Anabeth: In The Empire's Shadow

Chapter 2 - Deep Conversations

Windu knew Ana all to well by now, heading straight to the stairs of the Temple where she was indeed sitting and looking over the skyline of Coruscant. He knew she had felt him approach as she didn't even bat an eye as he sat down next to her.

"You know, for all the things I have gotten to know about you these last two years, it still kind of eludes me as to why you love this place so much" Windu interrupted her thoughts.

"I think this place is underrated" Ana replied "But it's brilliant. I mean, it's always empty and quiet here, so you can catch some time alone and some fresh air whenever you like. And the view over Coruscant is amazing as well, especially the sunsets and sunrises you can watch here.

This place makes me relax honestly. Just watching the speeders fly by and the lights of the planet flicker, something about it just soothes my mind and makes it feel like time slows down here".

"I guess I never looked at it that way. I always prefered the gardens since I believed them to be more secluded and quiet. But I can see how this might be the better alternative for some actual alone time" Mace admitted. "Told you it's underrated" Ana just smiled as they both went quiet admiring the view.

"I wish I would have come to the Temple earlier. I wish we could have known each other longer" Ana admitted, a little remorse sounding in her voice.

"But you're here now, and that's what matters. Besides, we'll have so many more years to spend together, you'll be tired of me by the end of it" Windu tried to cheer her up. "Never. I'll never be tired of you". "We'll see about that" Windu just chuckled.

"Now tell me, what's on your mind? You haven't been yourself since last night, I'm worried" Windu went to probe about what had happened in the briefing room.

"It's probably nothing. Probably just a bad dream I had last night. But I don't know, it seemed to real. It was horrible" Ana admitted. "I figured as much. But I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened" Windu continued.

"I... I heard Maul. He said that the time of the Jedi had passed but we just couldn't see it. Just like he said to Ahsoka. But I couldn't possibly have known that he had said that to her at that time.

And then there were clones... all the clones and there were killing all of the Jedi. The Temple was burning and there was someone saying that the Sith would now rule the galaxy.

It was so horrible, I watched everyone die. All the Jedi, everyone I ever cared about, just... gone. I feel like something isn't right".

"Do you think it was a vision?" Windu asked carefully. "I am not sure to be honest. I could never imagine something like this happening, but then Maul said the same thing to Ahsoka that he said in my dream and I just don't feel like it's a coincidence" Ana admitted.

"Let's assume for a minute that this was a vision. What do you think this would mean for us?" Windu asked. "I guess it would be a warning that the Sith will do something that will wipe out all the Jedi and let them seize power over the Republic. And I have a feeling it would be fairly soon" Ana gave her assesment.

"In any case, we would not know how exactly the Sith plan on accomplishing this mission of theirs. For us, this means that the best chance of protecting ourselves against them is to find our Sith Lord and get rid of him once and for all. For now, our best option for that would be Maul since he was his apprentice once. You don't have to make a decision now, but I urge you to really think about talking to him when he gets back with Ahsoka in a few days, alright?"

"Alright, I'll think about it" Ana agreed. "That's all I ask. And for now, try to put the rest out of your mind. I know it's hard, but dwelling on what might or might not be comes at the expense of being distracted in the here and now which is never helpful. Trust me on that".

"I'll do my best" Ana promised. "I think I'll go and see Obi-Wan off with Anakin first, and then we'll be back in time for dinner later". "That sounds like a very good plan. Have fun and give my best wishes to Obi-Wan for me" Windu let her go on her way as he himself turned back towards the Temple to finish his work for the day.

By the time Ana got the docks to see off Obi-Wan he was already boarding his ship, so she was only able to briefly exchange a few words with him before she once again headed back to the Temple with Anakin. "Are you okay? You seem tired and distracted?" Anakin asked, obviously having notice that something wasn't right with Ana as well.

"It's nothing, just had a bad dream keeping me up last night" Ana replied. "I get you, nights like those are annoying. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask" Anakin offered. Ana gave him a grateful smile "Will do, thank you".

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Anakin asked. "Nothing much. I'll probably just go over some reports and do some meditation. What about you?".

"Nothing much either, so I was thinking maybe you'd like to do some lightsaber practice with me and then join Padmè and me for diner?" Anakin suggested. "That sounds exactly like something I need right now" Ana accepted his offer. "Great, I'll call Padmè real quick to tell her you're coming" Anakin proceeded to pull out his comlink.

"This tastes amazing as alway Padmè" Ana complimented the Senator's cooking. "I'm glad you like it" Padmè smiled at her "So tell me, how was your day?". "We located Grevious on Utapau. Obi-Wan was sent out to get him. But other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day" Anakin replied.

"And they didn't send you with him?" Padmè asked, confused as to why Anakin hadn't gone too. "Nope. I don't get it either" Anakin simply replied, using his fork to stab his food in frustration. "Don't get wound about it too much, Ani. There will be plenty of missions for you to go on still" his wife tried to cheer him up.

"Speeking about missions, Ahsoka also called today" Ana cut in "She'll be coming back within the next few days, with Maul in custody". "That's good news. I was starting to worry we wouldn't get a chance to tell her about the baby before it's here" Padmè joked. "Could you imagine her face if she came back to that" Anakin chuckled. "Oh yeah, it would surely be legendary" Ana laughed, the three of them having a laugh together as they thought about that scenario before all turning back to their dinner.

"Sometimes, all of this is so surreal to me still" Ana suddenly blurted. "Like not even three years ago I would never have imagined that I'd become a Jedi, make friends with the most famous people of the Order and have dinner with Senators. But here I am. I can consider myself so lucky to have all of you honestly".

"If anything, we can consider ourselves lucky to have you" Anakin replied. "You've been such a gift to the Order. I mean, you've really opened the minds of the Council to so many things, have proven so many of their ideas about what makes a good Jedi and what not wrong, and have even made Windu almost fun to be around. We're all better for having you".

"I agree" Padmè joined Anakin's praise. "It's been absolutely delightful to have you as a friend and to witness you achieve so much in the last two years. And I know you have so much more potential in you that you can use to do good in this galaxy. If anything, I consider myself honored to have you as a friend and to be able to watch you achieve so much".

"Thank you. I really couldn't ask for better friends than you" Ana smiled at them. "To our friendship then" Anakin raised his glass. "To our friendship" Ana and Padmè repeated in union as they too raised their glasses.