Notes:

Guest #1: I'm glad you like where this is going. :) There is a power vacuum, and that will result in a lot of changes. The galaxy will still be the galaxy, but with new faces. But you know what they say, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Guest Andrew: Don't worry, I will keep it going. I'm glad you like it. To be honest, your half as surprised as I am where the story is going. I'm not trying to send it in different directions every time you figure out what's happening. It just happens, and I find myself just as much a part of the ride as you.

Don't blame me, blame the characters! They tell me to do stuff! I didn't mean to! Q.Q

Guest "1": Uh, Jango Fett gave sperm to breed a slave army of Mandalorians. That's not going to get him on his people's good side when they see the clones as imperfections or slaves. Not that the Mando'a blame the clones or call them abomination's, but I would be ticked off if someone cloned my sister because they were too lazy to do stuff themselves like that.

I don't know if Boba will exist. To be fair, with more focus being on the Mandalorians in terms of power, I can see Boba returning to the fold and finding a place. I'll consider it. He would be a side character at most like Izthark.

Guest #2: Glad you love it. :) I aim to please! :D

Buckle up! Things are going to be a bumpy ride! All we're doing right now is making the engines hum before the crap hits the fan! AGAIN!

So far most people are leaning towards Ahsoka or Visas in terms of matching. I have ideas for OC's if they don't work out, but I'll see if I can make it natural first before I make anything concrete. It has to be natural for the characters. Otherwise I'll dump the whole idea and make it an OC that WILL work, because it would be a major part of Varus growing up.

Prologue - Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan

"She's just been sitting there staring at nothing for almost two days now. How much longer will she be like this, General?"

"I don't know Rex!" came Anakin Skywalker's aggravated response. "I've been trying to reach out to her but she isn't responding. I'm not sure she's even aware of my attempts to get through to her. Ever since we entered that courtroom it's like she's switched on to autopilot."

To say that the Jedi Knight wasn't in a good mood would be an understatement. Padme was still nowhere to be found and there wasn't even a hint of her presence nearby in the Force. He could still feel her, but it felt distant, and he couldn't pinpoint a direction or specific distance. He had no word from her and the lack of news on her whereabouts was driving him insane. If she was saved by a Jedi, there was no word from her. If she was captured by a Sith, there was no ransom or threat, and the Force connection didn't feel stressed or hurt.

One of his Padawans, Varus Wynn, has now been robbed of all chances for a normal life because of his coercively wrought out past as Starkiller for no other purpose than satisfying the gluttony of one vile monstrosity named Darth Nihilus, a twisted aberration of life or an abomination of death, or worse, something that existed on the border in the realm of gods and demons. Now that Varus was sentenced to fifty-years in a maximum security prison, without parole, even lacking visitation rights to top things off, Anakin truly felt that he had failed yet another loved one.

And his other Padawan, the original one, was... She was... Just sitting there, completely oblivious to her surroundings, staring with those entirely too large eyes that had lost any spark of rebellion or mischief, looking glazed over and far too empty; but at the same time her mind was engulfed in so much torment, as a hailstorm of emotions kept flowing through their bond including: anguish, sorrow, shame, guilt, dismay, distress, dread, regret, resentment, frustration, bitterness, hurt, agony, pain. So much conflicting emotions that it made him recoil physically and slam down his mental shields against her.

Anakin Skywalker was angry, infuriated with himself that no matter how much he tried he couldn't break her from her stupor. No number of attempts or intensity could drill through. The Beast was circling in its cage, raging in a wild frenzy, not being able to stand his weakness, the vulnerability and inability to do anything. He hadn't slept in what felt a lifetime, exhaustion and weariness seeping through him, settling in his bones, and he was becoming increasingly more desperate.

Anakin sighed. He felt a hundred years old. He stood up from the chair by her side and ignored how his bones seemed to creak. "I need some time to settle myself after... everything. Look after her please. I'll be back later."

"I will." Rex nodded.

With a nod, Skywalker left.

At first he ran, then he walked, then he stopped and stared out into the vastness of space. He had exhausted himself and still the Beast was not quieted down. It prowled inside it's cage. He had a tight lid on it, but the constant poking of his mental walls was making him agitated. He needed to calm down, but peace was eluding him. Sure, he could be passive and compliant and smile all he wanted, but true peace was another matter. True peace was where you didn't try to do those things and wasn't agitated with nothing.

Padme was missing. Varus was… unfortunately where he belonged. Ahsoka was all but missing. Palpatine was dead and with good riddance. Obi-Wan was… Obi was here.

He needed to see Obi-Wan. That would calm him down.

He found Obi-Wan in another room. It was a miniature lounge near the crew's quarters with a large window out into space, a couch, a mini-bar with refreshments, and a poker table. Only two soldiers were present and they seemed more content to sit at the table and read from their data pads. Probably news.

Obi leaned back on the couch watching the stars. In the distance the Onasi fleet circled a large space station being used for refueling and broadcast across the galaxy, while currently a hub for loads of transports coming and going. The refugees from Coruscant were heading out to other planets; and people were coming to see if their loved ones were on the casualty list, or just to find someone to blame. There were too many reasons for people to be coming here, what with this fleet being the one to be around Coruscant for the duration of the battle. There were so many ships jumping out of Warp here, that many have had to be moved to a nearby location to prevent collision. It was becoming the galaxy's parking space, so to speak.

Obi-Wan glanced up at his old student's approach and smirked, "You look as old as I feel, Ani." Despite the attempt at messing with him and striking up an argument, there was a hollowness to his eyes that fell to his feet.

