Thank you to the 27 people who reviewed the last chapter. You guys are the greatest. Here is the long-awaited (and I do mean long since it's been a full month) chapter 59. Also, as I'm sure you already know, let's just say that Shaak Ti is there during the meeting when Anakin is made a member (even though in the book she isn't.) Oh and I changed something in the last chapter but it's small and probably won't be noticed. I hope that you like it and reviews are much appreciated.

Chapter 59

The ride to Palpatine's office was quiet. Anakin felt the need to break the silence but the two tall helmet-masked figures in the red robes who rode with him weren't very talkative. He also felt uncomfortable and he didn't know why he felt that way except that he found that his thoughts kept drifting to Palpatine. Or rather, his thoughts drifted to what Palpatine told him to do onboard the Invisible Hand.

Don't release what you're feeling, Anakin, use it. Call upon your fury, don't release it. Focus it and he cannot stand against you. Your rage is your weapon. Strike now! Strike! Kill him! Palpatine's words echoed in his mind followed by what he said when Anakin had Dooku at his mercy.

Kill him. Kill him now.

Palpatine wanted me to kill someone who was defenseless, Anakin thought feeling just as bewildered as he was when Palpatine first spoke those words to him. But why would he want me to do such a thing?

Anakin has known Palpatine for the longest time ever since he was nine years old and yet he never heard Palpatine tell him to kill a defenseless person before. And the coldness in Palpatine's voice when he issued the order; it was enough to send shivers go down Anakin's spine. He didn't know why but he was starting to feel like he couldn't trust Palpatine.

He resolved to be very wary around the Chancellor when he met with him.

Palpatine's office had a deep red runner that matched the softly curving walls. There were also long, comfortable couches and a huge arc of window behind Palpatine's desk. The Chancellor stood at the view wall, hands clasped behind him, gazing out upon the smoke-hazed morning.

"Anakin." He must have seen Anakin's reflection in the curve of transparisteel; he had not moved. "Join me."

Anakin came up beside him, mirroring his stance. Endless cityscape stretched away before them. Here and there, the remains of shattered buildings still smoldered. Space lane traffic was beginning to return to normal and rivers of gnat-like speeders and air taxis and rupulsor buses crisscrossed the city. In the near distance, the vast dome of the Galactic Senate squatted like a gigantic gray mushroom sprung from the duracrete plain that was Republic Plaza. Farther, dim in the brown haze, he could pick out the quintuple spires that topped the ziggurat of the Jedi Temple.

"Do you see, Anakin?' Palpatine's voice was soft, hoarse with emotion. "Do you see what they have done to our magnificent city? This war must end. We cannot allow such…such…"

His voice trailed away and he shook his head. Anakin looked at him noticing how frail the Chancellor looked. "You know you have my best efforts, and those of the Jedi," he said.

Palpatine nodded, lowering his head. "I know I have yours, Anakin. The rest of the Jedi…" He sighed while Anakin frowned.

He doesn't trust the Jedi to want to help end the war? He thought a little surprised and wary. He had been wary since he entered the office, with his mind on what Palpatine told him onboard the Invisible Hand, but he was a little more wary now and he didn't know why.

"I have asked you here," Palpatine said slowly, "because I need your help on a matter of extreme delicacy. I hope I can depend upon your discretion, Anakin."

Anakin resisted the urge to narrow his eyes. "As a Jedi, there are limits to my discretion, Chancellor," he said.

"Oh, of course. Don't worry, my boy." A flash of the familiar fatherly smile forced its way into his eyes though Anakin immediately noticed that it was forced. "Anakin, in all the years we have been friends, have I ever asked you to do anything even the slightest bit against your conscience?"

Anakin thought again about how Palpatine had told him to murder Dooku; that had been against his conscience.

"And I never will."

Palpatine's words made Anakin frown. So Palpatine thinks it's not against my conscience to murder a defenseless person, he thought feeling more wary than before.

"I am very proud of your accomplishments as a Jedi, Anakin," Palpatine went on not seeming to notice Anakin's wariness. "You have won many battles the Jedi Council insisted to me were already lost—and you saved my life. It's frankly appalling that they still keep you off the Council yourself."

