Three Years Later . . .
Anakin Skywalker, a royal pilot in training, grimaced as he saw one of the Queen's handmaidens comes towards him. He knew, even without being able to see her face, that it was his sister. He also knew that she would only seek her out if she had a bone to pick with him.
"Relax Ani; you're not in trouble. My Lady simply wishes to meet the youngest space pilot ever trained in Nabooian history. She figured the news would be better received from your sister," smirked Aurora, knowing exactly why Anakin had looked at her like she was taking him to his death. Chuckling nervously, Anakin wiped off his hands and followed his sister.
Much had changed for the Skywalker-Lars family. Owen Lars, at the age of nine, surprised everyone by saying he'd tested for the Agricultural Maintenance Department at the palace of Theed and had been accepted into their training program. Anakin, after this revelation, sheepishly admitted he'd done the same with the space pilot program. Aurora, seeing no way around it, admitted she'd been accepted into the training program for bodyguards for the Queen, seeing as Amidala was such a young monarch. Mr. Lars and Mrs. Skywalker-Lars, while surprised to be empty nesters so soon were proud that their children had succeeded at starting such promising careers. Although it wasn't lost on Shmi that Anakin and Aurora had chosen the most dangerous career paths available; as their mother, she couldn't help worrying about their safety.
Now a year into their training, Anakin, Aurora and Owen were known as the best of the best. Owen, with his green thumb and love of agriculture, had been taken under the wing of the Head of the Department of Agriculture herself. Lady Anisa consistently told Owen that the only thing keeping her from giving Owen her job was that he didn't have the experience to be able to handle the bureaucracy that came with the position.
Anakin, with his Jedi reflexes and love of engineering, broke the record for how quickly someone could repair a ship and get through all the simulation courses. Anakin quickly became a favorite of Flight Instructor Demine as he bragged to his co-workers about having the most talented pilot seen in quite a while. Although internally, Demine couldn't help being a bit irked that he'd had to set up real-life courses in order to keep challenging Anakin.
Aurora, much like her brothers, thrived in her position. Since the queen was known as a brown-eyed girl, she quickly picked up that she needed to hide her real eye color. Using brown-colored contacts and dying her hair brown, Aurora looked just like Amidala, although it was obvious she was younger than the sixteen-year-old monarch. However, what Aurora lacked in age she made up for with her Force sensitivity.
Anakin and Aurora had always been told by their mother that they'd had no father. They didn't miss him much, thanks to Cliegg, but right after they came to Naboo the Force appeared to them. The Force, who insisted they call him Father or Dad, took it upon itself to train the children to use their latent Force powers. As they'd delved into their training, they learned the basic stuff; levitation, telepathy, telekinesis, lightsaber forms, construction of their lightsabers; but they'd also realized why they were such polar opposites.
Anakin, with his fair hair and clear blue eyes, was the physical manifestation of the Light side of the Force. Aurora, with her once pitch black hair and yellow eyes, was the physical manifestation of the Dark side of the Force. According to their Father, this didn't make Anakin inherently the 'good' child and Aurora the 'bad' child. It just meant that they, like any other Jedi or Sith, needed to maintain balance. They have to be honest with themselves about emotions, struggles, motives; they needed to walk the edge between harmony and chaos, like their mother, Shmi had taught them in their Code:
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no fear; there is power.
I am the heart of the Force.
I am the revealing fire of light.
I am the mystery of darkness.
In balance with chaos and harmony
Immortal in the Force!
According to their Father, this was the original Code followed when the Jedi and Sith were united. Aurora and Anakin thought about the sadness they felt from their Father as he explained that great bloodshed the likes of which the Republic had never seen was coming. If there was one thing the Skywalker twins knew, it was that the Force despised unnecessary death; after all, wasn't he the one that maintained life in the first place?
Suddenly, Anakin and Aurora were pulled from their thoughts as a palace guard ordered them to stop before entering the throne room. While Anakin wasn't aware of palace protocol, Aurora was; she knew this wasn't the royal procedure. Sending her alarm to her brother telepathically, he managed to put the palace guard to sleep as the space pilot and handmaiden barged into the room . . . only to find the Queen's decoy refusing to sign some trade negotiation. Aurora knew what this meant; Padme was in danger!
"What do we have here?" asked the Neimodian; "I was not aware Naboo was in the practice of hiring children." Anakin and Aurora's response was instantaneous; Anakin force-pushed the hostile against a wall of the palace while Aurora joined the other handmaidens in protecting the real queen by taking advantage of Anakin's blessed distraction. Once everyone had fled the scene, Anakin released the Neimodian and rushed after the palace guards and entourage.
Once the group reached the hanger, they ran into a pair of Jedi; the Master had long hair and a long beard followed by a younger man with a trim haircut and a braid flowing a bit past his chin. Anakin and Aurora, having sensed their presences, hid their potential just as their Father had taught them to do.
"Your Highness; we were sent by the Republic;" began the elder Jedi; "unfortunately, much like yourselves, we ran into trouble with the Neimodians. We apologize for the delay."
"No apologies are necessary;" stated Sabe; "we must reclaim our home."
"Forgive me, Your Highness, but I sense grave danger. This is far too unprecedented; what profit do the Neimodians have to gain by staging a costly blockade? I fear that your life is in grave danger."
"So are the lives of our people Master Jedi!" exclaimed Aurora before she could stop herself; "Would you have us turn our backs on the sufferings of the innocent?" Padme, from behind Sabe, placed a calming hand on the preteen's back, telling her to mind her place. Unwillingly, Aurora shut her mouth.
"Perhaps;" interrupted the Queen's Captain of the Guard, Panaka; "we should consider his advice Your Majesty. Jedi are known to have the ability to see the future." Anakin and Aurora wisely kept themselves from pointing out that seeing the future wasn't as precise as they thought it was; suddenly the handmaiden and the space pilot felt the warning tremors in the Force; if they didn't leave now, all would be lost.
"Leaving would present great danger to us all;" stated Sabe, looking to Aurora and Padme, hoping to throw them off of who was the real queen; that, and it was well known among the handmaidens that Aurora had abilities just like the Jedi.
"We are brave, Your Majesty;" intoned Padme.
"Even the greatest warriors must know the difference between a battle they can win and a battle that will destroy them. A strategic retreat to Coruscant to bring our cause to the attention of the Galactic Senate may be the only way to save our planet;" stated Aurora, knowing that if she could bring out her inner politician, it may fool the Jedi on the queen's real identity.
As the Nubian spaceship entered the atmosphere with Olic as the pilot and Anakin as the co-pilot, Qui-Gon and Obi-wan couldn't help looking at Aurora and Anakin in slight suspicion. The reason they'd been relaxed when they'd felt the Queen's entourage come around the corner was because they'd sensed the presence of fellow Jedi. Yet as quickly as the sensation had flared in their consciousness, it had gone away just as soon. Qui-Gon looked at Anakin and Aurora with suspicion, as it was obvious they were related; if these two are Force-sensitive, who trained them?
