A Path Less Taken

A/N: Been putting this off for a while. Remember that part where I said this chapter should go a lot smoother since I had a better idea of how to start it? Yeah. It didn't do much for me. I was still stuck on this shit for the longest. But it's here now, so let's dive right back in.

Obi-Wan was a level headed Jedi. It was a quality that always stuck him. That, despite the situation, he could always keep cool, calm, and collected. This was one of the few moments where he couldn't shake his trepidation. And it was all because of the warning Anakin gave him, who he knew had an excellent Foresight.

"Not to mention I've seen the place in a vision. I remember burning... screaming... pain... hatred... I still haven't figured out what it meant..."

"Just make sure you don't let your guard down out there. Not for one second."

"Are you ok Master Kenobi?" Serra said as Obi-Wan opened his eyes.

"Attempting to calm my thoughts," he told the young woman.

"Is this about what Skywalker told you?" Serra questioned.

"Yes. And it's not just about Anakin's remarkable Foresight. Whoever's guarding Senator Amidala may prove a challenge," Obi-Wan said.

"Whoever he is, he won't stop us," Serra said, idly rotating one of her sabers with the Force. There was a hard expression on her face, bordering on anger.

"Do not go in with your anger clouding your judgement, young one. It will only cloud your judgement," Obi-Wan told her.

"How do you do it?" Serra asked, putting her saber down.

"Do what?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"Stay calm. Don't get angry. The Jedi Temple is ruins. Many of our fellow Jedi are dead. Our friends. Our family. All gone. I am livid. How are you not?" Serra questioned.

Serra was a good girl. An even better Jedi. But it seemed like the loss of the entire Temple was weighing on her, knowing she was one of the few survivors. So Obi-Wan would try and help her the best way he could.

"Honestly..." the Jedi Master trailed as he made eye contact with her. "My rage makes me weaker. It makes me sloppy, unfocused, and less decisive in my thinking. Other than the code the Jedi live by, it's bad for any lives that are at stake. It puts a lid on any anger that may grow."

"But to keep it from budding at all?" Serra asked. "Even I was never immune from getting angry. I just never let it grow."

"It is difficult, but not impossible. If what they say is true, Master Yoda has never been tempted by any Dark Side emotion once," Obi-Wan said. "Something that I failed at when I was around your age."

"Master Qui-Gon," Serra said. She wasn't part of the Jedi Order during that time, but she knew that story. Obi-Wan simply nodded before an image appeared on the ship's holocomm.

"Master Kenobi," Clovis greeted with a nod.

"We're approaching the Mustafar system, Senator Clovis. Where are you?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Hanging back. I figured my presence would complicate matters more," Clovis said.

"I can see why you would think that. But your presence may go over better than ours," Obi-Wan said, making the Senator raise an eyebrow.

"You want to use me as bait?" he asked.

"Of a sort. It is less than likely our adversaries will act rashly if they find out their visitor is simply a Senator. Two Jedi appearing at their front door won't go over well," Obi-Wan suggested.