Anakin POV:

I looked at Obi-Wan and inhaled sharply, knowing that his tone implied that something was definitely wrong. I don't know if he noticed my unusual boost of anxiety, but if he did then then he didn't make it clear in his expression. I swallowed and turned to R2, trying to push down the shake in my voice.

"What happened, buddy?" I asked gently.

He beeped in both excitement and concern, and my eyes widened. "Wait, the building started to collapse? And a Sith Infiltrator ship flew away from it into the city?"

R2 beeped in response and I nodded my head, pushing my blonde curls out of my eyes and then rubbed my temples as I tried to figure out what to do next. Thankfully, we at least knew where (y/n) was and that she wasn't dead because R2 did a sweep of the building residue, not detecting any bodies or life forms. She must have been on that ship which is still bad but it's better than her being dead. That thought made me shiver, and I hoped that it would be years and years before the day of her death came. I would do everything in my power to keep her safe, but now I felt so helpless which I hated.

I froze and stopped rubbing my temples, looking back at R2, "Wait, how did the building collapse? That seems unlikely unless there was some sort of bomb inside."

R2 beeped in confusion, telling me that he didn't see how it happened. I sighed and turned to Obi-Wan, who thoughtfully listed to everything. He nodded in acceptance with my suggestion, "A bomb is the only thing I can think of that would cause a building to completely collapse. But we should check thoroughly in case something else could have caused it."

"I agree, so we need to get there as soon as possible." I put on my robe and hopped into the X Wing that R2 was in earlier. I tried
turning on the ship but the engine kept sputtering and ultimately didn't start.

Obi-Wan ran over to the side of the ship I was on, "Anakin wait!"

I looked down at him him confusion, "What?"

He rolled his eyes and looked up at me, "First of all, we can't just 'get there as soon as possible' without a plan." He said, mocking my previous statement. Then he pointed to the ships engine, "Second, R2 told me that the engine is starting to fail, so we can't take this ship."

I leaned my head back and sighed in frustration. The more time that passed was more time that we don't know what's happening to (y/n). Now I realize how strong my attachment was to her. After I finally got the courage to say how I felt, it was like every emotion we've ever felt towards each other just exploded all at once, making our attachments very tangible. I was vexed with myself that I was so afraid of just admitting my feelings, when I was hardly afraid of anything. But this is all still new to me, so I'm more afraid of the unknown than anything else. And now that I have her, I don't want to lose her.

"Alright, fine." I hopped out of the ship and landed in front of Obi-Wan, "What's the plan?"

He walked passed me and beckoned for me to follow, "So we don't know exactly where (y/n) is, but we know the city which is helpful enough for now." We entered a smaller room and stopped in front of a holo-table, which Obi-Wan turned on to reveal a 3D image of the city. I nodded thoughtfully and remembered our time there together, and how we had to share a bed in the fancy hotel. I almost smiled, but I didn't want Obi-Wan to think I was being strange when we were in the middle of formulating a plan.

He looked at me expectantly, "You're the one that's been there, so where do you think we should start?"

I thought carefully for a moment. We didn't exactly visit every single place, but maybe we could go back to that hotel to find the manager that helped us last time.

"(y/n) and I were given a room to stay in at the hotel in the city, and the manager was actually the one who told us where we could find Dooku the first time. Maybe he knows something else now?" I suggested.

Obi-Wan stroked his chin and nodded approvingly, "That's a good start. If he doesn't have any information, then we will question other business owners in the city. There must have been at least one person who saw the ship fly away from the power station."

I sighed and nodded, starting to feel hopeful. I thought back to when we rescued Elliot, and how confused I was at how quick it all happened. But deep down I had a feeling that we should have stayed on Corellia to fight, because something more sinister could've happened while we were back on Coruscant. My insides churned with uneasiness and I hoped that we would get to (y/n) before anything serious happens.

(y/n) POV:

(Flashback)

I stood in the training room of the Jedi Temple with my best friend, Anakin Skywalker. We had both just become Padawans and eagerly awaited to be greeted by our new masters. I bounced up and down excitedly, not being able to contain any impatience.

"Ani, do you think being a Padawan will be fun? I've waited for this day for a long time!" I squealed happily.

Anakin nodded exuberantly and playfully swung his blue lightsaber in front of him. "I'll be the most powerful Jedi the world has ever seen!"

I laughed and rolled my eyes at his ambitious goals. I never had as much confidence as he did, but whenever we worked together I felt like I could do anything. His naturally assured attitude boosted my own self esteem, and I was so lucky to be his friend.

I turned and watched with admiration as he swung repeatedly at the air. My heart warmed at the sight of my determined friend.

"Anakin, If I ever need you when I'm in trouble then you'll come and help me, right?" I asked with innocence in my (e/c) eyes as I looked at him. He stopped swinging his lightsaber and looked at me with a small smile.

"Of course, you're my best friend and I would never give up on you. Together we're going to save the galaxy from this war!" He went back to swinging his lightsaber at the air as if actually fighting someone, and I felt content with his faith in the Jedi, and in me.

(Flashback ends)

I woke with a start and shot my head up, panting and frantically looking around to see where I was.

Huh. That was a weird memory. I wonder why the force showed it to me.

The room around me was dark and plain, with only some sort of generator next to me. I instantly remembered everything that happened when I was fighting Dooku, but I don't remember anything after getting hit in the head.

My head...

I gasped and sat up, lifting my arm to feel how bad the injury was on the back of my head. I winced when I touched it because it stung, and I could feel dry blood on my fingertips. I took a shaky breath and tried to calm myself, knowing that freaking out would just make things worse. I tried using the force to open the only door in the room but my body still felt weak and lacked energy from earlier, and there was nothing around me that I could use as a weapon.

