So, another chapter, better than the last. I hope you enjoy it.

Charlie

It has been a month since the Senate had voted the creation of the new army. The Delegation had convinced the rest of the senate to put the jedi in charge of the armies creation much to Chancellor Palpatine's dismay. However things were looking up, the jedi knew that something was bound to happen. Much to Master Windu's concern, Master Yoda had placed Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in charge of the army, giving them full reigne over how things were going to be done. With their new task, Anakin and Obi-Wan grew busy designing the boot camp regime required to train the new army. It was with this thought alone, knowing that Anakin Skywalker was in charge of the army that made Chancellor Palpatine back off awaiting the time when he could claim control. The allies of the jedi had readily sent their best troops to Coruscant to be trained. Unfortunately the training that was required would be taking quite awhile.

Anakin spent most of his time going over the plans for the republic's army, often driving Obi-Wan insane with every detail and going over it twenty times before deciding to change something, often decided that he had it right the first time around. It would appear that Master Yoda knew exactly what he was doing putting Anakin in charge. For one, it took Anakin's mind off of Vader. For two, Anakin had proven himself to be a great warrior, especially in battle. Thirdly, due to his time in future with the rebellion, he had acquired the leadership skills required. For last, Anakin had one of the most brilliant minds in the order, taking in every detail and singling out the flaws in mere seconds thinking up ways to fix them in mere moments.

It was night when Anakin was still sitting down going over the plans hat he didn't really think of how late it was getting. There was just so much that needed to be done in such a short span of time. So much that he needed to accomplish. He paid so much attention to what he was working on that he didn't notice two delicate hands sliding over his shoulders and up and down his arms until her felt someone kiss him on the neck. He smiled as he put down what he was working on to take one of those hands into him to bring it to his mouth. "What would my wife say if she caught you here with me Willa?" he asked.

Padme pushed him at that. "Who's Willa?" she demanded.

Anakin turned around to face her all but killing himself from not laughing at her obvious jealousy. "I guess I just gave myself away. I'm sorry you had to find out like this Padme," he told her standing up.

Padme looked at him hard with her arms crossed and tapped her foot until the corner of his mouth twitched. "You're horrible!" she told him shoving him.

Anakin couldn't hold back his laughter after that. "Willa was this maid in Corellia's palace that Obi-Wan said had a crush on me. I told him that he had to have been wrong because the girl couldn't have been any older than fourteen," he explained.

"I hate to break it to you Anakin, but girls start having crushes when they're around nine or ten years of age," Padme told him.

At that Anakin blached. He thought of Leia chasing after boys and being chased back as a nine year old. He would have to introduce her and Han early on then.

Padme laughed at his expression. "Why are you making such a face?" she asked.

"I'm going to have my job cut out for me if we ever have a daughter," he told her.

Padme frowned at that. "I thought we had agreed not to discuss children until the war was over," she told him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Anakin told her walking into the bedroom where he began to disrobe for bed.

"Anakin," Padme began placing her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him. "It's not that I don't want children, it just that I'm trying to be sensible," she told him.

"I know," Anakin told her. "I wont say anything about it again."

"I'm sorry Ani," Was all that she could say. It was killing her to deny the subject, but someone had to be the sensible one with this topic and it obviously wasn't going to be him. Before she could say or do anything more Anakin spoke.

"Look, I haven't been getting much sleep lately since I've been working on the plans for the army and I'm tired," he told her.

Padme nodded knowing that the conversation was over. She didn't press this issue not knowing if her heart could continue to deny them what they both wanted. As long as they didn't talk about it, the better things would be.

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Master Yoda looked at both Anakin and Obi-Wan. "Ready for their first trial they are?" he asked.

"Yes Master," Anakin said.

"Corellia has sent quite a large amount of troops, all excellently trained. Our Corellian troops have been helping with the training as well," Obi-Wan told him.

Master Yoda nodded. "To Rantooine you will go. A codded message we have intercepted. Plan to attack the separatists do. Take your best troops you will," he said.

"Yes Master."

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It was the morning that they were to leave for Rantooine and things were going well. The republican ships were stocked with supplies. Obi-Wan had gone over the checklist three times, coming up with the same conclusion. They were ready. He was now waiting for Anakin to arrive. When he heard footsteps coming into the hanger, he didn't expect to see Master Windu come into the hanger.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him. "Come to see us off?" he asked.

