A/N: University has started back, so I will only really be able to update weekly. This story will end soon and the sequel will begin. I want to finish off the Luminara love life subplot I introduced, develop Gràinne's Sith cult and show the beginning of the New Brotherhood of Darkness, and have Ahsoka's pregnancy subplot finish. Then the sequel will take place around 15 years after this one. I anticipate maybe two or four more chapters depending on what I can cram into each chapter.

Caibideil 23

Luminara was getting situated in Obi-Wan's ship while he was in the cockpit. She thought about how she felt towards him, she had felt attracted to men before but never allowed it to go any further than occasional eye candy. Now that she was free to feel as she wished, she wasn't entirely sure where to go about it. Eventually, she broke. She would have to endure the relentless teasing from her old Padawan and opened her commlink to call Senator Chuchi. "Hello Senator, is Barriss available?"

"Right here Master!" Barriss replied, coming into the call wearing... less, than normal. Still modest, but significantly thinner, "We were getting ready to go into the city to buy me a new commlink. What's the matter?"

"Eh," Luminara started, still not sure if she wanted to go through with it, "I might have small crush on Master Kenobi."

"I knew it!" Barriss shouted triumphantly.

"Shush! I don't want him to know yet!"

"Master, the second you get here I'm going to teach you how to date!"

"This will certainly help to get my mind off of Padmé," Riyo offered.

"what happened to Chancellor Skywalker?"

"You don't know?" Barriss asked, shocked, "She was assassinated. It was a massive terrorist attack; half the Senate was wiped out."

"Palpatine's Loyalists are claiming credit for it."

Luminara was too stunned to speak for a few minutes afterwards, "Oh Force... I... I don't know what to say."

"Master Skywalker is barely even functional," Riyo continued. She paused for a second, "I can't even imagine what it would be like."

"I'm just thankful that you decided to choose to vacation this week," Barriss said, "I know it's incredibly selfish of me to think so, but I know I couldn't live without you. I don't even want to imagine what Anakin is going through, losing the love of his life and being left a single father of the twins."

"Let's think on happier things, how are the twins?" Luminara asked, "I haven't seen them yet."

"Crying constantly. I think they can feel the death of their mom through the Force," Barriss answered, not being cheerful in the slightest. Luminara cringed, now she felt horrible thinking about something as small as her little crush. Barriss seemed eager to think about something else though, "Just let me know when you get here and we can go shopping for a new dress for your first date. Then I'll give you some advice I was given. Plus a few moves I learned on my own… or ones that my wife taught me."

"Who gave you dating advice?"

"Master Skywalker and Master Secura."

"Of course."

"Anything you want to learn now though? Maybe how to flirt?" Barriss asked, mischief in her voice. Clearly relishing the opportunity to hold this over her head later.

Luminara decided to close that part of the equation down with some mischief of her own, "Yes, the slave collar you have, the one that says 'Kitten,' what is that used for exactly? Considering they've been illegal for a thousand years, it's quite interesting that you have one."

Barriss went pale. "You weren't supposed to find that."

Riyo looked at her, eyes wide in shock and a bit of anger, "I thought you packed that?!" she hissed.

"I thought I packed it!"

"Kenobi found it. We couldn't remember which drawer your pajamas were in, so we came across quite a few of your toys."

Riyo and Barriss both made a pained, humiliated squeak.

"Would you like to share why you have an illegal electronic torture device?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes Barriss, you have to."

She looked down in shame and blushed harder than ever before, "I… like being my wife's little slave girl," she muttered, barely audible. She would make her master pay a hundred-fold for this humiliation. She wouldn't mess with her chances at Obi-Wan, but she would definitely see to it she was just as humiliated at some point in the near future.

Luminara smiled in satisfaction at seeing Barriss squirm for a few moments. She knew that she had essentially screwed herself as far as dating advice from them was concerned, but she could go to the original sources. Of course Anakin would likely be an emotional wreck for the foreseeable future so probably Aayla would be the only one she could really trust, of course much like Barriss pretty much anybody would tease her relentlessly. She'd probably just have to take Barriss's advice with a grain of salt.

