Note 1: Star Wars and its affiliates do not belong to me only the contents of this Verse.

Note 2: This is my first fanfiction work. It takes place during ROTS, right after Anakin and Obi-Wan return from rescuing Chancellor Palpatine from General Grievous.

Note 3: Thank you to my betas, authorwithissues and TACAitsH.

Chosen: Restoration

Chapter 1: Virus

By WrittinInStone

After months of fighting in the Outer Rim Sieges, Anakin Skywalker was finally home.

He stood restlessly, watching the high rises and vehicles pass swiftly by through the window of the transport. Although he moved closer to the Senate with each moment, it was impossible to hide his impatience; he simply could not arrive at his destination quickly enough.

Rescuing the Chancellor was an adventure that Anakin was not eager to repeat. He had to admit, at the time, it had been a rush to successfully crash land the wreckage of the Invisible Hand, cementing his reputation as a Jedi above the rest, a man who had truly earned his title as 'Hero With No Fear'.

But the results of that little stunt had been less than pleasing. Being forced into the medibay alongside Obi-Wan, then to an excessive number of meetings with the Senate and Jedi Council for several days, was not exactly what he had in mind after the battle.

He supposed he should be grateful nonetheless. For their amazing success, the two Jedi Knights were granted a reprieve on Coruscant. The Jedi Council deemed they were deserving of rest.

And rest was indeed what Anakin needed, but not what he wanted. He wanted Padmé.

The Knight closed his eyes and smiled. In his mind's eye he could see the brightness of her smile, the shine of her beautiful chocolate eyes. Padmé: senator, soul mate, wife. Soon they would be together; soon he would be able to hold her in his arms again.

She was there, in the Senate, waiting for him; he could sense it.

Anakin's hands clenched as he mentally willed the ship to move faster. His patience was failing; he thought he just might explode if he did not get to her now.

By the Force, if this pile of scrap metal does not move, I'm going to blow—

"Anakin!" The Knight was snapped out of his musing at the sight of Obi-Wan shaking his head.

"You're as unfocused as ever, my friend. Are you thinking of all the rest you're going to get now that we're home? I thought they'd never bring us back from the Outer Rim," the older man said good-naturedly, smacking Anakin on the shoulder in enthusiasm.

The Jedi Master radiated cheer as he squeezed the younger man's shoulder. He was happy to be home as well.

"You stole the words right out of my head, Master," Anakin said with a grin. I'm glad that they brought us back; I was becoming a very desperate man he thought, unconsciously rubbing the spot on his shoulder that Obi-Wan had smacked.

"I can't wait to see Dex, I wonder how the Shaak races turned out," Obi-Wan commented a little too casually, rubbing his beard.

"Shaak racing?" Anakin said, eyebrows lifting in surprised amusement. "What need do you have for gambling, Obi-Wan? Possessions are forbidden to us. So is gambling."

"It's not gambling, per say, if you know who's going to win." Obi-Wan began to turn red as he stroked his beard faster.

The Knight grinned at his Master's motion. Obi-Wan always rubbed his beard when he did something wrong.

"Oh, so you cheated using the Force?" Anakin said, beginning to laugh. "Well, well, well. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Negotiator. Jedi Master…and," Anakin toned dramatically. "Code breaker."

Obi-Wan grinned apologetically, "Technically, I'm not breaking any rules. All winnings will go toward charities, so I will remain without possessions. Besides, a little rivalry between Dex and I will not hurt anyone."

"Sure, Master," Anakin said, shaking his head with a grin. "If you say so." He rubbed his chest as he tried to pay attention to what Obi-Wan was saying, feeling a strange pressure there.

The Knight brushed it off. He had been feeling strange since the mission, but it was probably due to the atmospheric changes from space to Coruscant. Sometimes it took a bit for the body to adjust from space travel.

Obi-Wan noticed the motion. "Anakin, are you alright? You seem a bit pale."

"I'm fine," Anakin assured him with an easy smile. "Just feeling a little tired. That's not surprising, though, I haven't really been able to get much sleep since our last mission."

"I did notice that," Obi-Wan responded, his forehead crinkling in slight worry. "Nevertheless, we should still get you checked out again when we reach the temple. You very rarely get sick, Anakin."

"Obi-Wan, you worry entirely too much!" Anakin exclaimed, rolling his eyes at his master's words. "I'm fine, really. Besides, I've been in medibay way too much this past week."

"Why don't you just humor me?" Obi-Wan requested gently. "You know that I should get my way now that I'm approaching old age."

"Old age, really? You're not old, Obi-Wan!" the Knight exclaimed, exasperated as he shot the older man a disbelieving look. "And if that's the best you can come up with, I can tell you right now that it isn't going to—"

Anakin frowned as he suddenly found he could not speak. He looked at Obi-Wan in confusion as the world began to spin. Seconds later, Anakin Skywalker collapsed to the ground.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan rushed to his side and knelt beside the younger man's still form. "Anakin! Anakin!"

He gasped as he tried to speak to Obi-Wan, but the tightness in his chest was overwhelming.

Why is everything fading, he thought without coherence, as consciousness fled.

#*#*#*#*#

They said it was the worst virus that they had ever seen.

The doctors stood in the chambers of the Jedi Temple as they gave their report.

Through the viewing screen installed in the room, Anakin could see the grim faces of the Jedi Council as they too listened to the doctor's statements.

His face was expressionless as he listened to the report, eyes focused on the wall of his room. Prison would be more accurate, he thought bitterly, his hands clenching in frustration. The room smelled of medicine and death and he hated it, hated it.

The drone of doctors pulled him back to the issue at hand: his… illness.

"Never before seen…"

"Currently untreatable…"

"Potentially contagious…

"Exile…"

To him, it was surreal. He was Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear, the Champion of the Republic, the Chosen One. Yet now it appeared he had earned a new title: the Banished One.