"I'm coming with you, the council wants someone to observe this mission," Mace told him.

Obi-Wan nodded. He had no ill feelings towards Mace Windu, but he knew that Mace suspected something of Anakin and knew that Anakin had to be careful around Mace right now, more than ever. "You would be a great help," he finally said.

"That is what I was thinking," Mace told him.

They both turned when Anakin entered the hanger, datapad in hand. He didn't notice Mace until he was standing in front of them. He looked at Mace in surprise. "Master Windu," he said in greeting.

"It seems as though we have a little help with this mission, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin nodded in understanding. "There really isn't anything for you to do, we'll quickly have this mission under control, Master," Anakin told him.

"The council disagrees," Mace told him.

Anakin frowned and then turned to Obi-Wan. "Did you receive a copy that message?" he asked.

"Yes, the capitol is the first target. I've contacted the prime minister and he is informed of our arrival. Since this attack wont occur until our second day there, he has set us up to stay with one of his servants to set up camp," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin nodded. "That sounds like a plan," he said. He turned to Mace. "Does this meet with the council's approval?" he asked.

"It may," Mace told him not liking his tone.

One of the corellian soldiers came up to them. Anakin recognized him as Major Gabriel Dutchinson. "General Skywalker, General Kenobi, we're all prepared to go," he said.

"Bored the ship then, we're prepared to leave now," Obi-Wan commanded.

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Rantooine was a small planet in the mid rim sixty parsecs away from the planet Cerea. It's terrain was grassy and the cities were ancient with few modern sights. The people of Rantooine were very simple, governed by a prime minister rather than a monarchy. Most citizens were farmers living on the outskirts of the cities. They made their money with exporting goods, relying on their own for their goods without having to import goods from other planets.

The group of republican ships docked in a rented spaceport before loading their supplies into rented speeders. They followed orders from the jedi without question so far out of respect and eagerness to serve for the republic. The sooner that they had their training out of the way, the sooner that they could battle the separatists. Anakin couldn't help but feel that each world that these troops came from would be invaded soon hardening them against the separatists movement.

Anakin and Obi-Wan ordered the troops to stations around the city dressed in local garb to not arouse suspicion, keeping their weapons concealed with a few interjections by Mace. After securing the area, the jedi met with the prim minster Alfonso Erect on security measures. They hoped to catch the separatists when they landed. As they left the prime minister's office, Anakin felt a moment of dread. Something was going to go wrong. Something just wasn't right. At this moment he had mixed feelings about having more clones than republican troops on this mission. He didn't trust the clones, but he knew that they needed them at the moment due to the less trained troops they had. Anakin didn't voice his concern yet due to their arrival to their hostess's home to set up surveillance.

Their hostess was a tall dark haired woman with stormy gray eyes. She went bay the name of Eileen Starling. Her home was small and in the middle of the city.

"Prime Minister Erect has informed me of the reason you are here," Eileen said as she ushered the jedi inside.

"Then you are aware of how serious this matter is," Mace said.

Eileen nodded. "My husband was a pilot on one of the trade ships. A separatists ship shot his ship down when he get in the way. Other trade ships saw this happen and scrambled to get back home. I will do what I can to help," she told them.

"Where can we set up?" Anakin asked feeling for this woman who had lost someone to this war. He thought of how Padme would handle things if she lost him to the war.

"You can set up in here," Eileen told them showing them the den. "This used to be my husbands office," she told them. Suddenly the wail of a baby could be heard followed by another one. Eileen turned towards it. "If you excuse me," she said leaving the room.

Obi-Wan walked over to Anakin. "Something is troubling you," he said.

"It's just a feeling. Something tells me that we're wrong about something. I can feel it," Anakin told them.

"We've gone over the message several times, I'm pretty sure that we're right," Mace told him.

"It's just a feeling I have," Anakin told him.

"I don't want to dismiss your instincts Anakin, but what could go wrong?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I don't know," Anakin told them.

"Lets not dwell on feelings and focus on what we know at the moment. What we know can serve us best in this situation," Mace told him.

"You do that," Anakin told him leaving the room.

Obi-Wan looked at Mace. "I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Anakin's instincts. He's never wrong about things," he said.

"Lets hope he's wrong about this," Mace said.

