WHAT IS REAL

LIX

Padme went on though because she had not caught the look in his eye. She was still focused on the dream. "I was forced to watch as he tortured Luke and Leia. I felt all their pain until finally he killed them. I felt the lightning course through their bodies until it snuffed out the light in their eyes and their screaming voices were silenced. I tried with all my might to break free and stop him but it was impossible. Then I woke up."

Anakin let the tears fall. He could not stop them. He tried to get the words out that he was thinking but nothing would come. He would kill his master before he would allow Padme to be tortured this way. Then she said words that stopped his heart cold. "The most horrible part was you could not stop him. You came right at the end but you were blocked and all you could do was just stand there."

"Padme I vowed to protect you and I have hidden you from the Emperor. He does not know you are alive or he would already have you and this time he would make sure you were dead. I would never just stand by and watch that happen."

"The thing was when I pleaded for you to do something Palpatine started to laugh saying 'Anakin was always weak and too fearful to stop me. I know his worst fear and he can't make it go away, EVER. I have control of Anakin Skywalker.' He really did control you."

Anakin sat stunned by what she said. Did Palpatine really control him by his fear? Fear leads to anger, anger to hate, hate leads to suffering. Yoda's words screamed through his mind. Fear had certainly ruled him during the Clone Wars. In fact as he sat there and thought over his life, fear had filled him from a very young age. 

He remembered Gardilla the Hutt telling him to obey her every word or his mother would be taken from him. He had nothing but his mom and fear sank its talons into his heart then. Fear of loosing Padme still filled him and fear of Palpatine finding his children first filled him to this moment. He was constantly in contact with Kitster to find out if there was progress. Nothing had turned up yet. He knew also that if he could not feel them through the force neither could the Emperor. It was a relief to know that much.

As Anakin thought on this he knew one thing for sure; he needed to talk to Qui Gon.