Obi-Wan sat in his seat watching hyperspace go by, thinking of Satine. She had come with him to Teth and unlike some couples who were definitely not Aayla and Kit, had wed in a tiny ceremony without any big fuss about it. After almost twenty years of denying themselves they finally were free to give in to their base desires. He almost couldn't believe it. Of course, he still had Anakin's sorrow to share in, their psychic link casting a permanent dark glow in the back of his mind, as well as the loss of a dear friend. He had no idea how Anakin was taking it though, since he refused to talk about it to anyone, even his R2 unit. All he could do was send Anakin positive waves through the Force and try to hope for the best.

Anakin hadn't slept in almost a week; his kids would not stop crying and quite frankly when he was alone neither could he. The only thing keeping him from taking his own life was that he had to take care of these tiny babies who depended on him now. He had no idea what he was doing, and although his small army of droids helped, they would never fill the void that Padmé left; not for him, and not for the children which constantly cried for their dead mother. He hated that he couldn't fill that sudden gaping hole in the Force for himself or them. He felt as though he had failed as a husband and as a father, despite knowing that none of this was his fault, nor that he could have predicted or prevented it. He put the bottle in Leia's mouth to try and feed her, maybe she'd actually take it this time. Nobody else had any more luck with trying to calm his wailing children, no droid or Jedi. Ahsoka almost got them to stop crying for a few minutes but that was as close as anyone had gotten since the bombing. Of course Leia wasn't wanting to eat. At this point he gave up and just broke down crying.

Satine was humming a little Mando 'a tune, hair down and wearing a simple gown, sweeping the floor of her and Obi-Wan's little cell. She had never thought of it before, being a Duchess, but she actually enjoyed being a simple housewife. It was quite the change to go from royal palaces to a plain monastery but if/when Mandalore was finally brought to stability, she might ask Bo Katan to take the throne instead of reascending to it herself. She had since taken the hint that maybe she wasn't the best leader Mandalore could have had. Satine hoped that her husband would be back soon, "Just a few more days," she muttered. She had been thinking on it and decided that she wanted to live the life that she and Obi had always longed for. She may have been getting up in age but she wanted to have a baby before it was too late. Granted, she had no idea how to even start that conversation or what it might devolve into if Obi-Wan said "No," but she was seeing the other happy Jedi families around them, except the emotional wreck that was Anakin, and wanted that. She had always wanted that. Her parents had joked that Bo Katan would never have kids but Satine would have twenty. Maybe it wasn't a joke. Either way, her sister was the one who had a baby and for seventeen years he was the only Kryze child. She wanted to change that.

Bail Organa had finally come out of surgery. He would have to wear a respirator for the rest of his life, and half of his face was horribly scarred from the burns he sustained in the explosion. His right eye and ear were completely gone, the surrounded flesh all but melted. He didn't have to, but for the sake of public appearances decided to hide half his face with a mask. He had to have cybernetic implants in his right arm to replace the utterly destroyed nerve endings singed by the flames. He wiggled each individual finger to ensure it worked properly and flexed his arm to see if he was able to regain total mobility. As the doctors had told him, there was pain when he moved his arm but that should only last a few weeks. He was ready to be released from the hospital. He had already seen the holonet coverage which had dozens of reporters huddling outside the hospital, which was supposed to remain undisclosed but nothing remains secret for long. He took a deep, heavily mechanical breath and opened the door, commandos flanking him.

"Chancellor! Chancellor!" the reporters demanded, flooding him with questions on the Loyalists, or the bombing, or his condition or plans; Bail ignored them, simply walking his way towards the speeder which would take him back home.

Dooku was beyond pleased with Serpeness's handling of every mission he gave her, despite every obstacle. She had managed to usurp heretical cults to her cause to inspire loyalty among the New Sith Empire's subjects and outright conquer Inverness, Moray, Lothian, Aberdeen, and was flying her way to Edinburgh. The local king was a tributary to the English and as such the crowns of Edinburgh and London were now moving against this new Sith movement headed by a "witch and warlock." Serpeness would handle them easily. As she had been training in the Dark Side on Talamh she grew more powerful by the day and could easily take a small army by herself. The dozen or so cultist guards she flanked herself with were for show and little more. He had been practicing his Gaelic with a few of the servants, and so far, he had learned a few complete sentences. Reading, writing and spelling though? Practically impossible. Why would a ll make a hissing sound? Bh making an f sound except when it didn't? Whoever had decided to use this alphabet for the language clearly did not realize just how limited it was or how terribly it was being applied.

