October 27th, Two months post Galactic Empire
Mia sat on the edge of the counter with a cup of coffee in hand. She'd begun to notice some things in the last few weeks. One of the biggest was the very dim Force presence upstairs. It wasn't even dim because of shielding, It was a combination of Anakin's mood and his lack of use in the Force. All Jedi used the Force at all times of the day, keeping their senses open. Anakin hadn't meditated, done Force exercises or lightsaber practice either.
Mia felt said dim Force signature coming down the stairs and sighed. Anakin walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.
Setting down her coffee cup to free up her hands, she cleared her throat, "We need to do some sparring," She signed—it was too early in the morning to bother speaking.
Anakin quirked a brow, looking at her as though she'd lost it. "We can't, if somebody hears lightsabers there's going to be a call made to the nearest Imperial Outpost," He reminded her.
Mia rolled her eyes. "We have a few broomsticks, you want to use those instead?"
He thought about it for a moment, "I still think it's a bad idea." He insisted, speaking now.
"But you don't want to say no," Mia said knowingly with a wide grin as she nudge his arm.
Anakin shook his head, "It's a really bad idea."
"You just don't want to lose again," Mia baited him, speaking in a sing-song voice.
"I did not lose," He insisted, referring to the incident that shall never be mentioned.
Mia laughed, "You tripped over a fold in the mat and I had you pinned. You'd lose again anyway, why bother?" She continued to bait him.
"I would not!" Anakin insisted.
"Loser has diaper duty for a month," Mia challenged, raising an eyebrow.
Anakin grinned, crossing his arms, before signing: "You're on, after work we'll spar."
"You have the day off." Mia pointed out, her hands moving again.
He paused and nodded. "Right, so when, where?"
Mia shrugged. "That meadow that's ten minutes away, I haven't seen a lot of people around there, considering there's a park nearby. We could probably get the Halns to watch Leia."
After one conversation with Vivi Haln, followed by a brief cup of coffee and some chat over cookies, Mia and Anakin packed the speeder with a mop and a broomstick before leaving.
It was Anakin's first time to the meadow, but Mia had been there a few times before to meditate. He found it incredible. It was spacious but rounded off by a nearly perfect circular ring of trees. It had slight hills and was coated in wildflowers.
This part of the planet was in an eternal spring. It orbited its star in a circular route about every four standard years and was level, no tilt to create seasons. Closer to the equator and it was perpetually summer and closer to the poles there was endless winter.
Mia walked to the middle of the meadow with her mop in hand. She turned and faced Anakin with a smirk plastered on her face. He grinned and walked up to where she was, standing seven feet in front of her.
"These are a tad longer than regular lightsabers," He pointed out with a sigh, holding it out in the air, tip pointed at the sky.
"We could grip them higher up the handle," Mia suggested, sliding her hand up six inches.
Anakin shrugged and followed her motions. "Ready?" He asked.
She nodded and they both held their weapon out and took their stance. Mia, who usually waiting for her opponents to make the first move, jumped ahead and took Anakin by surprise. He blocked her forward thrust, left and right arc cuts and jumped back from a horizontal slashing motion. Mia continued pressing forward with attack after attack. Their weapons clashed, loud cracks of wood sounding through the meadow. Anakin looked for a way to take right away for himself. He saw an opening as Mia thrust her weapon forward and made a circular motion and moved her weapon off course before leaping at her with his own attacks.
Anakin made and upper and lower right cut, both times clashing with Mia. He pushed forward and she backed away, blocking him each time. There was a tree stump behind Mia and Anakin pushed harder in his attacks. Just as he thought he could trip Mia on the tree stump she back flipped on top of it with a mildly arrogant smirk. Anakin blocked her next attack once and brought the tip of his weapon to her neck.
"Damn," Mia muttered, her breathing slightly labored from the spar.
"Check and mate," Anakin gloated, "I get that nice month vacation from diaper duty."
Mia groaned, "I do it two thirds of the time anyway."
"You do not," Anakin teased, laughing.
"Every time while you're away and half the time when your home," Mia stated simply as they walked back to the speeder. "So actually it's more like three quarters."
"Damn," Anakin muttered thoughtfully, "We should really get a shift system or something, that's really not fair to you." That comment made Mia smirk.