Anakin collapsed beside him. He was exhausted. When was the last time he slept? "I'm supposed to be the younger one…" He responded. "How old does that make you?"

The Master gave a weak snort. His humor lasted barely a moment before darkness came over him again. Anakin got the impression that seeing him was perhaps not helping. Not that he didn't want to see his old mentor, but Obi was far more of a realist than optimist. He didn't need exposure to reality more than he already had this week.

"I-I," Obi-Wan started. He had a drink in his hand and he swirled it around. "I heard about… the Sith boy."

"Varus." Anakin corrected weakly.

"Yeah… him. I'm sorry Ani. I really am. I know he meant a lot to you, and, if it makes you feel any better, I did notice a lot of potential in him for good."

Anakin closed his eyes. Obi-Wan didn't much like Varus, that was obvious enough. Obi-Wan was a very 'Sith are Sith and Jedi are Jedi' type. Obi had practically worshipped the council as a Padawan himself, and most of that had gone away with experience. Obi-Wan had become very 'down to earth' over the years, but Anakin still didn't expect him to like Varus based on reputation. He was right on that, of course, but for Obi-Wan to admit that the "Sith boy" had potential for good was… nice.

"Too late now, though. The past caught up with him." Anakin let out a deep, aggravated breath. Obi-Wan let it go and they fell into comfortable silence.

Normally about now they would be already head deep in trying to mess with each other, but in hindsight of the last week or two, it felt inappropriate. There were times to joke and times to silently mourn the times. To mix them up was wrong. You could try to lighten the atmosphere, but the days would still be darkened.

Obi-Wan changed the subject: "Have you seen Padme?"

Perhaps Kenobi thought, and correctly so, that seeing Padme would help him feel better. Or perhaps he figured that since Anakin was still in a bad mood that he hadn't had the chance yet. Either way it was like addressing the elephant in the room, or in his heart. "No."

The Master's eyebrows scrunched in concerned thought. "No? You avoidi-"

"She's missing." Anakin cut him off. A horde of star fighters zoomed by on patrol.

Obi-Wan's thoughtful silence deepened and the room visibly darkened. If he looked old before, he looked like a very old man now. His shoulders were bowed, his head was down, his hair was unkempt, his mustache was untrimmed, his face was fallen, and his eyes had lost all mirth. Anakin was partially scared to wonder what he, himself, looked like.

Obi-Wan looked up fearfully into his eyes, "What happened?"

Anakin shrugged. He shoved the pain and guilt away. He knew if he let it out, that it would eat him alive. He needed to keep it contained and focus. Focus on what, he couldn't say, but he couldn't go flying off the handle in grief or rage until he was somewhere where… there wouldn't be damage. "We found lightsaber scarring on the furniture and floor, and pieces of cut-off pistols. No blood. No bodies."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows did the usual 'scrunching' when he thought. "Kidnapping or evacuation after defending herself?"

Anakin shrugged again. He couldn't allow himself to feel. Not yet. "Either a Jedi defended her and 'accidentally' (he quoted with his fingers for emphasis) cut blaster pistols of the Naboo guards, or an enemy kidnapped her."

"A Sith." Kenobi assumed. Anakin nodded. "That's good." Obi-Wan nodded in satisfaction.

…

Anakin's eyes exploded open in full blown rage and jumped up to face him down. "HOW IS THAT GOOD?!" He was about a half moment from tackling Obi-Wan, friend or not, and right this moment he was contemplating the status of the friendship. What kind of statement was 'that's good' when his Padme was kidnapped!?

Obi put up his hands in a panic. "That came out wrong."

"Damn right!"

"It's VERY bad that she was kidnapped, I'm not saying it wasn't, but the good side is that it probably means she is already being rescued."

…

"Come again?" Anakin asked heatedly. He forced his anger down for rational thought. Obi-Wan and Padme adored each other. They were as friends as friends could be in the middle of a weird triangle of we're-married-and-keeping-it-a-secret kind of way. He would never want Padme to come to harm.

Obi-Wan let out a breathe he was holding. "If she was kidnapped by the Sith, she would be taken back to Korriban. The Mandalorians took the system the day after Coruscant was invaded. Mandalorians may not like us, and we may not like them, but you and I both know what they will do about it."

Anakin allowed himself to nod numbly. He collapsed back on the couch and put his head in his hands. He didn't mean to fly off the handle. "Sorry… Master. I should have… let you explain."

"Yeah, well, I should have more tact that that, and I wasn't going to explain my thoughts until you reacted and I realized how I goofed." He returned with a faint smile.

The Mandalorians were honorable to the point of extremes. If they came across prisoners, no matter who's side it was, or hostages, they would probably make efforts to return the people. Anakin just needed to contact the Clans in order to let them know and see if she was found.

That was a load off his mind. Anakin sighed. "You're sighing a lot today." The Master observed.

Anakin chuckled. "It's a 'sighing' kind of day. Lot like your 'falling in traps' days."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and smirked. "If I remember correctly our motto was 'trip the traps'!"

"No. I trip them, you just fall right in." Anakin smiled at him.

They chuckled. It was faint, but they could still cheer each other up. Feeling somewhat better, Anakin asked, "So… what now for us?"

"Depends on your context of 'us'."

Anakin shrugged. He hadn't thought of it in any real context. "How about you, me, and the Order, and Padme, and Ahsoka, and the Republic for that matter."

"That's a lot of 'us'."

