AN: According to the TV show, Yoda can fly a ship. Legit.

Chapter 3:

Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was displeased. "Yoda," he murmured, though in his expansive suite there was nobody else to hear it. "Not Kenobi. Yoda."

This complicates things. Palpatine might be Sith, but he wasn't arrogant enough to simply assume that, even after everything he had done for Anakin, the boy would undoubtedly choose his would-be Master over his old one.

It was only fair, he noted grudgingly. The Jedi had already been kind enough to play directly into his hands by ordering Anakin to betray him, further ostracizing their Chosen One from their ranks. They had dispatched the Grand Master of the Jedi Order himself to put an end to Grievous, tying up another loose end for him even if they hadn't sent Kenobi. They had, from the start, allowed him to maneuver them into a war of his making that would consume them all very, very soon. He supposed it was about time something happened to disrupt his plan.

This would require dealing with. And much consideration as to how this dealing with would be done.

First things first, he thought as he raised his hood to cover his face, and he opened a transmission to Utapau to inform the General on this unexpected turn of events.

Anakin scowled. "What do you mean, I'm not allowed in there?"

Jedi Master Jocasta Nu met his gaze evenly. "You do not have permission to access the restricted section."

"I'm on the Council!" … "Master."

"That may be so, but you are not a Jedi Master, or I would be addressing you as such, and you are not going in until you are one yourself."

Anakin bit back a snarl and clenched his fists at his side. She had to rub it in, didn't she? What was the good of a Council seat without Mastership if every other Jedi could still push him around as they pleased? I need to get in, he raged. Padme needs me to get in. "Stand aside," he nearly growled - he hadn't growled.

"Or what?" she countered. "Jedi Skywalker, you may have killed Count Dooku and saved the Chancellor, but just because you've made even more of a HoloNet hero of yourself does not entitle you to the rights and privileges of Mastership."

Anakin's vision clouded with red. His cybernetic arm twitched toward his lightsaber. Instinctively, he opened himself to the Force and began drawing it in, as unaware of the startlement and panic of nearby Jedi as of Jocasta Nu's subtle shift into a combat stance.

Then he heard, as though from a great distance, a familiar voice asking, "What's going on here?", and his rage left him in a rush. He whipped his head around and stared wide-eyed at Obi-Wan's concerned expression. A relieved smile replaced his earlier glare. "Obi-Wan! Thank the Force you're here, I need your help - "

"Ah, Master Kenobi. Your former Padawan is trying to force his way into the restricted area of the Archives."

Anakin whirled, his vanished rage returning in an instant. "I wasn't - "

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan snapped. "Apologize to Master Nu."

Anakin's face contorted further. "But I - "

"Anakin!"

With a supreme effort, Anakin pushed aside his wrath - without dispelling it entirely - and muttered at the floor, "My humblest apologies, Master Nu." She sniffed, and he knew that if Obi-Wan wasn't standing right there, his lightsaber would be out. He looked up, suddenly noticing the Librarian's combative posture, and held back a sneer. Like that would have saved you.

"Good," Obi-Wan grunted. "Now come with me." And with that, he strode toward the restricted area.

Jocasta Nu's eyes flashed. "Master Kenobi, I would not recommend - "

He turned around, his face the very essence of amiability. "Your pardon, Master Nu, but if I'm not mistaken, the restricted area is only restricted to those without the permission of a Jedi Master. Something I'm sure you've just informed Anakin."

Jocasta Nu flushed slightly and turned away, sniffing again as she did so.

"Anakin." He sounded like he'd just met him at Dex's. "You coming?"

Some of the red subsided from Anakin's vision. He didn't quite smile, but his relief and gratitude shone like beacons in the Force as he hurried over to his friend.

They wandered the shelves in amicable silence, before Obi-Wan spoke up. "The Sith records are that way, Anakin."

"I'm not looking for Darth Plagueis," Anakin responded. "I don't think there's anything here about him, or Master Nu would have told us." His face brightened. "Unless - unless Dooku erased that as well, along with Kamino?"

"Doubtful," said Obi-Wan. "The Archives were searched after Geonosis for other such disappearances; if something about Darth Plagueis had been erased, we'd have found it."

Anakin's face fell. Obi-Wan frowned at him. "Well, if you weren't looking for Plagueis, what were you trying to get in here for?"

Anakin bit his lip, his mind racing desperately for a suitable lie. To Obi-Wan, his distress was all but physically visible in the Force, but he kept silent, pretending not to have noticed. After a full minute, Anakin replied, "I was thinking about Sidious."

Obi-Wan played along. "What about Sidious?"

Anakin's voice gained confidence. "What are we going to do once we find him?" he asked. "He's a Sith Lord, a Sith Lord who trained Count Dooku. And we had enough trouble with him." Obi-Wan snorted at that, and rubbed his head ruefully. "If Sidious has access to knowledge that even the Jedi haven't heard of - this story of Darth Plagueis, for instance - who knows what kind of powers he might have?"

