R2 used his sensors to detect any trace of a possible ship in the coordinates heading towards Coruscant, finding absolutely nothing.
Anakin and Padmé paced back and forth in the ship while Ahsoka and Han piloted.
"Master, did you manage to destroy the Imperial fleet?" Anakin asked through his communicator.
"Yes, Anakin, give me your coordinates, we're on our way," Obi-Wan said.
"It's not necessary, Master," Anakin said. "You must stay there. You must lead everything."
"I think Yoda is better suited for that than I am. The other Jedi will watch over this place," Obi-Wan smiled. "Besides, do you want to break our own Rule of Two?" Obi-Wan joked. "Remember that well, my young Padawan, we are never apart," Obi-Wan smiled, and he could swear a tear welled up in Anakin's eye.
"Thank you, Master. I truly appreciate it," Anakin smiled.
Obi-Wan joined them in a few hours. Padmé's pregnancy was very advanced, and Anakin was worried. He was worried about the birth, but above all, he was worried because it meant that Luke and Leia's time in the past was almost over. If they didn't find Leia before then... Given her birth, it was likely Palpatine would corrupt her. Leia was strong, but he wasn't sure she was capable of defeating the Emperor.
"Korriban," Anakin said suddenly.
"The Sith homeworld?" Obi-Wan asked through his communicator.
"The Sith trained their apprentices there," Anakin said. "Master Yoda told me about that place."
"That makes sense. It's a dangerous and remote place. You may be right," Obi-Wan said.
"We must go there," Padmé said.
"Give me the coordinates," Han said.
"Master," Ahsoka said. "Shouldn't we devise a strategy?" she asked.
"Of course," Anakin said, beginning to give instructions.
Then Luke remembered the dagger he had found on Mortis. Had the time come to use it? Something inside him told him no, that he should wait.
"Father, I feel we'll find Leia there, just like in the future. I feel her calling to me," Luke said.
"It could be a trap," Han said. "Last time it was a trap."
"No, he wants to find Luke too, but I won't allow it," Anakin said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.
It had been a long journey, and they could sense the presence of the dark side in that place. Obi-Wan and Anakin had a bad feeling, but they couldn't back down.
"I feel it, Father," Luke said. "I know Leia is on that planet."
"Luke, listen," Anakin said, kneeling down to his level. "It will be difficult. You're not used to this, no one is. I want you to stay strong, and always think of something that will lead you back to the light."
"Do you think he'll try to corrupt me?" Luke asked.
"It's obvious," Mara said, who had been silent during the journey.
"I know what to think," Luke said, smiling as he looked at his family and his wife.
"Don't try to tell me to stay on the ship, Ani," Padmé said, watching him. Anakin sighed; he didn't want her to be in danger.
"I'll protect her," Mara said, and Anakin nodded.
As soon as the ship landed, they could feel how strong the dark side's presence was there. Han would stay on the ship, even though he insisted he wanted to go find his girlfriend. They told him it was best for him to stay on the ship; if they needed a quick escape, he would be the best option to get them out.
"Don't separate," Obi-Wan said. "Anakin, keep your family by your side at all times," he added.
"Padmé, don't go far," Anakin said, and Padmé walked behind him.
They walked through the dark desert until numerous presences surrounded them. Anakin placed Ahsoka, Mara, Luke, and Padmé behind him. Obi-Wan also shielded them, while Mara felt strange; no one had ever protected her like this. Only Luke, who was now holding her hand.
They were surrounded by black shadows that formed a circle, trapping them inside.
"Your path is lost, Jedi," said one of the shadows.
"You will die here."
"We are the Sith," said one of the shadows in a terrifying voice.
"We are not afraid of you," said Anakin.
"You will be," said the shadow with a Machiavellian smile, advancing toward them and separating them. Obi-Wan reached Padmé and Luke. The shadow was particularly ruthless with them, playing with their minds. Obi-Wan tried to repel it with the Force, but it was too strong. He held Padmé and Luke close to his chest as he continued fighting the shadow.
"Don't leave my side," said Anakin, seeing that Padmé and Luke were safe with Obi-Wan. But Ahsoka and Mara were not faring well. It seemed that the only ones unaffected by the shadows were him and Obi-Wan. Imitating his master, he embraced Ahsoka and Mara, sheltering them against his chest as he fought the shadows.
"Powerful they are, Jedi. But will they be able to protect them forever?" the shadows laughed.
When it was all over, a gigantic temple could be seen in the distance; that was where they had to search.
Padmé recovered quickly, but Luke took a little longer. In his mind, he had seen darkness again; he had seen that black-haired man again. Now he understood: he had been betrayed. But how? Who was he?
Ahsoka recovered thanks to her master's help, but Mara was suffering the most. Luke ran to her, and she threw herself into his arms, crying.
"What happened, Mara?" Luke asked. "Mara?" he said, stroking her face.
Mara looked at him, crying, and let go of him to turn back to Anakin. She closed the distance between them and gripped his robes tightly.
"Promise me, promise me you'll never be Vader," she pleaded, looking at him tearfully.
"Mara, what happened?" Anakin asked, confused.
"Promise me this is the right path, that you won't be Vader, that everything will start anew."
"Mara," Anakin said, embracing her as Padmé looked on, her face tender, while she hugged Luke.
"Promise me that when my time in this past is over, everything will change, that you won't be Vader, that I can be worthy of your son. If you don't become that monster, the Emperor will never raise me to compete with you. Promise me everything will change," Mara said, hugging the one who had once been her worst enemy.