"I already told you, Palpatine. I am not ready to be a member of the Council," Anakin said.

"You have more than proven that you deserve it, my boy. They keep you off the Council because it is the last hold they have on you, Anakin, it is how they control you. Once you're a Master, as you deserve, how will they make you do their bidding?"

"Even Masters have to do the bidding of the Force and the senior members of the Council," Anakin pointed out.

"That is beside the point, Anakin," Palpatine said. "You are not like them though. You're younger. Stronger. Better. They fear your power. They fear you."

Anakin looked down for he didn't believe that the Council feared him. He had felt it at first, back when was an apprentice, but he didn't feel it now. He felt that they were a little wary around him because of his power but he didn't think they feared him.

Palpatine seemed to be expecting him to respond but, when he didn't, he sighed and said, "I asked you here today, Anakin, because I have fears of my own. I am coming to fear the Jedi themselves."

That caused Anakin to look at the Chancellor with shock in his eyes. "Oh Chancellor, there is no one more loyal than the Jedi sir, surely after all this time—"

Palpatine had walked away effectively cutting Anakin off midsentence. He lowered himself into the chair behind his desk and kept his head down as though he was ashamed to say this directly to Anakin's face. "The Council keeps pushing for more control. More autonomy. They have lost all respect for the rule of law. They have become more concerned with avoiding the oversight of the Senate than with winning the war."

That doesn't sound like the Council, Anakin thought. And many members of the Council would say the same about Palpatine. He decided at the last instant to not say that out loud.

Palpatine didn't lift his head but he was obviously expecting Anakin to respond. When the young Jedi Knight didn't, he said, "I believe that the Jedi Council are shrouded in secrecy, obsessed with covert action against mysterious faceless enemies—"

"The Sith are hardly faceless, sir. I mean, Dooku himself—"

"Is he truly a Lord of the Sith? Or is he just another in your string of fallen Jedi, posturing with a red lightsaber to intimidate you?" Palpatine interrupted him.

Anakin didn't know but he was pretty sure Dooku did. "What about Sidious?"

"Ah, yes, the mysterious Lord Sidious. 'The Sith infiltrator in the highest levels of government.' Doesn't that sound a little overly familiar to you, Anakin? A little overly convenient? How do you know this Sidious even exists? How do you know he is not a fiction, a fiction created by the Jedi Council, to give them an excuse to harass their political enemies?"

Anakin didn't know how to respond to that even though he couldn't see the Jedi Council, at the very least he couldn't see Obi-Wan, making up something as serious as Sidious. Besides, the Jedi Council was separate from the political side of things in the Republic. "The Jedi are not political—"

Again, Palpatine interrupted him. "In a democracy, everything is political, Anakin. And everyone. This imaginary Sith Lord of theirs—even if he does exist, is he anyone to be feared? To be hunted down and exterminated without trial?"

Anakin frowned a little at that. The Jedi wouldn't do that would they? They were willing to give Dooku a trial for his crimes, even if the trial hadn't commenced yet, but would they allow Sidious that same privilege? "I am sure they would not do that, Chancellor," he said. "The Sith may be evil but the Jedi wouldn't kill them without a trial. The Council is going to give Dooku a trial, whether he is a Sith or not, and I am sure they would do the same for Sidious."

"And how can you be so sure of that, Anakin?" Palpatine asked. "How can you be sure they will not kill Sidious, if he does exist, should they find him?"

Anakin wasn't sure.

"Not to mention you were trained to believe that the Sith were evil. I have been reading about the history of the Sith for some years now, Anakin."

That made Anakin wonder why the Chancellor would read about the history of the Sith but he didn't ask as the Chancellor went on answering his question in his next sentence.

"Ever since the Council saw fit to finally reveal to me their…assertion…that these millennium-dead sorcerers had supposedly springing back to life. Not every tale about them is sequestered n your conveniently secret Temple archives. From what I have read, they were not so different from Jedi; seeking power, to be sure, but so does your Council."

