HOPE ASCENDS

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Caidan and Seraphina. All other characters, names and planets belong to George Lucas and Lucasfilm

Prologue

Alderaan Cruiser, 19 BBY:

"Pregnant, she must still appear. Hidden, safe, the children must be kept." The wise Jedi Master stated in his usual sagely tone. However, his voice resonated sorrow and pain as he and Obi Wan Kenobi, two of the last remaining Jedi in the entire Galaxy, discussed with the exhausted Alderannian Senator the fates of their last hopes.

Weighed down by both an external fatigue and an internal despair, Obi Wan Kenobi looked at his two fellow survivors with heavy eyes. He knew what had to be done. It was the only way. The Force called for it to be this way. Yet the weary Jedi could see nothing but the ominous ochre eyes that glowed viciously from beneath the scorching river of lava. He could hear nothing but the agonising screams; "I hate you!". He could smell nothing but the wretched odour of burning flesh. Its another betrayal, he thought bitterly. Another failure and it was all his fault. He failed in training his master's prodigy, he failed in protecting the Galaxy, and he failed in fulfilling his role as a guardian of peace. I failed him, he thought, my best friend, my brother. Now I'm separating his children, planning to use them as mere instruments in a greater plan to implement the destruction of the Sith.

A subtle nudge in the Force truncated his self-chastisement and prompted the man to look up. Meeting Yoda's emerald orbs, Obi Wan quickly diverted his gaze to the charred edges of his robes. "We must take them somewhere the Sith will not sense their presence." The words felt acrid on his tongue.

"Split up, they should be." He knew this was coming, but the Jedi Master's words were like a brutal blow. Again, the horrid memories began to flood his senses, the hum of his lightsaber filling his ears as the vivid image of his weapon slicing through Ana-the Sith's limbs consumed his thoughts.

"My wife and I will take the girl," Senator Bail Organa feebly said, "we've always talked of adopting a baby girl. She will be loved with us."

"And what of the boys?" Obi Wan replied. "She is having triplets." When the medical droid told him this information, he was astounded. How could he not have noticed? How clouded they were by the dark side. Most importantly, how did Anakin hide it? The very thought impaled Obi Wan through the heart; perhaps he had lost his friend much earlier than he had initially thought.

"To Tatooine, send one. With his family stay he will."

"And the other?" Bail asked. The room fell silent as the three contemplated on what to do with the third child. Obi Wan had an idea of course, but uttering it would be the ultimate, complete betrayal of his lost friend. The Force was telling him that this child would be the key; his destiny would be embroiled with loss and sacrifice. Sitting here now, the bearded Jedi Master felt more than thought that this child, the youngest Skywalker, would have the greatest fate of the three.

"Naboo." He forced the name out of his mouth.

Yoda raised what Obi Wan could only assume was an eyebrow that was concealed by layers of aged wrinkled skin, "Naboo, say you, Obi Wan?"

Swallowing the guilt-soaked lump in his throat, Obi Wan explained his reasoning to the two in front of him. "Yes, Master. There are two places that…Vader will likely never return to again. One is his home planet of Tatooine: the pain of his mother's loss and his enmity towards its inhabitants and his upbringing will definitely deter him from returning. Naboo will irrefutably remind him of Senator Amidala. Not only will this bring great anguish, but it will also threaten him with glimpses of light at a time when he will attempt to encompass himself in darkness, to protect himself and asphyxiate the remnants of the man that was Anakin Skywalker. The second boy should go to Naboo, under the name Naberrie, to live with Padme's sister and brother-in-law."

Yoda analysed the younger man in front of him for a great while. Naboo did seem like the natural place to put the boy. Obi Wan was not alone in sensing this boy's great destiny and potential aptitude with the Force; his mother's home planet will be the safest place for him.

"Agree I do," he said finally, and Obi Wan felt as if the whole atmosphere exalted a giant breath as the climatic tension diffused. Or so he thought.

Sensing that Yoda would question his own intentions, Obi Wan quickly cut in to conceal his inner turmoil. "I will take the eldest child and watch over him on Tatooine. Master Yoda, do you think Anakin's triplets will be able to defeat Darth Sidious?"

The age-old eyes surveyed him for several seconds before answering the question that was so patently intended to distract from his own thoughts. "Strong the Force runs, in the Skywalker line. Hope, we can." Again, the wise eyes pierced into his own before the old Jedi Master continued, "Sense as I do Obi Wan, that strong in the Force the third child is, more than his siblings. Watch over him why not, hmm?"

There it was, as he expected. Restraining his sudden need to glare at his elder, Obi Wan met Yoda's fierce gaze with his own guarded one. "Tatooine is a desolate wasteland with scattered villages and settlements. An isolated hermit is hardly out of the ordinary. Naboo on the other hand is more of a community, meaning I will forced to be out in the open. Moreover, there is a chance that I will be recognised from my time there during the Separatist invasion. I'm afraid that my beard will not be enough to cover my true identity." His little quip fell on deaf ears, but his logic at least still seemed to penetrate. At least it did with Bail; Yoda still stared at him suspiciously. The truth was that he didn't want to watch over the youngest Skywalker because he couldn't bear the guilt. He would be preparing the boy for an inescapably onerous destiny, and that would consummate his absolute betrayal.

