They're coming. No don't come, go away. They're not leaving, no, no, no! Don't come for me, it's not worth it. Go back! Please!

Stillness, agonizing stillness.

Please go away. Don't come on account of me. Forget about me, forget that I exist!

Smoke fills the air, clouds cover the sky.

No, no, no! Run! It's a trap! Please run! My Master is coming. Flea, It is not what you think. You all have been deceived. There are to many of them.

I sense my Master, he is here, behind me. It's to late, it's to late.

Timed mines detonate, droids march through the rubble in timed precision so that none are blown up by the mines. "Why couldn't you all have stayed away? You shouldn't have come, shouldn't have come.

Pain, numbing pain. So much death, so much death. It hurts, please stop. Please make it stop.

Screaming, the Force screams, screaming. Agony, terrible pain. Make it stop, make it stop!

Then silence, eerie silence. Bile rises to my mouth and I let it out, doubling over. I feel sick, weak.

Pain, searing pain across my back. I have displeased my Master for my show of weakness.

Why, why, why? Why was I born, why do I still live, why is my life full of torture?

A lightsaber ignites, followed by another, and another, and another. I strain to see, my heart leaping to my throat in seeing my parents outnumbered two to nine.

No! Leave! It is not worth it. You can't win, there are to many, to many.

Words are exchanged, what they are I can't tell. Then lightsabers clash, it begins. Bile rises up again, and again I let it out.

Weak, to weak to help. To weak to warn my mother as she is stabbed through the side. My father fights harder and faster, but the odds are to great. No. no. No! Not again. Force not again. Please!

I feel it, like a great light going out. He is gone. She is gone. No! I want to scream but I have no voice to scream with.

My Master, my slaver, my tormentor hovers over me and then, the pain begins anew. This time, I scream.

Anakin woke up sensing a small disturbance from the Force coming from the room Ben was sleeping in. Getting quickly out of bed, Anakin entered Ben's room where Ben was tossing and turning violently in his bed, sobs briefly escaping his mouth.

Sitting down beside him, Anakin placed his hands on Ben's shoulders to still him. "Sh Ben, it's all right, it's just a dream."

Ben continued to struggle against Anakin's grip, his whimpering increasing.

Taking a risk, Anakin sent soothing thoughts and words to Ben's mind with the Force, and to his surprise, Ben eagerly accepted them. Anakin also sent feelings of love and warmth which Ben also readily accepted. Minutes later, Ben began to calm down, much to Anakin's relief.

Ben's eyelids opened, and for a few moments they simply stared at each other through the darkness. His cheeks wet with tears, Ben sat up and Anakin gathered him into his arms.

Anakin brought Ben close to his chest and felt Ben's tears creating damp spots on his shirt. "Sh. It's okay, it's just a dream."

Ben held Anakin's shirt tightly in his hands, reluctant to give up the safety he felt in Anakin's arms.

A half an hour later, Ben fell back to sleep and Anakin tucked him back into bed. Grabbing the chair from the desk that was in the room, Anakin sat near Ben, in case the boy should have another bad dream.

Anakin felt something at his feet when he shifted in his chair. Bending down, he picked it up, and by the soft light of the moon, Anakin was able to tell that it was a holopicture device. He pushed the switch that would turn it on and a holopicture sprang up in his hand of a man and a woman and a child that was held in the woman's arms.

The woman had long red hair and green eyes. Her smile was wide and her face beamed with happiness.

Anakin's eyes drifted to the man who had an arm wrapped around the women and almost dropped the holopicture in shock. The man in the picture bore an almost striking resemblance to him. The sandy blond hair, the bright blue eyes and… Anakin shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. It must be a coincidence, it must be. Yet there it was, in his hands. Examining it closer Anakin noticed other small things that were similar to him, and to his amazement, to Padme.

iA son? Does this mean that Padme and I will be getting married? If this man is my son, then Ben is…my grandson./i His hands shaking, Anakin turned the holopicture off and put it on the side table. He visualized Ben's face in his mind and studied his eyes. Ben's haunted eyes stared back at him, but that did not take away the fact that their eyes were similar except that one pair was dull and haunted while Anakin's own weren't.