Anakin thought about how to calm Palpatine down while at the same time explain the Jedi's view on the Sith. "The Sith seek power through use of the dark side, Chancellor," he began.

"Oh, yes, yes, certainly, the dark side. Listen to me: if this 'Darth Sidious' of your were to walk through that door right now—and I somehow stop you from killing him on the spot—do you know what I would do?"

Palpatine rose, and his voice rose with him answering his question before Anakin could. "I would ask him to sit down, and I would ask him if he has any power he could use to end this war!"

Anakin was surprised that Palpatine would do such a thing. He said nothing though as the Chancellor began speaking again. "And if he said he did, I'd blood well offer him a brandy and talk it out!"

"Are you serious, Chancellor?" Anakin said confused and a bit startled by the Chancellor's words.

"Well, not entirely." Palpatine sighed, and shrugged, and lowered himself once more into his chair. "It's only an example, Anakin. I would do anything to return peace to the galaxy, do you understand? That's all I mean. After all—" He offered a tired, sadly ironic smile. "—what are the chances of an actual Sith Lord ever walking through that door."

Anakin shrugged in response. "I wouldn't know. I probably wouldn't use that example in front of the Council though."

"Oh, yes." Palpatine chuckled. "Yes, quite right. They might take it as an excuse to accuse me."

Anakin blinked surprised that Palpatine would say that. "I'm sure they'd never do that—"

"I am not. I am no longer sure they'll stop at anything, Anakin. That's actually the reason I asked you here today." He leaned forward intently, resting his elbows on the desk. You may have heard that this afternoon, the Senate will call upon this office to assume direct control of the Jedi Council."

Anakin's frown deepened. He didn't know why but he didn't like the sound of that and he felt that wariness return. "The Jedi will no longer report to the Senate?"

"They will report to me. Personally. The Senate is too unfocused to conduct this war; we've seen this for years. Now that this office will be the single authority to direct the prosecution of the war, we'll bring a quick end to things."

Anakin was silent unsure of how to respond to that. "In my own opinion, I don't think another constitutional amendment would be the way to go and I can tell you that the Jedi Council are not in the mood for one either."

Palpatine's lips twitched in a slight frown but all he said was, "In this case, I have no choice. This war must be won."

"Everyone agrees on that," Anakin agreed.

"I hope they do, my boy. I hope they do."

Anakin didn't know how to respond to that so he only said, "I am sure that the Jedi are absolutely dedicated to the core values of the Republic."

One of Palpatine's eyebrows arched. "Their actions will speak more loudly than their words—as long as someone keeps an eye on them. And that, my boy, is exactly the favor I must ask of you."

Anakin frowned again. "I don't understand."

"Anakin, I am asking you—as a personal favor to me, in respect for our long friendship—to accept a post as my personal representative on the Jedi Council."

Anakin stared and, for a long moment, was silent stunned beyond words. He wasn't surprised by the Chancellor's request; he was shocked that the Chancellor would ask him to be a member of the Council despite him telling him that he wasn't ready to be a Master and only Masters were allowed on the Council.

"I already told you, Chancellor, I am not ready to be a Master and only Masters are allowed on the Council. Also, the Council elects its own members. They would never accept this."

"I promise you they will," Palpatine murmured imperturbably. He swung his hair around to gaze out the window toward the distant spires of the Temple. "They need you more than they realize. All it will take is for someone to properly…"

He waved a hand expressively.

"…explain it to them."

Orbital mirrors rotated, resolving the faint light of Coruscant's sun to erase the stars; fireships crosshatched the sky with contrails of chemical air scrubber, bleaching away the last reminders of the fires of days past; chill remnants of night slid down the High Council Tower of the Jedi Temple. Within the cloistered chamber itself, Obi-Wan found himself reliving a moment from the first time around in which he tried to convince the Council out of their plan.

"I trust Anakin with my life," he said, "but to ask him to do this without telling him the real reason, it's not a good idea. I know Anakin well enough to know that he will not take too well to not being told the entire truth. And we can't ask him to lie to Palpatine; Palpatine is his friend and he is fiercely loyal to his friends."