"Yours the decision is," Yoda said cautiously, "Done it is…until the time is right, disappear we will."

The three moved to leave the room, though as Obi Wan goes to follow the Senator out the door, Yoda stopped him. "Master Kenobi, wait a moment. In your solitude on Tatooine, training I have for you."

Turning to the Master with a raised eyebrow, Obi Wan wondered what training he could possibly need for his approaching 'solitude'. "Training?"

Nodding his head, Yoda continued "An old friend has learned the path to immortality."

"Who?" both curious and incredulous, Obi Wan turned his full attention to the little green alien in front of him.

"One who has returned from the netherworld of the Force to train me . . . your old Master, Qui-Gon Jinn."

Mouth agape, he stuttered out the only words that he could, "Qui-Gon? But…how?"

Smiling knowingly, the Jedi Master fed the younger man the information he so desperately wanted to have. "The secret of the Ancient Order of the Whills, he studied. How to commune with him, I will teach you. How to join the Force, he will train you. Your consciousness you will retain, when one with the Force. Even your physical self, perhaps."

The small Jedi hobbled from the room, leaving a normally sophisticated and nonchalant Jedi gawking in his wake. Shaking his head slightly, Obi Wan quickly followed Yoda out of the door, still startled by the realisation that his Master was theoretically still with him. A little smile began to erode the seemingly ineradicable frown on the Jedi's face. As he left for his starship, he began to think that hope was not lost after all. Where there is darkness, light will always eventually ascend to meet it. The Jedi Code rose to the front of his mind:

There is no death, there is the Force

There was no laughter of children playing on the beach or the bubble of socialisation that often filled the air as Obi Wan landed on Naboo. Instead the atmosphere was leaden with melancholy and dejection. Even the birds seemed to be singing a mourning song for the passing of the much beloved Senator and former queen. As he walked across the jade green grass towards the elegant countryside villa ahead of him, he looked down at the small bundle in his arms. Unlike his brother and sister who had both fallen asleep not long after their entry into this morbid world, the youngest Skywalker stared straight up at the enervated Jedi Master with wide inquisitive eyes. Innocent eyes, Obi Wan thought. Innocent eyes that were big and crystalline blue. They were so intensely piercing that Obi Wan had to look away; there Anakin's eyes, he thought sombrely, exact replicas of the icy blue orbs of which he had seen so many emotions rush through over the past thirteen years. The boy's hair was a dark blonde, slightly darker than his brother's but lighter than his sister's, and already curling into slight waves on the cradle of his fragile head. The more he looked the more he saw of Anakin, yet, if he looked close enough he could also ascertain the features that were strongly Padme's. The boy had her cherry lips and the button nose.

Looking at this tiny creature in his arms, this angelic like infant that was completely incognizant of the sinister and minacious threat that he would inevitably have to face, Obi Wan was again overcome by an avalanche of dread and guilt. How could he call himself a Jedi Knight, nevertheless a Master. He had willingly fought in a war that reaped the lives of thousands, he had played into the hands of a duplicitous and malevolent Sith Lord who had corrupted his friend, he had turned away from the burning body of the man he once called his brother. Worst of all, he was about to sacrifice this boy to a fate that will place the weight of the Galaxy upon his youthful shoulders.

The sound of steps on stone roused him from his reverie. Looking up he saw the older sister of Senator Amidala, Sola Naberrie, standing on the marble steps looking drained and frail yet trying to retain her strong façade for her children. As he approached her stoic look crumbled once she laid eyes on the blanket encased new born in his arms.

Hands flying to her mouth, Obi Wan heard a sob wretch from the poor woman's throat. "Oh Padme, Padme…" the rest of her grief-stricken words were drowned out by her sporadic breathing and low groans.

"Sola," he mumbled soothingly, "look at him. Please just look at him." And she did. As soon as her eyes met the two stunning crystals of her nephew her crying stopped and her breathing soon stabilised. She became entranced in the depths of blue that drew her in as if they were sirens beckoning wayward sailors.

Without breaking eye contact with the infant, she lifted him up and settled him in her arms. "Padme" she uttered again, yet this time the grief and agony was supplanted by nostalgia and even joy. The tears returned, but now they flowed somewhat elegantly down her cheeks and over her upturned lips. She was smiling. Looking up at the auburn-haired Jedi, the grieving woman nodded gratefully, "Thank you…Master Jedi".

Smiling sadly, Obi Wan placed his warm hand over the two doll-like ones of the baby boy in her arms. "Not anymore" he responded, "be careful, Sola. His fate is in your hands".

Eyes hardening as she seemed to realise what the Jedi intended for the cherubic child, she turned abruptly and walked up the marble steps to where her husband waited wearily. If only you knew, he thought sullenly.

Walking slowly towards his ship, the summer breeze gently ruffling his hair and robes, Obi Wan could only hope that this celestial planet remained untainted by the rising 'Galactic Empire'. Hopefully the boy will remain as such as well. Turning to watch the couple embrace the young boy, a delicate smile graced the Jedi's lips as he wished the boy good luck on the unequivocally arduous journey that was soon to come.

"May the Force be with you, Caidan Skywalker.

Hey guys! I have been thinking about this story for a while and have finally decided to bring it to life. I hope you enjoy, as I really loved writing this chapter and am already excited for the plot to unfold. Please review, I really appreciate your comments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

Eliza.