Chapter Nine – Is He Ready?
Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda were sat together on the ground outside the hut in a circle. They were deep in meditation. The Force was flowing through them and generated an aura of light around each one of them. They all inhaled and exhaled quietly and in time with each other. Anakin was getting restless. He shifted his hand slightly.
"If fidget you do, lose your concentration you will." Yoda had sensed his movement instantly. He had also noticed Anakin's reach into the Force slip as he moved his hand.
"Yes Master." Anakin was drained. He never liked meditation, even when he was a padawan. So when his schedule for each day included one non stop three standard hour session of meditation with Yoda and Obi-Wan, he realised he would be pushed to his limits. And he was not mistaken.
They had been meditating for about seven or eight minutes short of three hours. Anakin hadn't moved since he had started, which for him was an incredible feat. He could never manage more than one standard hour of meditation before the Purge, and considering the fact that he hadn't meditated since before the Purge, it was a huge achievement for him.
Yoda and Obi-Wan seemed oblivious to Anakin's obvious dislike for meditation. Anakin was sure that he didn't hide it well, and came to the conclusion that they simply ignored his negative attitude. Of course, he had been prepared for meditation every day. It was a very important part of a Jedi Knight's life, but he didn't think he would have to do three hours of meditation every day.
When Anakin thought of his three hour meditation sessions, the first word that popped into his head was 'torture'. And yet he had not failed to complete one session of meditation in the four months since he had been on Dagobah. How ever much he hated the sessions, he had to admit that he did feel a lot better about himself when the session was over. He felt as if his anger had never existed.
In the beginning, it had come back. Over time his anger had diminished greatly. He knew that if he kept doing the sessions he would eventually learn an effective way to control his emotions. It helped him to know that Obi-Wan and Yoda were right there with him during the meditation sessions, and so he gave a little bit extra for their benefit. He didn't want to fail in their presence, and that made his will to complete the sessions stronger.
Anakin exhaled loudly. By his estimation, there could only have been two or three standard minutes left until the three hours were up. He hated this part of the meditation. He always got excited near the end of the sessions. And that excitement made each second feel like a minute.
Come on Skywalker, you can do this. Don't think about it. Persevere. Immerse yourself totally in the Force, he told himself. Yoda fought hard to keep a smile from appearing on his face. Anakin had been so focused on his meditation that he had left his mental shielding down and his mind open like a book, and Yoda had read it. He put his mental shielding up high and began to speak to Obi-Wan through the Force.
To be commended, your old padawan's determination is. Progressed excellently, he has.
I agree Master. I sense his anger is waning to the point of non existence.
True this is. Almost ready he is to face the Emperor. Yoda could sense the Jedi Master's frown.
Are you sure Master? Sidious is very strong, and I don't believe that Anakin has learnt to control his emotions to a suitable level yet.
Also true that is. Believe in the boy I do. His destiny it is, to destroy the Sith. Obi-Wan said nothing more. He could sense Anakin's increasing restlessness, no matter how hard his former apprentice tried to hide it. There was only a few more seconds left. Without opening his eyes, Obi-Wan gave a nod in the direction of Yoda, who sensed it. There was a few more seconds of silence.
"Done well you have Anakin. Over this session is. Speak with Master Obi-Wan in private, I must. A short break you will take, before lightsabre training."
Anakin relaxed. His shoulders were stiff, and his legs ached as he moved them. He had been in the same position for so long that his entire body was either stiff or ached. He rose to his feet and bowed politely to Yoda and then again to Obi-Wan. He turned on his heels and left the two Masters to talk with one another.
"Know you do that before the Purge, feel left out Anakin would if told him we did to leave us to talk. Resent us for that he would have. Search him now, and no resentment will you find. Only acceptance I see." Obi-Wan studied his former apprentice closely. He was now lying in a hammock he had made out of some of his old tunics.
"See what I see do you?"
"Yes Master," came the reply.
"Thought so I did. What you think this means, hmm?" Obi-Wan stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"That he has learned to accept things. And that he has learned some form of emotional control."
"Strong form of emotional control he has learned. Realise this he does not. Ready to fight the Empire at our side he is."
"You believe he has truly returned to the light side of the Force?" Yoda looked Obi-Wan directly in the eyes.
"Do you?" Obi-Wan pondered the question for a few moments. He quickly relived some of the better moments of the last four months, and studied the progress Anakin had made in that time. Obi-Wan had to admit, it had gone far better than he had expected.
"Yes, I do. Anakin has come on in leaps and bounds in the time he has spent here, and has really benefited from the counselling and meditation sessions with us. I believe he had returned to the Light."
