Obi-Wan could not run fast enough. Leaping over ditches and pushing aside thick vegetation he sprinted back the way he had came, the berries forgotten. He had sensed in the Force that something had gone horribly wrong and that his family were suddenly in great danger. He prayed that he would be quick enough to stop whatever was happening. His heart pounded and his breath felt painfully coarse in his lungs. For the first time in over nine years, real, blood-strengthening adrenaline coursed through him, lending him the speed he needed to sprint so far at his age. When he reached the clearing his heart sank like a rock.

"No no no!" he heard a frantic voice shout but it didn't sound his own.

Continued to run at full speed towards the house, he took in the nightmarish details as he got closer. Blood rushed in his ears as his body caught up with him and the adrenaline began to drop. His legs trembled but he ran onwards. The cottage's front door had been brutally smashed down. Shards of splintered wood lay scattered on the grassy floor where large bootprints had trampled the flowers and herbs. Obi-Wan stopped and crouched by the prints, catching his breath as heavy rasps shook his body. Immediately he recognised the prints as stormtrooper.

"Padmé! Luke! Leia!" he called out desperately as he stepped over the remains of the door, not caring if anyone heard her real name.

Blood rushed to his head and his heart pounded in his chest. His hands shook as he pushed aside a dining chair that had been thrown in front of the entrance way. Luke and Leia's small shoes that were neatly kept by the doorway had been trampled flat. The home was in disarray. In a heartbeat he took in the silent scene in front of him: upturned furniture, fragments of wood littering the floor, both bedroom doors swaying on broken hinges. Then, he saw Padmé's prone body lying by the kitchen table on the floor. In a second he was by his wife's side, sitting her up and cradling her carefully in his arms.

"Padmé, my wife, I'm here, I'm here," he whispered into her hair, placing a kiss on her temple.

She did not appear bruised or battered, just deeply unconscious. He checked her vitals and then her breathing, barely daring to breathe himself as he focused all his attention onto her. With a wave of relief like none he had ever known, he knew she had been stunned and not shot. She was alive. Thank the Force! He pressed his hand on her belly and closed his eyes, searching out with the Force to see if their baby was also safe. Obi-Wan was terrified of what he might sense, but again to his utter relief, like waking from a lucid nightmare, their baby was also unharmed and sleeping deeply. His shoulders sagged with the relief and he thanked the Force from the bottom of his soul that they were safe. He picked her up gently and lay her on the sofa.

Now, Luke and Leia. His head cleared and he searched the house, but as he expected, found them gone. What's more, Anakin's lightsaber was missing. He was so proud of the children for remembering their training, even when faced with such a terrifying situation. His own lightsaber remained in the secret spot under the floorboard. Obi-Wan picked it up and attached it to his belt, wondering why the children had only taken one. They must have run out of time. His throat worked as he pictured them, terrified after seeing Padmé fall, running to grab the lightsabers to defend themselves.

Before he could let emotions cloud his mind he ran out of the house, following the bootprints back down to the main road. There was evidence in the dirt that three speeders had been parked here beside his own, and all three had headed off back on the road towards town. He could hear no distant echo of engines so they must have left quickly and be well on their way back to the capital. His mind quickly flashed through multiple options, outcomes and limitations of his situation. His training as a general came back to him and he thought rationally about what to do.

He could jump on his speeder right now and attempt to somehow catch up with them, then defeat them and get the twins back. But they had gained a lot of ground, and he didn't want to leave his wife and unborn child unprotected. Also the imperial base in Salis D'aar would not take the killing of three troopers lightly. They'd be on the run again, and would have to leave Bakura. The further away the children were taken, the less he'd be able to cloak their Force signatures. If they were taken off world they would be out of his reach and any Force user in the galaxy would be able to sense them. He had to head quickly to the capital. If they fell into the hands of Vader or the Emperor, they would be impossible to free.

