Chapter Four

Thinking back on it in later days, Obi Wan would think of what happened in the corridor with wistful amusement, but at at the time he wouldn't have been able to tell who was more terrified, he or Anakin and the Senator. They had sprung apart like a malfunctioning self-sealing stem bolt the moment they became aware of his presence and both stared at him as if he was the Sith Lord.

"I have long suspected that the attachment between the two of you is far stronger and deeper than you let everyone believe. I am neither dense nor stupid. But by the Force, Anakin, what were you thinking? This is against thousands of years of Jedi tradition, and you're throwing everything away for some sort of childish infatuation! You are a Jedi, and-"

At that moment Padmé interrupted. Even without the Force it wasn't hard to see that Obi Wan was about to blow his top, and knowing Anakin, he would follow suit. If it was all the same, she'd rather they do it behind the closed, and more importantly, soundproof doors of her apartment. "Master Kenobi... Obi Wan, we should go inside. I have control of the recordings the hall sensors make, but someone else might just happen by."

Said Jedi Master wanted to do anything but that at the moment, but something in Anakin's face convinced him that it was the right thing to do. His Force Signature was shut. It was as if he didn't even exist, was not there, the best mental barriers Obi Wan had seen in his life. Anakin's face mirrored that, and the last time Obi Wan had seen it was when... He shook his head. Best not to revisit that particular disaster again.

"That would be best, Senator." Obi Wan said, barely keeping his temper in check. He followed Padmé through the door, with Anakin, who had yet to say a word behind.

Doors closed, Obi Wan tried to calm himself. He let his anger and resentment at being lied to flow away into the Force, and as he did so, he realized what the emotions Anakin displayed meant. His former Padawan, the Jedi Hero with no Fear was scared! Scared that he, his Master, best Friend and Brother all rolled into one would forsake him for going against the Jedi code. Yes, there had to be anger at being found out and what he thought to be the betrayal by the one person in the order whom he trusted and had been trusted by in return. If even half of what Obi Wan thought the young man thought to know about what the people around him thought about him, then he had to feel utterly and totally alone right now.

And judging by the way he stared at him now, rage was definitely about to win out.

"Master, this is not... a fling or infatuation." Anakin said with restrained but visible anger. Padmé stepped up to him and only placed one of her hands on his arm. He turned and looked at her with so much adoration. Obi Wan was forced to admit that he had been partially wrong, and as he watched, he realized that she accomplished the one thing he had never really managed. She calmed him down when he had no real desire to do so.

"You love her."

Anakin sighed and looked at his old Master with a rueful smile on his face.

"That I do, Master. Very much."

"You know, I've suspected for years that your feelings for her might be more than professional, and recently you do sneak out of the temple regularly when we are on Coruscant, but..."

What exactly were they to each other? Lovers, certainly. That much was obvious, and it was all but certain that Anakin was the father of her children.

Anakin must have sensed the question.

"Master, she is my wife."

That was one question answered then. Schooling his face and his force presence into an appearance of restrained worry and gravity.

"How long?"

"Three years, Master. Since we returned from Naboo after Geonesis."

Obi Wan hid his surprise at their skill at deception and asked the next, equally obvious question.

"So the children are yours, Anakin?"

"Yes, Master. Though I didn't know it was twins until you told me."

Padmé smiled. "It was supposed to be a surprise, Ani. You promised that you wouldn't look."

"I know, Angel. I would rather have heard it from you."

He leaned over and kissed her up to the moment that Obi Wan cleared his throat once more. "Mind your feelings, my still very young former Padawan."

"Yes, Master."

If not for the seriousness of the situation Obi Wan would have laughed at the way the great Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker was suddenly once more reduced to the rambuctious, rebellious adolescent he had once been during the many times Obi Wan had lectured him. Instead of saying anything he just watched his friend and his wife as she soothed him. His Wife!

