CHAPTER 44: ANAKIN'S CRISIS
POV: Kael Vorn
The sanctuary's security systems recorded Anakin's arrival at 0347 hours, but Kael had felt his approach through the Force long before the proximity alarms activated. Raw desperation crashed against his consciousness like waves against stone, carrying undertones of sleeplessness, terror, and barely controlled rage.
Kael found him in the main entry hall, pacing with the restless energy of a caged predator. Anakin's hair hung unkempt around hollow eyes, and his usually pristine Jedi robes showed wrinkles that suggested he'd slept in them—if he'd slept at all.
"I need help." The words came out cracked, desperate. "The dreams are getting worse. Every night I watch Padmé die, and I can't stop it."
Palpatine's work. Has to be.
"Come. Let's talk somewhere private."
Kael led him to one of the smaller meditation chambers, noting how Anakin's Force signature flickered between control and chaos. The younger man's mechanical hand flexed constantly, servos whining with the stress of repeated motion.
"Tell me about the dreams."
Anakin's description painted a consistent nightmare—Padmé dying in childbirth while he stood helpless, her life fading as their unborn child's cries filled the darkness. But as Kael listened, his enhanced Force perception detected something underneath the words.
Artificial patterns. The dreams weren't naturally occurring—they bore the subtle fingerprints of external manipulation.
"Anakin, I want to try something. It might be uncomfortable, but it could help us understand what's happening."
"Anything. I can't keep living like this."
Kael reached out with Force Meld, carefully syncing his consciousness with Anakin's tortured psyche. The initial contact sent shockwaves through both their minds as Anakin's nightmares crashed into Kael's awareness with crushing intensity.
There.
Buried beneath the vivid horror, Kael detected the manipulation—subtle Force suggestion reinforcing natural fears, amplifying anxiety into consuming terror, feeding on Anakin's deepest vulnerabilities. The touch was masterful, nearly undetectable, but it carried a familiar signature.
Palpatine.
The Chancellor had been poisoning Anakin's dreams for months, maybe years, carefully nurturing the fear that would eventually drive him toward the dark side. But recognizing the manipulation and proving it were different problems entirely.
Kael withdrew from the meld gradually, both men gasping as their minds separated. Anakin's eyes fixed on him with desperate hope.
"Did you see something? Can you stop it?"
"I saw external influence. Someone's been manipulating your fears, feeding them through Force suggestion." Kael chose his words carefully, knowing Anakin's trust in Palpatine ran deep. "But I can teach you techniques to resist that kind of intrusion."
Over the next hour, Kael guided Anakin through gray meditation practices—acknowledging fear without judgment, accepting uncertainty as natural, finding strength in love rather than trying to control it. The techniques were antithetical to traditional Jedi training, which emphasized emotional suppression over integration.
"This feels wrong," Anakin muttered as they worked through a particularly difficult exercise. "The Council teaches that fear leads to suffering. That attachment brings pain."
"The Council teaches dogma. I'm teaching balance." Kael adjusted Anakin's posture, noting how the meditation was already calming his chaotic Force signature. "Fear acknowledged and processed becomes caution. Love accepted becomes strength. It's the denial that creates suffering."
By dawn, Anakin's worst symptoms had faded. The artificial anxiety plaguing him had loosened its grip as he learned to recognize and resist external manipulation. But Kael knew this was temporary—Palpatine would adapt, find new ways to feed the fear.
"I should go. Padmé will be worried."
"Bring her here."
Anakin's surprise was visible. "To the sanctuary? But the rules about secrecy—"
"Apply to people who might betray us. Padmé has been fighting Palpatine's political manipulations longer than anyone. She's an ally, whether she knows it or not."
An hour later, Padmé Amidala sat in the same meditation chamber where her husband had found relief. Her pregnancy was beginning to show, but her bearing remained composed despite obvious exhaustion.
"Anakin told me about the dreams. About your... techniques for managing them." Her senatorial training kept emotion from her voice, but Kael sensed the fear underneath. "Is there really hope?"
"There's always hope. But it requires planning." Kael activated a holographic display showing medical facilities scattered across neutral space. "Bail Organa has arranged access to private doctors—no Republic medical records, no official reports. Prenatal care from physicians who won't ask questions."
Padmé studied the data with the analytical mind that made her formidable in the Senate. "And when the time comes for delivery?"
"I'll be there. Force healing can address complications before they become fatal. Between advanced medical care and Force assistance, we can stack the odds in your favor."
"But most importantly," Anakin added, his voice stronger than it had been in weeks, "I won't let fear control me. Kael's techniques... they're helping me find balance instead of fighting my emotions."
As the couple prepared to leave, Ahsoka appeared in the doorway. She'd been monitoring the session through their Force bond, ready to provide assistance if needed.
"You might have just saved him," she said quietly as they watched Anakin and Padmé's speeder disappear into Coruscant's traffic. "Saved everyone."
Kael's response carried the weight of hard-won wisdom. "Maybe. But Palpatine is patient and clever. This is just one battle. The war for Anakin's soul is far from over."
The Chancellor would adapt, find new pressure points, new fears to exploit. But for the first time since arriving in this timeline, Kael felt they'd gained ground in the struggle for Anakin's fate.
It might be enough. It had to be enough.
The alternative was too terrible to contemplate.
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