Against every fibre of his being which yearned to run immediately to get them back, he sat down. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and slowly stretched out his senses through the Force. He searched until he found them, two bright shining signatures like little stars, just the same as when he had first met them as newborns, although they had become brighter since then. Obi-Wan could sense through their Force bond that they were alive but deeply unconscious and getting further and further away with each passing second. The rate at which they were moving hinted at a larger ship that the speeders must have been dispatched from. It must have landed some way away for him and Padmé to have heard nothing in the morning when it would have landed. They were gaining ground rapidly. He would not be able to catch up on a speeder alone. He needed a bigger ship. Coming out of his meditation, he made up his mind: wake Padmé, leave her safely with a neighbour, go get the children back from Salis D'aar before they could go off world, contact Parga, then leave Bakura to start a new life again on another planet. They may be able to get help from Bail Organa through Parga. There was no other option and there was no time to lose.

ooooo

"I'm not going to stay here whilst you search for them!" Padmé insisted, shoving clothing and what few precious belongings they had frantically into a rucksack. She had only been awake several minutes but was already almost packed. "I'm coming with you."

"Be realistic here - you're eight months pregnant!"

"My babies are out there alone, and trust me Obi-Wan there is no force in this galaxy that can stop me from going to rescue them," she asserted as she tipped out all the money in her purse and gathered it in a larger bag. "Put the savings in here, we'll need it to get a ship to the capital and start over once this is all sorted out."

Sighing in exasperation, he and ran a hand through his short hair. Her stubbornness was usually endearing but now he was genuinely worried about her. Padmé's unconscious body lying on the floor would be in his nightmares he was sure. Obi-Wan tried one last time.

"You're putting yourself at great risk here!"

"I don't care," she shot him a deadly look. "I'm going with you or I'll go by myself."

He knew she meant it. Obi-Wan could see there was no point arguing with his wife, a lesson he had learnt many years ago but one it seemed he had to remember again now. With an air of resignation he went quickly to get the savings which were hidden around the back of their fireplace.

"I don't agree with this, but I see there is no stopping you," he said as he quickly passed them to her and went to check the rooms one final time for anything they may have left behind. He looked under the beds where Padmé couldn't reach with her stomach, and pulled out one of Luke's dusty toys, a model of a Y-Wing.

"I know how to fight Obi-Wan," she replied with an edge in her voice from the living room.

"I know you do. I just want you safe," he replied, looking at the toy. He clutched it tightly before stuffing it in his bag. Luke would want it back when they found a new home. "We need to get going," he called. "I've checked all the rooms."

"I'm almost done," she called back to him.

Obi-Wan headed back into the living room and for the first time since sensing in the Force that something was wrong, stopped to catch his breath. He knew the importance of the moment he had arrived at. It was the last time they'd ever be in this house. The little cottage had become a comforting sanctuary for him and Padmé. It had kept them warm and protected, far away from the terror of Vader and the nightmares of their shared past. It had been a safe haven for them and the twins the nine years they'd been here.

The house had seen them through it all, their arrival, the twins first steps, him and Padmé's marriage and all the highs and lows of their family life. The house, the forest, the town and the school were all the children had ever seen of the colossal galaxy out there. Now, it looked like their wish of visiting far away planets was going to come true. Who knew where they'd have to resettle after all this was over….if they would ever resettle.

He took a good look at his wife as she stood sorting through the last of their belongings by the sofa. She wore a tunic that now stretched snugly over her bump, tan leggings and knee high boots. Her hair was in a long ponytail that swayed with each movement she made. She reached out to put something away and he noticed Anakin's necklace in amongst the jumble. Again he was reminded of the depth of her loss. Padmé had come so far in the nine years they'd been here, and now all that progress and hope they'd regained in the darkness could be lost once again.

She placed one of the twin's baby onesies in the pack, intending to reuse it for their child, and for a moment he was transported back to their first night when they arrived. She'd been so tired, sleeping on the sofa after their long journey, and the twins had been hardly bigger than bread loaves lying on her chest. She still barely looked a day older than when they had arrived here. The summer months had added a few lines about the eyes perhaps, but she was as radiant and defiant and caring as ever. He could not bear to let her or his children down.

"Remember, as far as they know, we are just simple peasant farmers," she said with her back to him, folding one of Leia's dresses and quickly stored it away. "They have no reason to think we'd ever come after them to get the children back. They won't be in a huge hurry to get the children off world. There may also be certain levels of bureaucracy involved in dropping the children off and sending them elsewhere. That may play to our advantage."

"I hope you're right," Obi-Wan replied as he checked his bag once more before pulling it shut and throwing it over his shoulder.

He double checked his lightsaber was firmly attached to the inside of his robe where it would be hidden. Similar to Padmé, he wore a peasant's tunic, tan leggings and knee high boots not dissimilar to the fashion of the Jedi.

