See Chapter 1 for info & warnings
Don't be afraid to be weak.
Don't be too proud to be strong.
Just look into your heart, my friend.
That will be the return to yourself.
The return to innocence.
If you want, then start to laugh.
If you must, then start to cry.
Be yourself, don't hide.
Just believe in destiny.
Don't care what people say.
Just follow your own way.
Don't give up and use the chance.
To return to innocence.
This is not the beginning of the end...it's the return to innocence.
~Enigma "The Return to Innocence"
As if her very life depended on it, Tanilea held onto Obi-Wan. "I was so scared, Obi."
"I was too," he whispered in her ear. His arms were wrapped carefully around her, holding her as tight as he dared. "There wasn't a second you weren't with me."
"There were times I thought..." she let the words go unsaid. "I don't ever want us to be apart for that long again."
Obi-Wan pulled back a bit and smiled. "Well, if you mean that," he said, pulling something from an inner pocket of his robes, "you'll say yes when I ask you to be my wife." The ring he produced matched exactly the bracelet he had given her long before. "Tanilea, will you marry me?"
With a laugh, she threw her arms around his neck again and kissed each cheek in turn. "Of course I will!" He slipped the ring onto her finger and grinned. "Did you ever really doubt that I would say yes?"
"Not for a second. I'm far too irresistible."
"You just keep telling yourself that," Tanilea replied, kissing his neck. "I'm just with you for your money." They shared a laugh and headed off to inform their Padawans of the news.
Master Windu smiled at the two Jedis before him, bowing slightly to each in turn. "Who stands witness to this union?"
Livien and Master Lanar, who had been called in from her assignment on Milrea, stepped up to stand beside Tanilea, while Anakin gravitated toward his master. "We do," they answered as one before stepping back.
"Then let's get on with the ceremony. No objections from you two, I assume?" he asked the bride and groom.
Tanilea grinned. She knew all along that the grave manner Master Windu usually displayed existed only to prove to the uneducated that he was a stern Jedi when in fact he had a decidedly playful side. It was she who had convinced Obi-Wan that he was the only person who could handle their marriage ceremony. /I told you so,/ she sent.
/You're always right,/ Obi-Wan replied, squeezing her hand gently.
/Of course./
"Do the two of you promise that you will love, cherish and take care of each other until the day that you die and after?"
"We do."
"That you will hold the love you share above everything save your responsibilities as Jedi?"
"We do."
"Then it is my great honor to consecrate the bond of love that you share and pronounce you husband and wife. What are you waiting for Start kissing already!" Master Windu prompted with an impish grin.
They complied, elated and grounded all at once. Tanilea felt in her very bones that her life had begun again. Her union with Obi-Wan marked a new beginning for them both. /I love you, Obi./
/And I love you./
/You're stuck with me now, you know./
/I know. And I wouldn't have it any other way./
"Everything is so changed now," Tanilea agreed quietly, her hand gently clasping Amidala's. "Livien is gone, already off on her first mission, you and Anakin hardly ever visit. It seems as though all the old, stable things I could count on to keep me sane are gone. Except for Obi, of course."
"Of course." The queen smiled before allowing the serious mask of purpose shadow her youthful features once more. "It's more than that, though. Ani... It's as though he's an entirely different person lately. I barely know him." Sudden tears made wet trails down Amidala's cheeks. "Tani, he's a different person. You remember at the wedding, how happy he looked... I can't remember the last time he looked at me that way. The way his face used to light up when I entered a room, the way he would hold me... I don't know what to do."
Tanilea frowned. "Maybe it's something simple. Stress, adjusting to the marriage, that wandering spirit he has. Maybe it-"
"It isn't. I know him, Tani. I know Anakin as well as I know myself. Knew him that well, anyway. He has always been a part of me, ever since I first met him. I just didn't know then how much of a bond we shared. Now I feel like I'm losing that. And..."
"And what?" the Jedi Master prompted.
"And I'm pregnant."
"Ami, that's wonderful! You should be thrilled! Have you told Anakin?"
"No." She shook her head and held up a warning hand. "And I don't want you to either."
"But why? He's your husband! He-"
"I can't explain it, Tani. Trust me when I tell you he is not the man I married a year ago. He is not the same person." The queen bit her lip like a nervous girl half her age and sighed. "I know I sound crazy. But I'm not. I know what I'm saying. I sense something... something bad. No good can come of this, Tani. Not unless something changes." Amidala rose, starting for the door. "Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I fear whatever is affecting Anakin will affect us all.
"I had a dream last night, Obi," Tanilea said to her husband the next morning.
"Oh? What about?" Obi-Wan drew his tunic over his head and tried to relax despite the feeling of unease his wife's announcement awakened.
"Anakin. Amidala came to see me the other day, and... I think she was right, Obi. Something bad is coming."
"She just transferred her anxiety. There-"
"No." Her voice was firm, commanding, putting an instant end to his protests. "Do not ignore this. The last time I-" All sense of control fled as tears blurred her vision and constricted her throat. "Obi, the last time I saw something this clearly was before you and Qui-Gon were sent to Naboo. I am as certain of this as I was then. There was no way to avert his death. I know that now. But there may be something we can do to save at least some of the lives I saw wasted..." Her eyes looked glassy and far-way. "First I saw Anakin. But he looked different. As Amidala said, the light in his eyes was gone. There was terrible darkness, Obi... darkness I've only seen once before, in my dreams... in the eyes of Darth Maul. Then I see... I see both of you. Dueling. Then I see death. So much death..." The tears came again, but Tanilea ignored them. "I can see a large ship being destroyed and the Council with it. So many deaths... planets full of people... mothers, children... Somehow it is Anakin. Somehow he kills them."
Obi-Wan reached across the bed and drew Tanilea close against him, feeling their tears mix as her cheek rested lightly against his. "We won't let it happen that way. We'll stop it."
Tanilea shook her head and held Obi-Wan tighter. "I'm not sure we can."