And yet, somehow Obi Wan couldn't maintain his anger, so obvious was the simple truth that it was the very real thing for both. When he had first 'caught' them he had thought it was some sort of illicit affair, but what he had here instead was the deepest possible of all emotional attachments. Obi Wan was the former Padawan of the late Qui-Gon Jin, and as a result anything but the Dogmatic follower of the code Anakin had sometimes accused him of being. He knew that since the war had started whenever they left Coruscant on yet another assignment he exhibited an uncharacteristic calmness, which was one of the things that had initially tipped Obi Wan off to what was going on. But Anakin's obvious worry about his reaction and his attempts to pre-emptively shield his emotions... By the Force, could it be that Anakin thought...

"So why didn't you tell me, Anakin? I thought we shared everything." Much to his own surprise, this was the only thing that truly hurt Obi Wan about all this, and he made a mental note to meditate on the fact once he had a few moments.

"Because you would have told the Council."

Anakin nearly spat out the last word, but he wasn't finished.

"Because then I wouldn't have been able to keep her safe, and.."

He sighed again. "And because I didn't want to put that burden on your shoulders, Master."

Obi Wan sighed. They would have to do this the hard way.

On one hand he loved Anakin even more for what he tried to do, but at the same time he was angry that he presumed to know what was best for his old Master. He wouldn't become aware of the hypocrisy of that thought for a while.

"What makes you think you know what's best for me, Anakin? Aren't I old enough to decide for myself which burden is too much? As you once were so fond to point out, we are not related by blood."

Padmé held Anakin's arm and was obviously furious. Just as she opened her mouth to start blasting at Obi Wan, her husband said: "Why should I heed it any more than you do? You still try to nanny me at every turn. You and the rest of the Council."

"Oh Anakin..."

Saying 'I only want what's best for you' wouldn't work right now, that much was sure.

"I..."

Obi Wan was at a loss what to say, so for a few minutes silence fell in the room. More to break the impasse than because he was tired, Obi Wan sat down in the chair he had used earlier and sighed, once again banishing the bad feelings into the Force. As he looked up, Anakin and Padmé still stood in the same spot and in exactly the same way, though maybe a bit closer. To Obi Wan they looked as if they felt they were under siege, but...

With a sickening realization, Obi Wan rose to his feet.

"By the Force... Anakin, do you really think I would forsake our friendship over this? That I would choose the council over you because you did what seems to make you happy? You are my brother, my family in all the ways that count. Do you really think I could do this to you? To betray your trust that way?"

The uncomfortable silence was answer enough.

Surprisingly, it was Padmé who answered first, now noticeably angry herself. "What is he supposed to think, Obi Wan? You were and are always the one who reminds him of his duty to the code and the Order."

It was very, very true, Obi Wan supposed, and in his head once again tried to decide what to say next. They both had a point. And to be honest, would he have decided the same if it had been anyone else he caught? Yes, it bloody well would have. What Anakin and Padmé seemed to have forgotten was that the bond that ran between him and Anakin was a two-way street. Then again, how was Anakin to that? The both of them had been raised with a code thousands of years old, and Obi Wan had always reinforced it's values in his teachings.

"Anakin.. believe me when I tell you that I would never just rat you out to the council. If you'd told me, then I would have been angry, yes, I would have tried to talk you out of it, but I would in the end have supported you. I will support you now. You could have trusted me. You can trust me. You have to trust me."

He took a deep breath. "No matter what the Council says, I believe in you."

Obi Wan glanced at Padmé. "In the both of you."

He wasn't sure why he had said those words, but he knew that they came from deep within himself. He meant them, and was certain that they were the will of the Force. As he tentatively probed Anakin's Force Signature, he saw most, but not all of the fear ebb away. It certainly seemed as if his abandoning their friendship had worried Anakin so much. Obi Wan would have liked to what else ailed him, but he would have noticed that deep a probe, so he decided not to push it. Today.

"So, I believe congratulations are in order anyway."

He grinned.

"And you better tell me everything. Every time you lied to me, you sneaked out and what not. Especially the time you loaned her your lightsabre."