Anakin listened as the physicians finished giving their condolences about his condition and exited the Jedi Council chambers.

Silence filled the room, but he only heard one word echoing through his mind. Exile.

"Unexpected and unfortunate, this is," Master Yoda finally spoke up. He looked withered now, as though the doctors' information had drained him of the tremendous energy that usually surrounded him. "Clouded the Force is on this matter. Until find out what this virus is, right the doctors are. Into exile, you must go."

Anakin struggled to quell the tremors quaking through his body. He clenched his hands, hoping it would hide his shaking. They were banishing him from Coruscant, from Padmé?

Padmé. Anakin went cold at the thought of her. No doubt by now the HoloNet had trumpeted his condition to the entire galaxy. What would Padmé think? She was probably worrying herself sick about him. The thought made Anakin's heart sink in his chest.

"You cannot banish me," Anakin said steadily, trying with great difficulty to keep the anger and desperation out of his voice. "I cannot be exiled from my home."

"Anakin, we cannot risk the safety of this city," Mace Windu spoke up. He raised his head from his crossed hands to look straight into Anakin's eyes through the screen. "I know this is hard, but you must be isolated from the rest of the population. The medical facility that is currently holding you is simply not effective in keeping out the potentially destructive agents that you are carrying in your body. Until we know more about this virus, you must leave this place. It has been so ordered by the Council."

"Provisions for you, will we make. A ship will we give you. Everything you need, it will have. Work diligently on a cure to this virus, we will, while in your exile you are," Yoda stated solemnly. "Your droids will you be able to take. Immune to this virus they are and your company will they keep."

"You don't understand." Anakin tried hard to fight down the rage welling up inside of him. This was worse than any mission that they had sent him on. They were going to take him away from Padmé indefinitely.

"Anakin," Master Windu spoke up sharply. "You are a Jedi and as such, you will abide by the will of this Council. You do realize the seriousness of this issue. You are infected with an unknown virus. As of now, we have no idea as to how you contracted this illness and no idea as to how to treat it. All we know is that there are pathogens in your body that are making you weak by attacking your midichlorians. We have no idea what additional symptoms will develop while they are present. We will not put this city in danger because of your homesickness—"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan interrupted, finally speaking for the first time. Since his bond with Anakin had always decreased the validity of Obi-Wan's counsel on the young Knight in the eyes of the Jedi Council, he had decided that it was prudent only to speak when necessary. Preventing Master Windu from completely alienating Anakin seemed as necessary a time as any. "Maybe it would help if you thought of this trip as an extended vacation."

At the searing look Anakin gave him, Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose and then reached up to squeeze his temples. "Anakin, do you really think that any of us want you to leave? We clearly don't, but we have little choice here. The Republic is going mad. Medical facilities all around are raving and, intentionally or not, it's inciting the public to fear. Surely you know how the HoloNet is taking advantage of this. I don't think they've been this happy since that conflict on Naboo."

Obi-Wan raised his head. Anakin felt his stomach clench at the stress he felt coming off of Obi-Wan in waves. As powerful and as disciplined as Obi-Wan was, when it came to Anakin, he had always had difficulty controlling his emotions.

"I know this is going to be tough, Anakin, but you know this is the only way. But take comfort in this, my friend: we will stop at nothing until you are healed."

The determination on Obi-Wan's face and in his voice served to ease some of the anger welling in Anakin. He looked at the grim faces of the Jedi Council and finally acknowledged the truth. They were right; he had to leave. In his condition, he could not see Padmé. He loved her too much to risk her safety and would not do so under any circumstances. He refused to, even if it meant he had to live without her.

"Very well," Anakin intoned, nodding his head in submission to their decision. "The will of the Council shall be done."

"Begin the transfer immediately, we will. Time to set straight your affairs, we will give you," Yoda stated. "Tomorrow morning, transferred will you be to your ship along with the two droids."

"Very well, Master Yoda," Anakin agreed, bowing his head. A few more words of encouragement were given before the transmission was ended.

Anakin laid his head against a pillow and closed his eyes, trying desperately to prevent despair from overtaking him.

"Padmé…" he whispered softly. After everything that had happened, he was still to be separated from her. He did not know if he could bear it, if he was strong enough. In all of Anakin's years of life, he would have never thought that the heartache of love could cause such terrible physical pain. Yet the horrible sensations ripping through his body attested to the truth of it. He surely felt that his heart would not endure the knowledge that Padmé was out of his reach.

Anakin looked up toward the entrance of the room when he heard the unmistakable sound of 3PO's voice. "I saw what that awful HoloNet said about Master Ani and I simply had to come." 3PO exclaimed, his voice clearly portraying his horror. "Are you sure this is the right room, R2? I don't see Master—Master Ani!" 3PO cried joyously as he looked upon the form of his Maker.

Anakin released a sigh of relief as 3PO's form appeared in the Decontaminate Chamber. He heard the hiss of escaping air as 3PO and R2 were sterilized.

"Master Ani!" 3PO begin immediately. "We are so pleased to see that you are okay! That horrible HoloNe—"

"3PO," Anakin interrupted, forcing himself to go through with his purely spontaneous plan. "I'm glad that you're here. I need you and R2 to do something very important for me."

"Of course, Master Ani! Anything you wish!"

"I need you to take this message to Padmé. It is of the upmost secrecy. You have to be discreet. Give this to no one but her."

"Very well, Master Ani."

Anakin leaned forward as he began to relay the information.

* * *
End of Chapter 1: I hoped you guys liked this, if you did, please review.

2nd Chapter: Message - Padmé receives a message from Anakin.

((***If you simply LOVED this, please check out my other story, Soul's Scars.))

**Updated November 6, 2011***