"We just need to get there, infiltrate the compound which won't be difficult for two clone wars veterans, and get them out. Then, we escape with Parga's help. We need to think of a new place to go and contact Bail for relocation help. One of the children has Anakin's lightsaber. It may help them somehow in all this, but they're only nine."

She nodded, pushing away her emotions to focus on the practical tasks that needed to be done. Adding a few more of the children's clothes to the bag, she quickly pulling the drawstring and closed it up. They were ready.

Obi-Wan picked up her bag so that he was carrying both. With one final look around, the couple bid farewell to their house and set off down the long garden path as quick as they could. The urgency of the situation allowed no time for excess emotions over the loss of their cottage. They could grieve their old life once they and the children were safe.

Obi-Wan quickly loaded their meagre belongings onto the sides of the speeder. With one brief last look at their little home which had meant so much to them both, Obi-Wan pushed the speeder's pedal down. A cloud of dust erupted under the engine as the speeder propelled itself forward at the fastest speed. Padmé held tight to him and he gripped the handlebars until his knuckles turned white. He would get them back. Or he would die trying.

The speeder took them to the village, where they quickly acquired a ship for transport to the capital using some of their savings. Friends and neighbours of nine years would have no idea where they had gone or why, and it hurt not being able to say goodbye.

By early afternoon they were on their way, speeding across the sky at the highest velocity possible. The landscape moved beneath them like an ever changing blanket of lakes, plains, rivers and forests. The two of them were reminded of their first journey across this route nine years ago. It was a ten hour journey to Salis D'aar and would be dark by the time they arrived. They sat in the cockpit, each deeply lost in their own thoughts.

The sun set over the land in a blaze of gold and orange, though neither parent noticed its beauty. Still they flew on, through the twilight and into the black of night. Thousands of stars watched over them from above, but Obi-Wan and Padmé's eyes overlooked them, searching anxiously instead for the presence of imperial ships. It wasn't long before they could see one that orbited Bakura. Although it was smaller than a star destroyer, it was still connected to the new base in the capital and acted as an imperial presence above the political heart of their planet. It floated silently against a backdrop of glittering stars high above them, but both could feel its menacing vigilance upon them even from such a distance.

They were eight hours into the journey when Obi-Wan felt it: a disturbance in the Force.

The twins were suddenly awake, they were terrified, and they were moving fast. They were going off world to the star destroyer. Panic struck Obi-Wan and he jolted upright in his seat. Padmé put her hand on his arm instantly, her worried face appearing before him.

"What is it?"

"The twins, I can sense they've gone off world. They're moving fast. I won't be able to cloak their presence if they go any further."

Padmé sat helplessly by his side and entwined her hand with his just as she had when they'd escaped from her fake funeral on Naboo. There was nothing they could do. Far, far away, a distant speck of a ship headed up into the sky towards the imperial cruiser. He tried to keep calm and focus on their presence, but his emotions were running away with him. He was no longer a detached Jedi, he was now a desperate father to two, soon to be three, children. Their ship was at full speed but there was still another two hours left before they arrived.

"There they are," he whispered.

The parents watched the distant speck through the glass of the ship's dashboard with a helplessness they'd never known. Like a particle of dust, the ship gradually disappeared from their vision as it headed up into the blackness. Obi-Wan could still feel their presence even though he couldn't see the ship. He felt them soaring up at great speed into the atmosphere, far away from all they'd ever known. He could feel their terror and their longing which echoed wildly in his own heart.

Then he felt it, a feeling he'd been dreading more than anything.

Their Force signatures hovered still for a short moment, before flying at incredible speed far far away from him and his protective cloaking. The imperial ship had disappeared. They had gone into hyperspace and now their presence would shine out throughout the galaxy like homing beacons for all Force sensitives to feel. He brought his palms up to his face in despair, unable to believe that this had happened. Their worst fears had been realised.

"They're gone," his wife choked, panic and hysteria in her voice. "They're gone!"

"We were too late to catch them," he stifled a sob as the horror washed over him. How would they ever get them back now?

"Vader," she gasped. He couldn't bare to look at her. Her voice cracked in agony as she spoke. "He'll find them. He'll know. How will we get them back now?!"

