DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.

Anakin was once again in the virtual room, his hands bound together by stun cuffs, which in turn were locked to the chair between his legs. The leash Palpatine had taken to using as a means of leading Anakin around the ship was hanging down his bare chest. He kept his eyes down as Palpatine picked up the visor and wrapped it around Anakin's face, covering his eyes. Then he turned it on.

Suddenly Anakin was standing in the centre of Padme's old Senate office. The room looked almost exactly the same as the day he had last seen it. The desk sat in front of the room's massive window, bookcases lining the side walls and the whole room was devoid of personal affects. The only difference was that someone had completely shattered the window. The office wasn't empty though. A handful of droids were surrounding Palpatine who was about to be pushed out of the window. Padme was standing in front of the door, Aayla holding her lightsaber against her throat. The Sith apprentice was slowly pulling Padme further away from Anakin, deeper into the Senate building while the droids were slowly pushing Palpatine closer to the window's edge.

Without thinking Anakin started running, knowing he had only moments before he failed to rescue the one person he had to.

He ran with the speed of the Force behind him. The desk separated him from the Emperor. Anakin had already assessed that this would be his fastest route to reach him. So he ran straight at the desk. At the last moment he leapt.

His foot hit the edge of the desk and he used his momentum to propel himself over the desk and into the throngs of droids. He hit two of them as he landed, taking them down with him. Anakin rolled to his feet and instantly swept the legs out from under the droids closest to Palpatine. As they fell, Anakin grabbed them and threw them out the window where they disappeared into nothingness. He didn't take long to destroy the remaining droids but just as he was about to send the last one out the window, something stopped him.

"Ani?"

Padme's voice was soft and pleading.

Anakin turned to see her facing him, her eyes wide with fear and disappointment. He had chosen to save the Emperor instead of her and he could see the betrayal in her eyes. His heart broke.

"Padme..."

He trailed off as agonising pain lanced through him.

As suddenly as he'd been pulled into the virtual reality, he was disconnected. Pain still wracked his body as Palpatine placed the game back on the table, released Anakin from the chair and pulled him to his feet.

Shaking but somehow managing to stay on his feet, Anakin was led back through the corridors to his cell. From there, the torture continued.

They had been waiting for well over a month and there was still no sign that the Emperor had returned. There had been no tremors in the Force, no sudden influx of the dark side or any word among the patrols they stalked.

Obi Wan wouldn't give up though. He could still sense Anakin's Force presence; in fact it was as strong as ever. What confused him was why it was taking the Emperor so long to get back to Coruscant. He could feel the dark presence of the Emperor, along with Anakin's light one, getting closer but it seemed to be at a sluggish pace. Why was the Emperor prolonging Anakin's downfall?

He sat in cross-legged silence, deep in meditation. Around him, his companions moved. They stayed away from the older Jedi, knowing that he was searching the Force for answers they themselves found elusive.

After observing the destruction of the Jedi Temple, Obi Wan had led his small rescue team into the slum areas of lower Coruscant. There they found an abandoned apartment building that would be perfect for their hideout. It was run down but not unstable and all of the electricity was still working. At some stage, looters had pillaged the lower apartments but they hadn't been able to break into the upper apartments. These were the deluxe suites of the building and as such had higher security measures. The lifts that led up to these suites were jammed closed and the lock pad had been shot to death.

But none of this posed a problem to three Jedi and their two friends. Obi Wan reached deep into the Force and used its influence to unlock the lifts. They had instantly responded to his call. When the five had crowded into one of the lifts, Obi Wan again used the Force to propel them up into the highest level. From there he had herded everyone out and temporarily jammed the lift at their level.

The five had made their home in this top suite over the past month and a half. Along with Obi Wan the group consisted of Ferus Olin, Pieter Gorvus, Rex – a converted Clone trooper and Ahsoka Tano. Pieter and Rex were easy enough to locate and would be perfect additions to the team. Obi Wan knew about Pieter's rare ability of having no Force signature and how he had used this ability to aid the Resistance in many of their missions. Not only was he the best unseen mover among the Resistance, he was also an exceptional fighter and incredibly loyal. Anakin had saved his life once, only months after he'd joined the Resistance, and ever since Pieter felt he owed his life to his young rescuer.

As for Rex, his Clone heritage was working to their advantage. He could blend in with the troopers who worked for Palpatine without being suspected and his fighting skills were legendary among the Resistance. After surviving the Clone Wars and somehow managing to override the orders of Palpatine during Order 66, Rex had dropped off the radar for a while. He'd lain low in the Jedi-less deserts of Tattooine until the urge from Order 66 had subsided and he would be no threat to the Jedi, who he had long called friend. Then he had emerged and been one of the first to join the Resistance when Ferus sent out the call.

Ahsoka, on the other hand, had been much harder to locate. Obi Wan had known a general location but the planet she was on was unheard of. It had taken much of his and Ferus's talents with the Force to find the young Togrutan. During the Clone Wars, Ahsoka had fought alongside Anakin and Obi Wan, often directly in the line of fire. Nearing the end of the war, Anakin had allowed Ahsoka to go on her own missions when he could not make it. This had thrilled the Jedi padawan but it had also been her undoing. On one particular mission she had been grievously injured and had to be carried by her accompanying Clone troopers to a medical station.

There she had lain, flickering in and out of consciousness. While she was out, a lot of the time she had visions of an invisible planet – one she had visited before. It had been the world where seasons changed according to the time of day and the personifications of the Light and Dark sides of the Force coincided. When Ahsoka had last been on that planet, along with Obi Wan and Anakin, she had been touched deeply by the dark side. This had nearly killed her but Anakin had brought her back with the help of the Light side of the Force. The visions she experienced through her healing process were dark ones that Ahsoka couldn't shake. No matter how hard she fought, the dark side had started to influence her. By the time she had awoken, mostly healed but still weak and sore, the dark side's grip on the padawan was deep. Under the influence, Ahsoka had been charged to lead Anakin into a trap which she'd nearly succeeded in. Anakin had noticed her strange behaviour and talked her back to him. Sensing, and fearing, the dark side still bottled up within her, Ahsoka had quit the Jedi order so she couldn't potentially hurt her Master again. She had fled Coruscant and disappeared into the Outer Rim.

It wasn't until many years later that Obi Wan had discovered her beyond the Outer Rim planets, in an unchartered area. The planet was only small but it was filled with life. It was called Thaull, a terrestrial planet that seemed to be an in between land. Obi Wan had run into many different types – refugees, all of them – as he'd searched for Ahsoka, all of them secretive and unwilling to part with what they knew.

A few days later, Obi Wan detected the faintest trace of Ahsoka's presence and from there it had been easy to find her. Convincing her had been a feat in itself but when she found out that Anakin had married and had children, her mind changed instantly. With multiple lives, and that of Anakin's children, hanging in the balance and her being one of the few who could help, Ahsoka had taken up her lightsaber and gone with Obi Wan.

Now, nearly two months later, the small rescue group were concerned. The Emperor should have returned to Coruscant before Obi Wan's group but they still weren't back. Hence Obi Wan's desperate searching of the Force. Sadly, nothing of importance had bought itself to his attention. So he kept searching.