as she brandished the green blade at Anakin. He stood quietly in the first stance, his feet shoulder-length apart, his blade low. With the lightsaber humming, he brought it around and swung at Shaak Ti. She avoided his wide swing with a "tsk tsk" and then lunged at him with hers. He parried and struck again, which she parried.
They fought for twenty minutes easily, dancing around the room, lunging and dodging, thrusting and parrying. Ahsoka had spoken the truth earlier when she'd said that it didn't matter if Anakin was wearing a helmet. The Force lended him even better sight than that which he got from his real eyes.
Ahsoka had the sneaking feeling that Anakin was toying with Shaak Ti.
"Enough of this!" Shaak Ti said, a little annoyed. Apparently she'd got the same suspicion. She pulled her blue-bladed lightsaber from her belt and activated it. She tossed the training one to Ahsoka, who caught it, surprised. Then Shaak Ti launched at Anakin Skywalker, slicing and hacking against his identical blue blade as if she really meant to cut Anakin into minced meat.
Anakin's thoughts were calm. He could feel Shaak Ti's irritation. In truth, he was surprised at her reaction to him, and all that he had been through. If he had done something to injure her personally he would have understood what her annoyance was, but it seemed to have come out of nowhere.
Then Shaak Ti dropped her deactivated weapon and fell to her knees, sobbing.
Anakin tore his helmet off, looking for injury, his lightsaber deactivated and on his belt in a nanosecond. He took Shaak Ti by the shoulders. "Master! Are you all right? Did I hurt you?"
She shook her montrals, her head tails shaking. "I am . . . embarrassed!" she managed between sobs. "I am so embarrassed! First the Chancellor . . . now you . . . I am truly NOT the excellent judge of character I prized myself to be once long ago!"
Anakin looked awkward as he patted Shaak Ti on the shoulder, trying to comfort her. Ahsoka kneeled by her, giving her as much of an embrace as she could from the awkward side angle.
"I felt your true spirit, Skywalker, as we fought. I am sorry to have judged you, even if it was only a little!" said Shaak Ti. He handed her the lightsaber respectfully.
"Master, whatever I have done, I am truly, very sorry for it," he said honestly. She took her weapon from him, looked up at him, tear streaks on her rusty-white cheeks.
"You have not wronged me. You will do well, here, Skywalker." She stood as regally as she could, considering her embarrassing scene. "You will be a true Jedi Master. Farewell until the morrow." She hurried out of the training chamber, her robes swirling around her legs as she went.
Ahsoka and Anakin traded a look that said, "What was that about?"
. . .
The morning air was cold, and Anakin felt a thrill rush through him. Excitement seemed to permeate the air as a group of younglings, herded by a younger Jedi Knight, rushed past Anakin, pointing and whispering excitedly. The younger Jedi Knight gave a smile to Anakin as they passed.
He waited patiently outside the Council chambers, his hands clasped behind his back as he tried to look calm. It was daybreak, and he was there. But the Council doors remained closed, and he couldn't feel anyone beyond the great doors with the Force.
They must be hiding themselves within the Force so that I can't feel them, thought Anakin. But why bother if I already know they're inside?
As if on cue, the great doors, etched with symbols from the first days of the Jedi Order, slid open with a mechanical hiss, the hydraulic's groaning slightly. The lights were dim, dimmer than Anakin had ever seen them, and all the Council chairs had been removed from within, leaving the cool marble looking empty, yet serene.
No one was inside.
Anakin thought it might be a joke. "Hello?" he asked, stepping into the room.
Suddenly the doors shut, and with a dull thud that rang into the silence, all became quiet, like the settling of dust.
Anakin whirled around, and then his eyes looked around stealthily. He slightly crouched, reaching for his lightsaber. With an electric humm it sprang to life, the glowing blue-blade reassuring to him. With one hand (his organic one) he reached out, and used the Force to search all the nooks and crannies of the room. He Force-swept outside the room. Everyone had gone to their chambers or alcoves, staying away from the Council room.
In the past, a long while ago, the Trials had resulted in death a few times when the Jedi Knights hadn't come sufficiently prepared.
"Hello Anakin," said a familiar, cunning voice. Anakin turned slowly, and saw Chancellor Palpatine walking calmly toward him from a dark corner of the room.
Anakin stepped backwards, raising the lightsaber defensively. "No," he said uncertainly, shaking his head. His heart began to beat rapidly. "No. No, this isn't possible. You're—"
Palpatine chuckled. "Dead? My dear boy, if only you knew what an overstatement that word is to compare my present state!" He laughed jovially, as if sharing a joke. Then an evil red glow appeared and lengthened in his hand, and Anakin realized the old man was holding a red-bladed lightsaber in his hand.
"If anything, I'm more powerful than ever," he breathed wickedly, his eyes glowing red under his hood from the reflection of his blade.
"No! It's not possible!" shouted Anakin, backing away. He hit something solid, and realized he was against the doors. Fear quickened inside him.
"Yes. Ye-e-e-esss," whispered Palpatine. He closed his eyes and smelled the air, as if smelling a delicious aroma. "I can feel your fear. Let it grow into anger and hate. Then you can feel the power of the Dark Side!"
"I don't want to be a Sith!" said Anakin, sounding angry. "I'll never join you!"
"Well I see that you no longer care about Padme," said Palpatine smoothly.
"You don't know anything. Padme is everything to me!" growled Anakin, his lightsaber humming as it swept through the air while he walked.
"And yet you won't do all in your power to save her from death," hissed Palpatine, his face turning into a snarl.
"There is nothing wrong with letting her go the way of the Force!" said Anakin, remembering Master Yoda's words. He repeated them in hopes of helping himself to believe them. "Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed!"