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Anakin stopped in the hall when he heard soft cooing. He looked inside the room that it was coming from. The door was wide open so that he could see the crib under the window. He walked further into the room to see two babies, each with dark ebony hair. They looked up at him with identical stormy gray eyes.

"They look so innocent don't they?"

Anakin turned around to see Eileen enter the room with some clean baby clothes. "Aren't all children?" he replied.

Eileen smiled. "So it seems," she said putting the clothes on the dresser. She walked over to brush some hair back from the babies foreheads.

"What are their names?" Anakin asked.

Eileen smiled again. "Sabrina and Sebastien. My husband named them," she told him. Her smile faded some. "They're all I have left."

"You have no other family?" Anakin asked.

Eileen shook her head. "My Parents died two years ago. My husband's parents died when he was a child, we didn't have any siblings and neither did my parents. My husband was raised by his aunt, but she died with no children. I don't know what would happen to them if I died, We're all we've got," she told him.

Anakin didn't know what to say to that. His feeling of dread was getting worse with each moment. He knew that something was going to go wrong. He looked down at the two babies who looked up at him and he knew somehow that they could tell that something was wrong.

"I should go fix dinner, it's getting late and I'm sure you're hungry," Eileen said leaving the room after kissing her babies foreheads.

Anakin watched her go before turning back to the babies. "Everything is going to be alright, you'll see," he told them. As their eyes drifted shut, he left the room and met up with Obi-Wan and Mace.

"I'm beginning to see what you mean about something going wrong, I can sense it too," Obi-Wan told him.

"I think you're both right," Mace said frowning as he watched something on a computer screen. "Separatists ships are coming in fast. It seems that our estimated time was off."

Anakin and Obi-Wan came over and looked at the screen then. "They're right above us!" Obi-Wan snapped.

Anakin pulled out his comlink then. "This is Anakin Skywalker, prepare for battle, separatists are right above us!" he told the troops.

The sinking feeling of dread deepened as he sensed something coming at an alarming rate. It grew worse when one the the troops replied. "General something is raining down in the sky!"

All three jedi ran outside to see objects falling from the sky. "What in the name of the force!" Obi-Wan called. They and everyone else on the street that had stopped to look ducked for cover as the objects no bigger than a newborn baby hit the ground and exploded.

"Get these people off of the streets and under cover!" Mace ordered into the comlinks.

The people on the streets began to panic as more bombs kept coming. They screamed and ran around. The troops gathered everyone up and ordered people to get underground as well as the security officers directing people. Anakin ran in a different direction as did Obi-Wan and Mace to get people to safety. This was a new tactic for the separatists to pull. He then spotted Eileen out on the streets frozen in fear as the bombs came down.

"Get out of the way!" Anakin shouted at her. He ran towards her as she seemed to not hear him, but he was too late, a bomb hit the ground not far from where she stood. The explosion from it was large enough to send her six feet from where she stood into the wall of a building. Anakin ran to her hoping for the sake of those babies that she was okay. When he got to her she opened her eyes and looked at him. "My babies, get them to safety, please, make sure that they're safe," she asked him.

"First we're going to make sure you're safe," Anakin told her.

"I can't, please just make sure that my babies are safe," she asked him again.

Anakin could sense her getting weaker and she was bleeding tremendously. She was loosing too much brood from all different angles. More bombs fell from the sky around them taking his attention away from her briefly. But at that moment she stopped breathing. He could feel through the force that she was dead. There was nothing more hat he could do. He had to do what she asked. He had to get those children to safety.

Anakin got up after closing her eyes and ran back to her house and heard the wailing of the two babies. He ran into the room where their crib was and looked down at the wailing twins. He knew that they could sense what happened to their mother. After all the bond between mother and child was a strong one indeed. Even if he wasn't there, he still would have been able to have felt his mothers death. It was as though a part of you had been ripped away from you so suddenly. As the sounds of bombs could be heard outside in the city he made no move.

"Anakin we need to get everyone to safety!" Obi-Wan called from outside the room.

That didn't matter right now. What mattered were the twins who held each other wailing. Gently he used the force to calm them. "Everything is going to be alright, I promise you," he told them as he brushed back their black hair from their foreheads. Both children looked up at him with identical stormy gray eyes. They seemed to believe him.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted as he came into the room. He stopped as Anakin picked up one of the twins.

