Title: Hidden Shadows Seeking Light

Rating: I wish I knew. I am putting it at PG-13 just because I don't know any better and would rather err on the safe side.

Genre: Drama/Mild Angst

Feedback: I would love to get feedback on this story. I would appreciate it if everyone would put down their flame throwers though because this is only my second time out and I know I made mistakes on the first story and have no doubt I will make many on this one. I need constructive criticism so that I will get better not mean comments that will only serve to make me cry. I thank each and every one of the readers who take the time to review this story. I love fan fiction and hope to write stories that can entertain others as much as their stories have entertained me.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. They are, were and will always belong to Mr. George Lucas creator of an amazing universe. Not only does this story contain elements of the universe that Mr. Lucas created but also the Alternate Universe (AU) found in a wonderful story called An Untimely Frost by CYNICAL21.

Just to a little guide as to what things mean:

/-/ Bond thought //-// Private thought "-" Speaking aloud

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He sensed her before he actually saw her. Saischel. He watched her as she gracefully moved towards him. He smiled and she returned it in her soft and loving way. He found himself struck speechless by her beauty and mourned yet again the loss of the life that they were to have shared.

As she drew nearer their natural connection took over and he found himself holding her instinctively as he drew her lips against his own. They were as soft as he remembered and he allowed himself to linger there for a moment longer before pulling away.

Looking into her soft rain gray eyes he was relieved to know that she had come for him.

"So we finally have our eternity." He whispered gently pulling her back to his body. She sighed and laid her head upon his shoulder enjoying the sensation of being so near to him.

"Not yet my Love." She admitted. She felt his body stiffen as he pulled away slightly to looking into her eyes once more.

"Not yet?' He asked his voice a mixture of confusion and regret. She raised her fingers to his lips and traced the perfection of them as she shook her head.

"I've not come to take you with me my Love. I've come to tell you that you must return to the others." There was a vulnerability in her voice but also a strength. He marveled that two opposing characteristics could be embodied so perfectly in this woman resting in his arms. She fit so perfectly against him. It was obvious that they were indeed made for one another. He felt peaceful here standing with her. He felt a rightness to it that he only felt when they were together. There was a momentary twinge of guilt that crept up into his heart and he realized that she had sensed it before he could even begin to explain the reason for its existence.

"I know about her." She smiled a playful glint in her eyes. "She is very lovely." Obi-Wan nodded but said nothing. There was nothing for him to say. How could he begin to beg Saischel's forgiveness? The woman's musical laughter filled the air as he furrowed his brow in deeper confusion.

"There is nothing to forgive my Obi-Wan. Did you expect that I would want you to spend your life alone? Would you think me that selfish to deny some special woman the pleasure of your love and devotion?" She smiled as if he were the silliest man in the universe.

"I don't -" He shook his head trying to express what was in his heart. "I would never hurt you." He lowered his hands from her hips and began drawing them forward he found her hands. Bringing them both up to his lips he pressed tender kisses to her palms.

"I know that Obi-Wan. I know YOU." She whispered watching how lovingly he adored her. She felt her eyes fill with unshed tears feeling both his pain and her own. "You've so much love to give. " He lowered her hands and wrapped his arms around her small waist pulling her back against his body once more.

"I love you Saischel." He whispered against her lips before kissing her passionately. She met his fire with her own spark and quickly what started as smoke blazed into pure heat. They both pulled back breathlessly wanting more but knowing there was no time.

"Still trying to cram an eternity into an hour I see." She teased and he laughed still working to bring his breathing back under control. He watched as she grew serious bringing both hands up to cup his face. "You must return to her." She stated firmly. "You must return to your destiny. You know now who you are." She smiled.

"It isn't who I am. It's nothing to do with me at all. It's a mistake. It has to be mistake." He turned from her and stepped away. She followed laying her hands upon her shoulders.

