Author's Note: I put a wee author's note up about timeline in the prologue, and I also fixed a few grammatical errors that I saw on a read-through but none of the plot lines or any of the sentences have changed lol. This is us back at the beginning of the story, how it all started.

As for the posting of this story, I'm trying to write chapters in advance and hopefully will post one or two a week. A Thursday if it's once a week, or a Monday and Friday if it's twice a week. If I don't stick to that, you can all feel free to bash me on the head and send me threatening e-mails because I really like the idea behind this story and want to share it with you all. Thank you for your reviews and I hope you enjoy this as much as me.

Part One

Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker looked in the full length mirror in his diminutive quarters within the glorious Jedi Temple on the planet of Coruscant. His maroon robes hung over his body in a familiar fashion, covered by his black tunic which was held together at the waist by his brown belt, on which hung his newly completed lightsaber. Smiling, he reached his hand down to his latest creative accomplishment and felt the pride swarming through his body. He remembered the feeling of pride that had come from his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi when he had finally shown him the completed weapon.

He did this every morning, making sure he looked impeccably presentable for the Jedi Council. And he had to make even more of an effort for his meeting that day since the newly appointed Council Member was to be sitting on the Council for their first meeting. He didn't understand why he was so nervous about this meeting, he knew Shaak Ti from his training but… He hadn't had the best of night's sleep the night before thinking about Mawar, about Yaddle and how she had died for him. He knew that that was part of the reason why he was striving for perfection that morning. Shaak Ti was Yaddle's replacement member. He shook his head, trying to clear the images of Yaddle's body covered in radiation sores from the chemical weapon she had absorbed. When he found Granta Omega he would take great pleasure in capturing him and bringing him before the Jedi Council.

He studied his reflection and nodded slightly. His Padawan braid was long, hanging over his shoulder, the rest of his hair becoming unruly. But, if what his master had been saying was true, he would be able to take the trials within the next year and he had a certain… image he wanted for when he became a Jedi Knight, had ever since he had first entered the Jedi Temple. He had even chosen his robes and tunic years before based on the image he wanted to create. His hair would be longer, hanging down to at least his neck. In his head, the image was slightly menacing and yet… He smiled and shook his head. If Obi-Wan could see how he was acting he would no doubt taunt him for being vain for the rest of the day, if not the standard week.

The orange orb was beginning to rise over the Coruscant horizon and he turned to the small south facing window to watch it rise over the rest of the planet. It only took eleven standard minutes for the trough of the sphere to clear the distant skyline and he was ready early. He always was. Ever since his first days in the Jedi temple eleven years ago, he had stood at this very window and watched over the awakening city. Though the city was never really asleep to become awake but the lines of space vehicles high above became busier with commuters, workers. There wasn't a day when he was on Coruscant that he hadn't been stood at this window watching the sun rise. Not for the first time, he wondered if Obi-Wan knew about this little obsession. And again he didn't see how it was relevant.

He stood in the same spot as his room erupted in fire as the sun blazed through the window, lighting even the darkest corners of Anakin's soul, warming through the chill in his body that came only at nightfall. Every night, his thoughts wandered to his mother whom he had left as a slave on Tatooine to join the Jedi, never once forgetting his promise to return to his home and free all the slaves there. He remembered Qui-Gon Jinn, too and felt a slight ache in his chest. An ache that had diminished with his training but had never truly left him. And now he had Master Yaddle's death to add to the ever-increasing list. He didn't know how Master Yoda could handle the oppressiveness and emptiness of the Force at times like these.

He ducked his head down for a moment in remembrance of those who had fallen with the rise of the Sith. He knew that the Knights and the Council were concerned, much more than they were letting on. They were concerned, too, about the attacks on the Naboo senator's life, attacks that had made headlines on the holonet.

He smiled slightly. He hadn't seen Padmé for more than a decade and he wondered if she was any less beautiful. Or any more so, though of that he was doubtful. He remembered asking her if she was an angel from the moons of Iego and every time that memory passed in his mind, he cringed. He had to continually remind himself that he was just a boy then and that she had no doubt forgotten about him, regardless of the silly Jappor Snippet pendant he had carved for her. He shook his head mirthfully, wondering at his younger self.

He checked the chrono on the wall to his left and noticed that Obi-Wan was uncharacteristically late. Frowning, he moved to the door to his chambers and opened them with the intention of going to look for his errant Master. When the doors opened completely he took a startled step backwards. On the other side of the door stood an irritated Obi-Wan.

"Master?" Anakin asked as he breathed a sigh of relief, trying to dissipate the adrenaline running through his body.

Obi-Wan raised both his eyebrows but did not unfold the arms he had crossed over his chest or move his shoulder away from the wall he was propped up against.

"Yes Anakin, I've been waiting for five standard minutes. What took you so long?"