November 5th, Three months post Galactic Empire
Obi-wan lied on the floor, an ice pack on his head, in an attempt to keep cool. Kail summers were absolutely dreadful. Luke wasn't thrilled with the heat either. Luke sat on his stomach a few feet away from Obi-wan, reaching for his stuff animal. It was absolutely his favorite toy right now. Obi-wan looked up at the boy gurgled, still reaching for the toy just out of reach. Grinning he pushed it closer to the child and Luke squealed with joy. Obi-wan closed his eyes and imagined himself standing in the snow on Hoth. Dying a frozen death was probably nicer than melting.
Luke gurgled again and Obi-wan opened his eyes again. The toy was now closer to Obi-wan and out of Luke's reach.
"I see, you want to play." Obi-wan smiled, picking up Luke and the stuffed animal—a big cat Obi-wan had nicknamed Toothless, for his open and toothless pink mouth.
The better part of an hour later it was time to feed Luke and put him down for a nap. After doing that Obi-wan took a shower and meditated. After that he looked through his things for a notebook he'd been keeping Luke's developmental progress in but before he found it he saw a crumpled picture. It was old and faded but Obi-wan remembered that day very clearly. He'd just taken Mia on as his second apprentice and they'd gone out to Dex's to celebrate. After hearing about it, Dex decided they should have a photo to remember it.
He'd made Anakin and Mia stand in front of Obi-wan, pretending to tug on their padawan braids. Anakin was in the middle of puberty, he'd sprouted to almost Obi-wan's height but his face was still a little boyish and his grin as mischievous as ever. In fact, if Obi-wan was remembering correctly, it was right around the time his voice dropped and Mia was constantly making fun of him, imitating his voice as it cracked. Mia was still very short though, barely thirteen and her face was still a bit round. Her hair was very long then too and, since women from her planet didn't cut their hair short until marriage, her padawan braid stretched to her waist.
November 9th, Three months post Galactic Empire
Claus sighed as he set the coordinates for the navicomputer. Alone in a two man ship and a small hold in the back just big enough lay down—if you bend your knees a bit. The navicomputer beeped with a confirmation of the destination. The stars became brilliant streaks of blue, a tunnel entirely of blue. Claus turned on his comm unit and set it to the right frequency.
Jedrick Kaz's face appeared before him and Claus grinned.
"Do you have any news?" He asked, hopeful.
"I'm going after Kenobi first. Rosslyn will have the easiest time hiding out and Skywalker already has a lot of bounty hunters sniffing for a trail. I figure Kenobi has to be in contact with one of the two anyway."
Claus nodded, agreeing. "Have you narrowed down where he might be?"
"Well, right now I'm running a hidden search on the HoloNet for documents with Kenobi listed as a last name. Great search program, buddy of mine designed it to spy in on marks." Jedrick explained.
"You think he'd be dumb enough to not change his name?" Claus asked in uncertainty.
The bounty hunter shrugged in response. "I think it's nice to not have to worry as much when the universe thinks you're dead. Who knows, maybe Kenobi is the sentimental type."
Claus thought about it. Kenobi could be sentimental over some things, his name could very well be one of them. Jedi aren't given much in life and two of the biggest things to their identity are their names and lightsabers.
November 19th, Three months post Galactic Empire
Anakin groaned as he sat down at the kitchen table with Mia after putting Leia to bed. Mia nodded sympathetically and pushed a plate of cookies his way and a cup of tea. The little three month old girl was a handle to get to sleep.
He rubbed his eyes, signs of a migraine. "That was difficult." Anakin muttered, more to himself than anything else.
Mia nodded, "You think maybe she's been restless because Luke's gone?" She suggested, her hands speaking for her.
Anakin felt a swell of guilt in his chest. It's my fault Padme's dead and Luke is missing. I haven't even found him.
Mia sighed, sensing the emotions within him. "I'm not blaming you, it's not your fault," She reminded him aloud, "I'm just wondering."
"I keep trying to figure out where Obi-wan might take him but the possibilities are endless." Anakin stated sadly, hands moving jerkily with his frustration.