"It is no mistake. You are strong in the Unifying Force. You sense the difference in yourself. It has always been there, but now you see that instead of your difference making you less, it's obvious that it is what makes you so much more." He sighed and shook his head denying her words. She rubbed her hands down his arms pressing her body into his back enjoying the heat she felt through his tunic. She had longed for this contact for six long years. She had held on to the brief beautiful moments that they had shared in Haven but discovered that instead of satisfying her for the remainder of their time apart those moments served only to awaken her appetite. Now she felt an ache in her body as it craved to be with the mate the universe had selected for her and her alone. She ached for this man, to be completed by him, to stand by his side, to bear his children and share both his joys and sorrows. It was a lost dream or at best one placed indefinitely on hold. She would have to be satisfied with watching over and protecting him until his time to pass into her dimension finally came.

"I want to go with you. I've missed you so much. Its an ache--" He stated sorrow in his voice. She turned her full attention to his voice and sank into its melodious note. He couldn't explain it even when he was with other women they never completed him like Saischel. He cared for them even loved them but something was different. He pushed those thoughts aside thinking back over the six years that they had been apart. "I've made a quite a mess of things." He considered for a moment the loss of Sidious as well as his failure with Adi.

Saischel cocked her head to the side as she allowed their natural connection to reveal what his great sadness entailed.

"Obi-Wan." Her voice was soft and soothing. He turned and considered her his green eyes bright with unshed tears. "You must stop him. He is after a part of you now that even you are not aware exists." He furrowed his brow as her words trying to understand. There was an urgency in her tone that he had never heard before.

"Saischel?" He asked moving toward her and taking her into his arms once more. "What is it?" He asked lifting her chin so that he could look into her beautiful eyes.

"I'm not sure and yet I know that this is true. You must go back. You must stop him. She won't go with you, but you must go." Her voice sounded distant as if looking toward a horizon that was beyond his view.

"She?" He questioned.

"Your Adi." She smiled.

"Saischel, I don't know what to say." He fumbled then swallowed hard. "I failed her as well." He sighed sadly.

"Your Master, he certainly taught you to feel guilt and regret, but this is needless my Love." She smiled. "For you did not fail her. Even now she is fighting back so that she can be with you once more." Obi-Wan's eyebrows rose as he considered the lovely woman's words.

"How can that be? I felt when she died. She disappeared from me in an instant." Saischel once again brought her fingers to his lips and laid them gently across his mouth to silence him.

"She lives. Even now if you open yourself to them you will hear the voices of your Master and the Healer crying to you in the darkness confirming that which I have already told you." Obi-Wan smiled in relief as he opened his mind and reach out further. He did hear their voices. Qui-Gon's steady thrumming through the bond and Mira's motherly command in his ear. He laughed out loud and hugged his mate to him lifting her from the ground and spinning her in the air. Her delight joined his as they both shared the moment. He felt a heavy weight had been lifted.

"She's alive." He cried out in pure joy.

"Yes." Saischel joined him. "And she will be waking soon." His expression grew thoughtful at her words.

"How did you know if you didn't come to get me? How did you know that I was-"

"Wandering?" She finished his thought and he nodded. "I'm never far from you my beloved one. Though you never see me, I am here with you always. Your guardian and protector, forever until the moment when I do finally come for you." The longing in her voice caused his own throat to tighten. "I am always here loving you my Obi-Wan." She whispered.

"I long for day we are together for I know that you are a part of my heart that no one else can touch." He admitted and she knew it was the truth.

"Until then you must live well. You must love well. You must fulfill destiny's call." She pulled away as they continued to hold one another's hands. "Now I must return, as must you." She announced. She watched the disappointment shadow his strong handsome face.

"You've many years until I come for you, but time like all good things, passes quickly." She reminded. "And before you know it we will be together for always through eternity." He nodded knowing the woman's words were true. Her words comforted him and lifted a bit of his longing.

"I can't wait but I will." He smiled at her reluctantly releasing her hand as she turned to walk away into the fog that had now begun to lift. She was just starting to disappear in the misty clouds when she turned one last time.

"Don't forget to tell Adi that she can only have you for your mortal life. The rest of your time belongs to me." She lifted her hand and reached for him as she stepped back into the nothingness and disappeared.

Obi-Wan wasn't sure how long he remained unmoving, his eyes still locked on the place where he had last seen his love. He missed her. He missed the way she felt in his arms. He longed for the way their bodies melded together all those years ago. He knew that their time would come but it didn't ease the ache that was now in his heart.