Anakin waited for him to get down to it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi put away his glass on the side table and took a moment to put his thoughts in order. "What remains of the Jedi Master's had a meeting. Nihilus may still be out there. With no corpse to confirm otherwise, we can only assume he will come back for us. He was able to defeat us at the center of our strength with thousands against him. In addition, the public outcry of the people is that the Jedi are at fault for every single thing that happened on Coruscant. The news are having a field day. They actually said 'if the religious-nuts hadn't opened their big mouths' etc. etc. and the result is that we are now in as bad of a place as I could have imagined."

Anakin fisted his hands as the only release of anger he would allow. Palpatine tricked him! Palpatine tricked everybody! The Jedi exposed it and suddenly that made it their fault? "That's corrupt. If people are too foolish to allow justice and proper proceedings, and would rather bury their heads underground… No wonder so many Senators are corrupt."

Obi-Wan nodded, but continued, "It's worse. Many Jedi are being persecuted, beaten, and killed in public. Between the public and fear of Nihilus, a lot of changes are in store."

"I'm listening."

"First, a LOT of knights are being promoted to full masters. In the past we have held back knights from promotion even when we felt they were ready, or nearly so, because… how do I put this… we could afford to wait it out longer and allow maturity to grow more before the promotion. Now, for a lot of people, that promotion will have to be the catalyst of the same maturity. That includes you."

Under a normal day, he would be surprised. He would be excited and would run home to tell his wife all the good news and take her and Obi-Wan out to celebrate. These days it was a pale comfort to be promoted. It was more of a weight and responsibility than anything else, but it was one he would have to take well. It wasn't completely that he deserved it, but it was more about the fact that there was a reason that pushed the promotion than just simply deserving it and seeing it was an achievement. Still, not letting his dark thoughts hold him back, Anakin smiled.

Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Master.

"Second." Obi-Wan continued. "The Masters are splitting up the remaining younglings, knights, padawans, and acolytes between us and heading out in different directions. Every master is effectively becoming a separate sect. This will allow us to spread widely and hopefully make strides in reestablishing support in the Galaxy, but also to make it as difficult for anyone to come after us as possible. I don't know where the other Masters are going, and I won't be telling them what I'm doing either."

"So… I'm getting people under me?" Anakin wondered, barely believing it. He was… He was allowed to start his own sect?! "How many are we talking?"

Obi looked at him funny. "I know what you're thinking. To be honest, I think you having your own sect isn't all that good a thing. Last thing the galaxy needs is an army of Skywalkers… jumping out of hover cars in midair and… coming out of Warp two feet away from the enemy. I don't hate flying but what you do is suicide." He cringed.

Anakin put up his hands innocently. "Whaaaat?"

"Anyway, I am getting five under me, and you're getting three. Two younglings and a fresh Knight. They already know where you are, so I'm sure you will get to know them very soon. Just do the galaxy a favor and take your sect seriously? Please? We don't need any stars blowing up."

"Hey!" He barked. "That was part of the plan."

"And that changes what I said…" He raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Anakin turned away and grumbled. "Oh, Master! What of the archives and such?"

A clone soldier entered the room. He walked around the couch. Obi-Wan continued, "They're being moved to discreet locations and split up. Later on the sects will be notified of the locations, but only once they are secure. Yes, soldier?"

The soldier shook his head. "I'm here for General Skywalker. Sir, a report from Rex." He handed him a piece of paper and Anakin opened it.

He just as quickly scrunched it in his fist so tightly his fingers drew blood.

Seeing how close to cracking his old student was getting, Obi-Wan stood up, hauled Anakin up by his shoulders and said, "Let's go check with the Clans and see if they got her, and get some sleep. It will take time to get an answer."

(Four Months after the Fall of Coruscant)

Obi-Wan glanced around the doorway into the bridge. Anakin was still in the pilot's seat brewing.

News from the Clans had not been good. A 'Duchess Satine' was in charge of the system and personally told him the bad news: Senator Padme was nowhere to be found.

The Sith ships had been taken by the Clans, no Padme.

The Sith Academy had been stormed and every stone was turned over after a labyrinth was found underground, no Padme.

The Sith tombs had been checked and flushed out. The Sith had made a last stand in the tombs that lasted minutes, no Padme.

The slaves, prisoners of war, and captives freed were all cross referenced and were dealt with a woman's touch to ensure they were well taken care of, and still no Padme.

The Clans took control of the most annoying red planet this side of Coruscant, and the only part that mattered to them was the phrase that was repeated over and over. Padme was absent.

Anakin couldn't find her in the Force. He knew she was out there, but it was like trying to pick out a straw in a needle stack covered in a gallon of green slime that had been set on fire while annoying little elves danced around and sang and cheered.

Obi-Wan Kenobi retreated back from the door and returned to the main quarters. The main quarters had a relaxing area with a footlocker against the wall by an escape pod and a working desk. In the middle was a small couch towards the corner, and the room branched out towards the engine room, crew quarters, private holo-room, and Anakin's brooding chamber, otherwise known as the bridge.

In the main quarters sat two younglings and one of the knights. In total they had seven split up between the two Master's.

One of the younglings, a human boy of nearly eight, looked up at Obi's approach. He was born mute but made up for it by levitating a glowing ball. The boy moved with the ball with his mind and 'wrote' in the air with it. He was strong in the Force for his age, even perhaps a prodigy, but exclusively in the manipulation of physics. Aramas 'Firefly' Welcraft wrote, "Same?"

Obi-Wan nodded.

