Chapter 2

K429

"Hey Ricx, I found the hyper drive motivator. Any luck finding an alluvial dampener?" The Caretaker asked as he continued digging through the stacks of parts he had gathered together in the abandoned hanger bay. Ricx blatted a negative as he rolled over to the next pile.

All of a sudden there was a commotion over by the bay doors. When the Caretaker turned around he was shocked to find a tough looking humanoid male striding up to him as the parts that had been gathered by the door final settled. The Caretaker jumped when he saw the man who had snuck up on him. 'That has never happened before,' the Caretaker thought, 'No one has ever snuck up on me. I didn't even sense him when he entered the room and I still can't sense him.' The hair on the back of his neck bristled, "I don't like this." He mumbled to himself.

The Yuuzhen Vong warrior saw the saber hanging from the man's belt and stopped. If this man were one of the Jedi the man would have acted as soon as he had seen he wasn't alone, and if it was a Jedi the warrior knew he would need back up. He wasn't afraid to die in battle but unlike most he wasn't going to jump into death's jaws at the first opportunity. "I am looking for the young girl that had that weapon, that is hooked to your belt, in her possession. She stole one of our ships." 'Some of these people still feel protective of the Jedi. Maybe he will tell me what I need without a fight.' The warrior thought.

'She is a thief?' The Caretaker was thinking as he started answering the armed stranger. "Yes, I salvaged it from the ship before it blew." 'Why did I word it like that?'

"Then the thief is dead?"

"Where you come from do people salvage from a live persons ship?" The Caretaker asked as he again wondered why he worded his answer as he did.

The warrior looked at him funny when he said, 'where you come from.' "Have any others landed here recently?"

"No, this is the first time someone other than a droid has talked to me in over thirty years. If not for talking to the droids I would have probably forgotten how by now." From somewhere deep in his memory a voice from long ago rose up into his thoughts. 'Trust your instincts.' 'My instinct is to protect the girl, though I don't know why.' The Caretaker thought to himself. 'And I do know that I don't trust this man.'

"We are camping on the far side of the ridge. If you keep to yourself then once we have regrouped and re-supplied we will leave you as you were. I would also keep these tin abominations out of sight if I were you. Some with me would not be so lenient." The Warrior said menacingly as he started for the door.

"You might try the gray mushrooms with the pink spots, they are quite tasty." The Caretaker said as the warrior left. Once the man was gone Ricx timidly beeped something. "Yes Ricx, I remember. But the mushrooms aren't deadly... usually." The Caretaker closed his eyes. "Hurry, I fear that this place won't be safe long. Call all the droids in. I'm heading to the med. bay." He said as he left the old droid behind. Sprinting into the bay he started giving orders. "The girl must be pulled out of the bacta as soon as possible."

"It will take three more days for optimum results, Caretaker." The med droid answered.

"Then we will have to make do with less than optimum. Bring her out as soon as possible. Get her dressed and ready for travel. I'll need a med. pack prepped with everything I might need." The Caretaker said as he went over to one of the main computer access points. He started wiping the computer of any knowledge of who he was or the girl's presence or of the existence of the northeastern camp. 'I've never been snuck up on ever in my life. I don't trust anyone who could so totally cut themselves off from the Force, both themselves and their ships. Stolen? I can't believe she is nothing more than a common thief. I can see it in the heat of battle to save her life. A battle would explain the need to regroup. And I just can't ignore the urge to run.'

Emergency at the western camp. Be back in three days. Make yourselves at home. Was the message the Caretaker left.

The Caretaker he left the room to gather the things he would need. All the time trying to figure out what he was going to do. The only ships that could take him off his little world that no longer proved to be a sanctuary were either in pieces or enemy hands. When he finally returned to the med bay with his satchel he found the girl dressed and ready to go. Picking up the pad Jix had brought him he slid it in his bag of belongings.

"Once I leave lock down the med bay and deactivate." The Caretaker said as he easily picked up the girl blankets and all. All the droids by now had learned of the implied threat that had been given. They also knew that the Caretaker needed time to get away. That they had to continue as if nothing had changed.

As the Caretaker approached the four-person speeder waiting for them Ricx started the engines. Setting the girl in the passenger seat he gunned the engines and off they went. The Caretaker knew that the Vong would check the crash site and when they found no remains that they would be back. He was right. They arrived only minutes after their escape to the Northeastern camp. The Caretaker drove the speeder into the entrance of one of the vast honeycombs and past the natural cave parking out of sight.

