Does anyone know what's up with the editor here? It won't save my formatting, hence the extra horizontal lines instead of paragraph and line breaks. :( Someone please fix the editor so I can correct my formatting!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or profit from it, I just dream in their world.

This is a sequel to Homecoming Heroes and Healing Nightmares,
This story is Alternate Universe, where Anakin Skywalker survives killing the Emperor. Various other characters have survived that otherwise died in the movies. If you want to know how, it's in the other stories.

"It would be a good place to convert to a full base." Whispered the dark man in Moff Mendro's ear.

"It would, wouldn't it?" Breathed the man, not noticing the Force manipulation overriding his inclinations.

"These people fear you. You could retreat there if need be. The Alliance will strike sooner or later. Or Ysanne Isard will try to replace you with her puppet. The cost would be worth it if it might save your life…"

Moff Mendro hit a button on his console. "Get me the quartermaster. I want to up our force on Alairyn to a full base!"

"And I will lead it."

"And you will lead it."
The dark one smiled. The secrets the Emperor had left there, now belonged to him.

Anakin stood watching as Luke spoke to his X-Wing squadron. Luke had his helmet under his arm, Artoo by his side and he briefly glanced back with a smile. Anakin felt an odd mixture of pride, envy and affection as he watched him. He had already said his good-byes.

"I wish I was going with you." He admitted to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan gave him a small smile. "And here I thought we'd finally convinced you that adventure is not what you should be after."

Anakin returned the look. "It's not the excitement but what comes with it. It's the camaraderie and the challenge, and that sense of accomplishment when you win. Even if winning just means you all come home in one piece."

"I know." Obi-Wan nodded. "And you missed it."

Anakin didn't deny it. There had been none of the camaraderie on the Dark Side. "Luke's really looking forward to this. He hasn't had that whole master-padawan on the job training has he?"

"We were too busy avoiding the Empire." Kenobi mused. "And now he's a knight, not a padawan."

"Still, he enjoys being with you. He's ready to suck up every bit of wisdom you're willing to share like a nautolan sponge tree."

"Quite." Obi-Wan smiled, with just a hint of mischief. "Unlike someone else, who was too busy racing ahead to listen to wisdom."

"Ha ha. Very funny. It's not that I didn't want your teaching. I was just filled with an over abundance of energy."

"What a polite way to put it."

"See? I did pick up some of your diplomatic training."

"I knew you could do it. I also know it's never been your first instinct. And I'm not sure how much is my training and how much is Padmé's influence."

"Well, I don't know." Anakin considered. "I've never won a disagreement with Padmé, no matter how polite it was."

"Or not? I seem to recall your reaction to the council requesting her help on finding out if Rush Clovis was a spy. Of course, had we known just how personal a connection you had to her…"

"It was a turbulent mission. For him." Anakin smirked. "We just happened to hit a lot of turbulence. Really."

"I'm sure. Padme mentioned that the seats closest to her all had broken harnesses."

"Shame, that."

"Amazing how that could be allowed on such a well maintained ship of a senator."

"Accidents happen." Anakin's lips were curled in a mischievous smile. "So how many of these missions do you plan to go on, as you get back in shape?"

"I'm too old for adventuring. I hope we can just get in and get out."

"You tempt fate even saying it."

"I've had an exciting life. I'm ready and hopeful of settling down quietly and training new Jedi."

"I wouldn't think sitting on that dust ball qualified as exciting."

"All right. A happy medium then. One where I can enjoy watching other's grow in the Jedi path."

"Thought about how? I mean…" Anakin was pensive now. "The Jedi weren't perfect." He said slowly. "There were mistakes to learn from." He did not ask the question that affected him most, namely, how Obi-Wan would handle the whole attachment issue. "And are you going to start with infants again?" That thought brought a glint of amusement to his eyes. "I can imagine parents dropping off their Force sensitive younglings and you being totally outnumbered."

"You know that I know mistakes were made. And there are parts of the Code which were controversial and you, at least, will never admit were right. " Kenobi said mildly. He paused as Anakin rolled his eyes. "I intend to retrieve as much of the Jedi knowledge I can find and dig deeper into our history. It's a new day and age and it's not the first time the Jedi have had to recreate themselves. Though perhaps it's the most dramatic. And no, I don't think I'll start with younglings or at least, not that young. We can't afford too. But when we do, it might be high time you learned to change a diaper."

"Who, me? I don't think people would trust their younglings with me..." A flicker of horror from the day he fell flashed through his mind, but he quickly squashed it. The past was the past and hating himself for it accomplished nothing.

"I trust you. Today."

Anakin nodded, touched. "I'm glad Luke still has you to train him. Even a knight still needs a master."

"And I remember a young boy who thought he didn't need the Council."

