CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

WHERE'S ANAKIN?

Padmé couldn't sleep. She hadn't seen or heard of Anakin in seven months. She and her family were back on Naboo because after some negotiations with the rebbel aliances, things were in good shape in the galaxy.

She got out of bed and walked out to the balcony, to watch the stars. This was already a rutine for her, she did this every night at the same hour, to see if she could find the planet where Anakin was.

People were starting to think that all the Jedi in Hiliers were dead, because the whole system was erased from the maps. The council was very concerned about the whole situation, and they had already started to make the funerals for all the Jedi missing. But every time they brought up that Anakin might be dead and that it was time to make his funeral, Padmé or anyone who belonged to the Skywalker family would deny it, saying that Anakin was still alive. But the children were starting to loose hope, just like the Jedi. Except for Shmi, she knew that her father was alive. Somehow, she felt him through the Force.

Padmé couldn't take the situation anymore. So many times she went to find him, but always something happened. There was always something holding her back from her husband. Now, the only thing she had left was hope, and if it weren't for Shmi she would be alone in that. Suddenly, she heard a beep coming from her room. She walked inside and saw R2 going crazy, as if he had something very important to say.

"What is it, R2?", she asked. R2 answered with more beeps and light flashes. "3PO, come over here, I need your help!", she called. 3PO came as fast as he could into the room.

"Yes, m'lady Padmé?", he said.

"Please translate what R2 is trying to tell me", she said.

"Well of course, m'lady. What is it, R2?", he asked. R2 beeped several times, impaciently. "Oh, thank you R2". 3PO turned to Padmé, who had a big question mark on her face. "He says that he's recieving a weak signal, perhaps four months old. The message is from master Anakin". Padmé almost passed out, but her curiousity defeated her impression.

"Show it to me inmediatly, R2", she commanded. R2 played the message. It was hard to tell where Anakin was when he recorded it, because there were rocks falling everywhere and blaster shots that didn't allow to hear what he was trying to say. Besides, it was a weak signal and it cut off from time to time. You could barely see Anakin, but you could tell that he was wearing a beard now and that he was dirty. His arm didn't look any good either, every now and then, little electric sparks could be seen in his elbow and wrist.

"..mé, th...goin...destroy...", he said, but it blured out.

"What? Destroy what?", Padmé yelled hysterical.

"...Hiliers... must... leave. I'm taking... sick Jedi... ith me. There's a strange virus...the Sith brought. I'll...eep... promise...I'll be in...." were the last words he said before the image faded. Padmé's eyes widened. She started to hit R2 on the sides.

"Where, where? R2, where is he?", she yelled. Suddenly, the lights turned on.

"Mommy?... What is it?", Shmi asked rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Shmi, I recieved an old message from Anakin!", she said excited. This news made Shmi forget how sleepy she was. She ran towards her mother and wrapped her arms around her.

"Daddy? You mean... he's alive?", she asked almost in tears. Padmé nodded.

"Yes, I know that he's alive. These prooves that he fought for his life. R2, play the message again", she asked. The droid did so, and Shmi smiled when she saw her father in the hologram.

"He said that he was taking another Jedi with him. That's so like him...", she said trying to smile. "Mommy, I think that he's alive too. I KNOW that he's alive. Now I feel him stronger than ever", she said, a little glow in her brown eyes.

"Thank you, Shmi. I'm going to need your strength now that everyone is loosing hope".

"I'll never loose hope, mommy", she said in a very comforting tone.

"Me neither", Padmé said.

But it seemed that Padmé wasn't too sure about what she said. A couple of months passed, and she was loosing hope. The next weekend, it would be a year since Anakin's departure to his mission, and there was no sign of him. After recieving the message Padmé organized searching teams to go to every planet close to the Hiliers system (or to what was left of it) to find Anakin or any Jedi left. But the results were never the ones the Skywalkers expected. They had found other Jedi that were asigned to the same mission as Anakin, but when they asked them about him, they all gave the same answer: they haven't seen or heard of him since the Hiliers system was destroyed.

The only person that was still with high hopes that Anakin was alive, was Shmi. Somehow she and Anakin had a stronger bond than the one he had with Padmé. Maybe it was because none of them had a biological father and they were both concieved by midichlorians. It was more of a Force bond than a family bond.

Padmé was sad for her little girl, whom every night would stand in the hangar to wait for her father's ship to arrive. Padmé thought that this would only bring more pain to Shmi's heart, but it wasn't that way. She was so convinced that Anakin was alive, that every morning she sent messages to him, encouraging him to continue the long journey home. She was certain that Anakin was alive, and nobody could change her mind about that, not even her mother.

They were three days away from Anakin's departure aniversary. It got harder and harder each minute they got closer to the terrible day. Luke came for a visit that week to join his family in the hard moments they were going through. That way, Padmé could build strength through her children's support.