"Jix, you and Ricx go out side and start removing all signs of habitation, while I get our guest settled in. I'll be out shortly to help." The Caretaker said as he carried the girl to one of the sleeping chambers that had been cut out of the stone. Laying her out on the bunk he checked her vitals. 'Why am I helping this girl? What is it about her? She's a stranger, a thief.' He thought to himself as he watched her sleep. 'She can't stand for herself or even plead her case. She is so small and young and fragile. She reminds me of another, but she wasn't fragile.' Feeling the weight on his belt he was reminded of what hung there. 'She is a Jedi.' The Caretaker thought as he started to leave. Then he heard the girl mumbling something as she slept. At first he couldn't make out what she was saying then he figured it out, it was two names, 'Anakin' and 'Jacen.' 'Why would she be calling out his name after all he did to the Jedi?' The Caretaker thought as he left.

o O o

Anakin still couldn't figure out how he got from Myrkyr to Tatooine, a few days ago. All he knew was he was here and he had to find a way to get back to his family. He hadn't been able to find any safe way to call them. He had tried to reach out to them through the Force, but his Force powers were exhausted. He'd spent the rest of the time finding the essentials: Food, Water and parts for a new Saber.

'First, I find myself half way across the galaxy from where I started. Now I find myself watching a lady walking through the streets of Mos Eisly. She seems familiar and like I should protect her. Whoever she is she's good, sitting down to eat and spotting me before she finished chewing her first bite. Most people might not have realized that she was scouting for a tail.' Anakin had learned a lot over the years, especially from his Aunt Mara and experience. He could tell she too was acting from experience, not head knowledge and was strong in the Force. She was so smooth he almost didn't notice when she spotted him. When Anakin saw that he became even more cautious in following her.

o O o

Padme stood and stretched looking around thinking to herself. 'You want to follow me fine. I have places to go and people to see. Time to check in.' Padme thought pulling her comm out of her pocket and called Sabe. "Sabe what are you up to?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Padme. I think I found all the things I was looking for, but I'm going to look a little longer before I head home. What about you, how is your shopping going?" Sabe asked.

"Good I guess. I found someone who might have one of the things I was looking for, but I won't know till I go back and check. That's my next stop. Other than that I've come up empty on my shopping list. I guess we'll have to move on to the next shopping spot tomorrow. Oh, I wanted to tell you that I did find something that I wasn't expecting to find. I guess we'll fill each other in tonight."

"Talk to you later Padme." Sabe said cutting the connection.

Padme put her com-unit up as she took one more careful look around. There was a commotion going on between her and the boys last known position and she took the opportunity to get away unseen. She moved quickly around the corner. Setting her bag down she pulled out a dark beige cloak. Once she had her pack back in place she slid the cloak over it and headed back the way she had come. She didn't see him but she no longer could be sure whether she was being followed.

When she got back to the shop it wasn't empty. There was a young couple looking at the small selection of rings on display. There was also a man in the back talking to the shop owner. The man seemed to grudgingly hand the guy something and stalk out of the shop. The owner walked toward her with a smile. Padme could tell that he was looking forward to finishing this deal. It was probably the biggest buy he'd ever make. He was getting a good deal and would probably make a tidy sum off their sale.

"Padme, you have excellent timing I just gathered the last of the money. Please come with me." Jakk said leading her back to the counter where he had examined her gems.

Padme pulled out the two gems left to be purchased. "May I see the credits?" He pulled a bag out from behind the counter and displayed it so she could see the contents. "And here are your crystals." Padme said as they exchanged items. "Did you find anything about the Lars family while I was gone?" She asked sliding the credits in her pack.

"I have some bad news. I called my Aunt in Anchorhead. She remembered what happened. Owen and Beru Lars were killed almost thirty years ago. She remembered something about a boy but not what happened to him. Most people wrote it off that Sand People killed them and that they took the boy with them. She did remember rumors of Imperial connections. She couldn't think of any reason they would have been interested in a couple of moisture farmers." He could tell that this was hitting Padme hard. "I'm sorry to have to tell you about your friends. Is there any thing else I can do for you?"