"I was a teenager. I thought I knew everything. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a common ailment of teenagers? Barring my wife and daughter, of course. I still insist that the Council wasn't always right!"

"Part of growing up. First, you want to know everything. Then you think you do know everything. Then you start to realize you don't know nearly as much as you thought you did. Then you realize there is an enormous galaxy full of things you are clueless about."

"Just…be careful, okay? It's still not a safe galaxy."

Obi-Wan clapped a hand on his shoulder, affection in his eyes. It was one of the wonders they shared now that their bond was so deep. Anakin's return had started healing wounds that even Obi-Wan thought were long scarred over and would never heal. But their duties were different now.

"They need you here. And it is no small thing that we've reached the point where you are consulted for advice."

Anakin nodded. "I know." Not so long ago, they were considering executing him. Then they didn't trust him in the same room, unless Obi-Wan was there to guard him and be his jailer.

"Enjoy your time with Padmé." Obi-Wan said softly. "If you were so determined to break code, you couldn't have chosen anyone more suited for you than her."

Anakin was startled and he gave a shy smile at this. "Thanks."

Obi-Wan started to turn away but Anakin pulled him back. This time he didn't say anything. He just wrapped him in a swift embrace before stepping back. Padmé appeared in the hanger door, waving and he hurried over. Obi-Wan hurried to the Millenium Falcon, pausing to look back once with a smile, and then boarded.

"Do you have any feelings about the mission?" Padmé asked as Anakin put an arm around her.

"No." Anakin shook his head. "But you know how I feel about seeing the future."

She knew. He would never seek it out. He didn't trust himself with interpreting it, even if he did see something.

Less than three weeks later, Obi-Wan gently patched Luke's leg. Luke gritted his teeth and moaned, threatening to sink into delirium. "Hang on, Luke." Obi-Wan whispered. Luke's moaned and whispered, head tossing side to side. "Father…Leia…." He opened his eyes. "Ben, will he come if I call? Will Leia? We're in over our heads here."

Obi-Wan patted his shoulder gently. "He will do his best." He'd used their medical kits as well as the Force to treat the wounds. But it was not enough. Knowing his former padawan, Anakin probably would hear Luke's call in the Force, no matter how distant. It would present a quandary. He was technically still under arrest. Convincing them to let him leave would be a problem. At the same time, simply leaving without permission would undo much of the work they'd put into convincing the Alliance leaders of his sincerity.

"Will he be all right?" Wedge Antillies asked. He sat with his back to a nearby tree. Han stood a distance off, looking for the enemy with binocs.

"He needs surgery." Obi-Wan answered. He noticed Han's head turn slightly. Over with the other astromechs, Artoo-Detoo's dome swiveled to look their way. The group of droids soft chatter sounded like a flock of birds. But Artoo was silent.

X-Wings rested in the tree shadows, hidden with camouflage nets. The Millenium Falcon was hidden as far under the trees as possible and covered with both a camo net and branches. An occasional dismayed howl came from Chewbacca as he worked within.

"We should get him on the ship." Han finally came up. He glanced around at the other pilots. Some were already in the Falcon. Some were laying out here with Luke. They weren't in better shape. What should've been a quick interception hit and run on a small planet where Jedi artifacts were thought to be hidden. Luke and Obi-Wan would've slipped in and confirmed the hidden warehouse while the Rogues and Falcon staged a diversion. It was meant to be a conveniently double purposed mission, since it also would test the training and preparations of the sector's defenses on a small scale.

Unfortunately, the defenses were not as small scale as they'd been led to believe. The Imperials had planted a full scale base. They had managed to land out of sight of the Imperials thanks to the wild terrain and stormy weather, but others had crashed and made their way here, Luke among them. All of the crashed pilots were walking wounded at best.

"Looks like Vader forgot to mention something." Han grumbled under his breath.

Obi-Wan did not respond to that. He was certain if Anakin had been aware he would've told them. That he didn't know raised interesting questions. "We need to be careful. He has internal injuries." Obi-Wan pondered what looked like a simple bruise and small cut on Luke's chest. He had a feeling it disguised a worse injury. He had been hit by the rain of shrapnel when he'd ejected from his fighter.

"I'll get a stretcher." Han looked at the others. "We're going to have to move all these guys onto the Falcon."

"I can…" Luke started to sit up, wincing with pain.

"Don't." Obi-Wan said. "You don't have to and shouldn't. You'll make it worse."

Wedge rose. He had a limp and he looked tired. His ship was one of the few parked nearby, as opposed to crashed. "I hope you can fix that hyperdrive. They're still jamming transmissions."

"We'll fix it! We'll fix it!" Han growled in frustration.

No-one noticed Artoo-Detoo roll away through the forest. There was only one way to get a message out through the jamming. And only one place to do it: the Imperial outpost.