"The troops can take care of the people! We-I need to get them to safety," Anakin told him as he went about searching for something to strap the now calm child to him tightly.

"Anakin, we have a job to do," Obi-Wan told him gently but only half heartedly.

"Leave it to the troops," Anakin said firmly making sure that the female twin was strapped firmly to him. "I need your help, Master, Their mother just died, they have no one," he pleaded.

Obi-Wan hated abandoning his duties, but he couldn't leave these children. Anakin was right. Their first priority were these children now that their mother was gone. They were now orphaned. Making his decision, he picked up the other twin and found something similar to what Anakin used to strap the male twin to himself tightly. "We must be quick. Once we get to our ships, we can decide on where we will be bringing them," he said.

A huge blast erupted somewhere close this time rocking the small house. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan held the twins close as they steaded themselves. Furniture had turned over and pieces of the walls had began to crumble down. "Lets get out of here!" Anakin called. Both jedi made their way out of the house using the force to keep the twins quiet as they hurried through the city. Along the way they had to direct people to get to safety before going to the hanger where their starfighters were being housed.

Obi-Wan hailed Mace on the comlink. "We need to stop this madness! We have to take down those ships!" he called.

"The Rantooine security is taking over, The rest of us are coming to the hanger," Mace told them.

After Obi-Wan ended his transmission with Mace Anakin turned him. "We need to get them away from the war," he told him.

"Where do you suggest?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin looked down to the two children, each were looking up at him, giving him their complete trust. He knew that he had to place them in a good home, a safe home. "What is the one world that has no value to either side?" he asked giving Obi-Wan a look.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, Anakin. Please tell me that you don't have Tatooine in mind!" he said, but Anakin's look didn't waver. "Anakin! Have you forgotten how dangerous Tatooine is, especially for children!"

"I was pretty fine as a child," Anakin pointed out.

"You were a slave! Or have you forgotten that part?!" Obi-Wan said shocked that Anakin would even think of such a place.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "I haven't forgotten," he assured him.

"Where would you bring them?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Owen and Beru provided a good home for Luke in the future. He was safe there," Anakin told him.

"And how are you going to convince them to take in two children?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin shook his head. "They'll do it, I'm sure," he said.

"There is no talking you out of this I can tell," Obi-Wan sighed.

"No, there isn't," Anakin told him firmly as he settled into his cockpit.

Obi-Wan sighed again and followed suit.

At that moment Mace and the troops arrived. "We're taking those ships down before they can cause more damage!" Mace told them. He then noticed the babies strapped to Obi-Wan and Anakin. "What are you two doing?" he demanded

"Their mother just died, she made me promise to take them to safety," Anakin explained.

"And where are you going to take the?" Mace asked.

"To Tatooine," Obi-Wan told him. "He's taking them to his brother," he explained before Mace could say anything more.

"We'll meet you at Tatooine then, just make sure those children are safe," Mace ordered. He wanted to say more, but he knew that Skywalker was different than most jedi, he had a family before he came to be a jedi, they couldn't stop him from taking the children to them. Besides, he had a feeling that Skywalker disregarded the code to visit his family. Mace wanted to check this out for himself.

Anakin didn't need to be told twice before he started up the engines to his starfighter. Obi-Wan followed suit and simultaneously they took off from the hanger and left the planet heading for the outer rim through the stream of separatists ships. They had to dodge fire constantly before they could jump to hyperspace.

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Owen Lars had just finished up fixing one of the evaporators when he noticed two jedi starfighters land outside the homestead. Wondering what it was now he approached the two ships just as Anakin and Obi-Wan stepped out of them. "What are you doing here?" Owen asked.

"I can't come and see my brother?" Anakin asked.

"It would be nice if you commed first," Owen told him.

"Anakin, Master Windu will be here soon, I suggest we go inside and discuss what we need to discuss," Obi-Wan said.

It was then that Owen noticed the babies strapped to the two jedi's chests. "Lets go inside then," he said.

Once they were inside, Beru met them and smiled at them. "Hello Anakin, Obi-Wan. I didn't know that you were coming," she said.

"That makes two of us," Owen told her. "Maybe we should go into the living room," he said putting his arm around Beru as they walked into the living room. From there Anakin and Obi-Wan began to unstrap the babies from their chests.

