Thanks, Athena. Well, I guess you, readers, have a bit more answers than Obi does, lol. And here's some more of Obi-Wan and his perplexing dreams :)

Thank you, Eleia Kenobi.

Thank you, ewan's girl. I hope you'll stay here to read the rest.

*********** **********

The Coruscanti street Obi-Wan saw brought a vague sense of slipping familiarity, and he frowned slightly in an effort to remember. Everything – his memory, his vision, his very thoughts – seemed to be obscured by a thin almost transparent veil of dream that dimmed his senses. It hadn't surprised him when the forest around him transformed into the cityscape. The ability to be surprised had apparently abandoned him some time ago, leaving just a phantom feeling of wrongness of such a transition. The memory, the recognition evaded him, staying at the tips of his fingers. He waved his palms slightly – it was hard to move as though he was submerged into a bowl of tar.

Gray street, gray buildings. Why did Coruscant have to be so dull? Especially considering its title.

One of the birds – he had all but forgotten about them – shifted on his shoulder with a faint chatter and shook its wings. Slowly he lifted his hand and brushed the bird's silky feathers. A ghostly smile graced his lips.

A young woman came out of the building, carrying a large bag in one hand and a child in another, and Obi-Wan's head snapped up, following her with his gaze. She was throwing brief wary glances every which way, obviously being on edge. The Force had not deserted Obi-Wan even here, and he could feel the rapid waves of nervousness and… fear, terror coming from the woman. And, as everything here, she seemed familiar to the Jedi.

Suddenly something ripped in the solid fabric of the dream, and recognition flared in his mind, bright as a nova. Tanarine! This was his mother. And the child … the child must have been him. That instant he knew what he was seeing: his mother's escape from Coruscant, escape from Sidious. The blue-eyed one-year-old who was sitting mutely in her arms turned his head and looked Obi-Wan straight in the eye. Electricity shot through the air, connecting the two. The older Obi-Wan – who had been fairly sure he was a mere observer, invisible to any of the participants – felt power burst through him in a surge.

Breaking the eye-contact the child averted his attention to his mother, who was trying unsuccessfully to open a parked midnight-blue speeder. The shaking of her hands didn't let her put the key-card into the slot properly. Obi-Wan heard her whispering curses under her breath. The child made a burbling sound, and she cradled him closer.

"Shhh," she whispered. "Please, be quiet, little one."

The child's tiny hand grasped a lock of her hair, entwining it between his miniature fingers, but he kept silent. The key-card finally slid into the slot, and Tanarine flung the door open hastily with an audible sigh of relief. She all but threw her bag inside, then carefully placed her son onto the seat and got herself into the speeder.

"It'll be all right," she said softly, trying to reassure herself more than her little companion, it appeared.

The engine came to life with sated grumbling, and half a minute later the speeder shot up into the skies, guided by strong hands of the fragile woman.

Obi-Wan's sight started to lose clarity around the edges, and he rubbed his eyes. The scene blurred, dissolving into a number of hazy colorful dancing spots. He blinked to clear his vision and saw that the stage had shifted to one of Coruscant's largest spaceports.

The huge multileveled building teemed with beings scurrying back and forth in endless currents. Obi-Wan looked around, searching for Tanarine with his eyes – just how had he known she would be here? Suddenly his gaze fell over her compact figure, seemingly bent under the weight of not only her burden, but her fear. She walked with a rapid step, constantly looking back, as if she was afraid of a pursuit. Of course she was afraid of it! Obi-Wan felt his fists clench: no matter if he was a Sith or not whom should he be that his own wife was afraid of him up to such degree? Tanarine bit her lips in impatience, pushing her way through the crowd. How did she manage to drag a bag, which obviously weighed quite a bit, and the child at the same time, Obi-Wan had no idea.

A Rodian stopped in her way, and she cried out faintly from unexpectedness. It seemed she suspected everyone that they were spying for Sidious. Who was he, after all? How had he managed to receive so much authority that his informants darted about absolutely everywhere?

It appeared the answer to this question was directly under his nose. If he could only recollect why the building, so hastily abandoned by Tanarine, seemed so familiar! But memory refused to serve, forcing him to wrinkle his forehead and to bite his lips – just as Tanarine did.

She had slipped past him, and again he had felt a magnetic look of the child. It seemed, the baby knew that he was here whereas nobody else noticed his presence. Having given in to a momentary impulse – or maybe, to a call of intuition – Obi-Wan went after the escaping woman.