"No," Padme said in a shaky voice. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, my Aunt was a close friend with Owen's father before his death. She had lost touch with the family but when the word spread through Anchorhead she took note of it." Jakk could tell she was taking it hard but he didn't know what else to do.

"I think I'll head home. There is nothing else for me here." She said as she stood and headed toward the door. "Thank you, for your help." Padme walked a short distance down the road toward her ship her pack swung over one shoulder. She couldn't think of anything but her children. That Leia and Luke were most likely dead, killed within weeks of each other. There was too much similarity to be a coincidence. That the Empire would destroy a world to get her daughter seemed horrible but she could see Palpatine doing it. Ani must not have known. He would not have let them die if had known. The Emperor must have learned of Leia and Luke somehow.

Padme's legs were about to give way when suddenly the man who had been leaving when she arrived at the shop brushed by her taking her pack with him.

o O o

K429

As the Caretaker moved or hid all the signs of the camp he kept his eyes open. Both for some sign of the enemy and for things that might be useful. He was kicking himself for not having built a ship, a weapon or even something as simple as a communicator. Sure until now there had been no need, but now that there was, there was no time. Stopping for a moment to catch his breath he thought to himself. 'I need to focus. The way I'm going I'm broadcasting loud enough to be heard at the base camp.'

Then it hit him. 'The way those people have themselves so cut off from the Force they probably can't hear me through the Force at all. No, matter how loud I broadcast. What if that's the answer? Use the Force to call someone.' The Caretaker thought as he took off into the cave. 'But who?' His mind flashed over and tossed aside all those he had known. 'What were those names the girl said?' Then he remembered what the first one had been. 'No... I can't call out that name. What was the other? Jacen that was it, but who is he? She knows and right now that knowledge might just well save us both.' He thought as he entered the room he had left her in. She still lay there as he had left her. Sitting down beside her he focused his mind on what they had to do and reached out to her mind. He knew he couldn't call out to a stranger without help as rusty as he was.

'Hello,' the Caretaker called out to the girl beside him. 'Can you hear me?'

'Yes,' came a soft voice. 'Who are you?'

'So much like another.' The Caretaker thought to himself. It took him a moment to figure out what to say. He hadn't gone by a name in so long. The droids had started calling him 'Caretaker' and he hadn't looked back since. His old name had belonged to a different person. Finally after what had felt like an hour though in truth only moments had passed he made his choice. 'Kenan,' he said choosing a name for who he was now.

'I'm Jaina. Where am I?'

'Do you remember crashing?'

'Yes.'

'We are on a small backwater world called K-429. It's only high point is that it isn't worth anything to anyone.' Kenan said.

'Why are you here then?' Jaina's soft inquisitive voice asked.

'It is a good place to be alone, or at least it was until you were followed here. Right now we are hiding in a camp deep within a cave.'

'I'm sorry you got involved in this.'

'Right now I need your help Jaina. We need to send for help and it looks like the only way of doing that is through the Force. My problem is I don't know anyone to call. I know that you can't right now Jaina but I can, all I need is you to help me know where.'

For a moment there was no reaction that Kenan could pick up. Just as he started worrying he felt her timidly reach out trying to find the answer for him.

Kenan reached out to her letting her reach out through his senses so she wouldn't stretch herself to far. He hadn't stretched his senses far when she had him center on a nearby asteroid field. 'There,' Jaina said excitedly, 'my brother Jacen is there. He will help us.'

'Thank you young Jaina, now rest, we will talk after I call your brother.' Kenan said as he withdrew into himself to regroup.

o O o

Tatooine

When Anakin found the woman again, she was crying. She seemed to be walking through a fog of memories. He could tell she was no longer keeping watch on her surroundings and came closer. She was walking toward him and he decided to keep walking and do nothing to draw her attention. He planned to turn around to follow her once she passed him and there was about twenty feet between them again. Just when the woman was about ten feet in front of him he saw a man come out of nowhere knocking her down and stealing her pack.

Anakin acted on instinct chasing the thief. The inhabitants of Mos Eisly seeing a fight breaking out ran for cover not wanting to get involved. Anakin managed to tackle the man quickly. Catching him proved to be the easy part. The attacker was bigger than Anakin. Normally Anakin would have subdued the man easily, but he still hadn't healed up completely from the Yuuzhen Vong. Then to make the matters worse the attacker pulled a knife. Anakin was finding it all he could do to keep the blade away from his throat. Then all of a sudden there was a blue flash and the man collapsed into unconsciousness. Anakin slid out from under the man's limp bulk and looked around to find the woman still sitting in the same place. Now though she had a mini blaster in her hands. As Anakin watched her it seemed like all the strength went out of her arms as they sagged into her lap. He walked over and picked up the pack that had been dropped in the scuffle as he headed toward the woman.