The younger of the two men looked confused as he turned back to the chrono, double checking the time. He must have been so lost in his thoughts that he missed his Master's call and his approach. It was an unfortunate ability that he and his Master had, of sensing one another's approach and so it made it highly difficult for Anakin to sneak up on his Master. Though, it seemed his Master was getting better at shielding himself from Anakin these days.

Confused, he conceded to his Master and reached out for his cloak. He loved the feel of it swooshing behind him, fanning out as he walked down the corridors. In the temple, it had no effect but outside the temple, people stopped and stared at him and his Master and he felt important. He liked to feel important. What he didn't like though, was the look on his Master's face right at that moment of time.

Obi-Wan, Anakin had been realising, was looking tired in the mornings, as though he was not getting enough sleep but whenever Anakin had questioned him about it, the older man brushed him off. He had initially put it down to the same weight that had been on his mind lately, of Mawar and trying to find Granta but there was something else, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He knew that if it was anything important he would know, would feel it through the connection he and his Master shared. Or he hoped so, at least.

Anakin fell into step beside his Master as they made their way through the vast temple towards the Jedi Council Chambers. The room was at the top of the first spire that stood south west of the Temple Spire on the great architectural vision of Coruscant. The temple itself was amazing. When he had been a young boy he had felt dwarfed by it's size, by the towering walls and pillars and he had wondered how he would ever come to call this place home. The feeling of being dwarfed had not vanished as he had grown, as the temple itself seemed to outgrow any foot of height a person may achieve. He liked the feeling of being small in this place. It felt safe, like the temple was a mother protecting all of it's children. It felt as though the Force itself was holding the walls together, keeping all of the good in and all of the bad out.

Anakin was not so naïve as to not notice the way the Masters whispered in the corners about the growth of the Dark Side, nor did he miss the way that many of the Jedi Knights didn't return from simple, routine missions. He felt the emptiness in the Force, felt as though a huge vacuum had opened within the Force every time one of it's children was taken away from their mortal life.

He wondered if the Force would cry for him, if he died.

There is no death. There is only the Force.

He remembered his Master's preaching's but he often wondered sometimes. He didn't feel Qui-Gon in the Force, or any of the other Jedi who had fallen.

Even he could feel the shreds of Darkness seeping it's way into the every day lives of the Jedi and the people of the galaxy. He wondered if any of the other Padawans felt it, or if it was only his enhanced Force sensitivity that allowed him to feel it.

"The Council wants to send us to Naboo, I sense. To protect Senator Amidala from these attacks on her life. As if there is not any thing else we can attend ourselves to."

It was not often that Anakin heard his Master talking about the Council, or even disagreeing with them and so he was a little perturbed by Obi-Wan's words. It was simply another reason to add to the list of why Anakin was worried about his Master. Obi-Wan never disagreed with the Council, never vocally anyway. He just wished he had the courage to question his master further.

"Perhaps that is not why they have called us, Master," Anakin countered, trying to dispel his Master's mood. It didn't seem to do any good however as Obi-Wan shot his Padawan a withering glare.

"Anakin…" The word came out on a groan as Obi-Wan stopped and reached up to the bridge of his nose and squeezed, his face clenching in obvious discomfort. Anakin could see he was holding his breath and he reached out and touched Obi-Wan's shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

"Can't you feel that Anakin?"

Anakin straightened and closed his eyes, reaching out to the Force hoping that he would sense whatever it was his Master was sensing. It wasn't often that Obi-Wan sensed anything in the Force as greatly as this and when he did, Anakin usually felt it just as strongly. But the sensation that Obi-Wan was feeling… Anakin couldn't sense anything at all. All he could sense was the peace and tranquillity that always seemed to ooze from the temple walls.

"I do not sense anything, Master," he replied cautiously, waiting for the wrath of his Master but it never came.

Obi-Wan straightened up and lowered his hand, his eyes focussing on Anakin's face.

"Anakin, I sense something is wrong. I… I can't explain it. Whenever I stand at this spot in the temple I feel… I feel like the Force has disappeared and I am empty. Like someone has literally sucked my inner organs out through the tiny pores on my back… I…" Obi-Wan shook his head to clear his thoughts and Anakin could see the older man's grey eyes clear slightly. "I'm probably just imagining it."

Anakin nodded slightly, though he never once took his eyes off of his Master as he began walking again. It was only when Obi-Wan turned to him with an exasperated look on his face and ushered Anakin towards him that the young Jedi moved and caught up with his Master.

Something was definitely wrong with his Master, his friend and he had to figure out exactly what it was.

Anakin and Obi-Wan stood in the centre of the Jedi Council Chambers and looked into the faces of the Council members who were seated in a circle around the room. As Master Windu spoke of the intricate details of the Master and Padawan's last mission, Anakin's gaze drifted to the large window that covered half of the window in the round room, offering a one hundred and eighty degree view of the city underneath. The sun that he watched rise above the hill was well and truly in the sky now, blazing through the window and casting long shadows onto the floor. He sighed slightly and refocused his gaze back into the room and was met with Master Yoda's mossy eyes. He blinked in surprise and tried to look interested in what Windu was saying but the small green Master had noticed his inattention.

