It had taken Anakin most of the morning to track down Obi-Wan before finally locating him on top of the Temple's ziggurat. He knew he'd told Padmé they weren't going to tell his old master anything but....
Hell, if he saw anything relatively close to what Vader had seen he needed someone who had an understanding of the Force and Force induced visions who also had access to holocrons about said visions to talk to. And someone he trusted, that was also a must. Even if Anakin didn't necessarily know how Obi-Wan would react to the hint of him and Padmé being more than friends—well more like conformation, he was almost positive that the older Jedi had more than just suspicions—Anakin would prefer telling Obi-Wan and then trying to convince him to not tell the Council.
Basically. Part of the Jedi was still wondering if he'd lost his mind.
Anyway, with Obi-Wan's help, maybe then they could figure out what the hell Eclipse was actually doing here. If anyone ought to be getting a vision of Padmé's death, it should have been Anakin, and it should have been him first. How the hell a Sith managed to get it was beyond him and the fact that they seemed to be either the same or connected....
What if Eclipse had actually been the one who sent it? Was that even possible? He'd seen her nearby—well, her beacon, but close enough.
All Anakin had to do was find a way to explain.
"You missed the report on the Outer Rim sieges," Obi-Wan said as the two Jedi reached each other—Anakin still desperately hunting for words.
"I was participating in the meeting between Eclipse and Padmé," Anakin responded, running a tired hand over his face. "I forgot, sorry."
"Well, easy enough to brief you," his friend responded, his tone reassuring. "In short, they are going very well. Salecumi has fallen, and Master Vos has moved his troops to Boz Pity. What happened in your meeting?"
"Well, Padmé didn't really give an answer. I did get to hear more specifics of the vision both Eclipse and Vader saw," Anakin said, deciding to go ahead and just plunge on into whatever the hell was next even as he glanced around the open area. "Funnily enough, I had a similar vision last night."
"Really? What was in it?" Obi-Wan asked, a worried frown gracing his features even as Anakin's eyes caught onto something that gave him a convenient change of subject as his resolve derailed.
"Rather.... I'd rather talk in private," the Jedi muttered, shaking his head. "Or forget about it. What's the Chancellor's suttle doing here? Did something happen he needed to see the Council about?"
Obi-Wan's frown deepened, but he answered all the same. "No, it didn't bring the Chancellor—quite the opposite. It's waiting to bring you to him."
"Waiting for me? But my beacon didn't go off," Anakin said, even as he wondered if his mind had left him enough to have forgotten it at the apartment. "If the Council wanted—"
"The Council wasn't consulted."
"I don't understand."
"Neither do I," Obi-Wan responded even as he took a step closer and gave an ever so subtle nod to the shuttle. "They simply arrived, some time ago. When the deck-duty padawans questioned them, they said the Chancellor has requested your presence."
Anakin pressed a hand to massage his forehead, wasn't even midday and he had what, five mysteries on his hands? He didn't get that much of a good sleep last night either, not with Eclipse, her warnings, and the vision running around his head. "Why wouldn't he go through the Council?"
"Perhaps he has some reason to believe," Obi-Wan began carefully, no doubt noticing Anakin was far from in the mood for whatever chaos he was about to be shoved into, "that the Council might have resisted sending you. Perhaps he did not wish to reveal his reason for the summons. Relations between the Council and the Chancellor are....stressed."
"Obi-Wan, what's going on? Something's wrong, isn't it? You know something, I can tell."
"Know? No. Only suspect. Not at all the same thing."
Anakin was again hit with how he probably would have been better off keeping his mouth shut about his vision. "And?"
"And that's why I'm out here, Anakin. To talk to you. Semiprivately," Obi-Wan said, trying to make the other man smile as he ever so briefly lightened his voice to a less serious tone. Anakin barely managed a small and brief smirk before the heavy weight of confusion and uncertainty took him again. "And not as a Council member. In fact, I'd much rather they not learn about this conversation."
"What do you mean? I still don't know what's going on."
"No one does, Anakin. Not really," he said with a sigh. "Anakin, you know I am your friend."
"Of course you—"
"No. No of courses, Anakin. You know I would trust you with my life, and I hope you would do the same with me. I am your friend, and as your friend I'm asking you to be wary of Palpatine."
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked, knowing this round about way they were talking—this reminder of something he knew as well as the color of his blade, though it did prompt part of his mind to tell himself to talk to the other Jedi about the vision right then and there—could not mean anything good. And be wary? Be mindful, those were the words that had been drilled into his ears by Obi-Wan over the years. Be mindful of the Force, be mindful of your flying, be mindful of your lightsaber, be mindful of others. Never something that sounded almost bad should he do otherwise.
"I know you are his friend. I am concerned that he may not be yours. Be careful, Anakin."
There it was again. "Careful, don't you mean mindful?"
"No, I mean careful. The Force has been growing ever darker around us, and we are affected by it just as much as we affect it. It is a dangerous time to be a Jedi. You can't tell me Eclipse's appearance didn't seem to actually brighten the Force, if even for a moment."
"Obi-Wan that's ridiculous."
"I know, but the truth remains that she froze the change regardless of what she is, even if it was only temporarily. And you can't say that it doesn't...." Obi-Wan paused, shaking his head even as he looked around much as Anakin had done earlier—the deck once again failed inspection. "It's just....odd her the arrival brighten the Force for even a microment, and you can't say her willingness to work with us isn't out of the ordinary. Almost...."
"Almost like the Force wants us to trust her," Anakin muttered, shaking his head. "I feel like I should and keep reminding myself not to."
"That trick she tried in the Council Chambers, do you think...."
"No. That felt....different. Trust me, I'd know if it was the same."
"Still doesn't explain why she's so willing to stay on our good side. You don't think she's gone crawling off to Sidious do you?"
"No," Anakin responded reflexively before shaking his head. "I mean I don't know. It sounded like she didn't like him, and it seemed she mostly tells the truth.... Honestly, I don't know."
"Where is she anyway?"
The Jedi shrugged, drawing out his datapad before showing Obi-Wan the blip. "Deep in the Underlevels."
"What is that?"
"Apparently she has a tracker implanted like a slave chip. Gave me the code for simplicity's sake."
"....Perhaps I'll pay her a visit," Obi-Wan muttered.
"Good luck, she rarely stops moving," Anakin responded before trying to send the code link to his friend, only for an error to appear on screen and a password request along with half a dozen other failsafes. He furrowed his brow. "Now that's weird."
"What?"
"Code won't send."
"It is tracking a Sith. I suppose it wouldn't be that simple to spread around."
Anakin shook his head as he put the datapad away. "Well, I'm going to have to track her down later once I figure out when she's going to have to start teaching whoever."
"Well, you'll be glad to hear that as of yet, you are the only one she's supposed to teach," Obi-Wan informed him.
"....You're joking."
"It was Master Yoda's suggestion. Until other members of the Council free up time and open their mind to the idea, it's just you; though I would be open to it if I were free whenever you start. Anyway, until someone else is free, you need to start learning so that if she leaves before anyone else can start at least someone knows how to recognize Force misdirection. Think about it, you'll be teaching me a few tricks."
"Thought I already was."
"Very funny, Anakin."