He leaned down in front of her. "Ma'am, are you okay?"

"All I knew was I wouldn't let him hurt you, the next thing I knew the gun was going off. I didn't even know what it was set to." She turned to look at him. "I... You're the man who was following me."

Anakin smiled that traditional Solo smile. "Yes ma'am, I am. I guess you remind me of someone. Someone, I care for. I had nothing else to be doing and it just felt right to keep an eye on you. When I saw you crying, then someone steals your bag... Like you said, 'next thing I knew.' You probably saved my life." He reached up and wiped the tears from her face. "Why are you crying?"

"My family..." Her voice broke. "I fear they are gone, that I've lost them. So long, have I waited to come back. Now, I find that my children might have died within weeks of each other." She looked up into those blue eyes and for a moment they were someone else's. Eyes she longed to see again, the eyes of her Ani, before they became clouded by hate. "You remind me of someone I care for too. My name is Padme."

It took Anakin a second to decide what name to say. Between the Vong and those who wanted to turn the Jedi over to the Vong he didn't want to give his real name, it was to well known. "I'm Han." He said holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Padme." He said as they shook hands. He looked around spotting the unconscious man. "Let's get out of here. He'll be waking up soon." He glanced out at the horizon both seeing the dust and sensing the force behind it. "Sand storms have been bad lately and I think another is about to hit. Do you have someplace to take shelter?"

Padme smiled thinking of the similarities. 'First, he saves me, then he asks me if I have somewhere to weather a sandstorm, he reminds me of Ani. I feel safe around him.' "My ship is just a couple blocks from here." Padme said as he helped her up.

"Good, I'm going to escort you there. I want to make sure you get there safely." He picked her bag up and started helping her toward her ship. "You should probably call your friend and warn her." She turned and looked at him, questions in her eyes. "My family is very unusual." He smiled thinking that was an understatement. "My parents and uncle were all in the rebellion. My aunt was a spy during the fight. Luckily, I've picked up a lot from them and their stories. Over the years my siblings and I have made stories of our own. I was able to read enough from your lips and gestures. I almost didn't catch you, when you caught me."

"Sounds like we've both got stories to tell." Padme said as she pulled her com-unit out. She knew that she should be suspicious of this man but she didn't have it in her. He reminded her of the Anakin Skywalker she had fallen in love with. 'The Ani who just wanted to make things better, to keep me happy and safe.' "Sabe?"

"Yes, Padme, I'm here." Came Sabe's bewildered voice through the static. Sabe knew something was up. Check in time wasn't for another hour. She also heard the emotion in Padme's voice. "What's wrong, is it what you were looking for?" What came over the comm was. 'YeZ Zadme Ishhz here. Whabuhzsshzzzshhhzzhooking for?'

"No, that's not why I called." Padme answered guessing what her friend said. "There is sand storm just starting to brew. Find cover. I don't want you trying to be a hero getting to the ship through the storm. Do you here me Sabe? I'm almost to the ship and I'm fine. Take care of yourself, my friend." Padme said into the comm.

"Zhahh sand is zhizz-ready star-hhazzhi to fly whezessh I am-sheezzha tavern acros-hazzt street-zzzhishhtshhh ashhhezzitt it out ther-shzz-atch your back." Then the static became too strong to get any thing through and Padme closed off her comm.

They reached the ship at the same time the storm did. The open topped hangar the ship was in stopped most of the sand but not all and the storm was still intensifying. "Han, come on board you can weather the storm with me." Padme said knowing that Sabe would disapprove of the invitation, but that was one of the perks of being Queen.

Anakin intended to refuse the invitation but the words that exited out of his mouth were those of acceptance. "Thank you." He said stepping toward the ship. "I really don't have anywhere else to stay." Once he was inside he started taking in his surroundings. Everything was beautifully laid out. "Right now home is wherever my family is. I'm trying to find my way back to them. Tatooine is just a stopover."