A servant came running up to him, "Ìmpire! Ìmpire Tyrannus! Tha fear ag iarraidh bruidhinn riut! Fuamhaire a tha ag ràdh gun deach a mhionnachadh airson Darth Serpeness a phòsadh!"

What? He understood a handful of words, his and Serpeness's names of course, and "a man," but other than that he was completely in the dark. He looked to his tutor who whispered, "A man is demanding to speak with you. A giant who claims to be sworn to wed Darth Serpeness." Dooku's eyes went wide. Séamus had survived? How did he come back to Talamh? Was he still with the Jedi?

He hastily ordered his captain of the guard to have the giant arrested, "Make sure Serpeness does not know of his capture until he tells me everything I want to know."

"Aye, ÌmpireTyrannus!" the captain replied before barking orders at his men.

Ahsoka cuddled Lux on their small sofa, rubbing her pregnant belly, nuzzling her nose into his chest. Lux kissed the top of her head as he pet her back lek. "It's a little odd that I haven't felt our baby move all day. I don't think I felt any kicking yesterday either," she said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I'm sure it's fine," Lux replied, "If you want, I can take you to the doctor tomorrow."

"That would be great!"

"Good, now stop worrying, it's not good for you or our child."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and smirked, "You really think you're going to be the one telling me what to do?"

"Ahsoka," Lux said, kissing her on the lips, "I want you and our baby to be happy and healthy."

"I couldn't be happier."

"Good, now I'll set an appointment with the doctor," he placed a hand on her baby bump, "and while we're there, we might get to see if I have a son or daughter."

"You mean, we have a son or daughter," Ahsoka corrected.

"Of course," another peck, "be right back."

She smiled and leaned back. She was personally hoping for a baby boy. She wanted to have a larger family with Lux, not huge by any stretch, but maybe four or five kids. She knew he wanted a little girl but she figured there would be plenty of opportunities for them to have plenty of both. She stood up to go to the refresher, again. One thing she wasn't a fan of was having the baby sitting on top of her bladder. She thought aloud, "I'll probably name you Anakin if you're a boy. I think he'd appreciate that," as she opened the door to the water closet.

Lux thanked the doctor and went back into the living area of their tiny monastery apartment to see his wife was not on the sofa. He shrugged, knowing she probably went to the refresher and sat back down, waiting for her to come back to continue their cuddling. Then he looked at their crème sofa's cushion where she was sitting and swore that he saw a few drops of blood. Maybe it was just ketchup, or some other sauce they had dripped onto the couch. Then he heard the most blood-curdling shriek he had ever heard in his life coming from the toilet. He immediately jumped to action, practically banging down the door as he tried to enter it. Finally getting the door to open he barged in to find Ahsoka standing with a pool of blood forming at her feet, bloodstained leggings, and a trail of blood all over her legs, the floor, and the toilet. She was shaking and could barely stand. He picked her up and ran to carry her out to the speeder and rush her to the local hospital.

As they had feared, it was not good news. Ahsoka had lost the baby and had to have an emergency extraction. She cried the entire time, soaking Lux's shirt in tears as he held back tears of his own. As much as it hurt, he had to be strong, for her sake. The doctor reentered the room to offer his condolences and try to ease the pain, "I'm so sorry," he began, "there was nothing that could have been done. It's not your fault, the baby had a genetic abnormality."

Ahsoka didn't stop wailing.

"Was, uhm, was this your first pregnancy?" Lux nodded slowly. "I'm assuming you're the husband?" He nodded again. "It is an unfortunate reality that interspecies couples have a slightly higher rate of miscarriage than intraspecies couples. But it is sadly common in both. It isn't your fault. It was nothing you did that caused it; the baby was doomed from the moment of conception."

Ahsoka began to cry harder. Lux simply said, voice shaking, "Doc, you're making it worse."

"S-Sorry. I'll leave you two be."