When they finally landed in the capital, Obi-Wan knew for certain that they were gone. Contacting Parga, they made a decision that they hoped and prayed would get the children rescued before Vader or the Emperor could get there first. Using more savings, they acquired a larger ship for deep space travel and set a course directly to Alderaan.

ooooo

Distant stars twinkled like gems embedded in the great black silken fabric of space. The void of space was dark, empty and infinite. But it was wondrous in its own way. The meeting room's many windows offered an ever changing arrangement of stars depending on where the ship was stationed. He still often wondered if one day, he really would see them all.

Darth Vader was drawn away from his thoughts by a shot of pain rippling through what remained of his body. He shifted a little in his seat with as much subtlety as he could muster, he didn't want to reveal even a shred of weakness to his commanders. The shift in position barely made a difference in the pain, but he was used to it. Under his voice modulator, his teeth clenched as the feeling returned, now worse than before, as if seeking vengeance for him trying to escape it. This pain was a relentless yet familiar demon. His body and his suit was as wretched now as they'd been at the very beginning of his transformation.

However, the constant pain made him powerful. He was angry, miserable, full of grief that never lessened, and above all, overflowing with hatred for the one who did this to him. Not a day went by when he did not miss his old body, and his wife. A wave of bitterness flowed through him as it often did when he thought of his old self, before Obi-Wan had destroyed his life. One day he'd find that old man and purge the galaxy from the Jedi once and for all. He'd pay for what he did. He knew he was out there, hiding somewhere in the shadows.

"We have completed all major construction works of the S9 quarter. So we will be moving onto S10 as of tomorrow. Work on this segment is due to be finished before the end of the week. However we did encounter some problems with the pipework in S9 which may reappear in S10…"

He sat listening to his commander's report on the building status of the Death Star with growing dissatisfaction. It was being constructed at a fast pace, but it could be faster. There were still years to go before it would be fully operational, but the sooner he completed overseeing its construction the sooner Sidious would be off his case about it. The planet destroying capabilities of the space station's superlaser would finally allow the empire the terror needed to align all the planets to their vision. Everything they'd been working on would come to fruition, and all the years of pain would have been worth it. There would finally be peace and order.

The commander's voice interrupted his thoughts. With growing displeasure he began to pick out faults in his report, asking when and how things would be improved. Others in the meeting chimed in where necessary with their own concerns. The Emperor was not as patient as he, and would not be happy with any kind of underperformance from himself, the commanding Officers or the construction workers. There were only so many times he could blame setbacks on the Geonosians and their blueprint errors. The Emperor was quick to send Force lightning his way when he was displeased, and so he had to be harsh on those below him.

As Vader listened to yet another issue about the pipeline equipment, something seemed to flicker slowly into the edge of his awareness. It was small at first and barely noticeable. But the presence began to grow in its strength, as though unveiling itself from behind a thick curtain in the Force. He was immediately curious and tried to focus on the feeling, but it was so far away. Suddenly, it began to grow brighter and brighter at immense speed until he was awestruck by the power of it. A sudden and powerful surging feeling moved in the Force. Immediately his head snapped in the direction of the unknown presence.

Then it became clear. Two Force signatures, burning brightly like glittering twin stars, had appeared somewhere in the galaxy.

They were brighter than any signatures he'd ever sensed in years. In fact, he couldn't remember any he'd felt that were as bright as they, even in his old life. The only one that he'd say was higher was that of Yoda's. Who were they?

He got up and strode purposefully over to the largest window, ignoring the pain shooting up his side as well as the rambling report behind him. He looked out into the void in the direction he could feel them. They were incredibly far away to be sure, but their brightness was astonishing.

How could this be possible? How have they appeared seemingly out of nowhere? Had two babes just been born into existence? Surely none so young could have such a powerful presence. Wary, Vader considered his options as his commander droned on behind him. He had to find these two people immediately. No doubt the Emperor could sense them too and would want to know what was going on.

He turned back around and cut off his commander mid sentence with a finger raised to him.

"I no longer wish to hear any more about these pipeline issues commander," he lowered his hand and placed it on his belt. "Have it sorted by the time you finish the S10 quarter. The Emperor wants the S section finished as the timeline indicates."

"Yes Lord Vader," he stood to attention.

"I'm heading out in my personal ship. Alert my crewmen and tell them to be ready for takeoff immediately."

"Yes Lord Vader."

He turned and strode out of the room, his long black cape billowing behind his thudding footsteps. For the first time in a long while, his curiosity was piqued and the thrill of the hunt surged through him. Whoever was out there would be found, and he would bring them before the Emperor.