"I promise," Anakin said, looking at Luke. "I promise we'll do everything we can. When her time in this past is over, her life will be different. They'll be happy," he promised, and Luke smiled.
Obi-Wan smiled, remembering his conversation with Anakin. When it was all over, they would find Han and Mara and save them. Anakin smiled back, thinking the same thing.
They continued walking together. Mara felt ashamed of having been so distraught and crying on Anakin's robes, the robes of her husband's father.
Padmé walked beside her and comforted her with a smile. Ahsoka walked beside her master, keeping pace, while Obi-Wan spoke with Luke, teaching him how to focus the Force, enough to locate Leia.
Luke could feel her; she was on this planet. His sister was there. Anakin felt her presence too.
They entered the place, and the presence of the dark side was even more powerful, yet Sidious was not there.
"Luke," he heard Leia's voice, but no one else seemed to hear him.
Suddenly everyone saw Leia. She was wielding a strange lightsaber, unlike normal lightsabers. It had two blades on either side, resembling a sword, but the most terrifying thing was that the lightsaber was a deep crimson.
"Leia," Anakin whispered, and Padmé stared in surprise at his intense yellow eyes.
"Why did you want to kill him, Luke?" Leia asked, her gaze distorted. "Why?" she screamed.
"Leia, what are you talking about?" Luke asked as his sister approached.
"Don't come any closer," Mara warned. "I've seen this before. She's being controlled," she said, but there was something very strange about this kind of control.
"Why did you betray him? Why did you want to kill him while he slept? You made him kill Han!" Leia screamed, attacking Luke, who only dodged her.
"Han is dead?" Luke asked, and Padmé and Anakin understood immediately.
"Luke!" his mother cried. "They've put visions of the future into her, a future farther away than yours. We must stop her," Padmé said.
"Leia," Anakin said, trying to approach.
"You, you were the example of evil to follow, because of you he joined the dark side!" Leia shouted, pointing her lightsaber at Anakin. "He used this lightsaber to kill Han," Leia said.
"Ahsoka," Mara said. "Come with me, we must find who is controlling her."
Without anyone noticing, the two women ran into the temple. Obi-Wan noticed and ran after them.
Leia began attacking Anakin and Luke, and Padmé, despite the pain in her soul, knew she had to stop her. She took her blaster and fired, knocking her unconscious to the ground.
"I'm so sorry, darling," he said, touching her face.
"She'll be alright," Anakin said, carrying her. "Where are the others?"
" "This way," Luke said, sensing Mara's trail.
"He's not here," Obi-Wan said, cursing as he saw the hologram of Sidious laughing. He had only left battle droids, which Ahsoka, Mara, and Obi-Wan had taken care of.
"Bravo, you've found her," Sidious smiled. "Congratulations."
"What did you do to her, Sidious?" Anakin asked angrily.
"When she awakens, she will be your sweet little girl," Sidious smiled.
"He has instilled in her the same evil he instilled in me," Mara said, looking defiantly at Sidious.
"Mara Jade, I had to use the Force to learn of you. Admirable performance, great talent. It's a shame you chose the wrong side. And traitors must die, like Senator Skywalker," Sidious said, observing Padmé.
"I chose the right side," Mara said, glaring at the man she once considered her father.
"What did you do to my daughter?" Padmé asked.
"As I said, she will remain your sweet little girl, but you will never know what I have accomplished until it is too late," Sidious said, and the transmission cut off.
"She will be the same," Mara said, observing Leia. "But the darkness will always be within her."
"He did it to me," Anakin said. "I could see it thanks to the Force."
"He did it to me too," Mara said, "and look at what we both became."
"But the light is in you," Luke said hopefully. "She won't go down the wrong path if you're there for her," he said, looking at Anakin and Padmé.
"Always," they both said at the same time.
"I just hope she's really okay when she wakes up," Ahsoka said.
"That lightsaber? What were you talking about?" Luke asked, looking at his parents.
"We'll tell you someday, love," Padmé said, and Luke nodded.
Luke carried Leia to the temple exit, followed by Mara and Ahsoka.
Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé took the crimson lightsaber.
"We must destroy it," Padmé said.
"The Force protects it, as if it's waiting for its true master," Anakin said.
"We'll hide it, where it can never be found," Obi-Wan said. Anakin and Padmé had quickly told him who it belonged to.
"Ben and Leia will never fall to the dark side. We will eliminate Sidious," Anakin said resolutely. His family and the galaxy depended on it.
When they went outside, they saw Han carrying Leia.
"What are you doing here?" Anakin asked.
"You're not going to believe this," Han said, looking like he'd run through hell getting here. "But I've located the Emperor."
"How in the Force were you able to do that?" Mara asked, confused.
"R2 helped me. I remembered the Millennium Falcon has a radar array, and R2's radar is incredible. It turns out R2 deciphered the hidden signal on the communicator the Emperor gave Padmé, and we found him." Han smiled as Leia began to wake up.
"We have to go right now," Obi-Wan said.
"There's something else, isn't there?" Anakin asked, and Han sighed.
"You won't like what you hear," Han said.
"Tell me."
"He's on Kamino," Han said, and Ben Solo's words echoed in Anakin and Padmé's minds.
"Cloning," Padmé said, horrified. "We have to stop him."
"It can't be possible," Luke said. "Can you clone a Force user?"
"I don't know, but we'll stop him," Anakin said, and they all ran toward the ship.
Leia woke up when they were already on the ship, with absolutely no memory of how she had gotten there or what she had done. Only someone was in her sight: a young man with black hair.