He was running. Running hard and fast. He didn't know what he was running from. All he knew was that he needed to run. He hadn't looked back. Until now. And he realised why he was running. A swirling storm cloud was whipping behind him. Dark purple clouds were illuminated by flashes of bright blue lightning. He ran towards the area ahead of the storm where the light and clear sky shone down. But that wasn't the end of the terror. When dark and light clashed, it was anything but the end. The storm grew worse sending bolts of white-hot lightning streaking to the ground. The thunder was deafening and there was no place to take shelter from the hellish storm. He almost didn't notice the other person run up next to him. That was until they raised their hands. And seemingly from nowhere a blinding orange and red light grew and grew until…

Anakin awoke with a start. He gasped and sat up suddenly. His sudden movement alerted the other person in the room.

"Are you okay?"

Anakin looked towards the source of the sound. There she was. The girl from his dream. But there was something different about her this time. Anakin stared blankly at her, his mind still haunted by the vision, for what seemed like an impossibly long time before he realised who she was. Iella. His young Padawan whose strong, resilient frame, and rich chestnut hair reminded him of Padme; and her vivacious and tenacious Force presence was almost identical to Master Qui-Gon. Her striking eyes clouded with slight concern. She was completely unaware of the destiny foretold to her by the Jedi council. Right now, he was just in charge of teaching her the Jedi ways. Her destiny would come another time when the Council decided she was ready. Anakin hated lying to her, it made him feel sick.

"Yes. Just a nightmare. Nothing to be worried about." He responded.

Iella seemed to accept his answer without question though a wisp of doubt flickered into the Force. She pressed the door lever and walked into the cockpit of the small Eta-Class shuttle. Anakin was once again alone.

It was a fairly simple mission, by Anakin's standards. The Clone Wars were in full force and the Republic was right in the middle. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Anakin's Padawan Iella Kestal had been asked to destroy a Separatist spy post on Ostriea. The post wasn't as guarded as others they've dealt with and the location is easy to locate. They were en route to the planet now and were expected to arrive within the day.

The ship tossed to the side a little, throwing Anakin off balance. He stood up and walked over to the door and entered the cockpit. Obi-Wan and Iella were sitting in the pilot's chairs rapidly clicking buttons and pulling levers.

"What's going on?"

"The planet's atmosphere seems to be pulling us in at an accelerated rate." Obi-Wan answered. "Well don't just stand there! Help get the propulsion engines working to slow our descent!"

Anakin sat down in the small chair behind the pilot's chair. The ship began to toss more violently and warning lights and alarms started going off; ringing in the cockpit.

"I still can't see anything!" Iella exclaimed. The viewport was clouded by a thick reddish-orange fog that prevented them from seeing outside the window. Then suddenly the fog cleared. But there wasn't enough time to pull up as the shuttle crashed nose first into a large pile of gravelly rock. Everybody was thrown forward against the ship. Obi-Wan was the first to sit up.

"Is everybody alright?"

"Yeah but I bet the Admiral isn't going to be happy we crashed another one of his ships." Iella remarked rubbing her hand over her forehead gently.

Anakin gave a little smile to himself. Iella is certainly getting her sense of humour. When Obi-Wan and Anakin had first met Iella she was a strong girl but her life on Scipio had been a difficult one. She had to fight to survive everyday on that frigid and treacherous planet all alone. The Jedi Council did not want her to grow up in the Temple, only to have her join the Order as a Padawan. He doesn't know why the Council decided that would be a good idea for her considering what happened when Qui-Gon tried to bring Anakin to the Temple. But nevertheless she survived. She didn't really have a personality when they met her. She didn't have time for that. But as she began learning more and more, her once suppressed personality was slowly revealing its vibrant, passionate self, blossoming in colourful flowers and bright fireworks that sparkled over the sable cloak of grief that covered the galaxy. He had never met someone whose energy was so bright. Sure Qui-Gon's had been pretty close but his always sat low, immersed in wisdom and experience. Obi-Wan's was just calm, gentle, controlled; it was bright sure, but never blinding.

Obi-Wan stood up from his chair and walked down the ramp and onto the planet. The ship had crashed in a large pile of rocks and was balancing precariously at a steep pitch. Obi-Wan surveyed the damage with disappointment. Iella and Anakin walked out of the ship one in front of the other. The planet was covered for miles with desolate dark pink sand. The sky was a bright white and clear. There were no mountains, no buildings, just miles of flat sand.

"Well, what do we do now?" Iella began. "There's no place to go and there's no one here."

Obi-Wan pulled from his pocket, a scanner, and walked a small area around the ship.

"There's some kind of building approximately 2.8 kilometres from here, just beyond that dune. There might be someone living here. Best we get there before nightfall."

The moon in the sky was gradually sneaking up the horizon. The speeder bikes had been damaged in the crash and no longer functioned. The ship, once in a precarious balance had finally tipped and was slowly sinking into the sand. The trio began the long walk towards the horizon and the building.

"Iella,"

"Yes, Master?"

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate sand?"