"Trust your judgement I do. And I agree. Returned to the Light, Anakin has, stronger than ever before. Overthrow the Emperor he can, with a little help from us. Long outlived his position of power the Emperor has. Defeat the Emperor we must. As soon as possible." Obi-Wan gave a nod of approval and stroked his chin once more.
"We will need lots of time to plan an attack. We will need battle strategies, weapons and a ship at the very least."
"A series of attacks we will need to attempt before attacking the Emperor. Strong allies the clones are, and in great numbers. If sense our presence the Emperor does, the whole army he will bring crashing down on top of us."
"I agree. We will need to eliminate the threat of the clones before attempting to liberate the galaxy of this tyrant. We must tread carefully."
"An idea I have. To a dark place this line of thought will take us. Perfect timing we will needing. Perfect execution we will needing. Not the work of the Jedi, we will need to make it look." Obi-Wan was intrigued as to what Yoda's idea was. He knew the little Jedi always had a trick or two up his sleeve.
"Would you mind filling me in on your idea?" A sly smile crept upon Yoda's face as he began to speak.
Anakin was exhausted. All he wanted was to be able to lie in the hammock asleep for the next three weeks. Every day on Dagobah had been just as much physically demanding as it had been mentally demanding. His body cried out for rest, yet he soldiered on. He had let his Masters down before, and he did not want to do it again. He would do whatever it took to avoid that happening.
He wondered what Obi-Wan and Yoda were saying. He knew they were discussing his progress ad how he was doing, but he didn't know exactly what they felt. He didn't know whether they were pleased or not. He didn't know whether he was ready or not. He had to keep telling himself that the Masters would say if he wasn't doing well to keep him from losing his mind.
He knew what he would eventually have to do. He knew from the moment he arrived here, what he would have to do when he was ready. He knew that he would have to kill the Emperor, or die trying. It was the only way he could ever be free of his remorse. It was the only way he could ever make peace with all those Jedi he had killed.
He was scared. He had never bested Sidious when they had sparred together on Korriban. He had never even come close. While his anger was considered by Sidious to be his greatest ally on the battlefield, it also made him reckless, and Sidious had pounced on any opportunity gifted to him. He had grown frustrated. He felt he should have been able to beat the old fool every time.
Now his frustration had been replaced by fear. He had learned to control his emotions, but somehow he knew that his fear might get the better of him when it came to the inevitable duel. That was why he had requested Yoda help him to control his fear. So far it hadn't worked.
He felt sad that even Yoda couldn't help him control his fear. If Yoda couldn't help him, then nobody could. And that scared him even more. He wanted to go into that battle without his emotions. He wanted to be totally focused on the task. If he could control his fear, he would have a chance at defeating the Sith Lord.
"Fear is not such a bad thing Anakin." Anakin nearly fell out of the hammock. He had been in a world of his own, and had not heard or sensed his former Master approaching him.
"Sometimes you can use your fear to aid you in battle. As long as you don't give in to it, it could give you an edge over your opponent. I recall teaching you that some years ago." Anakin sat up in the hammock and threw his legs over the side.
"I remember. You taught me that just before I had to fight Ferus Olin in the young padawan lightsabre tournament." Obi-Wan chuckled.
"Yes. I seem to recall you beating him and progressing to the final. I also told you that the size of your opponent doesn't matter. I thought that was what scared you about Ferus." Anakin cocked an eyebrow.
"No Master, I was only scared of losing." Obi-Wan crossed his arms and gave Anakin a disbelieving look.
"Suuuure you were." Obi-Wan winked at Anakin and a mischievous grin appeared on his face.
"Come Anakin. Master Yoda and I have something of great importance that we would like to discuss with you."
Author's Note: Gah. This chapter was delayed like the last one, but this time it's not just because I was lazy. Well, I uploaded the last chapter on Monday, and started writing this on Tuesday. I planned on having it finished by Tuesday night, but I got watching too much television (Family Guy is just too hard to resist) and then I had to go to sleep. I would have had this chapter up earlier tonight, but I had parents evening at my school, so I didn't get home until half past seven. Then I had to eat and watch an important football/soccer match. But anyway, the chapter is here now.
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. This is the build up to the finale, but be warned; there are many chapters to come. This story doesn't have much of a beginning or middle. We haven't had that much action so far, but that will change soon. I swear. There will be lots of death and destruction soon to come, so for those of you who love that sort of thing, stick with this fan fic. Who knows, there might even be a couple of twists along the way.
And now comes the time where I thank everyone who has read Redemption. Please keep reading. And please keep reviewing!!! I cannot stress how much I love reviews!!! So please keep them coming. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, you all have given me a massive boost. And I'd like to end this chapter by saying thank you to all who have added this story to your favourites/alerts lists, and thank you to all of you who have added me to your authors' alert lists. Enjoy chapter nine!!