"And we don't exactly have the resources we had before with the Jedi." Mia muttered dismally, only bothering to sign with her left hand as she leaned her chin on the palm of her right hand. "Again, not blaming you."
Anakin studied her closely for a long moment, puzzled by her statement. How can she not blame me? I uprooted her entire life, destroyed her home, killed her people, she has every right to hate me.
"How are you not blaming me? This is all my fault." He asked her in his confusion.
She sighed and shook her head. "This all had to go back years before you even came to the Temple Anakin. I mean, Sidious was training Maul and Dooku, he orchestrated the creation of the clone army and Order 66. Then he befriended you and praised you repeatedly, something the Council never did. He tricked you, that's all, it's not your fault," She told him firmly, her voice allowing no room for disagreement.
"I fell into that trap." Anakin muttered tiredly, closing his eyes as he hid his face behind his hands. "I let him gain my trust."
Mia tapped the table three times to get his attention, "Anakin, he started working on you when you were nine, you couldn't have known better." Mia stated stubbornly, her hands moving quickly and flawlessly, a strange sort of force in each movement.
He shook his head, just as stubborn. "I should have sensed something!" He insisted silently, a low sound bubbling at the bottom of his throat, a product of his frustration. Mia mused that she taught him that. When they were young and she got frustrated with something new she made that sound, which usually made Obi-wan and Anakin wince.
Mia attempted to cool her temper before speaking, she wasn't mad at Anakin but it would come out that way. With her voice raised she tried to reason with the very stubborn and downtrodden twenty-two year old. "The Council should have sensed something! Yoda, Grand Master Jedi, lived for close to a millennium, most powerful Jedi in the Order, should have sensed something. The entire Order should have sensed something," Mia softened her voice, "But we didn't, and it's nobody's fault."
Anakin stood up and started pacing. "Mia, I had two opportunities to kill the bastard and I let him live!"
She looked up at him, lost, "When in the fall of the Jedi Order was this?" There was an unintended sarcastic edge to it but that went ignored.
"When he told me I had my lightsaber at his throat but I left and went to tell Mace Windu. After I told him he got together a squad of Jedi and made me wait until Sidious was apprehended. I went anyway and when I got there the three masters Windu brought with him were dead. Windu had Sidious pinned next to a broken window and was blocking Sith lightning with his lightsaber and Sidious was in pain. Windu was going to kill him but I stopped that."
Anakin stopped as he realized how tight his chest was getting talking about this. He took a few calming breaths to keep from having a panic attack—which had happened quite a few times since his fall. He turned and looked at Mia, fearful of her response. She was thoughtful and silent and Anakin feared she'd be angry or betrayed or hateful. Finally, Mia spoke up.
"That's the first time you've ever talked about it in detail with me," She murmured, surprised.
He slumped into his chair in response and rested his head on his folded arms. The tiring events of the day combined with the stress and panic of that little revelation had him exhausted.
"You don't even know the half of it Mia," He groaned.
She sighed and sat back. "Maybe you should meditate on the events, try and gain some new perspective on it," She suggested.
"Very wise Obi-wan, I'll get right on that," Anakin sarcastically replied.
"I'm serious, it actually helps when you're facing a problem," Mia countered, "Just try it, maybe it help get rid of some of the nightmares."
"I'm going to bed," He muttered noncommittally, standing up.
Mia sighed and watched him walk out the kitchen and faintly heard him go up the stairs. Well, at least progress has been made.
November 30th, Three months post Galactic Empire
Mia looked around but all she could see was a dark room. Somewhere in this dark room there had to be an exit, right? It was silent but she felt like she could hear if there was noise. She scraped the metal floor with her fingernails, sure enough she heard it. Looking around the room, well it was something more of a cell or a prison, she wasn't sure where she was. All Mia knew was that she wanted to go home, really bad. Standing up she tested the height of the cell but she couldn't even stand straight. She wondered about the kind of place she was in. Sliding down the metal wall into a sitting position she looked up at the ceiling. She had to be somewhere, right?
Anakin peaked into her room. Mia was still sound asleep, her alarm going off. Sometimes he wondered about the point of the alarm clock, she was deaf after all. Apparently tuning into the force was so second nature to her at this point that she did it in her sleep. Some nights were the exception. Even with the flashing alarm going off though she didn't rouse.
