"Master, everything's been checked and we're ready to take off at your command," Caleb said, emerging from one of the cabins on the Ghost.
The young man had decided to stay and aid the growing alliance forces, something which Obi-Wan was immensely grateful for. The small team assembled to rescue Luke and Leia benefitted greatly from another Jedi.
"Good, hopefully it won't be long now," Obi-Wan smiled, patting his shoulder as he went into the cockpit.
The Twi'lek Captain Syndulla, or Hera, as she liked to be called, was in the pilot's seat, triple checking all the feedback sensors for the status of the fuel reserves and deflector shields. Sabé was sitting beside her in the co-pilot's chair, cleaning her blaster thoroughly even though it was already gleaming. R2-D2 and Hera's own feisty astromech, Chopper, had been quarrelling but had now settled down into a companionable silence, waiting on orders that Obi-Wan couldn't give just yet.
Qui-Gon had visited him last night, and was quite adamant he didn't leave until a certain someone arrived in the morning. Being cryptic, he wouldn't reveal who it was that would be joining him, only that they were vital to the mission's success. And so, to his great impatience and the impatience of everyone else involved in the rescue operation, they had to cool their heels and wait.
"Did Caleb tell you we're good to go?" Hera said, looking over her shoulder.
"Yes, thank you. I'm going to speak to Master Yoda now. I can feel the Force is telling me our guest will be arriving very soon."
"We'll be here."
Obi-Wan left the ship and headed back outside into bright morning light. The yard was busy as usual, but he could easily tell where the Jedi Grand Master was, and found him sitting with General Dodonna in the operations building.
"Master, any update?"
Being more in tune with the Force than any other living being, save perhaps for Darth Sidious, the little green Jedi had a superior sense of the location of the arriving guest. However, there was no news yet and Obi-Wan went to run a hand through his beard in frustration, only to remember he'd trimmed it off the night previous. In anticipation of being caught on the academy's security recordings, he'd tried to look a little different.
Before he could reply to his friend, they both got a sudden sense of something approaching. Whoever it was, their shields were up, and Obi-Wan couldn't work out who or what it was.
"They're getting closer," he stated, looking at Master Yoda.
"Can you tell who it is?" General Dodonna asked, curious.
"Ah, recognise him now, I do!" the nine-hundred-year-old started to chuckle to himself.
Obi-Wan looked expectantly at Yoda. "Who is it, Master?"
"See for yourself, you will!"
Walking quickly back outside, Obi-Wan scanned the crowd, trying to pinpoint the newcomer.
Like parting the sea, a figure appeared from the trees, and gradually the rebels working in the yard stopped their activities, murmuring in amazement to watch as a hero of the Galactic Republic long thought dead entered their midst.
Obi-Wan couldn't believe his eyes. Another figure from his past had come back. His whole body went still with shock. A member of the High Council, alive! Now he understood why Qui-Gon had been so adamant. With Mace at his side, they would be an unstoppable team for the mission.
The tall, striking man headed straight for him with a confidence and power in his step that had only increased with age. Aside from a few extra lines about his face and a mechanical hand, he looked very much the same revered man whom he remembered from his years at the temple.
"Master Windu?"
The Jedi gripped his forearm as a way of greeting, a smile on his lips. "Master Kenobi. Why are you dressed like a farmer?"
Obi-Wan was surprised to see a great depth of joy in his eyes. In the past, Mace had been one of his closest friends on the council, but even then, the man had been reserved in any open display of emotion.
He chuckled. "It's a long story."
"Another Jedi, we have found," Master Yoda said, coming to stand beside Obi-Wan.
Mace Windu's face softened even further at seeing his old friend. "Grand Master Yoda. It is so good to see you alive and well."
"So relieved am I, to see you."
"You have Master Qui-Gon's Force ghost to thank for my appearance. He was adamant that I came out of hiding on Corellia and gave me instructions to come to Dantooine. He informed me that Master Kenobi needed my help in an urgent rescue mission. Something about two children?"
Mace gave Obi-Wan a look and he wondered how much Qui-Gon had revealed. Would Master Windu really want to help Anakin's children?
"Come. Inform you we will, of our plans," Yoda said, turning back to the building and beckoning him inside.
Enjoying some tea and hot cakes, Mace was reacquainted with a variety of familiar faces, including Caleb, and was introduced to many new ones. After the joy of being reunited had subsided, the Jedi discussed their plan to extract the children from the highly guarded imperial academy.
"It will be a dangerous mission Master Windu, are you sure you're ready to depart straight away?" Obi-Wan asked.
Mace looked over all the equipment and screens and nodded. "Yes, I've been out of this fight for a long time. It's time to set things right. Qui-Gon revealed the whole truth to me, and explained that you raised those children as your own, Obi-Wan. I want to help you get them back."
Obi-Wan felt relieved and nodded, grateful for his friend's support.