She had already had time to buy tickets when he caught up with her. They embarked the transport together though to his frustration he could not even touch her. Now he felt like a phantom as they were described by various authors in a variety of books about life after death – though he had always considered ghosts the figments of imagination of excited mystics.

Tanarine found a seat in a corner, whether intuitively or intentionally having chosen a place with the best field of vision. The child had moved onto her lap, and she sang lullabies to him in a hushed voice, rocking him gently. The bag laid in the next seat. The ship's departure was declared in three minutes through intercom. Tanarine clung to a viewport as though looking for someone.

Obi-Wan stood inches away from her, towering over the sitting woman, and watched. He was content with simply watching her – at least watching, though he would give much to touch her, to talk to her. But her eyes were sliding over the crowd outside, alert, scared. She would not see him. She would never know…

He had a feeling – perhaps coming from his own desire for it to be that way – that it wasn't she in his dream, but rather he had been there during her escape. The feeling was irrational, absolutely baseless, yet he didn't let go of it – could not.

At last, the take-off was declared, and only then did Tanarine heave a barely audible sigh of relief. Absentmindedly she stroked the golden hair of her son.

"Now all will be good. Now he will not catch us," she whispered.

The child gurgled in an answer, and she smiled at him.

"No, no, he can't feel us. Even he can not. Even he… You and me, we are special – you are much more special than I am. But he can not, no. On my planet everyone has a gift: when we are far, we cannot be felt through this Force of his. He will never find us … we shall go far, far away. So far that even his long hands will not reach us, right?" She bent over the infant and tickled his nose gently.

Ah, so this was why he could not find her in the Force, even when she had still been alive, though he had easily found Owen and his father… Wait! Obi-Wan's innards grew cold, and his heart hammered uneasily in his chest. Slowly, cautiously he began to recollect. He had reached out to his father, thinking that it had been Parel. But it had been Sidious. It meant that cold he had felt then … If such coldness spread from him even at such distance how did one feel in his company?

And how could the Jedi overlook such powerful, overwhelming, chilling presence in the Force?

Contours of the passengers, talking carefree among themselves, smeared, and when the irritating fuzziness was gone Obi-Wan saw not the ship but a very familiar spaceport – in a second he recognized Nartala. Some time had obviously passed because Tanarine now wore different clothes, and both the child and the bag had exchanged places in her arms.

She looked back again. Obi-Wan's heart shrank – she would spend the rest of her life, constantly looking back, in unceasing fear.

Someone's salutatory exclamation suddenly rang out over the hubbub of crowd. Tanarine turned back sharply, Obi-Wan followed her with his eyes. A young man who seemed rather familiar to Obi-Wan was approaching them. What kind of dream was this where everything seems familiar, but he could recognize virtually nothing? The light bewilderment reflected on Tanarine's face, quickly replaced by surprise.

"Parel?!" She called out.

"Alionna! There you are! What are you doing here? I thought you've left for capital with that guy, what was his name… "

"I have…" Tanarine lowered her head.

"Then what are you doing here? Alone and with the child and things. "

"I… ran away. Parel, I don't want… I can't…" Despair twisted her features. It seemed, she was ready to break into tears.

Parel's simple and kind face expressed confusion.

"And where are you going?"

"Anywhere, just away. I have already bought the ticket to Corellia… my flight is 587-TH."

"Maybe, you would rather go with me?" Obi-Wan saw aspiration mixed with hopelessness on Parel's open face.

"With you?"

The man's face reddened, and he nodded. "I am going to start a farm on Tar Adnom. It is a small planet, I'm sure, no one will seek you there."

"I… I don't know…"

"Please." His pleading look could soften a stone, probably.

"All right. But do you agree to accept me and my child?"

The immense relief in his eyes was indescribable. "Absolutely! What a beautiful kid. What is his name? "

Tanarine hesitated for just a second. "Obi-Wan. His name is Obi-Wan."

Their voices merged in an unclear rumble as the stage changed yet again, leaving Obi-Wan slightly dizzy. He stared at a HoloNet report.

[i]Yesterday passenger transport flight number 587-TH, following from planet Nartala to Corellia, coming out of hyperspace came into collision with a cargo freighter, following from Corellia with a cargo of cylon. As a result of collision there was the powerful explosion, which has destroyed both ships. No survivals reported among crews of both ships and also among passengers.[/i]

Chilly, without any sentiments as though such a thing occurred each day. Wait, it was the flight Tanarine was going to take. Obi-Wan broke into cold sweat. If not for Parel she could have perished then … they both would have perished.