Obi-Wan considered this. As lies went - as Anakin's lies go, he chuckled internally - it wasn't a bad one. "So you're researching Force powers?"

Anakin nodded, and Obi-Wan knew he was telling the truth. Let's see, he mused as they ambled along the shelves, Anakin's looking up Force powers and not Sith histories, and he's not concerned about anything Sidious might be capable of, which probably means he's not worried about being skilled enough to deal with him - what am I saying, he'd never be worried about being skilled enough for Sidious...so what is he up to?

"Well, even if you're not looking for Plagueis, you'll want to search the Sith section, they're probably the closest you'll get to works on Dark powers," noted Obi-Wan, watching for Anakin's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

He caught a brief flicker of frustration as the younger man considered his predicament. Impulse prompted a fatal answer. "No, I've been through it already. There's nothing there." Sudden alarm flared in the Force.

Obi-Wan called his bluff. "Really?" he asked. "But how did you get in then?"

Anakin was silent for a time. Then he glared at him. "You'd make a really, really good politician, you know that?"

Obi-Wan winced internally. From another being, the words might have been a compliment, but he knew just what Anakin thought of politicians - well, most politicians. I guess I deserved that. He dropped his pretense of innocence. "Anakin - what aren't you telling me?"

Anakin turned away. "I don't know, why don't you find out? You were doing so well."

The Force nudged a certain notion to Obi-Wan's mind. He scanned his surroundings discreetly, then lowered his voice. "Is it about Padme?"

Anakin's shock and fear blazed like the Invisible Hand on its final trip planetside. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said icily.

"What's happened? Is she all right? Is she hurt?"

Anakin's voice rose. "I don't know what you're talking about!" He glanced around in sudden contrition at the alarmed Jedi staring at him, all of whom immediately averted their eyes and reimmersed themselves in their readings.

Obi-Wan sighed. "Anakin, please - I know your feelings for her. I've known for years, do you see? I've never mentioned for your sake, but I know. And I don't care - whatever you two have between you, I don't care, because it makes you happy. Anakin, if she's in trouble, let me help you."

Anakin looked like he'd been struck. Hoarsely, he whispered, "You - you know - "

"Yes, Anakin, I know."

Anakin clutched a nearby shelf for support. They lapsed again into silence. Once again, Obi-Wan broke it. "Did you know the Council wanted to send me after Grievous?"

Anakin glanced sharply at him. "What? When was this? We didn't even know where Grievous was until after I joined the Council - "

"This was before your report, Anakin. It was - " Obi-Wan grimaced. "It was the meeting where where the Council decided to...give you your orders regarding Palpatine." Anakin's face darkened, and Obi-Wan rushed on. "I tried to persuade them otherwise, but...I was overruled. But when they nominated me to lead the hunt for Grievous, I managed to talk them out of it - so that I could help you." Anakin looked at him, and Obi-Wan held his gaze. "Anakin, if something's happened to Padme, you don't need to hide it from me. I'm your friend, Anakin, and she's my friend as well - let me help you. Let me help her. Please."

Anakin took a deep breath. He considered his response, carefully checked it to ensure maximum discretion, then said, "Remember the dreams I had about my mother?"

Obi-Wan's heart plummeted. "You've had them about Padme?" Anakin nodded, fighting hard to keep the pain from his face.

Obi-Wan exhaled. He felt completely helpless. Force-visions were extremely rare, but almost always accurate - as he knew Anakin knew firsthand.

For his part, Anakin's resolve seemed to have strengthened. "I won't let this happen. I'll never let it happen."

Obi-Wan touched his arm gently. "We won't let this happen," he said firmly, as much for his own sake as Anakin's.

Anakin looked at him and nodded, and his expression seemed ineffably lighter.

A lone starfighter streaked through the Utapaun atmosphere. On the outside, it appeared to be a variant of the old Delta-class fighter, sporting two additional cannons at the wingtips. The inside, too, had been modified, with controls built specifically for a particularly diminutive pilot - altogether a unique craft for a unique creature.

The fighter soared over a rocky landscape covered with shrubbery before descending into one of the sinkholes that dotted the planet's surface. The sinkhole teemed with sentiency in the Force - a sentiency laced with fear. Within the fighter, Jedi instincts honed by centuries of experience swept aside a fleeting spark of anger at the pervasive, simmering terror that was the signature of every world that had experienced subjugation at the durasteel fist of Grievous. The Force willing, the last such planet, this shall be.

The fighter alighted on a docking platform, where a Utai ground crew stood waiting. The cockpit opened and a short gimer stick emerged, closely followed by a three-clawed arm, and then a Jedi Grandmaster was clambering down from his ship, grim readiness inscribed across his face.

Yoda had arrived.

AN: I'll get the line breaks straightened out later.