CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

Everything was silent within the ship as they flew towards Dagobah. Anakin had fallen asleep easily considering that he was still not fully recovered yet. The others were remembering what had happened after they left Coruscant with him.

If they didn't get Anakin help soon, he was going to die.

Eventually they had reached the nearest base... where General Rieekan had landed his ship. The other leaders had also gone there. The ship landed, and Luke, and Obi-wan carried Anakin out on a stretcher that they had found. The others came out of the ship after them.

When the leaders had seen how bad a condition Anakin was in, they felt guilty in a sense. They hadn't given him the benefit of a doubt. Instead, they had thought that he had escaped. But seeing him like this... no one deserved to be tortured this badly.

The second Padme saw him, she rushed to his side. She kept her eyes on Anakin as Luke and Obi-wan carried him to the medical center within the base. Watching as they stripted him down, she saw just how bad his wounds were. They put him in a bacta tank... one of the few that the rebellion had.

Looking at Obi-wan, she asked, "Is he going to make it?"

This caused the old Jedi to sigh. "I'm not sure Padme. He had lost the will to live... he would rather die than suffer at the hands of Palpatine. That is... as long as his family was safe." He closed his eyes. "I can only hope that he regained his will to live when he saw Luke." Opening his eyes, he smiled a little at Padme. "On the bright side, it would seem we have regained a few friends of ours."

Padme turned around to see Ahsoka, Master Windu, and Barriss Offee come into the room. She smiled gently as she nodded to them.

It had taken time, but eventually Anakin was healed to the point he could be taken out. However, he would still need to rest to heal up the rest of the way.

Obviously, he would have quite a few new scars. During his time healing... the droids had coated his prosthetics with artificial skin.

Seeing those robotic limbs had reminded Obi-wan of his fight with Anakin... Maybe he had gone about it the wrong way. Perhaps there was something else he could have done. But it didn't matter anymore. What did matter... was that they had Anakin back.

Suddenly the group felt something was off. Even Padme could feel it though she wasn't a force sensitive. Leaving the ship on autopilot, the group ran to Anakin's room.

When they entered they had to duck quite a bit, as things were flying about. Some things crashed against the wall... others just circled the room. They noticed that Anakin was sweating really bad as he tossed and turned.

Ahsoka held Padme back to make sure she didn't get knocked around by anything. Obi-wan began to near Anakin. The closer he got, the easier he could hear what Anakin was mumbling. "You underestimate my power... I hate you..." His eyes began to tear up a little as he realized that Anakin was remembering the events of Mustafar.

It was when Anakin suddenly awoke that Obi-wan froze. Not because he had waken up, but because his eyes... were the eyes that he had faced on Mustafar. Anakin tensed, as he was about to spring.

Luke ran in front of Obi-wan. "Dad! Snap out of it!"

This caused Anakin to hesitate... He shook his head to clear his thoughts. The others watched in amazement as his eyes faded from yellow to blue. Master Windu lowered his hand from where he had gripped his lightsaber in case Anakin did attack. However, he still remained alert.

Anakin looked at them in confusion as he breathed hard. "What happened?"

Padme came forward and sat next to him. "You were dreaming, Ani. I think you sensed when Obi-wan got close to you. It caused you to go on the defensive. If it wasn't for Luke calling out to you, you might have attacked..." Padme glanced at the others, silently asking them to keep quiet of Anakin's eyes having turned yellow.

Anakin stared at Padme in shock, then he looked at his former master. "Obi-wan, I'm sor-"

"It wasn't your fault Anakin," Obi-wan cut him off, "and I'm fine."

"It's ok Ani," Smiling, Padme hugged her husband, leaning against his chest; letting her presence, her closeness, soothe him. Closing his eyes, Anakin held her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head. Once Anakin's breathing had calmed, she gently pushed him back down on the bed.

When he tried to get up, Padme shook her head, pushing him back down again. "You need to rest." Reaching out, she gently stroked back his hair, "Just close your eyes, Ani." His breathing slowly evened out as she continued to stroke her hand through his hair. After he was completely asleep, Padme stood up quietly and walked to the others.

"I saw something like that happen earlier. But not to this extent." At the curious glances Obi-wan got, he explained. "Anakin's eyes flashed yellow when he found out that the emperor had sent a battalion after his family. I managed to calm him down though."