And Sidious… Sidious did not know. He had traced her to her native planet, that's for certain. And, of course, he knew that she had bought the ticket to that flight. He thought that his wife and son had died in the explosion.

And he still thought so now.

*********** ***********

After two hours, spent making grueling 'magic' as Anadel called it, the two women were relaxing on the artificially lighted terrace with cups of steaming, pleasantly aromatic tea in their hands. Nais leaned back in her chair wearily, watching bright tiny birds fly from flower to flower in the garden. So tireless, so innocent, so devoid of worries. How much she wanted to be like them! To be the careless little girl again.

But she was the girl who had made too many mistakes and was now paying for them.

"How do you feel?"

Nais' hematite eyes traveled to the woman in front of her, and she touched her head briefly. "Like I'm wearing a thick helmet or something like that. The head is heavy. And it feels like I'm not me anymore. Though who else can I be? And… well, it's like I'm all alone out of the blue. Not alone here, in this building but…" She fumbled for the right words and finding none looked at Anadel, lost. "Like I'm completely alone in the universe. Like… I don't know… Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. This is what I warned you of. It will pass."

"Will it?"

Anadel's eyes were so kind, so understanding. Suddenly ashamed, Nais lowered her head. How could she be so stupid? Why had she run away?

"No. But you will get used to it. I've blocked only a part of your mind so be careful. He can still see everything else."

"Well, I guess I have to go now," Nais said, standing up, avoiding looking at Anadel.

The older woman stood up as well. She put her hand on Nais' shoulder.

"Please, child, be careful. And good luck."

"Thank you. I will." She turned to the terrace entrance. "I will find the exit. Don't bother yourself."

At the door Nais paused, as though unsure, then turned around to throw the last look at the old witch. Anadel smiled. Without another glance Nais left the terrace and soon the dome altogether.

Scenes from her past stood before her eyes. She with her parents… Anadel telling her fairy tales… Her mother singing a lullaby… Swimming in the pool behind the house… Her running away…

Overpowered by memories Nais didn't notice how she got back to Coruscant.

She entered her apartment – the apartment Palpatine gave her – and there was he, waiting. The crystal smoke-colored veil of memories shattered, bringing the full weight of harsh reality onto her. His blue, ice-cold eyes watched her every movement as she walked inside.

"Where have you been?"

She looked at him carefully. He knew. He knew she had visited Anadel.

"You know I dislike it when you visit that witch."

Nais kept silent.

"And I dislike it even more," he leaned forward, and his eyes blazed with fire carefully controlled. But the fire he could easily liberate. "when you try to cheat me."

She barely managed to find her voice, "You mean the spy-droid?"

"Exactly."

"I-I was… I… I didn't…" ~Gods help me!~ she thought in despair.

"You will be punished for it," he stated.

Nais shivered. What would he do to her? At least he won't interrogate her further. It seemed the conversation was over for now.

But she was proved wrong immediately.

"Hmm…" Palpatine said, leaning back in his huge armchair. "Why did Iktar decided to kill Madis all of a sudden?"

Nais winced and clasped her fingers behind her back until it hurt. "How should I know?" she replied calmly – she hoped.

"Or rather," Palpatine continued, paying no attention to her words. "Why did you request he kill Madis?"

Blue hypnotic eyes stared straight into her soul, cold anger swirling in their depth. Nais went white. Palpable energy, coming from those eyes, coiled around her. She almost chocked.

"I… I…"

"Yes?" the Chancellor asked pleasantly, but the undertone held a ringing of doom.

"He… He got on my nerves… H-he wooed me. A-and I… I wanted to…"

Her tongue froze, her lips refused to move. Cold sticky sweat surged down her back, washed her forehead, stung her eyes. Sweat mixed with tears that welled in her eyes, blurring everything. No! She would not cry! Not before him!

"Hm." With a flick of his wrist the monster in human guise turned on a small holoprojector.

Nais' heart skipped a beat as her legs went weak. From the well-attuned holoprojection dead eyes of Iktar's head looked straight at her. The projection shifted, gaining range, and Nais clasped her mouth with both hands to hold in a wild scream. The head was lying on a table. Only the head as it was cut off from everything else. Dark, almost black blood covered the tabletop under the cleaved neck.

Palpatine studied the sight with a nearly bored expression.

"Not too impressive," he remarked. "Maybe you want to see it in person?"

Huge coal-black eyes leveled on him. He raised an eyebrow at her, but behind the almost casual gesture she saw a well of controlled fury – controlled until he decided to release it. And the object of that fury was she.

*********** ***********