I am so sorry I haven't updated in ages, I've just started uni and it's been really hectic. The final chapter is done and I about to get started on the last part of the trilogy, but I don't know when that will be because i have important exams coming up. I noticed that this chapter had bits incorrect and was incomplete as to what i had planned, so I have edited it. I will update when I can. Thanks for all you reviews.
Chapter 21
Padme sat on the couch amazed at Anakin's efficiency of movement. He and Daca moved easily around each other as they opened secret compartments filled with money and weapons in between packing. It took a short amount of time for them to be ready, they obviously were ready well practised in the art of packing quickly. Still in they're non-Jedi clothes Anakin and Daca escorted a silent Qui gon and Padme to their ship. It was quite small, a smuggler vessel. It was black with sleek lines and a curved body. What made Padme smile was the name. Angel 3. Smirking Padme turned to Anakin. "Do I want to know what happened to numbers 1 and 2?"
Anakin turned to her looking incredibly bashful and unwilling to answer. Daca, seeing this grinned. "Well, you see," Daca said placing an arm around her shoulder, "Anakin here has a a tendency to fly fast and recklessly and to get into all sorts of scraps. Angel 1 met the unfortunate accident on Malastare when he was racing for his life." Daca whispered in her ear, "He had a slight problem with some officials and made a deal that if he could outfly the other pilots he could stay out of the Kessel mines."
"But if he crashed, surely he lost the race?" she asked, looking torn between amused and concerned as she threw glances back at a red Ani.
"Well, for any normal pilot, yes they would, but Anakin here managed to be far enough ahead that all he had to do was get out and walk the rest of the way to finish the race."
Anakin, having heard enough about it from his old apprentice gave Daca a playful kick up the backside. "You should be nice to your old Master and not give away past secrets," he said as he glared. "Besides, you were the one who broke Angel 2 taking it out joyriding, if I remember correctly."
Daca had the decency to blush as he got on board.
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Once the flight started, Anakin turned to Padme. "So what do you want to know?"
"What do you mean?"
"About me, my life as a Jedi. I'm sure you have questions."
Padme started to bite her lip, thinking where to start. Anakin smiled at the gesture, so like his angel. "What was your first mission?" she asked. Anakin combed his hands through his hair trying to remember.
"Oh, I don't know, it would have been when I was 10, so what? 24 years ago? I have had a lot of mission since then, angel, it's pretty hard to remember them all," he said apologetically.
"Has it really been 24 years?" Qui gon asked, "I must be getting old."
Anakin grinned, "Master, your apprentice's apprentice's apprentice is ready to be Knighted, I think your ready for retirement." Qui gon sent Anakin a dirty look for even thinking such a thing. "Anyway, I think my first mission was that one to Malastare, the one where I had to be entered into a pod race."
"I don't think so," Qui gon said with a smile.
"I think it was," Anakin replied. Padme watching the banter with an amused smile.
"I don't think so, if I remember correctly, your first official mission, and I do not mean those ones where you tried to escape the creche or drove the nursemaid mad as official, was in Coruscant and I had to visit a certain unsavoury place."
Anakin leant over to Padme slyly, "These old timers, look what happens to their memory." Padme giggled, while Qui gon gave up arguing with a roll of the eyes. "You know you look just like Lumi doing that."
"Lumi?" Padme asked.
"Master Jedi Luminara Harpin, Partner of Master Jedi Obi Wan Kenobi, and mother of Initiate Jace Kenobi and Gerar Kenobi. Master of... Wait a second, she's never taken a Padawan!" Anakin looked at Qui gon with a dark scowl, who look completely innocent. "If I remember correctly, Master, our guild rules clearly state that one must take a Padawan within 8 years to prevent burning out. You certainly insisted on it with Obi Wan and I. May I ask the reason as to her lack of Padawan?"
"You know that Luminara was partnered before the time was up and none of us knew when she was going to start having children. It was felt that any Padawan she took may have had their training delayed while she gave birth. So instead, Obi Wan took another apprentice which they share for all intents and purposes while in the Temple."