Aramas frowned and his ball, nicknamed 'Babyfly' dimmed. "Sorry." He wrote.

"It's not your fault." Obi assured him. The timing was bad. Anakin hasn't been able to get out of his depression easily and now of all times he was being given students and responsibilities. "It's none of your faults." He assured the rest. They were all depressed. "He will get better soon."

He just wasn't sure what to do. He tried speaking to Anakin and he wasn't responding. In the past, whenever he got like this, he always had something to focus his emotions on. Anakin would vent on enemy droids or duel and meditate when he was more in control. He was dangerous in how lethal his focus was at his peak, and the only person who could bring him back had been his students and wife.

Suddenly Firefly stood up, let Babyfly drop into his open palm, and disappeared around the corner leading to the bridge. Obi didn't hold him back. The kid might have something he could say to get through to the new Master.

So far as he knew, Firefly was an orphan. He had seen war and death plenty already for his young age and was taken the recent months better than the rest. Obi-Wan didn't know any more than that. There wasn't archives left to go through right now, and the kid only wrote in the air what he was willing to say.

A moment later Aramas returned. "What did you say?" Obi wondered.

The boy shrugged and sat down. Obi looked at him curiously, but let it drop.

Barely a minute later Anakin walked out holding Babyfly in his hands and passed it to Aramas. "Thanks, Firefly. I needed that." Obi-Wan smirked at the sight of a nasty bruise on the side of his temple.

"Anytime." Aramas wrote.

Anakin asked for his students to gather. His knight, Ramidash, and another youngling about the same age as Aramas, named Slavian.

Slavian was another male human, but while Aramas was scarred from childhood and became stronger for it, Slavian was untested in life. He was suffering the most from the recent loss of the Order. He followed the laws of the Jedi closely and studied hard, and the loss of those laws hit him hard. Slavian had next to no mediclorians, to the point that no matter how much effort he made, he couldn't do even the most basic task expected of Force sensitizes. He was also a vegetarian.

Ramidash was moderately good with the Force in most areas, but excelled in self-manipulation, making him more or less the path of a warrior or some path that used manual labor. Anakin pegged him immediately as the big-brother type. He kept Aramas and Slavian close all the time and watched over them since the day they were put together. He was a bald dark-skinned male who loved to tease and mess with people.

Such as yesterday for breakfast he asked Slavian, "So, is that bacon? Ham? Ham and Bacon? Or Ham wrapped in bacon?" He waved the pan under Slavian's nose. The kid turned green and lost his appetite.

They all assembled on the couch before Anakin, and Obi-Wan motioned off his own students to let them have their privacy.

Anakin sighed and said, "I want to apologize. I have been ignoring my responsibility lately. I have been brooding and pouting. From my perspective, I have been keeping my anger back, but it is easy to forget how that looks to others. I lost a lot of things on Coruscant. I lost almost every friend I have, my students, my home, my…" Anakin hesitated. "My-"

"Wife." Obi-Wan finished smoothly.

The reaction was mixed. Anakin's eyes widened to the point of bulging. Ramidash smirked. Slavian gasped in shock. Aramas tried to hide his amusement behind his hand.

A long moment passed. Anakin cleared his throat. "Right. I-uh… I lost my wife. On top of that, I received a promotion that… in all fairness, I may not have been ready for, and responsibility I didn't ask for. And I responded by hiding. But that was wrong. I didn't ask to lose everything, I didn't ask to receive responsibility I wasn't ready for, yet, but I also never asked to be born. Life is taking responsibility for being born. I will do the same for you guys. Right now, we are heading to a planet where Obi-Wan says we can find more. When we arrive, we will gather who we can, and head somewhere where we can be in peace and… start our little sect. "

He looked each on in the eye. "I'm going to be making some changes to what you know, and what you have been taught, but the overall ideal will still be the same. We are going to strive to be the best we can be, and we're going to help people. I'll do the best I can, but I need you all to understand that I will mess up a lot before it gets better."

A varied group of "yes", "understood", and "it will be okay" was said or written in the air. They forgave him in the simple and whole way children tend to. They would probably forget he had been ignoring them as of next week.

Anakin stood up. He turned to Obi-Wan and whispered, "How long did you know?"

Obi-Wan snorted and couldn't help the massive smile. "Come on, you didn't think the Court was that stupid, did you? Someone had to keep them thinking otherwise."

"So you-" He gasped. "Why- when- you!"

"One sentence at a time there, my not-so-young ex-married-student."

"Why didn't you tell us you knew?" Anakin asked heatedly through clenched teeth. "It would have made us both feel a whole heck of a lot better not having it be such a secret!"

"Well. Simply, it wasn't my secret to tell, Ani. I've been waiting, patiently, and collecting points each time I subtlety moved the Council's eyes from you. Points I intended to use on laughing in your face and collecting free retirement dinners for the rest of my life." He laughed, but it came out weakly. His eyes fell for a moment. "Bit late now, though."

Anakin frowned. It was a bit late… Padme was gone. All these years he had the gnawing fear that his old mentor would turn him in if he knew or force a situation of them versus her.

But to know that he not only knew, but was on his side… Anakin had half a mind to get teary eyed. Instead he let out a shuddering breathe and said, "Thank you. You have no idea how that makes me feel."

Obi-Wan smiled and embraced his student for a moment. He shook his head in the direction of the crew quarters, "Go sleep, Ani. You haven't slept well in weeks. Let's let your students take some of the load off and help."