"May the Force be with you all," Yoda said with a wizened smile.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu and Caleb Dume headed back out into the yard towards the Ghost. A long-forgotten rush of anticipation filled Obi-Wan's veins at the prospect of going on a Jedi mission for the first time in almost a decade.
"Just like old times," Mace said, reading his thoughts.
Entering the cockpit, Mace was introduced to the rest of the crew, and they started the take-off cycle. Lifting up into the sky and into the atmosphere, Hera set their co-ordinates, and the Ghost jumped into hyperspace.
ooooo
Glittering lines of traffic moved in steady streams through the dusky sunset sky like ripples of water. It was hypnotic not just for her, but for the week-old baby in her arms who absorbed the sounds, smells and colours of her new world curiously.
Padmé stood on the sun-soaked balcony of her room at the temple and talked to her daughter who was nestled against her chest, pointing out the golden buildings and the orange clouds even though she couldn't understand. After a while Padmé noticed that she'd fallen asleep, and so instead she rocked her slightly, humming to herself and remembering the countless times she'd done the same for the twins during the rocky beginnings of their life on Bakura.
It was strange how quickly her new-born parenting skills had returned. She wondered how Obi-Wan would be coping if they were together. As a parent, he was exceedingly talented and patient, more so than her. Her mind wandered to Luke and Leia, and she imagined how they would be asking to help out if they were with her, probably wanting to hold the baby and play with her, even though June was barely able to lift up her own head.
It would certainly be nice to get some more sleep or to have someone to help with changing diapers that wasn't TC-909, but no matter how exhausted and lonely she was, Padmé was still utterly relieved that she still had her baby safe and sound with her.
June had brought back a sense of control and purpose in her life. If she could do nothing else, at least she could raise her daughter to the best of her ability, so that when she and Obi-Wan were reunited, he would be able to hold a healthy and happy baby in his arms.
For now, her limited company existed of TC-909 who, despite his lack of warmth as a medical droid, was slowly growing on her. There was also Erv Lekauf who was stationed on this floor. Vader's aide kept an eye on her, and though she had talked to him a little bit, she didn't trust him more than she could throw him. The calls with Luke and Leia however, were enough to keep her sanity in place.
Vader himself had been to see her whenever his schedule allowed, and now that he had spared her daughter, she had lifted her silence as a way of thanks. It was clear he disliked the baby's presence, but nothing had happened to cause her alarm. In fact, since the day of the birth she'd noticed that he'd become calmer and more level headed, though what had caused this, she didn't know.
Padmé was by no means trusting of the Sith Lord, but she got the feeling now that he didn't want any harm to come to her or any of her three children. He hadn't even mentioned Obi-Wan in a while. The overhanging threat of Palpatine seemed to be his biggest concern now more than anything else.
Ruminating on these thoughts and what her and Junie's future would be, she looked out with concerned eyes on the golden hour Coruscant vista. As she stared at the sunset and the lines of traffic, she felt a strangely familiar sense of anticipation and dread in her stomach. Like nine years previous on the night of Anakin's death, the setting sun had an eerie glow to it, as if the fate of someone, or the galaxy as a whole was about to change irrevocably. Concerned, she looked to the distance at the Senate building where Vader currently was.
There was something hanging in the air, she could feel it.
Something was going to happen tonight.
ooooo
Vader got back late from the Senate that night after dealing with more troublesome politicians. He hated the bureaucracy involved in running the empire, preferring direct action over endless committee talks. Feeling exhausted by the time he returned to his suite, he stopped briefly outside Padmé's room. Stretching out, he felt that she and her baby were safe and asleep. The agonising screams he'd heard during the birth still echoed in his head. Flashes of that vision still haunted him…but for now, she was safe and well. The Emperor hadn't harmed her, that was what mattered.
Their argument was still following him, and her words were no easier to push aside than her screams. Everything she'd said cut him deeply, and the voice inside of him betrayed his own sense of self with agreeing with her.
Shaking his head at his increasing ambivalence, he continued on past her guards and went into his room. Before entering his hyperbaric chamber, he saw that a parcel had been left on his desk. Intrigued, he unwrapped it and stared incredulously at the glitter covered statue in his gloved hand.
Never in all his days had he received something so bizarre. Was this some kind of practical joke?
He checked the attached note and saw it was from Luke. His son was thanking him for his advice, and wrote that it had helped him stand up to a bully.
Turning it this way and that, he looked at the boy's attempt at capturing the Emperor's likeness in clay form. It looked more like a mad sorcerer than anything else, with a wonky face, dots for eyes and huge big clomping shoes. For several moments he simply stared at it.
Once he overcame his shock that Luke had made him a present, he realised that no one had given him a gift devoid of political motives since he became Vader. Though crudely made, it was pure and innocent, and he had no clue how he was meant to react or what to even do with it.
As a man of very few possessions, he decided to put it on his desk for now. Whether it would still be there in a few days was uncertain. Sentimentality made him uncomfortable, though he couldn't deny receiving a gift from his child made him feel…good.