"Why is this happening?" Leia asked, her gaze flicking to her father.

Obi-wan shook his head, "I don't know..." As he glanced at Master Windu, the older Jedi shook his head.

Luke frowned, "What if-" He broke off when the two Jedi Masters looked at him, suddenly self conscious; after all, they were fully trained Jedi, and he had barely begun his training.

Ahsoka smiled at him, recognizing his hesitancy, "What are you thinking?"

Luke took a deep breath, "Well, it's just that..." Pausing, Luke glanced at his father's sleeping form. "Dad was a Sith for sixteen years." he said softly, "Maybe subconsciously, he still draws on the dark side when he's angry."

This caused the others to go wide eyed at the thought. Obi-wan struggled a little in order to swallow. Looking at the others, he could tell that they were worried. "So far we've been able to calm him down though. As long as we can calm him dow-"

"But what if we can't? He is like a ticking bomb waiting to go off, Obi-wan." Mace warned.

Obi-wan turned to him. "From what I can tell, Anakin has no idea that his eyes turn yellow. Which means, that for the time, the darkside doesn't cloud his judgement. Yes, this is unusual... but if he can control his anger, then we won't have a problem with it." He looked at the others in the room. "I personally don't mind it as long as he doesn't turn on us or anyone else."

"What is it about me?' Luke asked softly, watching his father sleep.

"What do you mean?" leia asked, frowning at him.

"Dad's instantaneous turn from the darkside doesn't seem odd to any of you?" Luke asked, "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he did... but it doesn't make sense." Looking at Master Windu and Obi-wan, Luke shrugged, "Wouldn't you think it'd be gradual? That it would take time to change?"

Ahsoka frowned, "He changed, why does it matter how it happened?"

Luke shook his head, "I'm just wondering why he turned from the darkside the moment he found out I was his son." It was a miracle, but it didn't make sense-

"Your Force Signature," Barriss stared at Luke, "your's and Anakin's are almost identical." She looked from Luke, to Anakin, "It's almost like you're one person."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes at the comment but then turned to Luke. "Perhaps that is why. In a way of speaking, you and Anakin are on the same wavelength. Your connection to him is one of the strongest I've seen, but that's because Jedi have always been forbidden to have attachments. It's almost like..." She paused, a little hesitant.

Padme realized what she was trying to say. "It's almost like you've had this connection since before you were born, Luke." Everyone turned their attention to Padme. She smiled at Luke, "During the time I was pregnant, Anakin knew that the baby would be one strong in the force. Somehow he knew we were having a son. And yet I knew that we were having a daughter. Imagine my surprise when we had both." She nearly cried at the memory of her and Ani in the days of the Republic. "Even if I don't know much, I'd have to say, that I think the two of you had this connection since then. And when he found you on Tatooine, it seems it had reawaken when it had been lying dormant due to the distance between you and possibly also due to the influence the emperor had over your father. However, you broke that influence."

Luke frowned, "So, so long as I'm with Dad, he'll be able to resist the darkside?"

"I think it's more complicated than that," Obi-wan told him, "you weren't with us when we rescued Bail."

"I don't think we should be keeping this from him." Leia said softly, "He's bound to find out at some point, and if it's not from us, he'll be upset."

Ahsoka was thinking about everything that had been said. "Perhaps it's more of a family matter. He was willing to die than to suffer at the hands of Palpatine... but only as long as he knew his family was safe and sound." She looked at Padme, Luke and Leia. "I believe that either of you three could calm Anakin down if he were to get angry. Because you are his family."

Padme looked at Ahsoka and smiled. "If that is the case, then you and Obi-wan could most likely do it too. Anakin looks at the both of you as siblings."

Closing his eyes, Luke sighed. "It isn't fair," His father's turn from the darkside should have been a good thing, he should have been able to remain free from it's influence without having to be afraid of becoming a Sith again.

Obi-wan sighed softly, "No, it isn't fair." Anakin had done the impossible, he had returned from the darkside. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head to look at the people around him. "Anakin won't turn to the darkside again," he spoke quietly, but his voice was firm. "He was gained his freedom, and no matter what it takes, we will do everything we can to ensure that he never loses it again."