I groaned and stared at the tiles on the ceiling, thinking of how I almost had a victory against Dooku.

"Good job me, you just had to get cocky at the wrong time." I muttered.

Suddenly I heard footsteps and the sound of a doorknob twisting. I grabbed my lightsaber which was thankfully still in my tunic and quickly stood up which caused my head to spin, and then the room was filled with bright light as the door opened and revealed the last person I thought I would see.

"Elliot? What's going on?"

He stood in the doorway and didn't respond at first but right after I asked the question, I realized that he didn't even need to. I connected the dots to all the questions I had about this mission, and now I felt so gullible. I remember when Elliot talked about how efficiently we rescued him, and how Dooku would probably send a bounty after him. The reason that Dooku didn't chase after us was because he wanted us away from here. He knew that we would focus on saving a Republic political leader instead of trying to stop him altogether from whatever plans he had. I knew for sure now that we should've listened to the negotiations he was about to propose, but maybe he didn't even have any because he knew we wouldn't do that either. But now my question is; why? What's the point of all this?

"Put that weapon down, (y/n). I'm just here to talk to you. I know you might have some....questions, about why you're here." Elliot finally began.

I didn't respond, but waited for him to continue since he probably knew the questions I had. He cleared his throat and walked around the room.

"I have to admit, I was pretty impressed when you caused the entire building to fall." He said, obviously amused.

I rolled my eyes and huffed, "I didn't do that on purpose. Now get on with it."

He put his hands up in a mock defensive posture, "Alright, I'll start by revealing that I am a spy for the Sith and if it's not obvious, I planned my own kidnapping which you or one of your Jedi friends might have suspected. Or maybe not, since you're all apparently too pure to assume anything bad about a helpless political leader." He said sarcastically.

I stared at him, completely gobsmacked with what I was hearing. How did we not sense this through the force? We're we too distracted by trying to keep him safe?

"But what about all those things you said about wanting to care for people? Was all of that a lie?"

He shrugged and turned to me. "I guess it is. I'm still their leader but I guess you could say I have ulterior motives that involve the help of the Sith. I want to be the ruler of every planet in this galaxy, and have more political power than any other being. Count Dooku said that he would grant me this wish if I spied on the Jedi for him."

I continued to stare at him as if he had grown two heads, and made a mental note that he was also probably the one that hit me on the head if he's working with Dooku. "You're trusting Dooku to actually hold up his end of the deal? That's pathetic." I sneered. "And what even is there to spy on? The Jedi aren't criminals."

He rolled his eyes, annoyed with my question, "I was getting to that." I quietly scoffed at his impatience, finding it hard to believe that we ever trusted him in the first place.

"Anyways," He went on, "Dooku realized that he needed a new strategy for tearing apart your precious Jedi Order. So, he had me search around for any sort of leverage that we might be able to use against any of you."

I didn't like where this was going. As far as I knew, the Jedi had nothing to hide. So there was only one direction Elliot could possibly be going with this and I dreaded what his next words might be.

"At first I thought this plan was ridiculous, because I didn't think the Jedi had any secrets. But then something interesting happened that I just so happened to listen to." At those last words he started to smile evilly at me, and I became more and more nervous by the second. This couldn't happen. Not now, and not ever for that matter.

Elliot looked amused that I was visibly sweating bullets with anxiety, and was happy to keep going, "I followed you back to your quarters last night and I heard arguing at the beginning which intrigued me to keep listening. Then I heard.... other sounds, which I was able to record on a holo-camera."

I blushed in embarrassment and humiliation. He purposely took his sweet time to explain what he found out just to provoke me even more. I bit the inside of my cheeks and crossed my arms, looking him straight in the eye, "Can you just get to the point?"

He laughed and walked over to stand in front of me. "I wonder what the Jedi Council would do if they found out that the chosen one was indulging in a romantic relationship with another Jedi." He scratched his chin, pretending to be in deep thought, "They would probably expel both of you, which would prevent Anakin from bringing balance to the force, and eventually lead to a Sith victory in the war."

I inhaled deeply and tried to process the prediction of events he just threw at me. I tried telling myself that it was all nonsense, but was it really? Anakin was the chosen one who was prophesied to bring balance to the force, and if he had to quit being a Jedi then that could completely tip the scales for the Sith.

And he would definitely hate me forever...

The thought of him hating me made my heart clench, and I knew that I could never let that happen. I had to make sure that this stayed a secret, for everyone's sake.

I sighed, "What do you want?"

His eyes brightened and he hummed in thought, "I will keep your secret if you do two things for me." He held up his pointer finger to list the first thing, "One, you will bring any weapons or supplies from the Republic to me if I ask." Then he held up another finger, "Two, I have eyes and ears everywhere, so if you get too close to Anakin again then I will gladly give this recording to the Jedi Council."

I scoffed in complete disbelief. Of course this would happen to me, nothing good lasts forever anyways. Illegally trading supplies with the Sith was basically being a traitor to the Jedi and the Republic, but the information Elliot has on us could also ruin our chances of winning the war. Maybe if I just avoid Anakin, then he and I will both find a way to move on from each other? It was the only way this could work, and we could both keep our lives as Jedi. But I probably should come up with an excuse as to why we should call it off because he would get suspicious if I didn't say anything. It hurts to do this after we just confessed our feelings, but I don't want to be the reason if he got expelled because of it.

After considering his offer, I said my next words knowing that everything would change once again.

"Okay, I'll do it."

(a/n): Chapter 9 is finally done!💖