"You aren't from Tatooine?" Padme had thought from the way he read the storm to come that he was from Tatooine.

"No, this is my second trip here. The first time I came to Tatooine was with my friend Tahiri. Tahiri was born on Tatooine and had some unfinished business here." Anakin said not knowing what to say or do next. Then he noticed something; a good deal of the ship was made of living technology. "This ship is alive," he said as the wall he leaned on reacted to the pressure. This worried Anakin because the only people he knew of that used living tech like this was the Vong. The only thing that kept him from panicking was that he could sense the ship. You can't sense the creatures that came with the Vong from their galaxy and so far he hadn't heard of them adapting to use creatures from this galaxy on this grand a scale. He could sense Padme, but that just meant she was human but she could still be working with the Vong. Anakin's senses were now on full alert.

"Yes, where I come from much of the normal ship building materials are rare. We had adapted over the last thirty years to other techniques of building. These days you won't find any ships back home with less than a third biotech in them. Much of it has proved to be better in the long run. About half this ship is biotech." Padme was smiling at the accomplishments her people had made during their exile till she saw the look on her new friend's face. "What's wrong Han?" Gone was the look of trust, he was covering it well but she read him like a book. He looked like he'd just found himself face to face with a Rancorn.

"The Yuuzhen Vong use living technology." He said looking at her. His eyes seemed to be pleading for an explanation.

Padme walked over and sat down in one of the two chairs in the compartment. "Sit, Please. Truth to be told, I don't know what a Yuuzhen Vong is. My people and I have been sealed behind a temporal shield for the last thirty years, our time. Fifty years ago, your time, the Emperor sealed us there. He wanted us out of the way. The shield only fell a short time ago. There is so much going on that I wouldn't have a clue about. Sabe was the one inquiring of such things." Padme said closing her eyes and for a moment thinking of the things she had missed.

Anakin sat down in shock. "It is hard to imagine that anyone in this galaxy could have missed the Vong invasion." Anakin said shaking his head. Padme started to explain it further to prove to him that she was speaking the truth. Anakin held his hand up to stop her. "Right now, I am going to take your word for it. Anyway, why would anyone make up a story like that." Smiling at the fact that her story so far was so far fetched that it had to be true. As he looked up at her again something told him that he didn't know the half of her story yet. "First, you tell me what you were looking for, then I will tell you about the Vong."

Padme couldn't shake the feeling that she should tell him everything. However, the voice of a protective mother won, the voice that said if I tell my children will be in danger. Deep down she knew they were alive. The Force whispered that they were in trouble and this made her cautious. Looking down Padme put up her best shield and started choosing her words carefully. "I was looking for any sign of my family. My brother and sister-in-law lived near here. This was the first place connected to my family that I could safely approach. All the people that I could have contacted so long ago are either dead or not within my reach of contact. I even tried people I wouldn't have dared call before. There were four people I knew on Tatooine. I learned that two of them are dead and I was also told that a third was dead as well. They never found the body and considering what I know about him, I'm not writing him off. The fourth would be quite old." Her voice shifted as if she was talking to herself and her shield fell. "He was twenty-four when I met him, plus ten years till I saw him again. Thirty-nine, when the shield went up, plus fifty. He'd be in his late eighties, now."

Padme looked up at Anakin with tears in her eyes when she realized she was talking aloud. "He was a close friend of my husband and over time we became close friends. Many of the people I know... knew are dead, unless they were with me or they were young."

"I may not be from Tatooine, but I know several people who are. My mentor was raised near here and he told me a lot of stories about his life here. Maybe I can help you find the other two." Anakin said with a yawn.

Padme answered back with a yawn of her own. "It's late and from the sound of things we are both tired. We can't really do anything till the storm passes. Let's get cleaned up. Get some food and rest. This has been a hard day for me." Padme said standing and heading for the back of the ship. Turning to look at Han she spoke. "Make yourself at home, Han. There is the Refresher. Over here is the spare cabin where you can sleep and right behind you is where the food is stored. Sleep tight."

Anakin blinked when the door closed behind her. For one thing he was still trying to get used to being called 'Han' and for another, it was evident she was used to giving orders without them being questioned.