Turning away from the spot he headed back into his life, to the people who were calling to him, to the woman he now knew was not dead but alive. He felt his spirits buoyed by that information as he cried out once more in relief and joy. Sidious had escaped but Adi was alive.

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Mace woke and looked around the room feeling exposed and irritated by the medical equipment enabling him to remain suspended in the bacta. He wanted to cough. The urge was growing stronger by the moment as he watched a healer enter the room. He tried to lift his arm to tap on the glass in order to get the woman's attention but found that his arm was also being held in a medical restraint. He could see where a recent burn was almost completely healed.

The young Healer moved to the dials at the bottom of his tank and reset a couple of the controls. It was then that he heard the mechanism moving above his head. It lowered through the thick sticky liquid attaching to the brace that was surrounding his trunk. He heard the hiss as the other restraints released and he was floating free in the healing gel.

He heard the sound of the substance being drained from the tank and watched as the level of the liquid dissipated. He wondered what would happen when it was below the level needed to keep him suspended. His question was answered as he felt the gentle pressure of the piece of equipment over his head as it held him in place. He soon realized that the tank itself was beginning to rotate downward so that soon he would be lying horizontal in the room.

Once the tank had completed its rotation and the bacta had been successful removed he heard the top of the tank hiss open and felt his body being inched gently yet consistently from the confines of the structure.

He was amazed at the ease of his transition. The Healers moved with deft precision as they dried his body and inspected his scars, he was soon dressed in a loose tunic and safely tucked in his private room.

"So how are you feeling?" Maraji asked as he entered the room smiling brightly.

"Like I need a shower but I can wait." Mace replied. "How bad were my injuries?" He asked.

"Severe but you are healing nicely. You are now of course out of danger but had the Knights not brought you to the wing immediately the outcome would have been very different. It was then that Mace began remembering what had caused his injuries.

"Adi!" He cried near panic in his voice.

"She is in a tank. She suffered far more extensive injuries that you, but it appears that we were able to get her into a tank in time. " He smiled as he considered the remarkable way that Master Gallia was healing. "She had the advantage of a certain Knight stabilizing her until she could reach us. Mira was also there to aid her on site, so the Force was definitely with her." Mace nodded laying his head back in relief.

"Obi-Wan, he is here? He is safe?" He asked expecting a positive reply.

"He is here." Maraji replied ignoring the rest of the man's inquiry. "You must rest." He smiled and laid a hand on the Master's arm to reassure him. Mace wasn't buying it but he was just too exhausted to fight off sleep any longer. He didn't remember closing his eyes as he drifted off immediately into a dreamless sleep.

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Yoda felt the shift in the Temple's disposition. It concerned him that there was so much fear and unease within the walls of his home. He had dwelt in the Temple for hundreds of years and he refused to allow the dark side to take hold of all that he had held precious in his life. He had devoted himself to serving the light years before most of the Knights and Masters currently occupying the Temple were even born. He stared up the path hoping that Anakin and Pratell would return soon.

As if hearing the old Master's thoughts Yoda caught sight of the blonde head amongst the various bushes along the path and soon found himself watching Anakin and the young Twi'lek moving towards him. He noted the increase in their pace and felt the apprehension coming from the Padawan.

"Sense it you have?" Yoda asked considering the boy.

"Yes Master Yoda. There is such-" Anakin began.

"Fear." Pratell finished for him. Both Yoda and Anakin turned and considered her for moment. "Trust me if I learned anything from my Master it was to sense and feel fear." There was sorrow in her voice that struck both the Master and the young boy causing them both to feel a deep sympathy for the woman.

"Move to my quarters we must." Yoda announced.

"Will we be able to get Pratell there safely?" Anakin asked as they began heading out of the Healer's meditation garden.

"Get her there we will." Yoda declared. "Still a Temple of the light this is. Always it must be." He stated as he reached out seeking the quickest and least populated route. He realized that it was imperative that a meeting be called by the Council and quickly. The students and Masters needed to be brought together to alleviate the apprehension as well as to explain all that had transpired in the last 24 hours.

Considering all that had occurred he found himself dwelling once more on his Padawan. He had sensed the young Knight the moment he had entered the Healer's Wing. It had taken all the will power that the old master had developed over the last four hundred years not to seek him out sooner. Now that they were returning to the treatment area, he had no intention of leaving the Wing without checking on Obi-Wan's progress.