His son's kindness increased his internal confusion and he frowned beneath his mask. Feeling strange, he went into his chamber, and after some time fell asleep.
Dancing colours and lights, a sense of the familiar. Luke, Leia?
Vader reached forward towards his children, and noticed his hands and body had been restored to pre-Mustafar flesh. He brought them to his head and felt hair. It felt natural, and it being a dream, he didn't think anything of it.
There were his twins, swinging their legs back and forth whilst they sat on a boulder by the edge of a shallow river, framed by swaying green trees.
"Daddy can we go to Theed soon to see grandma and grandpa?" Luke asked, looking up at him with a grin.
"Of course, where's your mother?" he said, walking closer and sitting beside them. He put his arm around Luke, feeling the lightness of his shoulder blades, and the material of his shirt with great detail.
"Down there!" he pointed.
Anakin looked towards the river's edge and there was his beautiful wife, dressed in a familiar blue satin nightgown. The water's reflections made her skin sparkle and her beauty took his breath away.
"Ani, are you ready to go to Theed?"
"Yes my love, let's go now," he got off the rock and walked down to her, taking the woman he loved into his arms and holding her as closely as he could. Pressing his face into her hair and feeling the weight of her in his embrace, she felt so real and so warm that he could've cried, though why he felt the need to, he didn't know. He saw her every day in this reality.
"Dad let's go!" Leia implored, tugging at his sleeve. She and Luke had followed him down the river bank and were getting impatient.
Anakin broke the embrace and smiled down at his daughter, picking the little girl up easily. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss against his cheek, giggling to herself. He smiled back at her, noticing the shape of her eyes and the way she looked at him with nothing but love.
"Alright, let's go, shall we get some lunch on the way there?"
"Yes!"
"Can we go to the park too?" Luke jumped up and down with excitement.
But before they could leave, another presence appeared nearby. Anakin saw Obi-Wan coming down the grassy river bank towards them, lightsaber in hand. His stance indicated he was about to duel.
"Obi-Wan?" he asked warily, tightening his hold on Leia.
"Let them go Anakin," he said, gesturing to his family. His old master's face was grim, as if something horrible was about to happen.
"Leave us alone," he replied, feeling angrier by the second. He wanted to go to Theed with his family, but now his old master was trying to ruin his plans.
"They're not safe with you anymore. I will take them now."
"I would never hurt them!"
But as he tried to hold Leia close and draw Luke and Padmé behind him to protect them, he realised they had vanished.
"No! Luke! Leia! Padmé!" he looked about helplessly in every direction, but they were gone, and the beautiful river had turned to boiling lava.
Anakin shuddered with rage when he felt his Force bond with his children turn cold. Their golden signatures faded and his mind became a hellscape once again, achingly desolate and bereaved. He knew they were alive, but Kenobi had hidden them somewhere too far away for him to sense.
"Why?!" he cried, looking up at the man he had once loved as a father and as a brother as he took away all he cared about.
"I'm sorry, you're too dangerous to be left alive…" Kenobi had somehow taken his lightsaber from him, and Anakin panicked, looking for a weapon.
Finding none, he suddenly found himself running as fast as he could, but in dream-like horror his legs were too slow, like he was moving through water. He looked down and saw they were turning to metal, causing him to stagger.
Trying to find his family in the forest that was quickly going up in smoke from the lava, he desperately searched for the twins and his angel, but Obi-Wan was rapidly catching up with him, and he couldn't move fast enough on his metal legs.
"Padmé! Padmé!"
The sky was darkening, like a volcano had erupted, and comets were falling, bursting into flame that engulfed the remaining green of the forest.
"Children, where are you?" he called frantically.
Feeling the heat of a blade he turned to see Obi-Wan with a sad expression on his face. To his shock, his old master pushed two blue blades through his chest beneath his ribs and pinned him to the volcanic floor.
"NO!" he screamed in agony, writing in pain from the fatal wound.
"I'm sorry Anakin, you left me no choice," he said, looking down at him.
He couldn't believe it, Obi-Wan would never kill him! He was too weak! But he had, and now he was going to die, and his family would never see him again. Padmé…Luke…Leia…
It felt so real, and his death so final that his eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright in the chamber's seat. The vision didn't fade immediately and he looked around, panic-stricken, only to realise where he was. Gasping for air as his heart hammered, he immediately pressed the button for his helmet to lower back onto his scarred head. He hadn't had such a vivid dream since before Order 66. It was a vision of the future, he was sure. Kenobi was going to take his family from him again and then, his old master was going to kill him.
Forgetting all about his plans to seek out rebels on Dorin, as soon as his helmet was secured, he exited the chamber, knowing he had to stop the vision from coming true. He glanced at Luke's statue before leaving, and quickened his pace to the hangar bay. He had to keep them safe.