In his cabin, Anakin sat at the edge of his bed. It wasn't that he was afraid to go to sleep. He needed to know what the future held. It was just that he was too restless right now. That was it. Kix couldn't tell him what to do. He'd just walk a couple times around the ship to burn off some energy.
He'd just stepped out into the hall when he realized it was not the correct hallway. It was larger, unfamiliar. The force was playing tricks on him. He didn't want to be wandering around the ship in a trance. This had been a bad idea. He turned back to his door only to find it wasn't there anymore. So, spurred on by curiosity, he did the only thing he could do. He started walking.
Whatever architecture this was, he did not recognize it. However, it was not foreign enough to be alien. By the size of the halls, and judging by the amount of time he'd been walking, wherever this was, it was big. Was it a building, a ship? Sometimes he saw what appeared to be clones. Their armour was just slightly different, and none of it had been personalized in any way. He tried to catch up with them, or call out to them whenever he saw them, but they would always disappear through a locked door or around a corner.
He was beginning to worry. How could he wake up from this? How could he find his way out of this maze? Then he rounded a corner and saw someone familiar. His back was to him, but the familiar robes and figure made his identity obvious.
"Chancellor?" Anakin called.
The lights flickered and now the figure wore a dark robe, like a Jedi.
He tried again, hurrying towards him before he had the chance to disappear. "Chancellor Palpatine!"
Everything went dark. When the emergency power kicked in—consisting of dim, red floor lights—Palpatine was facing him. Except it didn't look like Palpatine anymore. His face was hideously deformed. Skin sagged around sunken yellow eyes. Anakin took a step backwards, unable to look away. It smiled at him, extending a hand. The nails were long and yellow, like a claw. It beckoned him to come closer.
Anakin was still backing away, but it was like he was going uphill. The gravity of the ship was changing, and the hallway was becoming less of a hallway and more like a pit. He was unable to keep traction on the floor and suddenly he was falling towards the sneering face. Behind what had once been Palpatine was the black hole: gaping, unavoidable. Anakin couldn't help himself. He screamed and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again he was standing in what looked like a natural cave. It was dark, and a blanket of mist covered the ground. It clung to his legs, to his black cape and his boots. Roots hung from the ceiling, and came up through the floor. Anakin tried to take a deep breath, to calm himself, but he couldn't fill his lungs. It made a mechanical hiss as it passed his lips.
This was not like the endless hallways. He felt real, present. It had to be another vision of the future. He stepped forward, pushing a bundle of hanging roots out of the way, and found himself face to face with a boy. He was blond, with big blue eyes. Anakin was sure he'd never seen him before in his life, and yet he was hauntingly familiar.
He stared at Anakin with shock and fear. Unlike Obi-Wan in the last vision, this boy could see him. He drew a lightsaber. The blue was blinding in the darkness of the cave. Was that his lightsaber? That boy had his lightsaber! On instinct, Anakin's hand went to his hip. Much to his relief, he found a lightsaber hooked there as well. He activated it just in time to block the descending blade of the boy.
Blue plasma crossed red. No. What did this mean? Why did he wield a Sith blade? He blocked the next strike, continuing the fight on autopilot. His mind was racing. His whole body felt wrong. The boy made use of his distraction, and when he went for his neck Anakin couldn't block him in time.
His head was severed from his body, and Anakin woke up. He was standing in the hall outside Obi-Wan's room. So he had not walked so far after all. Rex and Boil appeared around the corner.
"General," Boil called, "are you alright? We heard a scream."
"Fine," Anakin mumbled, mind still racing from his vision, "I'm fine."
How did he know he was even awake now? Once he'd had the thought he couldn't get rid of it. And then there was the red lightsaber, and Palpatine, and the boy. He had so many pieces, and any way he assembled them he did not like the picture they made.
"Are you sure?" Rex approached him cautiously.
"It was a dream, a vision… a nightmare. I'm not sure." He usually hated showing weakness in front of the men, but right now he couldn't bring himself to care. "I don't think being alone was the best idea. I need to check on Obi-Wan."
Or maybe he just needed to see him. Anakin hesitated before pushing the button that would open his master's room. If Obi-Wan was having a vision as well, what would he see? Fear gripped Anakin, and he hated himself for it. He could not erase the image if the red lightsaber in his hand. Maybe he didn't want to see Obi-Wan after all.
Rex and Boil were watching him. He pushed the button. The sliding door revealed a darkened room, and a dishevelled but empty bed. Anakin was about to worry, but then he saw him. Obi-Wan sat curled in the corner of the room, blanket wrapped around himself like a cloak.
As Anakin approached he squinted up at him, pushing himself stiffly to his feet.
"Anakin!" he embraced him like they hadn't seen each other in years. "Thank the force!"
"Master?" He was too shocked to reciprocate the gesture. "What happened? What did you see?"
Obi-Wan released him. "How long has it been? How long was I asleep?"
