"You know the Dark side?" Anakin asked.

"Anakin," Palpatine said, kindly. "If one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the Jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise leader, you must embrace a larger view of the Force."

He adopted a sad expression. "Be careful of the Jedi, Anakin… they fear you. In time, they will destroy you."

Anakin frowned, not sure what to think, and Palpatine smiled. "Let me train you."

"I won't be a pawn in your political game," Anakin said, turning away. "The Jedi are my family."

"Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi," Palpatine countered. "Learn to know the dark side of the Force, Anakin…"

Anakin turned to look at the Chancellor, hardly believing what he was hearing, and Palpatine kept going. "...and you will be able to save your wife from certain death."

"What did you say?" Anakin demanded.

"Use my knowledge," Palpatine implored. "I beg you."

"You're a Sith Lord!" Anakin said, reaching for his lightsaber.

"I know what has been troubling you," Palpatine said, glancing at the weapon before shaking his head slightly. "Listen to me. Don't continue to be a pawn of the Jedi council!"

Anakin's lightsaber lit with a snap, and Palpatine kept talking calmly. "Ever since I've known you, you've been searching for a life greater than that of an ordinary Jedi… a life of significance, of conscience."

Anakin swallowed.

"You're not wrong," he said, slowly.

"So uncivilized…" Obi-Wan said, brushing himself off, and threw the blaster pistol to the side.

As he reached for a dropped electro-staff, however, his comlink chirped.

Pulling it from his belt, slightly surprised it was still there, Obi-Wan activated it.

"Kenobi here," he said.

"Master!" Anakin said. "I've got great news!"

"You have?" Obi-Wan replied. "It appears we both have something of import to share. Please inform the Council that General Grievous is dead."

"Oh – that's good, really, Master," Anakin replied, sounding vaguely distracted. "Really. Sorry, I'm – you killed Grievous? Or was it Cody and his troops?"

"It was indeed me, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied. "Though I'm not very proud of it. Not only did I have to kill him to stop him, I had to do it with a blaster. I should probably wash my hands at some point."

Anakin laughed, a touch hysterically, then audibly calmed down. "I'd love to have seen that," he said. "Why did you even use a blaster? You do still have your lightsaber, right?"

Obi-Wan was silent, and Anakin sniggered down the comlink.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "This is no time for mockery."

"No, Master, it's not," Anakin agreed. "Even if you do now need a fourth one. So, uh. Well done for slaying Grievous. Even if he wasn't a Sith Lord."

He paused. "You know. Since Sith Lords are our speciality."

"You're not going to let me live that down, are you?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Maybe, some day," Anakin said. "Actually, that gets to why I called you in the first place."

Boga made a curious noise, and Obi-Wan patted the lizard in a vague sort of way.

"I win," Anakin added.

Obi-Wan frowned at his comlink.

"Don't give me that look, Master," Anakin protested.

"You can't see me, you know," Obi-Wan pointed out. "If you think I'm giving you a look, that must be all in your head."

"Sure," Anakin doubted. "But, anyway, I win. Two-one. Nobody else is ever going to get any."

"...no, you're still not making sense," Obi-Wan chided. "Please remember, Anakin, not everybody is privy to the bits of your thoughts that you don't say out loud."

"Sith," Anakin swore. "You got one, I got two. You got Maul, then I got Tyrannus and Sidious in the same week."

Maybe Anakin hadn't been swearing.

"...come again?" Obi-Wan asked. "You 'got' Sidious?"

"Yes!" Anakin replied, sounding enthusiastic all over again. "It was, well, it was a really big fight actually, we wrecked his whole office and about half the tower, he had two lightsabers and kept throwing statues and speeders at me. But, long story short, I won. Eventually. Ow."

"Are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked, still in the middle of processing.

"Yes, I'm fine," Anakin answered. "I've just got some… injuries. And I'm going to need a new hand. But, anyway, the important bit is, I've now beaten one more Sith than everyone else in the Jedi Order combined, and I'm pretty sure that means I get to break a lot of the rules."

Obi-Wan blinked.

"Why would you even think that?" he asked. "Who was the Sith Lord, anyway?"

"Palpatine," Anakin said, casually, as if he hadn't just turned the galaxy upside down. "But I'm only basing it on what you did, Master. You took me as an apprentice even though I was about four times the normal maximum age! I'm pretty sure I can get away with just being married."

"...Palpatine was the Sith Lord," Obi-Wan said, slowly. "That means… this whole war was between the Sith Lords?"

He shook his head. "No, the whole war was so the Sith Lords could take power. No matter who won. But that means…"

His head was spinning at the military and political implications, but Obi-Wan let them go into the Force for a moment.

Boga made a more insistent curious noise, and Obi-Wan patted her on the muzzle.

"Just a moment," he told her, then returned his attention to the comlink. "So, you've finally decided to tell me that you married Padme?"

It wasn't exactly a good-Jedi sort of thing, but Obi-Wan did feel quite proud of how Anakin sort of made a choking noise for several seconds.

"How did you…?" Anakin asked.

"You are not subtle, my former apprentice," Obi-Wan replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and meet up with Commander Cody while I process all this."

AN:

A single word of change, and then a world of change.