All of a sudden his stomach growled reminding him that he'd missed lunch trying to find Padme after he lost her. He started looking through the selection of food that Padme had. Some of it was familiar and some of it wasn't. He picked some fruit and some nerf jerky. As Anakin sat down to eat he heard Padme enter the 'fresher behind him. She came back out just as he finished his dinner and slipped right back into her cabin. 'My turn,' Anakin thought to himself.

o O o

After two hours of Force aided sleep Anakin awoke rested. He had something he wanted to do before Padme woke up. Walking back to the main compartment he sat down at the main table and started pulling parts out of a bag. A metal tube with a switch and other parts on it. This tube and the other parts that Anakin pulled out had been gathered since he woke up on Tatooine. They would soon be his third saber. Anakin had decided to go ahead and build the hilt of his new saber even though he hadn't yet found a focusing crystal for it. He started concentrating on the feat of completing his lightsaber. While forming his new saber Anakin called heavily on the Force. In his concentration he didn't realize what was happening in the next cabin.

o O o

Asteroid field

Jacen knew that he would soon have to leave his hiding place. He had dropped out of hyperspace shortly after leaving Myrkyr and hid floating amongst an asteroid field. The only reason he had managed to hide so well was that was what the ship he had commandeered was designed for. Yet, Jacen knew that soon he would have to move on, go home. He had needed time to rest and to let both him and the ship heal. Something was keeping him here, a sense that this was where he was needed and yet he couldn't put his finger on why.

As he sat there Jacen felt or was it heard something. His name was being called. Closing his eyes Jacen reached out to the caller. Whoever it was he was very strong.

Then he heard it again, 'Jacen?'

'Yes.'

'Jaina is here with me and we are in trouble. The enemy is searching for us and we are all but unarmed. Jaina is still healing from her last battle.' The mysterious voice told him.

Now Jacen knew why it had been so important for him to stay. 'Where are you?'

All of a sudden the view before him was replaced by a 3D map of the area of space they were in. As Jacen watched his exact position was pin pointed within the asteroid belt. Then another light appeared not far away, it was centered on a small world. The small planet slowly came to the fore of the scene. The light condensed to one small point.

Jacen took note of the location and started waking the ship. 'I'm on my way.'

o O o

Tatooine

Padme lay sleeping her dreams troubled. She kept seeing her children dying, Alderaan's destruction and a group of Imperials storming a small moisture farm. Yet, as Anakin started calling on the Force her dream changed. All of a sudden her Ani was standing before her like he had been when he and Obi-Wan came to watch over her just before the Clone Wars began. He walked up to her and smiled. "This is a dream. You are letting your fears control it. The Empire fell before them and the Rebellion." All of a sudden the view changed to that of Endor after the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of the Emperor. She saw Leia and Luke joining the party and had no doubt who they were. She turned to Ani, "What about you my love?" He was gone and the dream came to an end.

o O o

She sat straight up in bed, "Ani?" It took her a couple of minutes to catch her breath. She closed her eyes picturing what she had seen of her children. Instinctively Padme reached out and grabbed hold of a crystal on her night table. At her touch it glowed to life once more. "Thank you, now I know my children are alive. What of you my Ani? Did you remain on your dark path and die with your Emperor? Are you waiting for me out there somewhere?"

She closed her eyes clutching the palmed sized green crystal to her chest as she reached out through the Force seeking some sign of her husband but what she found was her guest calling heavily upon the Force. Her eyes popped open; 'Han is a Jedi?' Padme jumped up out of bed and pulled her robe on over her gown. Before she left her cabin she slid the crystal within a hidden pocket of her robe. As she headed out the door she saw that eight hours had passed since she went to sleep. Careful not to distract what she now knew to be a Jedi from his task Padme quietly slid her door open and entered the main compartment.

She found him sitting with his eyes closed sliding what appeared to be the last piece of a lightsaber into place. She felt the Force surge through him and into the saber with a strength she had rarely felt a Jedi call upon. This last surge was to seal the mechanical pieces together and make the saber virtually one piece. It would also charge the power cell for the first time. When he had finished his eyes blinked open.

"Han," Padme quietly called. "Are you a Jedi?" Padme asked, not wanting to give away that she already knew the answer, just yet.

Anakin stood and spun around quickly when she spoke. How could he say he wasn't a Jedi after she had seen him making his new lightsaber? "Yes." Anakin said not knowing what else to say. His secret was out and the ball was now in her court. The question is what is she going to do with that knowledge.