Yoda was silent. "An unintentional opportunity, the Chancellor has given us," he said gravelly. "A window he has opened into the operations of his office. Fools we would be, to close our eyes."

"Using Anakin's eyes is not the right thing to do," said Obi-Wan before he added softly, "Don' make him choose between me and Palpatine—" At that moment, he was unsure of whether Anakin would choose him over Palpatine; he had made some headway in making his relationship with Anakin better than it had been the first time around.

"Why not?" asked the holopresence of Plo Koon from the bridge of Courageous, where he directed the Republic Navy strike force against the Separatist choke point in the Ywllandr system. "Do you fear you would lose such a contest?"

Obi-Wan wouldn't admit it out loud but he did. He remembered bits and pieces of what had been said the first time around but Mace's words last time around came to him and he decided to go along that line of thought. "I know that you wish for Anakin to distance himself from Palpatine," he said, "and I can completely agree. I do not trust Palpatine," not when I know the truth about him that I can't share yet "but he is still Anakin's friend. To ask Anakin to stab his friend in the back, I don't know how he will take it when I tell him."

He sighed and added, "I am just telling you of what I think and I will abide by whatever you decide." He knew that he would lose the argument, the rest of the Council were too determined to get eyes and ears on Palpatine, but he did decide to at least allow the Council to hear his own opinion.

"If to be done this is, decide we must how best to use him," Yoda said.

The holopresence of Ki-Adi-Mundi flickered in and out of focus as the Cerean Master leaned forward, folding his hands. "I, too, have reservations on this matter, but it seems that in these desperate times, only desperate plans have hope of success. We have seen that young Skywalker has the power to battle a Sith Lord alone, if need be; he has proven that with Dooku. If he is indeed the chosen one, the events of Mortis leaves me without a shadow of a doubt, we must keep him in play against the Sith—keep him in a position to fulfill his destiny."

"And even if the prophecy has been misread, and the events on Mortis were misinterpreted," Agen Kolar said, "Anakin is the one Jedi we can best hope would survive an encounter with a Sith Lord. So let us also use him to help us set our trap. In Council let us emphasize that we are intensifying our search for Grievous. Anakin will certainly report this to the Chancellor's Office. Perhaps, as you say, that will draw Sidious into action."

"I also think it would be a good idea to take it a step further," Obi-Wan suggested calmly with a look at Mace who nodded in agreement.

"If we appear shorthanded and weak, we can give Sidious an opening to make a move he thinks will go unobserved. I think that perhaps we should let the Chancellor's Office know that Yoda and I—"

"Too risky that is," Yoda said. "And too convenient. One of us only should go."

"Then it should be you, Master Yoda," Agen Kolar said. "It is your sensitivity to the broader currents of the Force that a Sith Lord has most reason to fear."

Obi-Wan felt the ripple of agreement flow through the Chamber and Yoda nodded somberly. "The Separatist attack on Kashyyyk, a compelling excuse will make. And good relations with the Wookiees I have; destroy the droid armies I can, and still be available to Coruscant, should Sidious take our bait."

"Agreed." Mace Windu looked around the half-empty Council one last touch. Let's let the Chancellor know, through Anakin, that our most cunning and insightful Master—"

Obi-Wan knew he had to speak up then and there. "No," he said interrupting Mace midsentence and he and the rest of the Council looked at Obi-Wan in surprise.

"What?" Shaak Ti asked.

"I will not do it," Obi-Wan said calmly. "I know that you are going to ask me to take up the search for Grievous but I cannot." He closed his eyes as he felt the Force lift the restriction slightly and said softly, "My duty is to Anakin and the future of the galaxy."

He could feel the shocked stares of every member of the Council except for Yoda and Mace. Yoda was the one who broke the silence. "Lifted the restriction the Force has?" he asked.

Opening his eyes, Obi-Wan nodded. "It has but only marginally. I can only tell the rest of the Council how much I have told you and Master Windu and a little more."

"What do you mean?" Agen Kolar asked confused.

Obi-Wan gazed at each Council member in turn. "I am not going to beat around the bush, so to speak. I am just going to steal a page out of Anakin's book and be blunt about it. I am from the future, nineteen years from a moment in time a few months from now."