Elsewhere on Coruscant Darth Sidious felt like anything but grinning. In fact, he was furious. He had been reaching towards Skywalker's Force Signature and much to his surprise, had found it in greater balance than it had been after the last time he had been on planet. Something had happened, and it was enough to throw carefully laid plans into disarray. Using his Chancellor Palpatine persona, Sidious had intended to plant Skywalker on the Jedi Council as his own personal spy while driving an even bigger wedge between him and the rest of the order, but to do that, young Skywalker had to be in the correct frame of mind. Which was no longer the case. He wondered why and once again wished he had the entirety of 500 Republica bugged, but unfortunately his own legislation made that impossible, as well as the simple fact that most, if not all the Senators had their apartments swept daily.

He was certain that it had something to do with his wife and his unborn children, and for a moment Sidious was tempted to try a more direct approach, but for the moment their continued survival was in his own interests. Very well, to unbalance Skywalker enough for his purposes a stronger application of what he was already doing would be needed. Manipulating someone's dreams to a specific end over this long a time took great care and deliberation, even for a Master Sith Lord as himself, so he realized that he would be forced to postpone several aspects of his plan. Not by much, a week or two at most, but a postponement still. Though overall, it probably wouldn't matter, as he could implement Order 66 at any time he chose, but who knew how long things like the invasion of Kashyyk could be held back under the pressures of a war that was fast spiralling even out of Sidious' control.

In the meantime however he still needed to up the ante in Skywalker's dreams. For his plans to work, his future apprentice needed to be filled with distrust, anger and fear for those he loved, and at the moment that would take time to achieve, however close he had been only a few days ago. He sensed that Skywalker was still very receptive, but not enough to go behind the Order's back like he needed to once on the Council. Sidious decided on a course of action. He would still meet with Skywalker in Palpatine's office tomorrow and plant the seed, but forgo forcing him on the council until after he'd softened him up some more. Skywalker would be his soon the meantime, he thought, it was time to look after his backup plan, or at least the most promising of several. He would contact his minions and have them move to the next phase. The first phase had been an unqualified success, except in a few cases and in all but one that had already been taken care of.

It didn't take long to call up the latest reports he hadn't read yet and what he found in one of them was less than what he wanted. It had taken months and considerable resources to track that person down and his recruiter had gotten nothing but dead for his trouble. At least those tasked with it had already taken action in the matter, but that too had failed. It seemed that the person concerned did live up to promise, but not in a way that was bound to please the Sith Lord. For a moment he was tempted to order them to persist in their efforts to kill the prospective recruit, but then he considered that of all those approached and already recruited, that person showed the greatest promise. Of course they would all be killed should Anakin Skywalker be turned, but for the moment Sidious was hedging his bets. Besides, it would be a shame not to use the facility that had already been prepared by a legion of CIS construction droids, officially for use as a relaxation retreat for high-ranking separatist leaders.

And there was the war of course. Grievous wanted permission to attack Naboo, again, but Sidious had denied it. Not out of any sense of home or love for his world, but rather because this was one sure-fire way to get Senator Amidala-Skywalker off Coruscant along with Anakin Skywalker and therefore out of Sidious' immediate control. No, that would not do. Even though it wouldn't have mattered, as things would come to a head way before the projected start date of the campaign, but for the moment it was necessary to keep up appearances. However tempting it might be to exterminate those annoying Gungans. Something to be kept in mind for later.

No, at the moment Grievous was perfect where he was, as a pawn to stretch the Jedi Council even further. With luck, they would send someone who could actually kill him, like Master Fisto or Kenobi. To hope for Yoda himself was too much. The Sith didn't believe in luck any more than the Jedi. The day's work more or less done with, Sidious turned to the one pleasure he allowed himself, the plans to his ultimate super-weapon. With it, in time, he would not even have a need for the damned Senate. It would take time to build, years and years, but in the end it would be the ultimate power in the Galaxy.

tbc

Some housekeeping: I'm stretching the time between events during Episode III to fit all my extra stuff. Supposedly the movie goes down over the stretch of only four days which is nowhere near enough. Also, I'm using Palps front or Sith name depending on which mode he's in.

After the "wheels within wheels" nature of Palpatine's plans in the movies and some of the EU I can't see him not have a backup plan for turning Anakin. And did anyone of you seriously think that there would not be a Death Star reference?