He knelt down by the bed, she was just a mess of blankets and black hair. He shook her shoulder gently to wake her. The twenty-one year old jerked back and looked around wildly. Breathing a sigh of relief she got out of bed and quickly disabled both alarms. Anakin smirked, amused.
"I've never had to wake you up before. What's the special occasion?" He asked.
Mia wasn't listening—for whatever reason—she hadn't even noticed he'd spoken. Getting up he tapped her shoulder.
"I never had to wake you up before. What's the special occasion?" He signed.
The girl looked conflicted over answering. "Just a weird dream, I couldn't get out." She answered vaguely, rubbing her eyes.
"What kind of weird dream?" Anakin queried, curiosity peaking now.
"The reoccurring kind, I've had it since I was little. I'm in this tiny metal cell and I can't get out. I can't even stand all the way. I could hear though, it's absolutely weird." She sighed, looking away thoughtfully.
Anakin nodded, his stomach growling. He glanced up at her to see if she'd noticed. She turned and smirked at him, tuning back into the world around her.
"I'll make breakfast," Mia replied, rolling her eyes. "You'll have to get out so I can change though."
December 4th, Four months post Galactic Empire
Jedrick Kaz grinned as he looked at the document in his hands. So apparently Kenobi was the sentimental type and he liked nice, warm tropical planets. Ben Kenobi wasn't the most brilliant alias, considering Obi-wan used Ben it in several other aliases. Jedrick grinned, by the end of the week he'd be on Kail.
December 10th, Four months post Galactic Empire
He couldn't believe it. Did Kenobi just decide to start a family after the end of the Order? Think: Hey, I'll just walk into some random orphanage and steal a kid and raise it as my own. And what kind of name is Luke, not any name I've ever heard of.
Jedrick lied on the top of a neighboring apartment building from down the street, watching the window to Kenobi's apartment with binoculars.
"Some Jedi, doesn't even know he's been watched for the last thirty-six hours." Jedrick laughed, taking a bite of a meat kebab he'd bought from a local vender.
Kenobi was, at present, attempting to calm little Luke down. It seemed the only option for Obi-wan was to just hold Luke until he tired out. It wasn't the first time since Jedrick had been watching them. The man sighed and hoped things would get interesting soon.
Who knows, maybe Rosslyn or Skywalker will contact him soon.
December 15th, Four months post Galactic Empire
Darth Brutus watched with disinterest as the Jedi before him stared up in fear. He was pinned down by a red lightsaber pointed at his neck. The forty-something twi-lek Jedi with a very forgettable name and a poor fighting technique had met the end of the line.
"Name?" Darth Brutus asked, the boredom leaking though his voice despite the way the mask made it sound mechanical, droid like even.
"Meerk Gry," He answered, mustering up some bravery.
Brutus smirked from behind his mask. "Well, Meerk, any last words? I always love hearing what one would say when they knew they were about to die."
The twi-lek shook his head.
"Very well, not a very memorable death, I bet I'll forget all about you by the time I kill another one of your comrades," Darth Brutus told him dryly.
On his walk back to the ship he wished it had been a longer battle but there was little fight. Maybe the next fight would be better but he somehow doubted that.
December 21st, Four months post Galactic Empire
"She died of a heart defect. Her heart had an arrhythmia, she was born with it. The stress of the pregnancy was just too much for her."
The words of the doctor echoed in his mind. Anakin looked straight ahead at the wall of the medical ward. Padme was gone, just gone. His beautiful children were motherless. His wonderful, full of life Padme was lying on her back with a sheet covering her entire body. Her heart would never stutter a beat again.
Anakin's eyes opened and he rolled over to see the empty side of the bed. Haunted, he always felt haunted. He was haunted by all his past actions, the actions of people he once trusted. He was haunted most by her absence. The other side of the bed was too daunting to him. Waking up beside her was one of his favorite things, to see her messy curls and hear her groggy voice.
Yay, we finally find out why Padme died. Personally, I hated the whole 'lost the will to live' crap and heart defect made so much more sense to me. Poor Anakin
More tomorrow, I promise :) Reviews make me smile! Thank you for reading and getting this far.