The Review Guest - This Dooku has always been raised as a Count and never knew the Jedi. Xanatos may be content to have him be another one of his pawns. He is playing his own game.

Get ready to move forward in time ...

Chapter 55

~ 10 years after the Battle of Naboo ~

The ground before him erupted into flames. He felt himself falling, thrown to the hard, duracrete surface. Fire rained down on top of him. Debris and twisted, white-hot metal cut at his skin. Smoke clogged his lungs … the stench of burning flesh infused his senses… panicked cries filled his ears. The presence of someone important to him slipped away, and he knew that they had somehow failed. The lights of a great city shined down on him as though nothing happened. He lay there, watching lines of traffic dot the sky as the scene faded into oblivion.

In the ensuing darkness, somewhere, a child cried out in terror. There was deathly silence, profound sadness cutting him to the core as though a part of him or someone close to him had been wounded. His own weeping broke the silence.

He woke, his face soaked with tears. His breaths came in ragged pants, punctuated with his own sobs. He couldn't remember being this afraid in a long time. Something was coming. It took him a moment to remember where he was, a quick inventory of the room he was staying in while away from home restoring his memory. He stumbled to the communications' consol. A quick entry of a well-known frequency - home - and an image materialized in front of him.

"Master," he breathed out in a relieved whisper. "I am sorry if I woke you … I just saw something … I don't understand …"

"A deep breath, Padawan." The Jedi master waited for the young man to calm himself before continuing. "Awake already I am. A vision you saw. Saw it too I did."

Anakin wrapped his arms around his body. He had never received a vision before, though Master Yoda had warned him that with his sensitivity to the Force, the likelihood of it happening one day was high. If they were all like this, he wasn't certain he wanted any part of them.

"Wait a moment we will. Certain another saw it I am."

"Obi-Wan," Anakin murmured.

"Yes."

It didn't take long for the third party to join them. Obi-Wan looked ragged, as shaken to the core as Anakin felt. He had obviously fought a hard battle to gain his composure.

"What sensed you – both of you?" Yoda asked.

"The fire," Anakin whispered. "I just had an overwhelming sense of being trapped, like I was in some sort of wreckage. Then it went dark. Someone close to me died. I know that."

"I only saw that as though I were an outside observer," Obi-Wan said, adding his own experience. "I came running through familiar doors, likely from the Senate. In fact, I am certain I was on Coruscant in the Senate. There were people crowded around – too many people to see anything. There was fire everywhere. I pushed through the crowd, but guards kept me from getting any closer."

"The child," Anakin said, remembering the cry and forlorn silence. "I just heard it and felt sadness, like someone I knew was hurting."

"It was my son," Obi-Wan said softly.

"Bren'an?" Anakin asked, nearly shocked.

"I would know his cry anywhere." Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "Then it felt like our bond went silent. It is what woke me. I had to check on him." At the expectant silence that followed, he quickly added, "Bren'an is well."

"Use caution we must," Master Yoda said. Though he and Obi-Wan had shared visions since Naboo, they had remained unchanged, a steady cadence to be prepared. "New visions these are. Included Anakin in the warning the Force did this time. Certain we can be that the Sith are moving again."

"I have sensed that someone unseen is striving to get the Military Creation Act passed. Padme and I have been working overtime to keep our support against it in place," Obi-Wan relayed. "I will get an earful from Siri if I add more security to Bren'an's detail, but I think it is necessary …" Obi-Wan looked to the side at the small boy appearing just in Anakin's view.

"You are supposed to be sleeping," Obi-Wan scolded gently.

"You were sad and I heard voices," the boy replied climbing onto Obi-Wan's lap. "I want to talk to Master Yoda and Uncle Anakin also."

"Sorry, but you have school tomorrow." Obi-Wan looked up at Yoda. "I need to go help this one find his bed again."

"May the Force be with you and your family," Yoda said.

The hologram flickered out, leaving Anakin sitting with the image of his mentor.

"Master?" he asked hesitantly. "I don't think Padme should travel to Coruscant without Jedi escort when she leaves tomorrow. If this is over the Military Creation Act, she is in danger as well."

"A wise assertion, Padawan. See to it that one of the Naboo Jedi accompanies her I will."

"Master ..." Anakin said in strained tones, needing his master to hear him out. "I know that Mom and I are supposed to come back after Padme leaves, but I want to be the one to go with her. She's a good friend. And, I am ready to go to Coruscant, Master. I feel like I am supposed to go. I shield well – I can even hide from you."

Anakin's heart hammered in his chest, his stomach turning somersaults as he waited for his mentor's answer. It was well known that Yoda was very protective of his apprentice, though both master and apprentice had felt that Anakin's destiny was fast approaching. Master Yoda's cat-like eyes were shut tightly, lips pursed in concentration. Finally, the aged master looked at him. "Go you may, Padawan. Stay with Qui-Gon you will when you get there. Contact him and Obi-Wan in the morning. Tell them I will."