Not knowing the answer himself, Anakin looked back at the clones.
"Only another hour, Sir," Rex answered.
"I need to get out of this room." Obi-Wan sounded desperate.
"Alright. Sit with me in the mess?"
"I'll leave you two to talk," Rex said. "But if you need anything we're right there. I have Oddball at the controls, and there has been nothing on the scanners. Everything is running smoothly."
"We're lucky to have you aboard, Captain Rex," said Obi-Wan. "I apologize for my… condition."
"You have nothing to apologize for, General. I don't know much about the force, but what you're dealing with does not look fun."
When they reached the mess the clones continued on to the bridge. Obi-Wan and Anakin took the same seats they had the first time: at the end of the long table closest to the window, Anakin with his back to it. On the walk here Obi-Wan had seemed slightly better. He looked less ill, and had not stumbled once.
"We've done this already," Anakin said. "I don't like this repetition; it makes me feel like I'm still dreaming." He was unsure where that had come from.
"Take a deep breath, try to center yourself. Though I know I'm not one to talk right now. We need to go over what we saw, make some use of this. Although I don't think my vision will be much help."
"You should go first then," Anakin said quickly. "You looked really shaken up when I came in the room."
"Yes… I was." Obi-Wan stared past him out the window. "What felt to you like an hour felt to me to be years. How many? I lost count."
"Sounds like you had the worst spice trip of your life."
Obi-Wan laughed.
"Seriously though," Anakin prompted. "Where were you? What was going on?"
"Nothing. I was completely and utterly alone."
Right in front of Anakin he seemed to curl in on himself, and Anakin began to wonder if maybe a vision could have lasting psychological effects.
"You weren't though," he said. "I was right next door. And the men are here. We'll get through this, Master, together. And we'll stop this… I'll never…" He stopped himself. It was still Obi-Wan's turn.
"I was in a tiny house, not much bigger than my quarters on this ship. I could leave but it was surrounded by desert, stretching endlessly in all direction. It was like some sort of purgatory. I waited for years, never seeing a soul. I knew I could not leave, but it was like I had forgotten why. I was trapped there so long I forgot my own name. I forgot who I was. I feared if some traveler came upon me I would be unable to speak so I kept conversation with myself, with Qui-Gon… with you."
"That's terrible, I'm sorry. If I'd known, I would have checked on you earlier."
"It's not your fault I have been allowing the force to control me, instead of the other way around."
"Was there anything you saw that could help with this puzzle? Something in your house? Any hint of what planet you were on?"
"Oh, I'm almost positive I know what planet I was on. The two suns were unmistakable. I was on Tatooine."
Obi-Wan's mental prison was truly one of the worst Anakin could imagine. He'd been trapped alone, surrounded by endless sand.
"I didn't have much," Obi-Wan continued, "just one robe, and few possessions. There was only one thing of interest and I fear what it may mean. I had your lightsaber. You may be correct, about you dying that night in the temple."
Anakin was shaking his head.
"What is it? What did you see?"
"It's worse."
"What do you mean? What could be worse…?"
Anakin couldn't speak. It was like the words were trapped in his throat. He didn't need to tell Obi-Wan. He could handle this on his own.
"Nothing. I didn't see anything."
His master stroked his beard in concern, studying him intently. "Anakin, please."
"I'm just not sure what it all meant. The visions were so jumbled. I need time to make sense of it."
"Just tell me, we can make sense of it together. Neither of us are alone in this. You said that."
What did he want him to say? That it might have been him who had trapped Obi-Wan in that purgatory? That it was him who'd turned him into the shell he'd seen weeping over Padme's body. Anakin couldn't breath. Obi-Wan would misinterpret everything, tell the Jedi council. He was always looking for some reason to attack the chancellor and Anakin would be giving him exactly that. He just needed a little more time... Maybe another vision.
Anakin was saved from Obi-Wan's gaze by the entry of a group of five clones. They began digging through the ration packs and Anakin got up to join them.
"How you feeling, General?" Fives asked.
"A bit better," Anakin said. Physically this was not a lie. Mentally, he was still reeling.
From near the crate, Waxer tossed a freeze-dried pod to both of them. Obi-Wan had gotten up to join them, and Anakin quickly headed over to the droid that would turn the ball he held into something marginally edible.
"General Kenobi?" At Cody's words, Anakin turned around.
Obi-Wan had frozen in the middle of the floor. He seemed to stare right through the clones who circled around him, concerned. Waxer waved his hand tentatively in front of his face, but there was no response. They all watched as Obi-Wan's expression changed to one of horror.
Then his eyes focused back in, darting quickly from one clone to another. And before anyone could ask him what had happened he activated his lightsaber.
"Stay back."
He hadn't even needed to say it. The men were already backing away, afraid and confused.
"General…"
"What's happening?"
"Please, sir, calm down."
Fives was by Anakin's side. "What's wrong with him?"