Anakin scowled darkly at the unfairness of it all. "Tell me about your life as a Jedi" Padme asked.
"Obi Wan and Master Qui gon here were the ones to get me from the hospital when I was born," Anakin started.
"So young?" Padme interrupted.
"My mother had died in child birth so there was nothing else for me to do. Obi Wan and my master were regular visitors to the creche and nursery when I was a baby. It was in the creche that I met Luminara. My friend from the nursery, Cha Ka, you might know him, he deals with the politcians a lot, Luminara and I started to attract the attention of the Council and not always for Jedi-like behaviour."
"If I remember correctly, Obi Wan was the recpient of several of you escapades as an initiate."
Anakin had the decency to look bashful. "Anyway, when we were four I think, we were all moved to our Youngling groups. It was there that we met our fourth as it were. Strat. He's a bit of a treasure seeker, his head is either in books or in the clouds. We all got apprenticed straight away, Cha Ka to our own Obi Wan Kenobi. I was Kighted when I was 16, only a couple of months after my first unofficial solo mission. Yet another slavery ring we busted up. Lumi was Knighted when she was 18." Anakin said this darkly, reliving bad memories. Though Lumi was didn't mind people knowing about that event and was quite at ease with it, the rest of the group still felt pain from those memories.
"What happened when she was 18?" Padme asked, noticing how quiet Qui gon and Anakin had become.
"She and her Master were captured by something not worth mentioning. A despicable creature that could only bring pain. Even now we still don't know all of what he did to her. It's not one of our fondest memories," Anakin said, looking apologetically at Padme. Padme squeezed his hand in reassurance and gave a sad smile. "When I was twenty I took Daca Nu as an apprentice and Cha ka and Strat were Knighted. And a real pain of an apprentice he was too." Anakin shouted to the back where Daca was.
"Awww, you love me really," was the reply heard. Anakin smiled again at Padme.
"Few years after that, Lumi and Obi Wan re met on a mission and fell in love. Year after that Obi Wan took on another apprentice, Bista. Sweet kid, we're slowly changing that though, " Padme giggled at this. "Lumi then made Master, as did Strat and Cha Ka and I got rid of my apprentice. Then I met you." he finished squeezing her fingers with a smile. Anakin and Padme stayed that way for the rest of the trip as Qui gon recounted tales of the Feared Four and their pranks.
Once at the Temple, Anakin led Padme to his quarters, at which Padme raised an eyebrow noticing all the dust. Anakin just smiled and pecked her cheek. "Change anything you like to make yourself at home. Lumi is just down the hall, go to her at any time if you have troubles or problems or just need to talk. I'll be back when I can."
Anakin sped off down the hallway, leaving Padme to the mess of his rooms. There were pictures and artefacts everywhere, but it also missed some homey comfort. Padme got to work right away. After all, who knows how long she would be there.
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Padme had just finished the cleaning and was putting a few of her things around the place to make it feel like home. For some reason it seemed right that pictures of her family went side by side with Anakin's. She heard a beep at the door and went to answer it. On the other side was a young woman of average height. She had shoulder length curly black hair and very pale skin. Her eyes were pale grey, though they seemed to be changing colour all the time to blue, grey and green. She seemed completely calm, but slightly nervous. Under the layers of robes wrapped around her as a gently swelling stomache. She was carrying a box which smelled heavenly. It was obvious it was Luminara Harpin.
"Padme?" she asked hesitantly.
Padme nodded and let her in with a smile, "You must be Luminara, I've heard so much about you."
"Lumi please, and Anakin won't shut p about you, so I feel as if I know you already." Putting the package down they tried to hug each other, but their bellies made it difficult, causing them to laugh.
It wasn't long before they were sitting down and chatting over cookies and milk like old friends. "I made loads of them and froze them after my morning sickness had cleared." Luminara confessed.
"Well, I have to say, they are even better than expected," Padme said. "You will have to give me the recipe."