Beru looked at the two babies and back to the jedi confused. "Where did they come from? She asked instantly falling in love with the twins. She took the male from Obi-Wan's arms and sat down holding the baby. She looked up at Anakin, "How old are they?" she asked.

"A little over a year I think," Anakin said sitting down next to her with the female twin. "Their mother died not too long ago, they have no one left. I promised their mother that I would get them to safety," he explained. From there he looked Owen in the eye. "I need to find them a safe home," he finished.

"Forget it Anakin" Owen said sternly. He stood impassively in front of Anakin while he held the girl. He turned to where Obi-Wan Kenobi stood off to the side with his arms folded and then to Beru who held the other twin.

"They need a good home away from the war, Owen. They lost both of their parents to the war. Tatooine is the only world that'll be untouched by the war. I believe that you and Beru can give them what they need. Besides you told me that if I ever needed anything I can come to you. I need to make sure that they're safe," Anakin told him.

"Anakin I can't afford to take care of two children," Owen told him.

"Owen," Beru said. "They need us," Beru told him looking down at the child in her arms.

Owen's resolved faltered slightly. Beru wanted children and he knew that they couldn't have any. "How are we supposed to take care of two children?" he asked.

"We can manage," Beru told him smiling at the child in her arms before turning to the one in Anakin's arms.

Owen sighed. "I blame you Skywalker if this doesn't work out," he said.

Anakin smiled. "I think It will work out perfectly," he told him.

At that moment there was a chime at the door. Anakin and Obi-Wan looked up. "That would be Master Windu," Obi-Wan said.

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Mace sat on the bed afforded to him by the Lars' that night thinking over the situation. Skywalker's brother seemed to be a very simple man. From what he had learned of the situation was that Skywalker's mother married into the family adopting Owen after she was freed from slavery shortly after Skywalker became a jedi. He watched Anakin interact with Owen and noticed a brotherly bond between the two. He was dismayed at this for the simple fact that emotional attachments were forbidden by the jedi code. But he also noted that Skywalker had very little contact with the Lars'. Which in his mind made up for the fact that Skywalker had a sort of bond with Owen Lars. He would have to discuss this with Master Yoda and see what he thinks on the subject. He couldn't blame Skywalker for knowing his family for the simple fact that he was only trained after he was nine years of age. Perhaps Master Yoda would have something to say on the matter. Right now he needed to get some sleep. The events from the day had made him in need of some rest. In the morning he would meditate on the subject.

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Anakin lay in the bed that he had slept in the last time that he was here. The events of the day had made him tired, but he couldn't sleep. Obi-Wan was already asleep which irritated Anakin some. He envied Obi-Wan ability to sleep peacefully. The fact that Master Windu was in the room next to his was unsettling. He knew that the jedi master didn't trust him. Anakin wondered what he would do now that he knew that he had contact with his family. Who would he go to first? Mostly he would seek out Master Yoda but would Master Yoda quiet his suspicions? Or would Master Windu have other plans? Whatever it was, he needed to be extra careful now. His uneasiness wouldn't settle. But as he decided to put himself to sleep something caught his senses. Something was wrong outside. Obi-Wan must have sensed it too because he sat up just as Anakin did.

"You sense it too?" Anakin asked.

"They couldn't have followed us, could they?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm not waiting to find out," Anakin told him grabbing his lightsaber and heading out the door, he didn't need the force to tell him that he had followed him. When he got outside, he noticed one of the graves have been dug up. What would dig up somebodies grave and why? Before he could ponder that, he heard the firing up of engines and he looked over to the right to see a ship lift up from the ground. Thinking fast he threw a tractor on the ship just as the ship fired at him.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted as the blast threw him to the ground.

Anakin got up just as the ship left the ground. He froze as he noticed who's grave was dug up. He quickly ran over to the open grave to find his mother's body gone!

"We're following that ship now!" He shouted.

"Anakin, we can't just leave like this! There's a tractor on that ship, we'll find it!" Obi-Wan told him.

At that moment Owen and Beru came out followed by Master Windu. Owen looked at the open grave and back at Anakin.

"We're going after that ship now!" Anakin snapped.

"What happened?" Owen demanded.

"They stole her!" Anakin told him. "The separatists stole Mom's body!"