"Thea, oh thank god you're okay!" Padmé hugs me as best as she can with her pregnant belly. She doesn't acknowledge Obi-Wan's presence right away. "I...I was beginning to assume the worst."

I smile grimly. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"I never dreamed of it." Padmé peers around me to see Obi-Wan. She waddles to him to hug him too, appreciative that he's alive as well. "I'm just glad you both are all right." Her brown eyes narrow. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"Can we sit for this?" I ask calmly.

Padmé doesn't question my request, not out loud at least. We all sit on the sofa.

"When was the last time you saw Anakin?" I ask her softly.

"Yesterday."

"And do you know where he is now?" Obi-Wan counters.

"No."

"Padmé, we need your help. He's in grave danger."

"From the Sith?"

"From himself. Padmé, Anakin has turned to the Dark Side."

"You're wrong! How could you even say that?"

Obi-Wan rises from his spot on the sofa next to me, pacing away. "We have seen a security hologram of him...killing younglings."

"Not Anakin! He couldn't!"

"He was deceived by a lie. We all were." He turns to Padmé and myself. "It appears that the Chancellor is behind everything, including the war. Palpatine is the Sith Lord we've been looking for. After the death of Count Dooku, Anakin became his new apprentice."

This was, of course, explained to me on the way here to Padmé's. I couldn't fathom it in the beginning, either. The Chancellor. Hidden in plain sight, the damn bastard has been all these years, all this time...

And all of us have been too blind until now to see it. But at this point, it's too late. He's made his moves, and it looks like he's a few more away, if not less, from achieving total dominance.

"I don't believe you," Padmé insists sharply. "I can't." Her eyes then fall onto me. "Thea, you can't honestly believe this!"

I offer her a sad look. "I'm sorry, Padmé."

"He's your brother!"

"Yes, I'm fully aware of that common knowledge, thank you." I sigh. "Padmé, when the Temple was attacked...Do you know what I saw when I got there? Clones and Jedi fighting each other, killing each other. I've seen more death than should ever be possible in that temple. I found Anakin. He seemed okay. I'd told him we needed to find the others and save them.

"When I found younglings slaughtered in a training room...Anakin killed those younglings, Padmé. The Jedi didn't war with each other, my brother did that. He then attempted to kill me."

Padmé keeps shaking her head in denial. I don't let it stop me.

"I don't know how I'm still alive, I can't begin to tell you. The man that you love...he doesn't exist anymore. He's been replaced, warped into a monster."

"How can you spread such lies about your own brother?" she asks, aghast.

"Why would I lie about such a tragedy?" I counter her. "I've lived through it, I have the injuries to prove it. We don't know where he is now, which is dangerous. Padmé, you know I've always done what I have in your best interests, as your bodyguard and as your friend. Please, I know it's not what you want to hear, or what you want to believe, but it's the truth."

For a while, I believe Padmé still doesn't believe me. Until I see the horrified change in her eyes.

"I should've seen the signs," I mumble, gently rubbing my throat. "I even talked to him, and I never knew what was going on behind the scenes!"

"How could you have known?"

I sigh. "The reason why I should have picked up on it, Padmé...well, it's because I once fell into the dark. Not by my own will, I didn't have much of a say in it. I once let it take hold of me, I let it mold me. I let it dominate and dictate my life. I was taken from my home planet at a young age, taken in by the Sith. They trained me, thought I was the 'Chosen One' that Anakin now seems to be from the prophecy. When they realized that I was a sham, they tried to kill me. I escaped and found myself at the Jedi Temple steps. The Jedi healed me, they brought me back to the light."

"So you were redeemed. Then so could Anakin!" Padmé's eyes are now wide with a glimmer of hope.

I hate to be the one to crush it out of her. "I was much younger than he is now. Young minds are more impressionable. That's how I was saved. I didn't know better when I fell to the dark. Anakin...he might not be redeemable, Padmé. I never got to the point in my Sith training to kill, he's slaughtered Jedi like animals. No man can come back from that much darkness."

Padmé looks absolutely heartbroken. She has always seen the good in people, myself and Anakin especially. For me to throw her world into chaos like this...she has every right to not believe me. To call me a liar. She hasn't seen the change like I have. She can't pick up on presences like I can.

"I'm sorry that you have to be told this, but I figured you had the right to know." My shoulders slump in defeat.

"Padmé, we must find him," Obi-Wan tells her gently.

Her face grows in alarm. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

"He has become a very great threat."

I inhale sharply. Murdering my brother has never been a goal, or a want. But suddenly, for the galaxy, it's become a need. If my brother isn't put down...

Padmé's shock doesn't lessen. Her eyes fall to her distended belly. "I can't..."

"I'm so sorry. Thea, we mustn't be here any longer than we have to. If we are being looked for, we don't want them to barge in here."

I nod in agreement. As we begin to leave, Padmé rises, looking at both of us fearfully.

"Where will you go?" she asks, more so to me than Ben.

"We'll figure it out."

"Thea." Padmé crosses to me to hold me. Her baby bump is making the hug an awkward position. If she's smart, she'll take the baby and run. I don't want her child anywhere near my brother. He's a child murderer. He's as good as lost, he won't come back. She needs to accept this new reality.

"I'll come visit soon. Hopefully you're still here when I do," I say to her sullenly.

"I love you, Thea."

I push my head into her shoulder. "I love you, too, Padmé." I pull away. "Be safe. You're living for two now."

She nods. I glance back at Ben, who heavily sighs. With a slight tear in my heart for Padmé, we leave the wife of my brother behind.