The rest of the Council stared.

"That's impossible," Shaak Ti said surprised.

"With the Force, nothing is impossible," Yoda said. "Knew I did about this. Told me itself the Force did. Restricted both Obi-Wan and I from telling others the Force did until recently. Jeopardize his mission that would have."

"I cannot tell you about the future," Obi-Wan said when Yoda fell silent. "But the Force is allowing me to tell all of you that it deals with Anakin. He is the key to preventing the future I lived through from coming to past."

The Council fell silent and Obi-Wan could feel them reaching into the Force as if attempting to figure out if he was speaking the truth. When the Force showed them that he was being sincere, Plo Koon's hologram asked, "How do you know you will not create a worse future than the one you lived through?"

"I don't," Obi-Wan said, "but the Force has faith in me, I trust the Force and I have to believe that I will succeed in making the future better than the one I lived through."

"And Anakin is the key?" Mace said with a frown. "You only told me that Anakin couldn't know."

"The Force has allowed me to tell you that but I can say no more than that. I must stress the importance of Anakin not discovering what was said here, not until the time comes that the Force lifts all the restrictions it has placed on me. However, it is because of this that I cannot take up the search for Grievous. With time running out on me, I have to focus on the task the Force, itself, gave to me. I cannot let anything else distract me right now."

The Council continued to gaze at Obi-Wan before Adi said, "Can you tell us if the future is bad?"

"I can and it is," Obi-Wan said. "That is why I am doing all that I can to stop it from occurring. We need someone else to take up the search for Grievous. I am not the only one who is cunning and insightful and tenacious."

"Though best suited to track down Grievous you are, Obi-Wan," Yoda said, "Understand I do that more important your task from the Force itself is."

"Then if not Obi-Wan, who will take on the task of finding Grievous?" asked Plo Koon's hologram.

"Believe I do that accomplish the mission just as well as Obi-Wan, Shaak Ti can," Yoda said.

The Togruta Jedi Master looked surprised.

"I second that," Mace said. "We will give the task of finding and defeating Grievous to you, Shaak Ti. Will you accept it?"

Shaak Ti was silent before she nodded. "I will, Masters."

Anakin stood in front of the doors to the Jedi Council Chamber trying not to be impatient as he waited for them to open. He was still very confused by the Chancellor's offer and how the Chancellor continued to insist that he deserved to be a Master even though he didn't feel as though he was ready to be one. He would like to be a Master someday but he knew he wasn't ready yet; in truth, a part of Anakin felt like he would never be ready.

Finally, the doors to the Jedi Council swung open. Anakin, head lowered in a show of humility and respect, the respect was genuine but Anakin couldn't say that the humility was, walked into the Council Chamber. Once he was in the center of the circle of brown-toned carpet, he lifted his head and turned toward the Senior Members of the Council.

Yoda was as unreadable as always, his rumpled features composed in a mask of serene contemplation.

Mace Windu could have been carved from stone.

Ghost-images of Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon hovered a centimeter above their Council seats, marinated by the seats internal holoprojectors. Agen Kolar and Shaak Ti sat side by side with an empty seat on Agen's other side that belonged to Stass Allie. On the seat on the other side of Stass's empty one was Adi Gallia.

Obi-Wan sat in the chair that once belonged to Oppo Rancisis looking as calm as ever.

"Anakin Skywalker." Master Windu's tone was severe but Anakin didn't let it bother him. "The Council has decided to comply with Chancellor Palpatine's directive, and with the instructions of the Senate that give him the unprecedented authority to command this Council."

Anakin knew that Palpatine said he would convince the Council to accept him as a member but he felt a little surprised that they agreed.

"You are hereby granted a seat at the High Council of the Jedi, as the Chancellor's personal representative," Windu went on.

Anakin inclined his head. "Thank you, Masters. You have my pledge that I will uphold the highest principles of the Jedi Order," he said. Before anyone could respond to that, he decided to go with his instinct and tell the Council exactly what he told Palpatine.