"Don't be a fool! Do you pretend that you have no jealousy in your heart?" snapped Palpatine. "Are you stupid, boy? The Jedi are brain-washing you into believing that you deserve no happiness!"
"Becoming a Sith will not make me happy," said Anakin angrily.
"Yet you give in to fear and anger," said Palpatine, mocking Anakin with an evil smile. "I feel them so strongly, you could crush me in your anger just by manipulating the Force—"
"Well I don't want to!" burst out Anakin. "And you're not real! You died! I killed you with my own hands!"
"A cold-blooded murder," said Palpatine darkly. "Yet another Jedi who says one thing and does another."
"You forced me to kill you!" Anakin said defensively. "You murdered first, for power!"
"And I suppose that you are excused because you were doing what was right?" sneered Palpatine.
"I should have killed you when you first told me you were the Sith Lord!" growled Anakin. "I should have struck you down where you stood, but I did the right thing. And when you overwhelmed Master Windu and the other Council members, you forced me to kill you because you tried to kill him!"
"You helped him murder me, Anakin! You helped him MURDER ME!" shrieked Palpatine, leaping at Anakin. Their blades snapped with electromagnetic ferocity as they clashed together, blue and red gleaming in the dim light.
"You will let your wife die, all because you have let the stubborn-mindedness of the Jedi brain-wash you into thinking that everyone must 'go the way of the Force'!"
"They do!" grunted Anakin, his muscles shaking from holding back the enormous frightening power behind the red blade. "If it is the will of the Force, Padme will transform into it, and she will be with me forever!" He pushed Papatine away, and their lightsabers met again with another sharp crack as Palpatine slammed his blade down hard at the young Jedi.
"I will kill you, foolish boy!" cackled Palpatine, as he battered again and again at Anakin. "Then you will see how much you become the Force for yourself!"
"It's better to die using the Light Side of the Force, than to rule using the Dark Side!" grunted Anakin, parrying blow after shattering blow from the old man.
"If you believe that philosophy, then why try so hard to preserve your life, Jedi Scum?" spat Palpatine with disgust.
"Someone has got to destroy you, you and all the other Sith, to bring peace to the galaxy!" growled Anakin, parrying another blow and thrusting at Palpatine, who blocked the thrust and brought his saber down in an arc to take off a limb.
"Peace is a lie!" snarled Palpatine. "There is only balance when light and dark co-exist in one place! Your beloved Jedi do not believe that!"
"I am a Jedi!" shouted Anakin, and in two moves he disarmed Palpatine and had the old man kneeling in defeat.
Both were breathing heavily. Anakin's chest heaved up and down and he brushed some hair from his face.
"Go ahead, Anakin. Strike me down. Then you will replace me in the Sith Order!" commanded Palpatine, looking triumphant.
Anakin deactivated his blue blade and it hissed as it slid back into the sheath, disappearing from sight. He tossed his lightsaber away from him. "No. I already killed you once, and I will not strike you down in anger. I would rather die before betraying the Light within me."
"Then you will die!" Force lightning shot from Palpatine's crooked fingers striking Anakin and he fell to the ground in agony, yelling in pain.
"I will make sure that you will suffer for your treachery!" shrieked Palpatine and he began to laugh as he continued to shock Anakin. "And when I am done with you, I shall kill your beloved Padme!"
"No!" screamed Anakin. His body convulsed on the ground and he felt like he was on fire, all of his muscles crying out in agony. He could smell the acrid burnt stench of metal as the deadly electricity of the Force-lightning shocked through his entire body.
With every ounce of energy he could muster, Anakin used the Force to grab his lightsaber and activated it in the air, sending it soaring toward the evil Sith. Palpatine laughed and used one of his hands to grab the lightsaber with the force, holding it inches away from his face.
Anakin then summoned the Force, inhaling through his nostrils, and the marble flagstones beneath their feet began to tremor. Palpatine took his attention away from Anakin's lightsaber for only a moment, but that was alll Anakin needed. He Force-grabbed both Palpatine's and his own lightsaber and brought them into an X, slicing through Palpatine's neck. For the second time in his life, Palpatine was beheaded, and his body sunk to the ground as his head rolled away and stopped a meter away, rocking a little.
Then his body shimmered, faded, and was gone in a matter of seconds. Anakin's lightsaber lay on the ground near where Palpatine's body had just lain.
He sunk to his knees, covered in sweat, his body groaning from pain.
The lights in the room brightened, and the huge doors opened, allowing the Jedi Council to file in.
"Congratulations, Skywalker," he could hear Mace Windu saying. "You have just passed the Trial of Spirit."
Obi-Wan hurried to him, helping him stand, and smiling proudly at him.
"Come on. Let's get you to the Medic Center so we can get you in the bacta tank. And so we can, again, replace your prosthetic." He sounded apologetic.
Anakin smiled wearily. "I passed."
"You did, Anakin. And a well done job, if I do say so," he said as they began to shuffle out of the room.
"Rest, Young Skywalker must, before the last Trial he is to take," said Yoda. "This evening, resume the last Trial, we will."
"Let's hurry," said Obi-Wan. "Before they decide to administer it right now."
Anakin barely had the strength to grin. "Let them. I'll pass it, too."
Obi-Wan dragged Anakin out of the room, smiling to the other Masters. He whispered to Anakin. "Just be quiet until we get out of here!"
Ahsoka was standing outside the Council chambers. Obi-Wan didn't hesitate.
"Help me drag him to the Medic Center, will you? He's a little punch-drunk. One too many hits from a Sith, I'm afraid."
"Did he pass?" Ahsoka asked breathlessly, taking Anakin's other arm and helping Obi-Wan drag him down the large corridor.
Obi-Wan smiled. "Yes. Yes he did."
. . .