That day, the whole family was having lunch outside in the terrace, just like Anakin loved to. They were all there, even Han, who became something like a fifth child to Padmé. He had been great with them, always fixing things and trying to be useful. Now that Anakin wasn't around anymore, it was good to have someone to do the tasks he always did. Though it was better to have him there. Suddenly, Shmi stood up from the table and ran towards the garden very excited.

"What got into her?", Leia asked with a smile. Padmé realized what her daughter was doing. Padmé stood up in a jump and ran towards the direction Shmi went.

"ANAKIN!", she shouted. She turned on a corner and saw Shmi hugging a very worn out Anakin, who was kneeling before her to be at her same level. Anakin raised his head and saw Padmé. The way the tears welled up in her eyes made him smile. Padmé smiled back and ran towards him, she knelt in front of him and hugged him. Shmi moved a side to let her parents have some space, really happy to.

"I told you we would see each other again", he said smiling. Padmé laughed and kissed him.

"I know. You kept your promise, Ani", she said crying out of happyness.

The rest of the family appeared from the corner and their jaws fell when they saw their parents hugging. Anakin saw them and stood up so that everyone could have room to hug him. And they all did.

"Daddy!", Leia yelled as she wrapped her arms around her father. All the family was hugging Anakin, except for Kobby.

"Where's Kobby?", Anakin asked curious. For an answer, he got a big scream coming from the same corner the rest of the family came.

"Hey! Where were you, little guy?", Anakin asked with a smile.

"It's not fair, my legs are shorter!", he answered. They all laughed and moved a side to let Kobby hug his father. "Daddy!", he yelled as he jumped to his arms. Kobby wrapped his arms around Anakin's neck and his legs around his waist tightly, never wanting to let him go. But he changed his mind when he smelled his father. "Daddy, I really love you, but you stink!". They all laughed and Anakin nodded.

"Gee, thanks Kobby. I'm happy to see you too", he said smiling. "I haven't take a shower in so long... I better go and fresh up a little bit".

"But Ani, your arm...", Padmé said a little worried.

"No, it's alright. Somebody fixed it for me", he said moving his arm with no problem at all.

"Really, who?", Padmé asked curious. Anakin smiled.

"I'll tell you when I'm ready. Now let's go inside the house".

"Alright, stinky", Padmé said.

A couple of hours later, the whole family was in Anakin's and Padmé's bedroom listening to Anakin's stories and explanations. Luke and Leia were sitting on the floor in front of him, Shmi was in the couch next to his, Kobby was sitting right beside him and Padmé was on his lap, like a baby with her arms around his neck. She didn't want to let him go, not again.

"So when you recieved that message the planet was about to be destroyed, apparently by the Sith themselves", he said raising a brow.

"That's odd...", Leia said. Luke answered her.

"Not at all, sis. As master Yoda says, 'the dark side clouds everything', and it's the same hatred that leads them to self distruction. They are able to sacrifice their own men to win a battle", he explained. Anakin smiled really proud of his son.

"That's right, Luke. There were not many survivors, just me and other five Jedi. Three of them were injured, so we had to take them to the nearest planet. We stayed there for a couple of months until they recovered and then we continued. It was a slow and long journey..."

"Tell me about it...", Padmé muttered. Anakin kissed her temple and continued.

"We had no credits or anything valuable to exchange to get a good ship, so we just took what we could afford. We had to give up our belts and clothes, but we kept our light sabers. The ship we bought was slow and had no hyperdrive, so we had to stop in each system we reached for food and supplies. In one particular planet, Farol, we met a tribe that helped us a lot. It was there were they fixed my arm. Though they were a tribe, they had very advanced machines".

"If they were so advanced, how come they didn't have a communication device somewhere?", Shmi asked.

"They like to keep no contact with the outer world, they don't like strangers, but they took us in. It was weird. But well, here I am. Home at last...", he said with a sigh. Kobby grabbed his right hand, but Anakin released form his grip, still afraid of hurting his children with that fake hand. Kobby smiled while he grabbed it again. He climbed to his lap, sitting right next to Padmé.

"I missed you, daddy", he said while he wraped his little arms around him. Anakin did the same thing.

"I missed you too, Kobby. I missed you all, in fact", he said trying to smile.

Later that night...

Padmé and Anakin were lying on bed cuddled. They were just smiling and holding each other. The silence was nice, but Anakin was about to break it with sme news he had for Padmé.

"Padmé, I made a decision", he said in a hard tone. Padmé turned her head to look at him.

"What decision, Ani?", she asked in a soft tone. Anakin smiled at her and kissed her. Padmé smiled and asked him again: "Ani, tell me". Anakin gave her a determined answer.

"I'm leaving the order".