Yoda reached out and found his Padawan in a nearby examination room. He stopped and indicated that Anakin and Pratell should follow him. They did so keeping close to the Master as he entered the room.

It was there that they found Qui-Gon Jinn and Mirilent Soljan sitting next to a bed where Obi-Wan Kenobi lay. His body was still and his eyes were closed. He looked pale and exhausted. Anakin wondered how deeply the Knight must be sleeping to not be awakened by the Healer who was whispering something directly into his ear.

He watched as his own Master continued to keep his eyes closed. He wanted to run to Qui-Gon and throw his arms around the man. He was glad to see him once more. He was so relieved to know that he was back safely from rescuing Obi-Wan. He wanted to tell the man that his mother was on her way and that he had just made friends with the young Twi'lek standing next to him. He wanted to share that he no longer reached for the darkness and that the Knight laying before him had saved him from the clutches of the dark lord. He wanted to see pride shine in his Master's eyes. It felt like forever since he had seen it there.

Yoda placed his hand on the boy's arm indicating that he needed the boy to remain where he was as he continued to move forward. Closing his eyes he reached for his padawan's mind. He sensed another presence along side the young Knight's and cocked his head to the side as he tried to discern the presence. Obi-Wan was not alone, but who could it be in his mind now?

It was Qui-Gon's voice that answered his question.

"It is Saischel. The woman that was to be his life mate." Yoda had heard the story. The tragic fate that the woman from Obi-Wan's home planet had suffered. Her only crime had been that she was destined for the young Knight. What should have secured her a life filled with joy, love and happiness had instead brought her pain, suffering and ultimately death.

Even though Obi-Wan had never known of her pain until she had already passed into the other dimension, that had not spared him from feeling it. Once he had learned of her torturous end, the Knight had been heartbroken as one grieving in innocence yet covered in guilt. He had blamed himself for her being targeted. He had never forgiven himself for the role he had played in her demise though he had nothing to do with it. Yoda had sensed the depth of the young man's grief though he hid it well. Obi-Wan had learned early on how to hide his pain for his Master.

Yoda wondered now if the woman was encouraging Obi-Wan to return to that dimension with her or trying to convince the young man to return to his life. Only time would tell. Yoda could feel the desperation in the other Master and moved to comfort his old padawan.

"He won't respond." Qui-Gon sighed aloud.

"Patience and trust Qui-Gon. Patience and trust." Yoda stated reaching out to send a wave of adoration toward the Knight. He watched as the man's expression shifted slightly. He realized then that the Knight had received his encouragement and felt certain that he would be returning.

Moving back to where Anakin and Pratell were waiting. He heard the gasp come from Mira and knew that Obi-Wan must have chosen that moment to open his eyes. Lowering the light Yoda turned back and found his Padawan in the arms of a relieved Healer.

"Nice to have you back." Qui-Gon said softly the affection evident in his tone. Anakin felt an instant twinge of jealousy. It was then that Obi- Wan's gaze shifted to the boy.

"Anakin. It is good to see that you are safe." Anakin smiled.

"Anakin." Qui-Gon cried as he moved to his padawan taking the boy into his arms. "I didn't sense you."

"You were busy." The boy mumbled trying to not let his feelings show.

"No excuse." Qui-Gon continued to embrace him trying to pour out some of the affection he had with held over the last year. "Pratell." The man bowed his head slightly in greetings to the Twi'lek. Pratell nodded in response.

"So you finally made it to the Temple." Obi-Wan commented causing Pratell to nod and smirk. She owed this man a lot. She owed him her freedom and her chance to put the darkness behind her.

"Better late than never." She admitted.

"I know exactly what you mean." Anakin agreed.

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If you haven't read Untimely Frost, the story this is based on, then you don't know Saischel. She is another of Cynical21 wonderful characters. I hope I did her justice because I just love this character and what she has to offer Obi-Wan. Well my computer goes in the shop for a week and I just couldn't leave you guys hanging that long so I did two posts this week. Hope you guys are enjoying it. Next chapter will be the last. I am considering adding one more that will be the lead it to the sequel but then again I might just tack it on to the end of the next chapter. I will decide once I get my computer back. Thanks for reading.Jesse