(vera)

I paced nervously around my room, checking the clock on the wa repeatedly. He'd been gone an hour, and my nails had gotten shorter with every ten minutes. They were almost just bloody nubs, ready to be bitten again, when, Anakin rushed in, closing the door behind him.

"Anakin? What happened? Where did you g-" 

My sentence was cut short by his gloved hand clasping over my mouth. It tasted like rusty leather, and I pulled it off, spitting the taste off my tongue.

"What the hell was that?" I cried, before he violently shushed me.

"Vera, you need to sit down. I have to talk to you," he said quickly. His blue eyes were unusually worried and kept darting around.

"Did you murder someone?" I asked, flopping down on his bed as he sat next to me.

"No, but I found out something. Something...awful."

"Where did you go? You had me so scared..."

My voice broke and I looked down at my hands and my bleeding nails. 

"Vera..." he said, looking at the injuried on my nails.

"I wasn't sure if you would ever come back."

"But I did. And I have really, really urgent news."

"What is it?"

"The Chancellor is the Sith lord. He's been controlling everything. He pulled the strings on both sides of the war."

Oh. My. Stars. I knew it. I freaking knew it. I knew something was off about him, and now his comments made sense. Had...had he been trying to get me to join the dark side somehow? I wouldn't doubt it. 

"What do we do?" I cried. "We can't just waltz in and arrest him! We have no evidence, and no offense but sometimes you're not very trustworthy."

"Gee, thanks."

"All I'm saying is, if we arrest him, the Jedi are at risk of being executed for treason."

"That's what I'm worried about. Plus, he told me he could save her."

"He can't. It's not possible. I think he's just trying to get you to join him. This is a Sith lord we're talking about, Anakin, they usually just stab you in the back. Didn't he have you kill Dooku? He's just going to turn around and throw you away when he's done."

Anakin paused, before giving me a small smile.

"When did you get so wise?" he asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I learned from the best," I said, winking.

"Awe, thanks."

"Don't flatter yourself, spaceboy, I was talking about Obi-Wan."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding, just kidding."

There was another pause.

"Vera?" Anakin asked, looking at me.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Of course."

Anakin stood up and he had seemed to relax quite a bit. His eyes were back to their usual playfulness and they didn't seem to dart around like kid's marbles anymore.

"I'm going to go tell the council about the chancellor," he said, grabbing his discarded robe off the floor. 

"I hope any passerbys didn't see you when you came in. They might have gotten the wrong idea," I joked, standing up.

"V-Vera!" Anakin stuttered, turning red in the face.

"Sorry. It sounded funnier in my head. Anyways, I'm coming with you. Maybe tell a little bit of my story too."

"That seems like a good idea. You kept that all bottled up for years, it's about time you tell more people."

"You should try it too."

"The difference is, I'll get expelled."

"Well, maybe after you tell them about the chancellor and we defeat him. They might reconsider it."

"Fair enough. Now, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Alright."

Anakin opened the door and we exited, on our way to find Master Windu.

(anakin)

Vera walked alongside me as we searched for Master Windu, her hair flipping side to side as she turned her head, at one point she turned her head so hard it smacked me in the face. Despite being almost a foot shorter than me, her long hair made up that distance.

"When was the last time you got your hair cut?" I joked as I pushed her hair off my face.

"I trim it occasionally. But if anyone tries to cut it I will cut them. Cassie and I both hate people touching our hair. People always touch hers because of the curls and mine because it's so damn long."

"I think it suits you."

"I like your hair too. We should start a club with Cassie. Obi-Wan would be allowed to join but he cut his long hair. Maybe he'll be allowed for the beard. Maybe."

She laughed, but stopped as we passed by the ship hangar. Master Windu was in there, surronded by other jedi. We nodded at each other, before making out way over to him. He looked at us both, and Vera pursed her lips. She didn't like Windu much either.

"Skywalker," he said, "we just received word that Obi-Wan has destroyed General Grievous. We're on our way to make sure the Chancellor returns emergency power back to the senate.

"He won't give up his power. I've just learned a terrible truth. I think Chancellor Palpatine is a sith lord," I replied, as Vera nodded her head in agreement.

"A Sith lord?"

"Yes, the one we've been looking for," Vera said.

"How do you know this?" Mace asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"He knows the ways of the force. He's been trained to use the dark side."

"And, he told me a bunch of condescending and rude things that I know see as him trying to seduce me to the dark side."

Mace nodded.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at the two of us.

"Absolutely," me and Vera said at the same time.

"Then our worst fears have been realized. We must move quickly if the Jedi order is to survive."

"Master, the Chancellor is very powerful. You'll need my help if you're going to arrest him."

"For your own good, stay out of this affair. I sense a great deal of confusion in you, young Skywalker."

Vera looked at him with pleading eyes, and it melted my heart just a little. She truly believed in me, unlike the Chancellor who fed me spoonfuls of fake praise and promises to persuade me to join him. 

"Please," she begged.

"I must go master," I said.

"No. If what you told me is true, you will have gained my trust, but for now, remain here. Wait in the council chambers until we have returned."

"Yes, master."

Mace turned away and hurried onto a ship with three other Jedi behind me, leaving Vera and I behind to watch it as it flew away. Vera grabbed my hand, gave me an "I'm sorry look", as we turned and made our way to the council chambers.