I KNOW PLACES ➶ STAR WARS

Part I // Witness

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

"He has become a very great threat," came the firm response. Icy blue eyes bore a hole in her. "I must know where he is."

"I can't. I won't." Padmé shifted on the couch, turning a cold, stony shoulder to him.

Though her dress was extensive, Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of the pregnancy he never had the gall to confirm. By this point, it was undeniable - and knowing this, there was no convincing her. He stood up and moved from the couch to the threshold, where he turned to give her a final glance. "Anakin is the father, isn't he?" He asked.

Padmé refused to look at him. She studied the floor tiles instead. He could figure it out for himself.

"I'm so sorry," Obi-Wan admitted. That was it. Anakin had to be culled. He started to cross towards his Speeder, but Padmé interjected suddenly.

"Wait." She stood as well, still not making eye contact. Wind flowing in from the veranda whipped at her long skirt, pressing her skirts against her midsection. There was no more hiding from her best friend. "Promise me you won't kill him."

Obi-Wan looked out at the lilac clouds; dusk was falling on Coruscant slowly. He chose his words carefully as he made his way back to Padmé. "You know that I must do what I have to. I don't want to see him hurt any more than you do, Padmé. The only promise I can make is to put it off for as long as I can." Reaching out, he took her hands. Rough sandpaper callouses struck lightning up her arms, and he watched as a shiver coursed through her. "But we both know the consequences of not doing it at all."

"I know. I just- there's still good in him, still a light, and I feel it, Obi-Wan, I do!" Padmé finally spoke as water glazed over her eyes. "It's still there, after all these years, all this time," her voice grew soft, "all these... these changes." A crystal tear flew down her face, painted golden by the setting sun.

He looked into her eyes, bending down to catch their distant gaze. "I wish there was a light. Truly, I do. But he has turned to the Dark Side, and there is nothing left for me to do. These are orders I cannot ignore, Padmé."

Her head snapped up. He was met with angry eyebrows. "No! It's there! I feel it!" She pulled away and stalked defiantly back to her couch.

Obi-Wan's voice began to rise. How can she keep lying to herself? "That light was put out when he crossed over, when he knelt and pledged his allegiance to Darth Sidious!"

"I don't believe it. How can you say this about him?" She turned back towards him.

He lowered his voice. "I loved him like a brother, Padmé. He was my apprentice."

"He is my husband." There was a flash of anger in her eyes, but they softened before he could read them.

"Then we both knew him well," Obi-Wan said, gently stroking a loose strand of hair out of her tear-streaked face.

The graze centered her, and she yanked away. "What do you mean, knew? He is the same Anakin I met on Tatooine. He is the same Anakin who played tricks on me on Naboo. He is the same Anakin who married me. Nothing has changed."

"Much has changed." He sucked in a breath, ready to briefly face the whole truth. "I have failed him. He is going to wipe out what's left of the Republic," he murmured. "The Younglings were nothing more than an example."

"You can't kill him," she whimpered helplessly, turning away. If he truly could kill Younglings without flinching, then what did that mean for their own child?

"I have to try." A pause. "Please, Senator, I'm begging you: tell me where he's at."

Padmé looked at him, staring right into his pleading eyes. "Let me go to him first, Obi-Wan," she propositioned. "He will listen."

"Padmé..."

"Please. Please let me try."

"And if he doesn't? If he kills you, too?" Where does that leave me?

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Then the guilt will turn to acid and it will eat him alive."

With her chin positioned up and her gaze locked on him, Obi-Wan was certain he'd never seen her more fearless. If he knew anything about his closest friend, he knew that she was confident, calculated, seasoned. Not many people knew Anakin the way that she did. If she thought that he could be reasoned with, then who was he to call her wrong?

Obi-Wan's eyes softened. Message received. He nodded in understanding, then embraced her quickly, and planted a kiss on her cheek. For good luck. He kept his distance as Threepio and Artoo boarded her Naboo skiff ahead of her, but he was still not at ease.

She removed her heavy house-dress to reveal a tan traveling outfit. A support brace made her condition even more prominent, and for a reason he could not quite explain, he was entranced by her. This hadn't been the first time the feeling crept up on him. He grappled with its implications - subtle jealousy, or perhaps simple longing for something his Padawan took for granted. Either way, it only cemented the feeling that she could not go to him alone.

She was settled in the cockpit, and as the ramp raised, Obi-Wan's shadow emerged. He hopped aboard without a sound. He was going with her whether she liked it or not. Truthfully, he did not trust Anakin. He knew his Padawan's victory-driven impulses. He knew his Padawan's insatiable fury. He could not live with himself if he sent Padmé off to her massacre.

Anakin had to be stopped.