"Gladly, I got it from Master Qui gon when I first started to cook. I think he was pleased to have someone to teach it to. Everyone else has such a hard time cooking the simplest things!"
"Really?"
"Yes, the only one that comes even remotely close to competent is Bista, and that's only with anything simple. My Obi Wan can't boil water." Padme went into fits of giggles over that. "Oh, I should warn you, Bista has a tendency to be a bit fussy around pregnant women, very over protective. The rest are fine, except Daca who looks slightly panicked every time he's near one..."
"I'd noticed that!" Padme exclaimed. They fell into another fit of giggles.
Just then the door opened to admit Bista who took one look at the two giggling heavily pregnant women and feinted. Causing even more giggles!
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Obi Wan looked up into the sky, around him were a mass of broken droid parts and behind him were the Jedi that ha come to rescue him. He could see ships coming towards him, blasting the irritating droids out of the way enabling the remaining Jedi to escape in the ships. Sitting on the edge of one of the ships was the best site he had seen in a long time, Anakin Skywalker dressed in his usual dark garb smirking as he helped Obi Wan into the ship. "Well, look at this merry mess you've made," he said as the ship rose with the others.
Obi Wan smiled, "It wouldn't be my work if it wasn't." They watched as some of the ships descended to the battle ground and Master Yoda started to order around the clones from Kimino. (sp?)
"You know, I never did find out where all these clones came from," Anakin said as he watched the ensuing chaos.
Obi Wan smiled, "that is a very long weird story," he said as he looked into the distance. "Isn't that Dooku's ship?"
Anakin looked in the direction Obi Wan pointed, "Captain, follow that vessel."
"Roger that," the pilot replied as they followed the ship.
They followed to a strange town. The clones stayed behind to search the discarded speeder as the Jedi followed the trail of Dooku. They arrived at a tall building, suspecting an ambush they entered cautiously.
"Droidekas'," Anakin said, approaching them, lightsabre drawn and attacked as Obi Wan faced Dooku.
"Ahhh, Master Kenobi." the count said sneeringly, "It's been too long."
Obi Wan merely looked on impassively, "Never thought you would fall this low Dooku."
"I have not fallen, Obi Wan, merely realised my true potential," Dooku replied, before the fight began, red and blue crashing together in a whirl of colours. It was a definite test of skill, the master swordsman against his apprentices apprentice. But in the end, Dooku used underhanded tricks knock Obi Wan into a wall with force lightning. Dooku smirked as he looked down at the fallen body and was about to deal with him permanently when Anakin intercepted the falling sabre with his own. "I don't know who you are boy, but it isn't wise to get it my way," Dooku said.
Anakin smirked, "I don't fear you, old man," he said as he pushed Dooku away from Obi Wan's prone form. Very little contact occurred between their swords, it was a fight of finesse rather than speed, calculating where to strike and block to best incapacitate the other. It was slow and steady as they moved down a corridor when Dooku used yet another dirty tactic, unknown to Anakin, Dooku stepped in just the right place to set of a series of explosives above Anakin's head, causing the rubble to fall on him. Only his mutilated arm could be seen.
"Good, boy, very good, but not good enough for me." Dooku said before he ran to his ship and left leaving the clones, who had arrived by then to get Anakin out from underneath the rubble.
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Qui gon heard what had happened over the Jedi com in the council room. Obi Wan and Anakin would be alright the medics said, but would be returning to the Temple for Anakin's new prosthetic as his arm had sustained too much damage to be healed. After telling their partners, who were worried about the injuries, but relieved that they were alive, Qui gon went for a walk around the city to clear his head. He had never thought that his Master would turn on them like that and it made him doubt his old perspectives, most of which he had gained from his old master who had turned. It was disturbing thoughts and his usual places of meditation in the Temple could not be used for this problem as most of the had memories of Master attached to them.
He soon found himself in the industrial sector of Courusant. A rusty place filled with loud machinery. The next thing he saw was a red light sabre coming towards him. It was time to see who would be surpassed, the Master or the apprentice.
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