Leia sat up, eyes wide in the bed. "Luke." She whispered. She threw back the blankets and dressed quickly. Rushing out of the door, she made her way to the bridge of the command ship. General Rieekan was quietly talking with one of the duty officers.

"Princess."

"Have we heard from Han or Luke yet?"

He shook his head. "No. We're starting to wonder. We should've heard something by now. Admiral Ackbar sent a scout ship out. They'll just do a fly by at the edge of the system."

Leia nodded. "Let me know if you hear anything?"

"Of course."

Worried, Leia strode out and stopped. She hugged herself, thinking. Making a decision, she found herself at Padmé's quarters. Her mother opened the door.

"Leia!" Padmé smiled. It faded as she recognized the look on her face. "What is it?"

"I…think Luke is calling me. I think he's in trouble. But I'm not sure."

"With the Force." Padmé said, slowly.

Leia nodded.

"Are you going to go?"

"I'm not sure where he is! We don't even know if they got through to the target system!"

"We should talk to Anakin."

Leia frowned.

Padmé said softly. "I bet if you feel it, he does too."

Leia stared into space for just a moment. She nodded slowly. "But we don't know anything for sure yet, except they haven't checked in."

"What's being done about it?"

"We sent out a scout ship."

"Then tell him that."

"Oh." Leia grumbled. "So you think I should make him feel better. And how does that make me feel better? How does that help Luke?"

"You should let him know in case he can help. But the last thing you want is him climbing the walls. And he will if Luke uses the Force to call him for help and he's locked up." She didn't add that those locks would not hold him if he felt Luke's and Obi-Wan's lives were at stake.

Leia nodded reluctantly, not pointing out that it was intel from Anakin that had sent them into this situation. Even she accepted that he wouldn't knowingly send Luke into a trap. "Why don't you tell him? I'll…let you know when the scout has news."

Padmé sighed and nodded. Leia had softened after her last mission with Anakin, but she was still uncomfortable around him. Still, being insecure was an improvement over being terrified of him or ready to shoot him.

Padmé didn't hesitate. She went to the quarters Anakin shared with Obi-Wan and signaled. The guard droid allowed her access. Anakin spun. He had his hands clenched behind his back and he wore an intimidating a scowl. It lightened at the sight of her.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hey." He came to her and lightly kissed her cheek, aware of the guard droid as it activated a shield across the open door. Padme turned around firmly and shut the main hatch. At least no-one prevented him from physical contact with his wife. Most of the time, he easily ignored how close he was watched or the times they felt a need to keep him under lock and key. But it was hard when he was lonely, or he sensed trouble. Obi-Wan had insisted to the high command he and Padme would be fine alone together after Anakin's last successful mission. He'd been sorely tested but hadn't fallen back into the dark side.

He looked into her eyes. "Any word from Luke or Obi-Wan?"

She winced.

"Luke's reaching out to me, Padmé. He's hurt."

She took his hands holding them tightly. "Anakin, Leia feels that too."

"We should go after them."

"They've sent a scout to check things out."

"What if the scout doesn't come back?"

"Don't borrow trouble, Anakin." Padme said, drawing him down onto the couch.

"Why not?" He said ruefully. "I'm so very good at it."

"It's not the Jedi thing to do. And I bet it's not what Shmi taught you either!"

"Okay. Fine. No, it's not." He sighed.

"Why don't you fill me in on the place they went?"

"It was supposed to be a secret warehouse. It just had a small Imperial outpost."

"Supposed to be?"

"That shouldn't be anything they couldn't handle." Anakin rose and paced.

"So, did you get anything from the Force besides Luke's call for help? A hint of what went wrong?"

"I don't try and look for it." He reminded her, streaking a hand back through his blond and slightly gray streaked hair in mild frustration. If anything, he tried to avoid it.

"I know. But we both know the Force has a will of it's own in regard to your visions."

"Unfortunately." His blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "It's not like I'm still in the loop. But I can't think of a legitimate reason why any of the Imperial fleet would be there. It's not even on a main hyperspace lane. Even if the outpost had enough ships, Luke says Rogue Squadron is full of crack pilots. I guarantee anyone assigned an outpost like that wouldn't have the equivalent."

The scout ship sent to the Alairyn system was a just an X-Wing with special enhanced sensors replacing some of the weapons. It came out of hyperspace and immediately picked up Imperial transmissions. Thanks to Anakin, they had the decryption codes. The pilot was more than surprised and alarmed at what she saw. She was forced to jump back into light speed within only a few minutes. There were swarms of TIE fighters and the flashes of laser fire from the Interceptors shot through space, cleaving through real space seconds after she hit light speed.

to be continued

The story of Padme and Rush Clovis is told in :The Clone Wars: Season 2, Senate Spy,