Anakin nodded. It was never too soon to work toward bonding and learning. "Alright. I am exhausted… Come here." He left the room to the bridge again and sat in the pilot chair. The kids clambered behind and Ramidash followed them from behind.

Anakin motioned to various terminals and switches. "When this light comes on, we will be nearing the destination. Flip this." A small holographic image appeared, but it made no sense. "This will show what is around us from a long range, so we can guide the Warp window to a place where we won't collide with anyone head on when we exit Warp. Ramidash, do you have any experience in Warp flight?"

The knight nodded. Anakin continued, "Okay, take control at that point. Firefly, wake me up when it's time."

"Yes." Firefly wrote. Babyfly dropped into his hand and he pocketed the ball on his belt.

Anakin patted him on the shoulder briefly before leaving the room. He found an empty bed and suddenly all of his energy left him as the last several weeks hit him all at once. He collapsed on it and his head fell back. He wasn't on the pillow even.

He was snoring before his head ever hit the bed.

He woke up when something small, metal, and round, hit him in the side of the face. He jumped wide awake. Babyfly hovered next to him before disappearing back the way it was sent.

Anakin shook his head and pushed the grogginess away. He climbed out and to the bridge.

They were no longer in Warp and resting orbit over Bandomeer.

Aramas played with Babyfly in the air over his hand, Slavian was reading, and Ramidash looked bored out of his mind.

They descended to the planet's surface and Anakin and Obi-Wan descended. The students stayed behind.

The planet was a large scale plantation, if that could be considered it's title anymore. Farms were a few aces, plantations were many acres, but an entire planet desired for farmland? It was a term Anakin was unfamiliar with.

All he knew was that the planet was run by Agri-Corps, a former social branch the Jedi Order operated.

All around them stood tall wheat and corn. In the distance was orchards of fruit-bearing trees and vineyards on the hills. In the midst of the plants were droids, but also the periodic person. The Force was strong in this place, for the Jedi sent many of its "failures" here to work and grow crops.

Anakin wasn't sure how he felt about that.

One of the biggest ideals of the Order was compassion, or supposedly. It was one thing to take up children from their parents and raise them in a place where they could be themselves and flourish without being targeted as freaks.

It was another to label them as "failures even amongst freaks" and dump them, as though they were not the Order's responsibility and amounted to nothing more than… than… fertilizer!

Anakin found himself nearly drawing blood from his palm yet again from squeezing his hand too tightly.

He didn't have anything against farmers, nor the Lights power in slowly restoring battle scarred worlds to a point of survival again. But the manner of employment is a stark contrast between applying and being tossed aside like trash, and there were hundreds of them in sight, perhaps many thousands in other farmlands on the planet.

As they walked, he looked closer at what they were doing. One of the failed-Jedi, an older man in his sixties, had his hands around a tree. His hands shimmered in weak power, but he kept it steady. The tree before him didn't move or have any real reaction, but after several seconds Anakin couldn't help thinking that the tree looked… greener, healthier.

The man may be weak for his age, but that didn't make him a failure!

"Calm yourself, Anakin. You're drawing attention to us." Obi-Wan lectured good-naturally.

Anakin breathed in and out slowly. He gave the Beast a sleeping pill and walked down the path with his fellow Master. Even with his opinion of this… crime under wraps, it didn't stop people from stopping to look at them. Droids and failed-Jedi stopped just long enough to watch them pass.

In the distance down the path lied a town that functioned as a storehouse, city, government complex, and fortress. It was quite large but had no space port and no space elevator. Another city must operate as an exportation of the planet's crops onto large transports.

"I understand why you would be aggravated." Obi-Wan continued. "I am not pleased to be here myself."

"Oh?" Anakin wondered.

"Yes, Agri-Corp has never been something I've been particularly happy about. It may be necessary, but I can't help but be biased against it."

"Biased." Anakin repeated as a question. He wondered why Obi-Wan used that particularly word. "You have someone here you know?"

"Something like that." He allowed. "I was on my way here when Qui-Gon picked me up. If it had been one more day, I would be here sticking my hand in the ground and meditating to grow grapes that wouldn't even reach a hungry child's mouth. I did some research. Most of everything grown here is bought in bulk by restaurants or used in Senator parties. Apparently Force-bred grapes pressed into wine is a special vintage for the upper class."

Anakin stopped and gaped. Obi-Wan was almost sent here? But Obi was a Master! Perhaps not as strong in the Force as himself or Yoda, and not as skilled as Windu or Fisto had been, but that didn't make him worthless!

And all this food… not even being sent off to a planet with next to none that needed it!

"This needs to stop." Anakin said.

Obi-Wan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Whether Anakin was justified or not, passionate or not, Anakin was still unbalanced. It was like half of him was gone and the other half was trying to hold its own. But then, perhaps that's exactly what it was. His 'other half' was gone.

"It will." Obi-Wan replied. "That's why we're here. Operations like this are no longer funded and operated by the Order, so they have no ability to continue. In addition, a planet like this is amongst the highest potential targets Nihilus would target on his 'possible' return. The Force-sensitizes here may be weaker than you and I, but the number of them would still make them a target."

"You seem to already know what to do."

"Indeed. I contacted the minster and arranged a meeting. The Force-sensitizes will be split off and sent to other places where they will be safe."

"I want some." Anakin said a beat perhaps too quickly.

"Want?"

Anakin explained, "In my sect, I want to give them a place where they actually belong. Rather than be tossed aside as though we have no responsibility for them."