Padme didn't know what to say now that she had her answer. Part of her wanted to blurt out all of the questions that had plagued her all these years. Padme knew better than that though so she took it slow and worded them carefully. "I know that the Emperor had commanded the purge of all the Jedi in my day and that the Jedi were being killed at every turn. What happened?" Padme said with a quiver in her voice as she thought of the Jedi that she had come to think of as her friends, some of which she had only known from the stories that her Ani had told her.

Anakin paused at the amount of emotion in her voice, concern and fear. "All but two trained Jedi died. Those two were the Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. They both died before the Emperor. One more survived the purge under the power of the darkside. In the end he died saving his son, then a Jedi Knight, by killing the Emperor as a Jedi once more." To Anakin there was no reason not to tell this. It wasn't a secret. Padme's reaction was in no way what he expected.

The emotions that flooded Padme went from one extreme to the other. Palpatine is dead, but Ani died taking him out. Anakin Skywalker Jedi Master a title earned him by looking the darkest of the darkside in the face and turning his back on its power to save his son. Luke a Jedi Knight, but Ben and Yoda dead along with so many others. Deep down she had always hoped that when she returned that her Ani would turn back to her. Now that hope was shattered and it took a lot of her strength with it. Her legs gave way as tears started streaming down her face. "Anakin," was the only word that she could get to come out.

Anakin at first thought she was saying his name, then he remembered she didn't know his name. She was saying it thinking of his grandfather. She must have known Anakin Skywalker. As he walked over to her what evidence he had clicked together. Timing of her imprisonment, that the Emperor so wanted her gone and that she was seeking four people near Mos Eisly. The reason that she had seemed so familiar and that he felt the need to protect her. All this and more brought him to a startling conclusion, 'Grandmother!'

It took a while for him to think of how to say what he knew. "Lady Skywalker," he said to get her attention. She looked up at him her eyes now wide. "It seems we have both been watching our words for we both had similar fears of what the wrong word would cause. You because you thought it would endanger your children. I too was trying to protect my family and myself because the Jedi are being hunted again." He closed his eyes for a moment thinking of all the things that were happening and wondering if Jacen Jaina and Tahiri were still alive. "Only we are now also being handed over to the Yuuzhen Vong by those that we are trying to protect." His eyes opened and locked on hers. "You probably have been wondering how to say this kind of thing for years 'my Father's name is Han Solo. I felt it would be too dangerous to tell you my name. You see Padme. My name is Anakin Solo. My mother is Leia and the mentor I spoke of from Tatooine is my Uncle Luke..." Anakin paused taking a deep breath then continued. "Hi Grandma."

Padme couldn't believe what she had just heard. Here she'd been wondering where would she go next if she continued to find no leads on Tatooine. She looked closer at him and could see the resemblance wondering how she missed it. "Anakin? No wonder you reminded me of my Ani." She said reaching up to touch his face. "You said you don't have a home, Anakin?" He nodded a little confused. As she smiled, "You have a home, a world, Naboo. I was separated from my family and feared for them for thirty years. I'm not going to stand by while my family is hunted because they are Jedi." Padme said standing and walking over to one of the chairs with Anakin's help. She wiped her tears on her robe then cocked her head and looked up at him. "How old are you and how long have been a Jedi?"

Anakin wondered what brought up the question but answered his Grandma. "I am seventeen and have been a Knight for a little over a year."

"Then why were you just now building a lightsaber? Let me guess, you lost your old one on a mission. Obi-Wan was always getting on to your Grandfather for losing his." She paused for a moment then held out her hand. "Can I see your saber?"

Anakin looked down at the hilt in his hand. "I haven't found a focusing crystal for it yet." He said handing it to Padme.

She looked at it. "This is a very well built blade and it deserves a high quality crystal." Padme said as she stood and walked over to one of the shelves that lined the walls. She picked a bag up and handed it to Anakin along with his saber. "This was Anakin's, it was found and returned to him after the battle in which the blade it had been a part of was destroyed. Ani told me to keep it, he said it was the only thing he could give me as a wedding present. I had hoped to give it to Luke, but it looks like you need it more." Padme said watching Anakin pull out an exquisite blue Adgean crystal.

Anakin smiled as he slid it in to place and activated the blade. It sprang to life a beautiful pale blue. With all the realizations neither Padme nor Anakin noticed that the storm had passed till they heard the hatch come open.

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