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| - The next morning the Jedi Council passed around the small dart as Obi-Wan finished the report. If any of the details caused alarm, none of the Jedi Masters seemed to show it. When Obi-Wan had finished, Mace handed back the dart. “Track this bounty hunter you must, Obi-Wan,” Yoda instructed. “Most importantly,” Mace added, “find out who he is working for.” Finally, some sense! Padmé thought with relief. Now we can do this the way it should have been done for, the very beginning, with me protecting the senator so Obi-Wan and Annie can— “With respect, Master,” Obi-Wan objected gently, “there still is the threat against Senator Nalanda.” “Which is why young Skywalker can assist Padmé while you track this attacker,” said the cool voice of Kuan Yin Nevu. “She will be much safer on her home planet Naboo.” Padmé noticed Anakin brighten ever so slightly at this. This can’t happen, she told herself, I don’t need distractions like this. “Master,” Padmé said, “I don’t think –” “Enough!” Renust Nju dismissed her objections with a gesture. “The matter is closed.” “I think what Padmé was trying to say,” Anakin interjected tentatively, “is that it will be difficult to convince Senator Nalanda to leave the capital with the impending vote and the summit.” Curious glances were exchanged amongst the Council. “Until gone this threat is, our judgement she must accept,” Yoda murmured. “Speak to Chancellor Palpatine,” Windu instructed, “he understands even if she does not. And don’t use registered transport,” he added, “travel as refugees.” “May the Force be with you,” Nju said, the session was at an end but Padmé could not help but exchange a significant glance with Kuan Yin before she left with the others. When they had gone, Kuan Yin quickly excused herself. Padmé was waiting for her on the balcony outside, when she heard Kuan Yin approach she confronted the Jedi Master. “I know what this is about.” Kuan Yin held up a hand to stop Padmé from speaking. “And my answer is and will remain the same: no.” “How do you know?” Padmé asked furiously. “I wasn't the only one who noticed the two very different reactions in there,” her former Master said lightly, circling Padmé as she spoke. “You think you lack control? That surprises me.” “It’s Anakin I'm worried about,” Padmé confessed. “With Obi-Wan around the boundaries are in place. But then…” “Who says you can’t set them?” Kuan Yin challenged. “And if they fall?” Padmé asked. “Are they going to?” Nevu pressed. “Or are you going to let him in?” Padmé didn’t answer, as always Kuan Yin had gone right to the heart of the issue. Anakin had been in her mind in a different light after last night, and that made what she thought of him difficult to consider. She was afraid that Anakin would easily slip through the weaknesses in herself she had done her best to mend. To put it simply: she was afraid. “This isn’t like last time, Padmé,” Kuan Yin reminded her. “The Council isn’t a gate you can swing any way you choose. I intervened last time because I saw the need, if I had not things probably would have turned out different for you.” “But you won’t now?” Padmé asked. “I don’t need to.” She placed a hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “There are some tests that need to be faced.” “You’re late.” The accusation was casually made by Anakin as he lounged against a wall in the Executive Building. “How long have you been waiting?” Padmé asked in the same casual tone. He shrugged. “Not long,” he walked with her towards Palpatine’s office. Outside was his aide Dar Wac. “Well?” “Come on,” Padmé said impatiently, she had no idea what Anakin was trying to so. Padmé had expected that the Chancellor might make them wait, but as soon as Dar Wac noticed Anakin they were waved through. The Chancellor’s office more or less reflected the apartment he had had when he was Senator of Naboo, the red curved walls and crimson carpet, the delicate black and transparasteel furniture. Yet there were noticeable differences, probably to further augment his success Padmé surmised. Such as the large aurodium statues they passed as she and Anakin walked towards the Chancellor’s desk. And of course, there was the vast curved window which Palpatine stood by watching the traffic. Yet when he saw them he approached with a smile. “Ah, Anakin,” Palpatine greeted the young Jedi warmly then turned to Padmé. “A pleasure to see you again, Padmé, I only wish it was under better circumstances.” “Don’t we all, Chancellor,” Padmé replied coolly as they followed him to the far end of the room. It did not take long for Anakin and Padmé to explain the situation with Nalanda and the subsequent decision of the Jedi Council. When this was done Palpatine agreed to help them. “Yes, I’ll talk to her,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “She won’t like it, but she cannot refuse an executive order. Representative Pela will have to take her place at the summit.” “I don’t think she’ll like that either,” Anakin remarked. “Politics is all about making compromises, Anakin,” Palpatine said. “Senator Nalanda will understand. So,” Palpatine turned to regard them with a critical smile. “They have finally given you an assignment.” “It’s not like that, your Excellency,” Anakin said, reddening slightly. “Padmé will be going with me.” “But it’s not like you’re being chaperoned, is it?” the Chancellor enquired. As they continued to take Padmé noticed that she was becoming more and more of a spectator, in fact at one point they seemed to forget she was there but she didn’t mind. She had observed earlier Obi-Wan’s aversion to Chancellor Palpatine and the influence he had over Anakin. I can see why, Padmé thought, with Palpatine he’s hearing what he wants to hear rather than what he needs. It reminded her of a legend she had once heard on some Outer-Rim world. Of how a desert cat had befriended a grazing plain dweller. The trust between the two was complete—or so it seemed to the grazer—until one night when the cat murdered the grazer while he was sleeping. Besides, they couldn’t stay long, and once she hinted to the Chancellor that they ought to be going he sent them on their way. “I’m concerned for my Padawan,” Obi-Wan said to Mace Windu and Yoda as they left the Temple refectory that afternoon. “He’s not ready to be out on his own yet.” “He’s not on his own, Obi-Wan,” Mace Windu reminded him. “And if it helps reassure you, Padmé expressed some concerns of her own to Kuan Yin.” “Did she?” This was somewhat of a surprise. “And what was the result of that?” “The same thing I am telling you,” Mace said. “The Council is confident in its decision and it will not change.” “I wasn't asking you to change it,” Obi-Wan replied. “And it’s not that I don’t trust Anakin, I would trust him with my life. But he can’t be trusted to do as he’s told.” “Reminds me of someone else, that does,” Yoda commented mildly. Obi-Wan had to smile at this. “Obi-Wan, you must believe that Anakin will choose the right path,” Mace Windu said. “And remember, if the prophecy is true he is the one who will bring balance to the Force.” Need they remind him that? Qui-Gon’s belief that Anakin was the Chosen One had hung over him ever since the start of Anakin’s training. If he failed it would not just reflect on Anakin but he himself as Anakin’s Master. If he failed…No, Obi-Wan thought as Yoda and Mace went up to the Council chamber, I won’t fail either of them.
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