"Of course." Obi-Wan nodded. They passed by the front gate. Merchants filled the streets and cattle with bags on their backs. "I'll take some under me too. I have contact with a few other Master's and I'll see about sending them off to them as well. Arrangements and preparations are already made."

"I only have one condition." Anakin stepped aside for a worker as they walked.

"And what might that be?"

"That we ask them. I want to take them on, but only those that want it. I have no intention of forcing anyone. And those that want to stay shouldn't be making select wines for the nobles, but actually doing some good. I've lost track of the number of planets devastated in the war."

"Of course."

They entered the government complex and Anakin took a step back in their pace, an unspoken statement of Kenobi taking up all the talking. He was far more diplomatic anyway. Anakin knew his diplomatic skills leaned more in the aggressive direction, and this didn't call for that.

He followed his old master and listened and nodded while he thought to himself.

While the Agri-Corp may have been designed for a good purpose, the callas use of it now and the unspoken 'slavery' of the failures left a bad taste in his mouth. When had that started? Had the Jedi become so cold and callas as to see it as okay?

It was the kind of coldness he expected from Nihilus.

No, no that's wrong. Nihilus and the Jedi were nothing alike. Anakin recited the Jedi mantra to himself in an effort to restore calmness.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

Nihilus had no emotion, or next to none.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

Nihilus was brilliant. Anakin shook the dark thought away and resumed.

There is no passion, there is harmony.

Again, Nihilus was cold and dispassionate and calculating, with very little passion. He was calm in a sickening way. There was so little emotion in him he seemed alien.

There is no death, there is the Force.

Anakin stopped himself in his tracks. Nihilus was a creature that existed seemingly beyond mortality, he may be purely a Force being rather than physical being. Nihilus was the very pinnacle of the Jedi code.

Anakin felt a shiver go up his spine as cold horror entered him. Nihilus was evil, and extreme in just how far to the 'passionless' side he went, but he was still everything the Jedi aimed for in their existence.

That was something he could not allow. Jedi were not designed to be cold and empty, they were still mortal and needed to be able to converse with mortals. What kind of goodwill gesture would it be if it was robotic and without true desire to do it?

But Anakin couldn't just open up the ways of emotion in his sect, that was the Sith way. The Sith was all passion without restraint and peace.

But then… the Jedi and Sith were polar opposites. One was no emotion at all and the other was pure emotion in its most raw form.

He couldn't see himself teaching younglings to go either way anymore…

Seeing as how Obi-Wan was still talking to the Agri-Corp Master (as it seemed to be led by Jedi Master's in some capacity) Anakin returned his focus to the matter at hand.

He could think on what direction he would be leading the sect in later.

After the talk, the Agri-Corp Master bowed and they left. The Master sent out messengers to all the Jedi on the planet to let them know of the situation. The place was being shut down. Without funding and with fear of danger, the place could no longer function.

"Something bothers you, Ani?" Obi-Wan wondered.

"A lot of things bother me these days, Obi-Wan."

"Yes, but something new? When you think of Padme, you get angry. When you see the people around you who you think are here against your will, when a few actually are, you get antsy and want to do something about it. Now you look like you tasted something foul."

"I'm not sure how to explain it…" He evaded. "But will I allowed access to the archives? I want to see the origin of the Jedi Code."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Of course. You looking for something?"

"I don't know." Anakin said honestly. "I just… I'm trying to figure some things out."

They left the city and returned to their ship. The next day a large crowd had appeared in the distance. Thousands of Jedi assembled for the news and split in two groups afterwards. The first group neared the two Master's and the second group reentered the city.

"What's this?" Anakin wondered.

The Agri-Corp Master approached, "These are the ones who want to leave and the other wants to stay. They understand the danger but are more at home here in a peaceful farm than elsewhere."

Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other in amazement. "We're going to need a bigger ship…"

(Eleven Months after the Fall of Coruscant)

A set of gentle knocks disturbed his mindset. Anakin blinked and looked up from the screen he was typing into. Even with hired assistance from the Naboo's queen, there was so much to do in keeping the isolated community up and running.

He had taken on nearly two hundred people in the last half year, and that didn't include families. He hired agents to find the forgotten families of his younglings, and a fair few among those found decided to come and join his growing village.

It was the first thing he did with his little sect, and already half the remaining Order was sending warnings of blasphemy.

He made sure the children were monks in a place isolated enough to not worry about being persecuted for being different, but he also failed to see how their parents weren't a good thing. It may be against what he, himself, was taught, heck he was almost dropped as a Jedi for having been with his Mother so long, but he felt it produced more stable minds if they received a strong foundation.

The families were also a big help. He recruited a bunch of them to be teachers in math, literature, reading, and so on, and a few to be accountants and other positions that needed filling. None of them could teach of the Force, but taking up the more generic jobs was helpful. The children needed education beyond just how to levitate rocks and control their power.

Which brought his mind to the Force-Sensitive's. A group of them got up and left as soon as he started making changes, and the rest were skeptical, at best.

He told them all he was rebuilding the whole thing from scratch and reviewing every single principle down to the letter to see if it was actually important or if it was just something a bunch of "cold" people came up with in an effort to be more controlling. Not that he thought the people were evil or had dark intent, but he failed to see how people without real compassion and caring and love could make half the rules they did and expect true good to come of it.

The village was growing. The monastery was more comfortable and he felt the kids were becoming less closed off than they were before everything. Many of the Jedi picked up from Agri-Corp were weak and unskilled, but they had a patience that astounded him and a casualness that made them comfortable around other's rather than see themselves as something higher. It made him proud. In addition, they were growing in strength. Already a fair number of the "drop-outs" were coming up on the same power-level as their peers.