"However, I only accept this position as the Chancellor's personal representative. I do not believe I have earned a seat at the Council, as I have already told the Chancellor, and I do not accept the title and privileges of a Master."

The Council was silent staring at Anakin with some surprise in their eyes though Anakin could see pride in Obi-Wan's eyes and he felt that warm flutter go through him. He knew that he had done the right thing in admitting he wasn't ready to the Council. No matter what Palpatine said, he knew that he wasn't ready.

It was Yoda who broke the silence. "By admitting that ready you are not, shown us that matured you have. Take a seat, young Skywalker."

Anakin lowered his head. "Yes Master Yoda," he said and walked over to one of the seats beside Obi-Wan.

I am very proud of you, Anakin, Obi-Wan's voice sounded in Anakin's mind and he smiled.

The rest of the session passed by quickly; Ki-Adi-Mundi said something about no Republic world reporting any sign of Grievous and the Council assigned the task of coordinating the search to Shaak Ti. Anakin admitted that Master Ti was a pretty good choice.

Then they talked about a droid landing on Kashyyyk. Yoda volunteered to go and, for some reason, the Council didn't bother to vote.

"It is settled then," Mace said. "May the Force be with us all."

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin as the two of them walked down the vast vaulted Temple hallway. It was deserted save for him and his closest friend and brother. The pride that Obi-Wan felt for his brother was still there and he was amazed by how grown up Anakin had become. He was so different from the Anakin he was the first time around.

But is it enough? The cynical part of himself asked him and he pushed the thought away.

"Are you going to come with?" Anakin asked as the silence stretched onward.

"Where?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin smiled. "I'm stopping by Padmé's before I head over to the Chancellor's Office. I thought you might want to visit Kira and Jinn."

"I'm thinking about it," Obi-Wan said. "Ahsoka told me you visited them after the battle. How are they?"

"They're good," Anakin said. "They've gotten big since I last saw them."

Obi-Wan smiled as he thought about his twin children; the children that he never had the first time around. He was still surprised that he was a father but he found that being a father was a great feeling. Looking at Anakin, Obi-Wan had to wonder how great a father Anakin would be; he would be a father to Luke and Leia; he would not fall to the dark side again.

At least, you hope so, the cynical part of him whispered and Obi-Wan pushed the thought away.

"How's Padmé?" he asked. It was only because the hallway was deserted that Obi-Wan decided to talk freely about Anakin's relationship.

"She's fine but…I'm still worried."

"Your vision?"

Anakin nodded slowly. "Siri told me that I shouldn't worry too much, that it would cause me to stress and that was the last thing Padmé needed. But…I can still recall the vision. It was just so vivid."

"So were the ones of your mother," Obi-Wan said. "Did you see anything that might help you determine where she was?"

Anakin frowned. "It was…like a medical room and she looked like she was alone," he said.

"I doubt that she will be alone when your child is born, Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently.

"I want to be there when the baby is born, Obi-Wan, but it might be too suspicious unless I tell the Council but they'll kick me out of the Order if I do that. And I don't want that."

Obi-Wan placed a hand on Anakin's arm. "We cannot keep this a secret from them forever, Anakin," he said and he knew that it was true. Eventually, the secret would come out.

"I don't know if I can tell them," Anakin said. "They'll kick me out. I'm sure they will."

"If they kick you out then they will have to kick me out as well, Anakin. When you are ready to tell the Council about this, I will go with you and Siri will likely come with us. When you tell them about Padmé, I will tell them about Siri and Kira and Jinn." And I will try to convince them about the value of love, that love and attachment are not the same thing, that love can ignite the stars and keep the darkness at bay, Obi-Wan thought.

"You…You would?" Anakin said. "But the Jedi Order is your family."

"They may be my family but so are you, Anakin, and so are Siri and Kira and Jinn." Placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder, the Jedi Master/time traveler added, "I suggest we focus on something else right now especially since I have to tell you something."

"What?"

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "The Council approved your appointment because Palpatine trusts you," he said finally. "I didn't agree with what they decided to do and I tried to convince them not to go through with it but they decided to go through with it anyway."

"What did they decide to do, Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked.

