I can't believe we're doing this. Padmé is going to be upset with us. Anakin...oh, he'll be enraged.

But Obi-Wan said this was the only way to do this. So, this is how it has to happen.

We hadn't gone far from Padmé's floor. Obi-Wan was under the impression that Padmé would seek out Anakin herself, to try and talk to him. We'd board her ship as stowaways and go from there.

Currently, that's where we are, in Padmé's ship, on our way to confront Anakin.

I'm anxious, I can't lie. Obi-Wan isn't happy about this, either, but we have no other quick way to find Anakin. It's very risky, because Padmé may get hit in the crossfire if something bad happens. And with Anakin's new leaf...it's hard to predict what he will do, or say.

I'm more worried about Padmé than anyone on this ship.

There's not much room, where Ben and I stored ourselves. It's almost like a small closet, with nothing in it but a bench to plop ourselves on. My leg, my good leg, is tapping against the ship floor. The time is ticking away until the confrontation happens.

I'm not prepared for this.

"This won't end well," I tell Ben bluntly. "Someone's going to be upset."

"This is what has to be done, Thea. I don't like it, either."

I put my head in my hands. "I should have seen the signs, Ben."

"Well, you're alive, so...I won't entertain Padmé's idea that Anakin is still redeemable, but...something prevented him from killing you."

"Yeah, he was probably distracted by something else nearby and just forgot about me and assumed me dead. You didn't see him, Obi-Wan. That wasn't my brother I confronted. He was someone else. He was...Darth Vader." My stomach turns at saying the name out loud.

Anakin Skywalker is no more. Darth Vader has replaced him, just as he has replaced Count Dooku as Darth Sidous's apprentice.

"Do you think we'll be able to do it, kill him?" I ask reluctantly.

"If he gives us no other choice."

"How did things get so bad, Ben?" I rest my head on his shoulder. "How did we become so blind and so wrapped up in the war that we didn't see this coming?"

Obi-Wan provides me with no answer. Instead, we leave each other to their own thoughts in silence.

When we feel the ship start to land, my body tenses. Ben presses a kiss to the top of my head. He must think it reassures me, but it doesn't. Oh, this is going to be awful.

"If one of us can't do it, the other has to," I whisper to Ben. "We can't hesitate. He's a big threat. Let's hope that Master Yoda can take care of Darth Sidious. That's best case scenario."

"Let's not begin to discuss the worst case. Come, Thea."

Inhaling deeply, not mentally prepared, Obi-Wan and I slide out from our hiding spots and head for the ramp. As we approach, the temperature from whatever planet we've landed on seeps into the ship. It's ungodly hot.

As we approach the top of the ramp, the planet screams the colors of lava. Eruptions are loud in my ears. Down the ramp, on the platform, is Padmé. Though I can't hear the words she's speaking to Anakin, she's clearly in pain and heartbroken.

Though, her voice does get loud enough for me to hear one heartbreaking plea, as my brother's wife.

"I don't know you anymore," Padmé cries. "Anakin, you're breaking my heart. You're going down a path I can't follow."

"Because of Obi-Wan?" Anakin peers over his wife's head to see Ben and me at the ramp.

"Because of what you've done...what you plan to do. Stop, stop now. Come back! I love you."

"Liar!"

Frightened, Padmé jumps, and finds us on the ramp. "No!" She looks back to Anakin.

"Hello, sister," Anakin sneers my way. "I thought I killed you."

"I guess not, because I'm here," I snarl right back.

"You're interrupting us."

"Padmé, step away from him. Come back here, so you're safe." But she doesn't move, whether from fear or something else. "Damn it, Padmé, don't make me come get you!"

"You don't tell her what to do!" Anakin roars at me.

If he expects me to balk or back down, I don't: "You're not safe to be around!"

"You're with them." In his rising fury, Anakin now focuses on his pregnant wife. "You brought them here to kill me!"

As Padmé tries to protest, Anakin holds his hand up. Padmé's hands fly to her throat. My jaw locks.

"Let her go, Anakin," Obi-Wan demands. I'm already taking cautious steps down the ramp. "Thea, hold your position."

No, I won't. He's hurting her. "Let. Her. Go." With a hand, I shove the Force Anakin's way. It makes him stumble forward, allowing his grip to drop on Padmé's throat. I break into a run as she falls onto the floor, unconscious. "No, no." I keep her on her back. "Padmé." I shake her gently. "No, no...don't do this. Don't do this, not to me. Not to the baby. Don't..."

"You turned her against me," Anakin shouts, clear for both Ben's ears and mine.

"You have done that yourself," Ben retorts.

"You will not take her from me!" Like an angry predator, my brother begins to pace. His eyes flicker from Ben, to me. He tosses off his cloak.

"Your anger and your lust for power have already done that." In turn, Obi-Wan sheds his brown cloak. A duel is going to brew soon, it's definitely in the air. The air is already bad with this nearly unbearable heat. "You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now...until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."

"Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the Dark Side as you do. I do not reject it like Thea does. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire."

Obi-Wan is now with Padmé and myself. I give him a curt nod. She's alive, but unconscious. "Your new Empire?" Ben questions my brother.

"Don't make me kill you."

"Anakin, our allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!"

"If you're not with me, then you're my enemy."

Just as I rise, Obi-Wan waves me off. "Get Padmé on her ship," he orders me.

"You need me on this. I hate to pull this on you, but you said, next mission, you and me. I'll get her on board, but then I'm joining you. No questions asked."

Obi-Wan agrees with a nod, then addresses Anakin: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must." I exhale sharply as his blue saber ignites at his side.

"You will try." Anakin brings his saber to life. As their fight begins, I hoist Padmé into my arms and rush back inside of her ship. A gold protocol droid intercepts me not long after I'm inside.

"Either you take her to lay her down, or you direct me someplace, now!" I order.

"My goodness!" the protocol droid exclaims. "What happened to her?"

"Explanation later, droid. Show me where I can lay her down."