Why banish kids at the age of twelve when their bodies were just beginning to experience a change… So many of them exploded in power in their teens and gained emotional stability as adults.

Another knock and he banished his worries away. "Come in."

Slavian entered in nervously holding a paper. Anakin smiled and left his chair. He approached the boy and asked, "Anything I can help with?"

"Yes." He fidgeted with the paper. "I don't understand this. It's so… different."

Anakin took the paper and reviewed it. It was the changed Mantra he felt was best.

The Mantra of the Jedi was cold and destroyed everything that connected communities, producing people that aimed to be like an abomination as Nihilus. While the Mantra of the Sith was all about blind power and emotion, so Anakin wrote one that he felt was… balanced.

Emotion needed control. But being human required emotion.

It read:

Emotion, yet peace.

Ignorance, yet knowledge.

Passion, yet serenity.

Chaos, yet harmony.

Death, yet the Force.

Ironically it was also the ORIGINAL Jedi mantra according to the archives Anakin was able to access, and he was more comfortable basing the sect on it.

It provided the balance he felt the children needed as a focus in their lives.

"What don't you understand?" Anakin wondered.

"It looks so much like the old one we recite, but it's wording makes no sense…" Slavian frowned apologetically.

"No need to feel sorry." Anakin patted him on the shoulder. "I know it may seem scary, but the change is meant for good. Here, let's go through it. The first line."

"Emotion, yet peace."

"Slavian, we are people, right?" The kid nodded. "People feel things. We cannot take that away, otherwise we lose everything that lets us understand and have empathy. All true goodness requires empathy, where you feel for others and understand them. The line means that we have emotion, yet we must strive to have peace with, or, despite it. Sometimes it makes us angry, sad, upset. These are natural, but shouldn't make us do things we shouldn't do."

"Yeah…" He frowned. Anakin saw he understood, but was having trouble adjusting.

The Master moved to the next line: "Ignorance, yet knowledge. Slavian, the thing about knowledge is that the more of it you gain, the more you realize how ignorant you are."

"What?"

Anakin groaned in thought. "How to explain this… It's like… You work your way through a maze. You figure out life's answers in various sciences and work it out. Yet, at every impasse, at every answered question, there are a dozen more. Every turn leads to three more turns. You hate those mazes right?" Slavian nodded. "That's what knowledge is like. You just realize how dumb we are. It is good to have knowledge, but that isn't everything you should base your life on, because knowing everything is simply impossible. I may be more knowledgeable in the Force than your math and history teachers, but I assure you I am not as bright in history or accounting as them. In fact, I think I might have hired your math teacher for an accountant…" Anakin thought about it a moment and moved on, "It was a month, but no matter. Ignorance exists, Slavian. We cannot stop it. Yet it is foolish to not strive to learn what we need to learn. You have to learn how to read and do math to live, but you don't need to know how to surf to live. I don't know how to sweep as well as the janitor, I don't know how to cook as well as the chefs, and I don't have to."

Anakin, seeing the understanding in his eyes, continued, "Passion, yet serenity. Much like the first line, we cannot distance ourselves from our emotions. Passion is much deeper than emotion. It is emotion at the very core of your being. It involves rage, hatred, joy, love. Rage is bad, and hatred is wrong, and love can lead to jealousy, but while there is a bad side, it also leads to great good. Love is amongst the purest of emotions and heals an empty heart, and it is good to hate evil, so long as you do not let it control you and lead you to doing wrong in return. Passion is necessary, but must be balanced by a controlled and disciplined mind to keep from losing yourself to it."

"But it's so hard." He complained.

"It is, but that's just a part of growing up, Slavian. You will find your emotions and passions easier to balance out as an adult… always remember to put purpose and thought before your own feelings, but don't just deafen yourself. You can't know what to think or believe without feeling what is true and false. just don't use me as an example." He smirked.

"Ain't that the truth." A young female voice said from the door.

Anakin looked up to see "Ahsoka?!"

"Hey." She smiled at the door. "Don't stop on my account."

Anakin closed his jaw and realized he had been gaping. "Wha?"

"You were talking to the kid."

"Oh." He returned his attention to Slavian, who just sat there watching patiently and with barely contained amusement at his dumb moment. Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't want to hear it."

The kid just continued smiling.

"Chaos, yet harmony." Anakin recited. "Chaos means disorder. Chaos is bad in its own right if there are no rules, but at the same time so is order. People are naturally disorderly. They make messes. They make mistakes. Sometimes they are bad people. Just because bad people exist doesn't mean the rights of everyone should disappear. Too much order destroys just as much as disorder, because it is impossible to achieve and you will only end up destroying everything you try to control."

A part of him disagreed with his own ideal. He disliked chaos and disorder, but he also saw what the Jedi were becoming and what Nihilus had over Starkiller. Nihilus controlled every aspect of his life to the point that he was nothing but what Nihilus wanted, and the Jedi were slowly becoming that way. It was no less evident than in the 'failures' he took on.

He wondered briefly how the others were doing. Obi-Wan had taken on the rest and was out spreading them to other sects. Anakin only took on a hundred or two.

"The problem with order." Anakin continued, "Is that too much of it also takes away intent. True good comes from the heart and desire to do so. If people only do good because they are left as robots, then it is just an empty illusion."