"They want you to report on all Palpatine's dealings. They have to know what he's up to," Obi-Wan said and, just as he expected, Anakin's eyes widened with shock.

"The Council wants me to spy on the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic?" he said slowly. "Obi-Wan, that's treason."

"I know but the Council is sworn to uphold the principles of the Republic through any means necessary. We have to. Anakin, this isn't about him, it's about ending this war." Obi-Wan's voice quieted as he said, "This is not for the record, Anakin, which is why we didn't tell you while the Council was in session."

Anakin was silent gazing at Obi-Wan but he could feel his brother releasing his anger into the Force though he noticed there was a hint of wariness that was also released. "I…I think I understand, Obi-Wan," he said. "I've been rather wary around him recently. I mean, I keep thinking about what he told me to do on the Invisible Hand. It just…didn't sound like something the Palpatine I grew up with would say. I don't know why but I'm starting to feel like I can't trust him."

What Palpatine said to Anakin on the Invisible Hand is definitely coming back to bite him, Obi-Wan thought. Maybe he didn't think Anakin would actually remember what he told him to do or thought it wouldn't make a difference. It looks like he's wrong.

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin looked at him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently though a part of him felt guilty for keeping such a huge secret from his brother. It wasn't his fault that the Force was restricting him from telling Anakin but he felt bad. He didn't know of how Anakin would react if he knew the truth, if he knew that he had every right to distrust Palpatine, if he knew of what he would discover while spying on the Chancellor for the Council, but he still felt guilty for not telling him.

Can I ever tell Anakin the truth, Master? He thought hoping Qui-Gon would hear him.

Someday, was all Qui-Gon said in response and Obi-Wan, though relieved he wouldn't have to keep the truth away from Anakin forever, wondered when 'someday' would be.

"I may not like spying on Palpatine for the Council," Anakin said breaking the silence that draped over them like a blanket. "But I will do it. Maybe I can figure out why it is that I'm starting to feel like I can't trust him if I do this."

"Maybe," Obi-Wan agreed before he fell silent as his thoughts drifted. Since he wasn't taking over the task of coordinating the search for Grievous, he knew he would have some free time. He had been so busy with the search the first time around that he barely had time for anything else. Now that he wasn't busy with the search, he had time for something else.

"Are you still going to Padmé's before you head over to the Chancellor's?" he asked.

Anakin nodded. "I am. Why?"

"I'm going with you."

Padmé was gazing out at the sunset hand resting on her belly that was slowly swelling. She was still several months away from giving birth but she smiled a little when she felt the baby kick. She smiled a little. She was standing on the veranda overlooking the city-planet and, after dealing with Kira and Jinn's crying for the past hour, the silence was welcoming.

I hope you two aren't that loud, she thought gazing at her swollen belly fondly. She knew that she was having twins, the Emdee had told her that, but she refused when the medical droid asked if she wanted to know the sexes. She wanted to be surprised and she knew that she was already going to surprise Anakin when he discovered he was the father of twins.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Padmé jumped. "Anakin!"

Anakin chuckled as he walked out of the shadows. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Yes you did," Obi-Wan said rolling his eyes as he walked out of the shadows behind Anakin.

Anakin glared at Obi-Wan though there was amusement in his eyes.

"Try not to wake them up, Obi-Wan," Padmé said knowing full well why Obi-Wan was there. "Dormé and I just got them to sleep."

"I'll be quiet," Obi-Wan said and slipped into the apartment before heading toward the second room where his children were asleep.

Padmé turned her gaze to her husband. "Anakin, you shouldn't be out here. It's still daylight—"

"I couldn't wait, Padmé. I had to see you." He took her in his arms. "Tonight is forever from now—how am I supposed to live that long without you?"

Obi-Wan walked out of the bedroom with a sobbing Kira in his arms at that moment and Anakin's eyebrows rose.

"I thought Padmé said not to wake them."

"She was already awake," Dormé said leaving the room before she walked over to the kitchenette while Obi-Wan gently rocked the baby back and forth gazing at her and Padmé could see a small smile on Anakin's face before he looked back at her.