"Master!" Anakin stepped foreword, hand hovering by his own lightsaber, though he hoped he would not have to draw it.
Thankfully, Obi-Wan deactivated his. "Anakin, I need to talk to you. Now." He looked back over to the clones. "Alone."
Once Anakin's door had slid closed behind him, Anakin confronted his master. "Tell me you're not going to be a danger to the mission, because I know you'd want me to take you out of the equation. I don't want to, but I will lock you in—"
Obi-Wan cut him off. "Anakin, listen to me! I know why I didn't see any droids in the temple. This is bad; really, really bad."
Anakin shut up.
"I flashed from body to body, seeing through one pare of Jedi eyes after another. Every time I saw the same thing."
"What?" Why was Obi-Wan keeping him in suspense?
"The same thing I saw when I came back to reality. The Jedi are always surrounded by clones, so much that we no longer think anything of it. They turned on us, shot us dead without even a second of pause. In that moment, I felt myself die a thousand times."
"That can't be. You're misinterpreting it. Those men out there are my friends, yours as well! They would never…"
"Tell that to Aayla, and Plo Koon, and those younglings I saw in the temple! Anakin, I don't want to believe it either, but it's the truth. We need to get in touch with Master Yoda. Something needs to be done, now."
Anakin stepped in front of the door. "So you're positive what we see will come to pass? You aren't willing to give those men, our friends, a chance?"
"It's too dangerous. The whole order is at stake."
This was what he'd feared. If anything, this turn of events should have prolonged Anakin's silence, but instead it all came rushing out.
"Do you want to know what I saw, Master?"
His fear and anger had exploded from where he kept it locked away, rushing out without reason. With it it brought something else, and instead of facing Obi-Wan he sunk backwards into the dark tendrils of the force.
The vision was different this time. It was a blurred mess. He was in his body, but unable to control it, barely hanging on to reality. There was fire and burning emotion to match it. There was the march of hundreds of boots and the screams of children. As he watched his legion gun down those he'd known his whole life he realized that Obi-Wan had been right, about almost everything.
Clones had not killed those younglings. He could still feel the hilt of his lightsaber in his hand, even as he sat shaking on the ground with his back against the door. He was sick and dizzy, tears streaming down his face.
"You need to kill me."
"What?" Obi-Wan was holding his shoulders, shaking him. "I couldn't Anakin. Never. You're like my brother."
He was barely aware of his master's presence. On fast-forward they flashed before his eyes: every Jedi he would ever kill. There were so many, at such speed, that they joined together into a blur of colour and hatred. Even though he was still partially aware of his body on the ship, it still felt as if decades were passing. When he reached a withered old Jedi with a blue blade, he barely recognized him as the man who crouched before him.
"Hang on, Anakin," Obi-Wan had carried him to his bed, "breath. Explain to me, please."
"I'm a monster," Anakin whispered. "If you don't kill me, you will suffer and die, and I will rip the galaxy apart."
"Whatever you're seeing, we can fight this."
Anakin stared uselessly at the ceiling. "You said so yourself. It's too dangerous."
There was a long pause, and Anakin eventually pushed himself into a sitting position. Obi-Wan was pacing, back and forth across the tiny room. Feeling Anakin's eyes on him, he stopped.
"Whatever this means. Whatever you saw. It was wrong to try to understand it now, here in this place where we can barely hold ourselves together. I was wrong to try to take action. I couldn't get a message through to the Jedi council anyways. The transmission would never escape the black hole's gravity. We have a real, present mission, and we cannot allow ourselves to be consumed by potential futures."
Obi-Wan exuded an aura of calm. He had found his center, and it helped to be near him—just a little.
"You don't think this is more important?"
Another pause then, "half a standard day. If we don't find the ship in that long, we head back. It will give us time to… settle."
"Master, are you sure?" Anakin warned. "What I saw…"
"I don't want to hear it. Not right now. Come on." Obi-Wan motioned for him to get up.
"Wait," Anakin said, "there's something else I have to tell you now, just in case…" he wasn't completely sure what this was just in case of. All the same, he knew he did not trust himself, so he continued. "In the first vision I saw something I'm not sure how to interpret. It was the chancellor but he was disfigured horrifically. He wore a cloak and his eyes were sunken and yellow. He reached out to me and I fell towards him, and the black hole was behind him."
Obi-Wan stiffened. "I think we both known what this must mean, Anakin. It's been in front of our noses all this time. All the pieces are fitting together. The clones turning against us, the fog of the dark side which hangs in the senate."
"You're wrong. You have to be. The chancellor is my friend. He's been a mentor to me since I first arrived on Coruscant."
"Yes," said Obi-Wan, and there was a bitterness in his words, "and that's starting to make a lot of sense, isn't it? Regardless! We can speak of this later. When we leave this room, we leave all of this behind. We must give no indication to the men of what we know."
Obi-Wan said the words, but when the portal slid open they found it was waiting for them outside as well.