Ben whimpered in his sleep and turned on his side away from Anakin.

Anakin's heart clenched painfully in his chest as he sensed the still obvious distress in Ben. iWhy is he here? How did he come here from the future? What happened to my son and daughter-in-law? What has Ben gone through that has made him like this?/i Anakin stayed beside Ben for the rest of the night and in the morning was woken by the sun shining in his face.

The bed was empty and Anakin heard the distinct sound of the shower running. Standing up, Anakin stretched, working out the kinks that he got from sitting on a hard chair for half the night. As he was stretching, Anakin noticed Ben's lightsabers resting on the side table.

He had not so much as glanced at them before, but this time he did and what he saw made his heart race. The lightsaber on the left was eerily similar to his own. Picking it up, Anakin examined it a little more closely, confirming that he was not delusional. It was his lightsaber. He always used the same design when he constructed his lightsabers, he may tweak the design a bit, but the change would barely be noticeable. Setting the lightsaber back down, Anakin left Ben's room.

iShould I tell Obi-Wan? No, he'll just forbid me from seeing Padme. What if Obi-Wan figures it out himself? No, that won't happen. He wouldn't think of the possibility that I would have a child, much less a grandson./i Anakin entered his room and went to finish typing up his report. iI'll just have to figure this out one day at a time./i

Ben finished showering and got dressed. With his cloak wrapped tightly around himself, he walked into the kitchen in search of something to eat. He found a heatable breakfast and heated it up while he found some utensils, a cup, and something to drink.

He was finishing his meal when Anakin walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning Ben. Did you get enough to eat?" Anakin asked, going to a cabinet to get a glass.

"Yes." Ben simply replied before drinking the rest of his juice.

Anakin poured himself some juice and sat down at the table. "We should go get some extra clothes for you and a cloak that will fit you better."

Ben clenched his cloak protectively and shook his head. "No. I like my cloak."

Sipping his juice thoughtfully a question came to Anakin's mind. "Is your cloak special in some way to you?"

Ben nodded. "It was my father's."

iThat's my son's cloak? Was he fond of black? Why?/i "Did your father like dark colors?"

"He liked black. As long as I could remember, he had always worn black." Ben replied.

The picture I saw, he was wearing black. Why would my son prefer black to other colors? Maybe he gets it from me. I have a fondness for dark colored clothes myself, but they are usually a dark brown or a grayish black. "What colors do you like?"

"Black." Ben responded, his voice certain.

A tiny tendril of dread winded its way within Anakin, coiling in his stomach. Deciding to change the subject, Anakin asked. "Were one of your parents a Jedi?"

Ben gave Anakin a sharp look in response.

"I'm just asking because you have two lightsabers. Not many Jedi use two lightsabers and those who do are about my age or older." Anakin explained.

Slowly Ben answered. "Both of my parents were Jedi. My mother was a Jedi Master and my father was Grand Master."

Anakin's eyes widened, "Grand Master?" He slowly repeated. Only a small handful of Jedi since the Great Sith War has ever held that title. My son…a Grand Master… Remembering that Ben did not know yet that he knew, Anakin asked. "The only Jedi that I know who holds that title is currently on the Council and a Jedi of such a title would be well known. If he had left the Jedi, everyone would know about it."

Standing up, Ben began to clean up his place. "I'm going for a walk."

Anakin let Ben ignore his comment and instead said. "Be sure to check the south garden out, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Anakin watched Ben finish scrubbing and rinsing the dishes and then leave the room. I wonder if I will hold the same title in the future? Possibly.

Finishing his juice, Anakin went to make any last minute corrections on his report, then went to get washed and ready to meet with the Council.