"Thank you," Anakin said, his exuberance bubbling over. He bowed his head quickly. "Goodnight, Master."

"Goodnight, Young One."

Obi-Wan burst through the doors of the Senate med-center, not caring how undignified the esteemed senator from Aksu looked with his robes flailing behind him as he ran. The gossip mongers would be quite pleased with their good fortune today for him even leaving the Senate proceedings in such a rush. He paused at the front desk, waiting for the nurse to raise her head and acknowledge him. It seemed an eternity before she asked, "May I help you?"

"Yes, my aide contacted me. My wife is here. Siri Tachi-Kenobi?"

"I will take you to her," came a friendly voice from behind the desk somewhere. Bant Eerin, the young Mon Calamari physician that Jun Windu had told him so much about stepped into view. Obi-Wan briefly wondered how he had missed her bright, warm presence in the Force. She smiled at him, large silver eyes assuring him all was well. "This way," she said.

"I was told that my wife collapsed?" Obi-Wan asked worriedly.

"She just fainted. It happens to women in her condition sometimes," Bant assured him. "She's fine, and so is the baby."

Baby? Obi-Wan tried not to choke, reigning in his surprise as he smiled at the young physician. "I am glad to hear that."

"I think she is over-doing it. She needs a lot more rest than she is getting. She is only twelve weeks along."

Twelve weeks? Siri had been pregnant for almost three months and hadn't told him. Why?

Bant stopped outside a door. "Right in here."

Siri lay on a med-ward cot, looking out the window at the lines of traffic drifting along lazily outside her window. She looked pale and exhausted. Obi-Wan sat down beside her and took her hand in his. "How do you feel?"

"I have been sicker and more tired than I have ever been in my life. It has been weeks feeling like I had some horrible strain of flu."

"Usually I am the one that gets lectured about hiding things. Were you planning to tell me? I mean, I was bound to notice sometime," he said, eyes twinkling with humor.

"I'm sorry." She turned to face him. "I didn't want you to find out this way. That's for sure. It just never seemed to be the right time. So much has been happening in the Senate."

"For future note, I'm never too busy to find out that I'm going to be a father," he teased.

"That's not what I mean." She took a deep breath, and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "We discussed not having children, that destiny made it too dangerous to bring someone so vulnerable into this galaxy."

"I also recall never planning to marry, but the Force had other ideas," he said, leaning forward to kiss her. "This is a blessing."

Obi-Wan had never thought someone would change his life as much as Siri had, but from the first moment Siri had placed their squirming child in his arms, he had known he would never be the same again. He was paranoid of dropping the boy, or doing something wrong and suffering a mother's wrath. Qui-Gon, of course, was ecstatic, easily stepping into the role of grandfather. He had been a great help in the first few weeks when both parents had suffered from sleep deprivation. Siri was a wonderful mother from the start, and he had never been more in love with her.

Had Bren'an ever been that tiny, was all Obi-Wan could think as he watched the sleeping six-year-old boy. Almost seven, Bren'an would remind him if awake. The thought brought a smile to his lips. He had been sitting on the floor in the doorway to his son's room for nearly an hour now, unable to sleep again after the disturbing sensations of his latest vision.

"Are you going to sit here all night?" a soft voice whispered as Siri slipped her arms around his neck from behind.

"Maybe," Obi-Wan answered softly.

"You saw something?" she asked.

Obi-Wan simply nodded his head in response. Bren'an stirred. Obi-Wan placed a finger to his lips as he stood and closed the door. Once back in their room, Siri laid down beside him on their bed.

"What did you see?" she asked.

"It was more what I sensed. Something horrible happened to Bren'an. Anakin saw it too." He ran a still unsteady hand down his face. "I want more than anything to tell you to take him and go to Dantooine, at least until this coming debate in the Senate has ended."

"We've been through this before, Obi-Wan." She turned to face him. "We can't run and avoid life just because you saw something."

"You sound like Qui-Gon. You know that, don't you?" he asked, glancing back at her. "May I add more security to his detail?"

"Not more," Siri groaned.

He turned to face her. "Please. If you had been the one to feel what I did, you would keep him in this apartment and never let him out of your sight."

"I will allow one additional guard," Siri finally consented. "One of my choosing."

"Who?"

"Me," she said, smiling brightly. "I can easily free up my schedule."

"That makes me feel so much better," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.

"I am probably more capable of defending him than anyone else Garen would assign to his detail," she pointed out.

"You're right," Obi-Wan said.

"And I promise, if it gets more dangerous, or if you have more visions, I will take Bren'an to Dantooine for a visit."

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said, pulling his wife into his arms.