Taking a moment to let it settle in him, Anakin moved to the last line. "Death, yet the Force." To be honest, he doubted this line the most because of Nihilus, but he also saw how Nihilus was a contradiction. Nihilus was the Force, but he also was not dead. He was an abomination, wherever he was. "Slavian, no matter how much you may come to learn or love or do, the reality is that all things die. You cannot stop it. Families, lovers, friends, children, die. One day, so will you. But that doesn't mean you should disregard them. Mourn when it's time, but take comfort in knowing that they exist in the Force."

Anakin returned the paper to Slavian. "Does that make sense now?"

"Yeah…" He fidgeted. "It's just… different."

Anakin patted him on the head. "You'll get it. Run along now, I'm sure you have better things to do then watch me run my mouth all day."

Slavian bowed and departed, leaving Ahsoka standing in the door smiling like an idiot.

Anakin couldn't help smiling as well. He missed her. "So Ah- OOF!" She practically tackled him in a quick hug.

"It's so good to see you, master!" She squealed. Ahsoka pulled back and winced. "I'm… sorry I left like that. I needed to get some air."

"And did you?" Anakin wondered.

She nodded, smiling again.

He glanced her over discretely. She did look better. A year ago she had been a vegetable on the verge of a mental breakdown, but now she looked like she had done some growing up. She was stable and strong minded. She was a woman.

How old was she again? Wasn't she supposed to have a few years before she gets to this point. Oh, how fast they grow!

"I can see that you have." He said proudly. "You look much better than last I saw you."

Ahsoka walked around and looked at his desk. "And you seem to have more responsibility than last I saw you." She returned. "How's that going for you?" She sat in his chair and spun it with a giggle.

He groaned. "It's a pain… But I'm doing the best I can. I've never realized how many hypocritical traits I have until I tried to teach other's this much. You realize at least a third of them are like me?" He shook his head. "My mother's curses are coming back to bite me."

"I thought those curses accounted for me!" She joked. She looked at the papers on his desk. "Promotions?"

"Yeah, a lot of the people I'm watching over came from Agri-Corp." He pushed back the anger he felt for the past social project. "Failures and the like, as far as the Order was concerned. I don't expect them to be lifting mountains or becoming an army, but many of them have learned patience in their time as farmers that could rival Yoda, and they are far from dumb. They are a good bunch, and a growing number of them are turning out to just be 'late-bloomers' and have power-levels that rival a normal Jedi."

She looked over the list. "There are a lot of them."

"Happens when I'm supervising about two hundred between the age of ten and fifty."

"That old? Wow." She said thoughtlessly. "Wait, I'm on the list."

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck nervously and looked away. "Uh… Yeah. I didn't know if you were coming back, but with what I saw from you helping with Varus, I've been starting to feel that if you return, you would be ready for advancement."

Ahsoka visibly deflated in his chair, and Anakin lost the nervous smile. "You don't like it?"

"I… I don't know." She said truthfully. "I'm happy you think I've grown enough… but… the appeal of being a Jedi Knight doesn't sit with me that much anymore." She sighed. "I even wonder about being a Jedi at times…"

"Because of Varus?" He asked knowingly. She nodded.

"The Jedi are different from what I grew up believing."

"I agree." Ahsoka gasped quietly and looked up at him. Anakin explained, "The Jedi have grown to be heading down the path to becoming something cold and heartless, or at the very least trying to be, and I don't think they even realized it. They try so hard to fit ideologies and become 'perfect' and the complete opposite of the Sith, that the Jedi were sending themselves to the opposite extreme. Well, I believe I witnessed the end of that path in Nihilus. I know this sounds like a cheap advertisement, but I am trying to bring us back to our origins and find a kind of… balance."

Ahsoka smiled weakly. "Sounds nice." She stood up and let Anakin take his chair back.

Anakin turned the chair to his desk and silence came over them a moment. He gulped and asked the heart of the matter, "Are you here to stay, Snips?" He heard himself almost pleading. He missed her, a lot. He missed Varus. He missed Padme. Obi-Wan frequently visited to help him get things started, and they exchanged some knowledge and discussed matters.

She smiled and shrugged. "Sure, why not. I don't like the idea of being a Knight, but I'm sure there is something I can do to help."

Anakin sighed in relief, a great weight left his shoulders. "I won't promote you officially if you don't feel comfortable, but how about unofficially? No title or anything. How does that sound, Padawan?"

"Sounds nice, Master." She bowed, but couldn't help yawning. "I'm going to find a place to stay for the night. Been traveling for hours."

"Have a good night, Snips." He said warmly.

She opened the door to leave, but stayed just long enough to say, "I miss him… You know?" Before she turned the corner.

Knowing who she was referring to Anakin responded, "So do I, Snips. So do I."

Feeling more at peace than he had in a long while, he returned to the task before him. He scratched Ahsoka off the list and reviewed the rest again.

Hours later, when his eyes started to betray him to sleep and the sun was rising, he decided it best to stop. He opened the side drawer in his desk.

The Mask of Nihilus looked up at him.

Odd, he couldn't recall taking the mask or leaving it there. Must have slipped his mind.

Nihilus may be alive, but he also might not. That shockwave on Coruscant in the wake of their Warp in the midst of the gravity well would have dispersed both matter and energy alike. Nothing could survive that, not even a creature existing on the border of life and death.

Now the mask merely acted as a reminder of everything Anakin was building, and everything he was building against.

"-if I find my apprentice taken from me, again…" Nihilus stopped and growled loudly, "I will return the favor!"

Anakin snorted defiantly. "I'd like to see you try." He dropped the paperwork on top the mask and slammed the drawer shut.