"We're in full view of a million people, and you're a very famous man. Let's go inside," Padmé said steering the conversation back to the original subject she had brought up.

He drew her back from the edge of the veranda, but made no move to enter the apartment. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled as she took her husband's flesh hand and pressed it to the soft fullness of her belly. "He keeps kicking."

"He?" Anakin asked surprised. "I thought you'd ordered your medical droid not to spoil the surprise."

"Oh, I didn't get this from the Emdee. It's my…" She smirked slyly, "…motherly intuition."

There was a pulse as the baby kicked again and Anakin laughed. "Motherly intuition, huh? With a kick that hard? Definitely a girl."

She laid her head against his chest. "Anakin, let's go inside."

She felt him nuzzle her coils of hair. "I can't stay. I'm on my way to meet with the Chancellor."

"Yes, I heard about your appointment to the Council. Anakin, I'm so proud of you."

Anakin smiled as he drew his head back to look at her. "I'm not a member of the Council," he said, "not fully anyway. I'm only there as a personal representative of Palpatine. I'm not ready to be a Master, Padmé."

Padmé gazed at him. "I think you are, my love," she said.

"I'm not, Padmé. I haven't even finished training an apprentice. Maybe after Ahsoka's knighted then I will be ready to be a Master but, right now, I'm not. I have to go now, Padmé. I'll see you tonight." He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to Padmé's before he looked over at Obi-Wan.

"I'll get a ride back," Obi-Wan said to Anakin. "Or I'll walk. Go on before the Chancellor gets impatient."

"All right, Obi-Wan, I'll see you later." Anakin turned around and headed toward his speeder.

Padmé turned around and walked back into the living room where Obi-Wan was accepting the bottle from Dormé and gently feeding his one year old daughter. "They're getting bigger every day," she said.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Congratulations on your pregnancy, Padmé," he said shifting his grip on his daughter as Kira drank from the bottle.

"Thank you but I'm worried. What if the Council finds out about it?"

"I'll do what I can to make sure that doesn't happen, Padmé, but if it does then know that I will stand by you and Anakin. I've already told Anakin this. If your secret comes out to the Council then I will tell them mine."

Tears appeared in Padmé's eyes and she wiped them away. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you for being such a good friend to me and to Anakin."

Kira finished drinking and Obi-Wan handed the bottle back to Dormé before making his way toward the room. He disappeared into it before returning a moment later. "I have to get back to the Temple," he said. "Goodbye, Padmé." He turned around and left the apartment.

Padmé, hand resting on her belly as she felt another kick, watched him go before walking over to the living room and sitting down to wait for her husband to come back from his meeting with the Chancellor.

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: well, that was the long-awaited (please don't kill me because it's been a month) chapter 59

Darth: (pulls out bazooka)

Palpypie: hi

Darth: it took Blaze a month to get this chapter out and I'm blaming you (fires bazooka at Palpypie)

Palpypie: (surprisingly still alive) How dare you?!

Anakin: (steals Blaze's flaming machete and chases after Palpypie)

Palpypie: ahhh! (Takes off)

Blaze: (chuckles)

Darth: what's going to happen in the next chapter?

Obi-Wan: The Tragedy of Darth Plageuis, Ahsoka and Jenica will make an appearance, two to three pages of Anidala, two to three pages of Siriwan (none of which are in the book) and the truth about Palpatine comes out

Darth: this early?

Blaze: in the book, I'm skipping over the Duel on Utapau because Obi-Wan's on Coruscant so yes

Darth: is this story almost over?

Blaze: yes, the way I have it planned out, there are two more chapters and then the epilogue

Darth: two? Really?

Blaze: they are likely to be long chapters but yes. There are only two chapters and an epilogue left of Here I Go Again

Darth: wow. You started this story more than a year ago and you're finally almost done.

Blaze: if I get over a thousand reviews on this story then I am going to be ecstatic since I'm close. I have 954 right now. Hint, hint.

Darth: (rolls eyes) you are a weirdo

Blaze: yeah I know. Please review and I will post chapter 60 as soon as I possibly can but, with school starting in a few days, I doubt it will be anytime soon.