"Boring you, are we, young Skywalker?" His gravely voice asked as he stamped his gimmer stick lightly on the floor.

Anakin tried to look reasonably chastised and innocent all at once as he glanced down to the floor quickly before turning his gaze to where Master Yaddle should have been sitting, her small body perched atop one of the large chairs. But she wasn't. And she never would be again. Anakin shook his head again and raised his eyes to Yoda.

"No, Master."

"Betray you, your feelings do. Contain them, you must." Yoda's head bowed slightly, like an old man trying to chastise his grandson. Or, in Yoda's case, his great, great, great grandson.

Anakin barely refrained from rolling his eyes, instead looking to his Master who was clearly trying to contain his humour at the situation. This time, Anakin did roll his eyes at the irony of the situation. It had been only the previous night that Obi-Wan had issued the same speech to Anakin during what was supposed to be their meditating time.

When Anakin turned his eyes back to Yoda, he caught the Wise One's ears dipping as his eyes looked to the place Anakin's had been. Anakin felt for Yoda, who had lost a great friend and the only other member of the Jedi Order who came from their mysterious home world.

"Yes, Master. I apologise." And this time he meant it. He only hoped Yoda knew for what it was exactly that he was apologising.

Master Windu, who Anakin always thought didn't hold very much regard for Anakin, had an expression on his face that spoke of his unhappiness with the young Padawan. It seemed that no matter what Anakin did, it was always wrong in Mater Windu's eyes.

"Is there something else that you would like us to discuss, young Skywalker?"

Anakin's smile was tight as he acknowledged Windu with a polite shake of the head.

"No, Master."

"Very well then." There was a slight pause in the room as the Council spoke amongst themselves.

Anakin could feel the discomfort coming from his Master, as they both shuffled their feet lightly on the elaborate floor. The council chambers had always awed Anakin, much like everything Jedi related, in their elaborate tranquillity. He loved the way the large tiled design on the floor spread out under his feet, the way that the sun backlit the events in the room, illuminating the Master's of the Force as they deliberated over the fate of the galaxy. Anakin only hoped that one day, a young Padawan would be experiencing those exact same thoughts about Anakin as he sat in one of the chairs around the room. It was the dream of every Knight, to become a Master of the Force and sit on the Jedi Council, although such thoughts of grandeur were discouraged.

"Your next mission should hopefully be less eventful than your last," Windu continued and Anakin smirked slightly. The Jedi hated drawing attention to themselves but ever since Anakin and Obi-Wan had started going on missions together, attention was always one thing that was never lacking after a mission. It was something that neither of the two Jedi appreciated as it usually came as a result of a near death experience, even on the most peaceful of missions. Obi-Wan had said that Anakin drew trouble, no matter where he went, whether it be from a farm yard animal that turned against them (like what happened on Japino) or a little… altercation at a space-port like one of their last mission where Anakin had accidentally gambled their ship - and lost. "You will be assigned to protect Senator Amidala and attempt to discover who is behind these attempts on her life."

Beside him, Obi-Wan tutted and murmured something under his breath that Anakin didn't quite catch. He knew that it would not have been a pleasant remark.

"Senator Amidala does not welcome this protection and considers it an imposition so, please, be invisible," Windu concluded and Anakin knew the last comment was directed towards him.

He found it strange that he had been thinking about Padmé only that morning and now he would be seeing her very soon. He felt a chill run down his back that caused him to shiver in anticipation. He shook the feeling off. He wasn't a little boy any more. He was a Jedi, soon to become a Knight, if Obi-Wan was right. Which, Anakin grudgingly admitted, he usually was.

"If the Senator finds it such an imposition why are we to go? It is difficult enough trying to protect someone, let alone someone who believes they don't need protecting."

Anakin spun and gawked at Obi-Wan. It was usually he who was the one questioning the basis of missions, not Obi-Wan. Although his point was valid, Anakin still could not believe what he was hearing from his usually calm and tight lipped Master. He looked to the Council Members whose faces showed a similar amount of shock, except one. Yoda's expression was grim, but not with anger. It looked to Anakin that Yoda was worried about something, his mossy eyes half covered by his lids, his lips pressed into a tight line.

And this worried Anakin. If Yoda was worrying about his Master then their was definitely something to worry about.

If only Obi-Wan's shields weren't so strong…

"Knight Kenobi, with you I will speak before you depart," Yoda murmured.

Anakin could feel Obi-Wan's shoulders sag, feel him deflating next to him. Anakin prodded at his friend's mind, trying to get a sense of what he was feeling but he was met with a strong brick wall. He sighed and turned back to the meeting.

"Your mission details are stored on this crystal," Windu pulled a data crystal from under his maroon robes and held it out for Obi-Wan to take. "You depart within the hour."

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan bowed respectfully before turning to leave the room.

"And may the Force be with you."

"And with you," both departing Jedi replied.