. . . . . "Attack of the Clones (AU)/Chapter 7"@en . . . . . "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. \u201CTrack this bounty hunter you must, Obi-Wan,\u201D Yoda instructed. \u201CMost importantly,\u201D Mace added, \u201Cfind out who he is working for.\u201D Finally, some sense! Padm\u00E9 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\u2014 \u201CWith respect, Master,\u201D Obi-Wan objected gently, \u201Cthere still is the threat against Senator Nalanda.\u201D \u201CWhich is why young Skywalker can assist Padm\u00E9 while you track this attacker,\u201D said the cool voice of Kuan Yin Nevu. \u201CShe will be much safer on her home planet Naboo.\u201D Padm\u00E9 noticed Anakin brighten ever so slightly at this. This can\u2019t happen, she told herself, I don\u2019t need distractions like this. \u201CMaster,\u201D Padm\u00E9 said, \u201CI don\u2019t think \u2013\u201D \u201CEnough!\u201D Renust Nju dismissed her objections with a gesture. \u201CThe matter is closed.\u201D \u201CI think what Padm\u00E9 was trying to say,\u201D Anakin interjected tentatively, \u201Cis that it will be difficult to convince Senator Nalanda to leave the capital with the impending vote and the summit.\u201D Curious glances were exchanged amongst the Council. \u201CUntil gone this threat is, our judgement she must accept,\u201D Yoda murmured. \u201CSpeak to Chancellor Palpatine,\u201D Windu instructed, \u201Che understands even if she does not. And don\u2019t use registered transport,\u201D he added, \u201Ctravel as refugees.\u201D \u201CMay the Force be with you,\u201D Nju said, the session was at an end but Padm\u00E9 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. Padm\u00E9 was waiting for her on the balcony outside, when she heard Kuan Yin approach she confronted the Jedi Master. \u201CI know what this is about.\u201D Kuan Yin held up a hand to stop Padm\u00E9 from speaking. \u201CAnd my answer is and will remain the same: no.\u201D \u201CHow do you know?\u201D Padm\u00E9 asked furiously. \u201CI wasn't the only one who noticed the two very different reactions in there,\u201D her former Master said lightly, circling Padm\u00E9 as she spoke. \u201CYou think you lack control? That surprises me.\u201D \u201CIt\u2019s Anakin I'm worried about,\u201D Padm\u00E9 confessed. \u201CWith Obi-Wan around the boundaries are in place. But then\u2026\u201D \u201CWho says you can\u2019t set them?\u201D Kuan Yin challenged. \u201CAnd if they fall?\u201D Padm\u00E9 asked. \u201CAre they going to?\u201D Nevu pressed. \u201COr are you going to let him in?\u201D Padm\u00E9 didn\u2019t 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. \u201CThis isn\u2019t like last time, Padm\u00E9,\u201D Kuan Yin reminded her. \u201CThe Council isn\u2019t 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.\u201D \u201CBut you won\u2019t now?\u201D Padm\u00E9 asked. \u201CI don\u2019t need to.\u201D She placed a hand on the young woman\u2019s shoulder. \u201CThere are some tests that need to be faced.\u201D \u201CYou\u2019re late.\u201D The accusation was casually made by Anakin as he lounged against a wall in the Executive Building. \u201CHow long have you been waiting?\u201D Padm\u00E9 asked in the same casual tone. He shrugged. \u201CNot long,\u201D he walked with her towards Palpatine\u2019s office. Outside was his aide Dar Wac. \u201CWell?\u201D \u201CCome on,\u201D Padm\u00E9 said impatiently, she had no idea what Anakin was trying to so. Padm\u00E9 had expected that the Chancellor might make them wait, but as soon as Dar Wac noticed Anakin they were waved through. The Chancellor\u2019s 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 Padm\u00E9 surmised. Such as the large aurodium statues they passed as she and Anakin walked towards the Chancellor\u2019s 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. \u201CAh, Anakin,\u201D Palpatine greeted the young Jedi warmly then turned to Padm\u00E9. \u201CA pleasure to see you again, Padm\u00E9, I only wish it was under better circumstances.\u201D \u201CDon\u2019t we all, Chancellor,\u201D Padm\u00E9 replied coolly as they followed him to the far end of the room. It did not take long for Anakin and Padm\u00E9 to explain the situation with Nalanda and the subsequent decision of the Jedi Council. When this was done Palpatine agreed to help them. \u201CYes, I\u2019ll talk to her,\u201D he said, somewhat reluctantly. \u201CShe won\u2019t like it, but she cannot refuse an executive order. Representative Pela will have to take her place at the summit.\u201D \u201CI don\u2019t think she\u2019ll like that either,\u201D Anakin remarked. \u201CPolitics is all about making compromises, Anakin,\u201D Palpatine said. \u201CSenator Nalanda will understand. So,\u201D Palpatine turned to regard them with a critical smile. \u201CThey have finally given you an assignment.\u201D \u201CIt\u2019s not like that, your Excellency,\u201D Anakin said, reddening slightly. \u201CPadm\u00E9 will be going with me.\u201D \u201CBut it\u2019s not like you\u2019re being chaperoned, is it?\u201D the Chancellor enquired. As they continued to take Padm\u00E9 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\u2019t mind. She had observed earlier Obi-Wan\u2019s aversion to Chancellor Palpatine and the influence he had over Anakin. I can see why, Padm\u00E9 thought, with Palpatine he\u2019s 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\u2014or so it seemed to the grazer\u2014until one night when the cat murdered the grazer while he was sleeping. Besides, they couldn\u2019t stay long, and once she hinted to the Chancellor that they ought to be going he sent them on their way. \u201CI\u2019m concerned for my Padawan,\u201D Obi-Wan said to Mace Windu and Yoda as they left the Temple refectory that afternoon. \u201CHe\u2019s not ready to be out on his own yet.\u201D \u201CHe\u2019s not on his own, Obi-Wan,\u201D Mace Windu reminded him. \u201CAnd if it helps reassure you, Padm\u00E9 expressed some concerns of her own to Kuan Yin.\u201D \u201CDid she?\u201D This was somewhat of a surprise. \u201CAnd what was the result of that?\u201D \u201CThe same thing I am telling you,\u201D Mace said. \u201CThe Council is confident in its decision and it will not change.\u201D \u201CI wasn't asking you to change it,\u201D Obi-Wan replied. \u201CAnd it\u2019s not that I don\u2019t trust Anakin, I would trust him with my life. But he can\u2019t be trusted to do as he\u2019s told.\u201D \u201CReminds me of someone else, that does,\u201D Yoda commented mildly. Obi-Wan had to smile at this. \u201CObi-Wan, you must believe that Anakin will choose the right path,\u201D Mace Windu said. \u201CAnd remember, if the prophecy is true he is the one who will bring balance to the Force.\u201D Need they remind him that? Qui-Gon\u2019s belief that Anakin was the Chosen One had hung over him ever since the start of Anakin\u2019s training. If he failed it would not just reflect on Anakin but he himself as Anakin\u2019s Master. If he failed\u2026No, Obi-Wan thought as Yoda and Mace went up to the Council chamber, I won\u2019t fail either of them."@en . . . . . . . . "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. \u201CTrack this bounty hunter you must, Obi-Wan,\u201D Yoda instructed. \u201CMost importantly,\u201D Mace added, \u201Cfind out who he is working for.\u201D Finally, some sense! Padm\u00E9 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\u2014 \u201CMaster,\u201D Padm\u00E9 said, \u201CI don\u2019t think \u2013\u201D \u201CYou\u2019re late.\u201D"@en . . . . . . . . . . .