A/N: Thanks fo the review, ButterCowLuvr! Anyone else reading this fic - please do review, it makes me happy!
This chapter is shorter, hope you enjoy!

Chapter Two: Dreams and Contemplations

Tsena floated on the sea in a bubble, gazing up at the warm golden sun. She looked around and saw nothing but the blue of the ocean melting into the blue of the sky. Several serene minutes passed in silence, until she spotted Anakin floating towards her in a similar bubble.

"Anakin!" she called, waving. He smiled and began travelling faster. But when he had almost reached her, he began to sink, bubble and all. "Anakin!" she screamed again, and she could hear the fear and panic in her own voice. She couldn't lose him, not now, not like this. She plunged her hand through the surface of the bubbles and pulled him to safety – but as she did so, her own bubble burst and she began to sink slowly into the waves.

"Tsena!" she heard Anakin cry desperately. Strangely calm, she reached up and managed to grasp his hand and lock eyes with him for a second that felt like eternity. Then she slipped down into the water with eyes filled with tears.

"Emin talu raya" she heard a woman's gentle voice whisper. Then there was nothing but black.

Tsena awoke with a start, breathing heavily. She rolled over in her bed and looked at the wall that separated her from her Master. For a moment she contemplated waking Jovarii to tell her about her dream. She did not know what exactly unsettled her so much about it, but she knew that the dream meant something.

No, I'd better not wake her, she thought, staring up at the ceiling. I will tell her tomorrow, after I've had a chance to meditate on it.

Tsena's last thought as she drifted back to sleep was not of her Master, or her training, or even her dream. It was of the way Anakin had looked at her when he had left the meditation room earlier that day – the expression and smile on his face when he had told her that he had missed her. I love the way he smiles at me, she thought, and then sleep claimed her.

"No, Mom! No!" Anakin cried, and sat up. He looked around, concentrating on calming down. It was a dream, he told himself. It was just a dream. But no matter how many times he repeated it, he could not shake the feeling that it meant something more. He sighed and lay back down. His dreams – no, nightmares – about his mother seemed to be coming more frequently of late. He knew that Obi-Wan knew about these nightmares, although they never talked about them. He never brought it up, and he supposed his Master did not want to force him to explain.

Anakin shut his eyes again, trying to fall asleep – but it was no good. All he could see behind his eyelids were images from his nightmare.

Focus on something soothing, he instructed himself. He pictured the beautiful planet of Naboo – the sparkling blues and lush greens of the water and forestry, the clean streets of the city, the palace. Padmé. He breathed deeply and thought of her long brown hair, her warm eyes, her brilliant smile. Strangely, her face in Anakin's mind shifted and changed into the face of Tsena. He briefly knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, but smiled when he recalled her unexpected attack during training. He could see dark wisps of her hair floating about her head, her eyes glowing with determination, her lips set in concentration. More images of her flitted across his mind – her straight back in meditation, laughing quietly, raising an eyebrow, her gentle smile. He always felt more peaceful when he was with her, and now it was as if her calming presence filled the room. He settled into sleep once more, Tsena's smiling face and gleaming blue and gold eyes soothing his fears of nightmares.

Jovarii couldn't sleep. She had been having these restless nights for five years now. She began thinking about the reason for her lack of sleep, and, as always, her thoughts turned to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, whom she had competed with constantly when they were children. Obi-Wan, who became Padawan to the man she had admired most as a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan, who drove her insane sometimes with his constant calm. Obi-Wan, her friend, whom she had missed. Yes, she had missed him – though not, as she had told him, because she enjoyed arguing with him (although it is a lot of fun, she thought). No – there was one simple reason why she missed Obi-Wan Kenobi every time he left on another mission.

Because she loved him.

She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, the way she always felt when she thought of her feelings for him. The idea of her, Jovarii Amara, the sarcastic cynic, being in love was almost laughable. But at the same time, she wanted to cry.

I'm in love with him, but he will never – must never – know. I love him, but I can never show him or tell him – I would be expelled from the Jedi Order.

She thought back five years ago to the day she had had her revelation. He had returned from a mission with Anakin. She had realised that she loved him just before he landed – and the knowledge was dizzying. So dizzying that she had let her emotional guards down and surprised both him and herself by giving him a hug when he came to say hello. Afterwards, she had sat by herself and concentrated on the tumult of emotions coursing through her. She had wanted to find him, kiss him and explain herself – but she thought about the risks and consequences, and decided never to show her feelings again.

She wished for the millionth time that she could just tell him how she felt. That he would feel the same about her. But even as she dreamt of this, she knew that it would only exist in her fantasies. She knew that becoming a Jedi had been the sole purpose for his life, that the Jedi Order was his motivation. The sole purpose for her life had been – and still was – the same. She couldn't take that away from either of them. She sighed and punched her pillow. That was why she acted so critical, so sarcastic. She couldn't risk Obi-Wan – or anyone else, for that matter – guessing her true feelings for him.

The only place she could show her love was in her dreams. So she closed her eyes and pictured his serious face.

I love you, Obi-Wan, she thought. And even though you will never know, even though you'll never love me too – I'm content with loving you from a distance. I will love you in silence.

Obi-Wan lay awake in his room. He could hear Anakin's cries, and considered going to wake his Padawan. After a while, though, the cries ceased, and Obi-Wan felt through the Force that Anakin had fallen into calm slumber. He knew that Anakin had been having more of these nightmares lately, and he was worried about him. However, his Padawan never mentioned them and he did not wish to press him.

Qui-Gon would have known what to say to Anakin, Obi-Wan thought. He allowed himself a moment of grief for his beloved Master. He remembered the way he felt when he returned to the Temple for the first time without Qui-Gon. Lost, hopeless, helpless. He had struggled with these emotions in silence, had pretended to be strong for Anakin's sake.

He remembered the look on Jovarii's face when he stepped onto the landing pad that day. The grief etched on her face was almost as deep as his own, yet there had been more. Compassion and understanding – he had seen it in her eyes. That was when, wordlessly, he knew they had become friends. In the days that followed Qui-Gon's death, she had treated him as normal and he had been incredibly grateful for that. She had managed to snap him out of his grief by making him laugh at her sarcastic comments.

His thoughts turned to a day five years ago – the only day he ever saw Jovarii display real affection towards him. He remembered the way she had bounded – actually bounded – towards him and encircled him in her arms, the way she had stepped back quickly, blinking her grey eyes and rumpling her short brown hair, and smiled at him before turning abruptly and sweeping off into the Temple. He wondered, as he often did, why she had been so affectionate that day, and then never again. As always, he came to no conclusion.

He reached out with the Force to his Padawan. Sensing nothing unusual, he closed his eyes and prepared for sleep, wiping all thoughts from his mind. For some reason, it was difficult to clear Jovarii from his thoughts – but he was asleep before he could ponder why.

"I knew I'd find you here, Padawan," Tsena heard her Master say.

She opened her eyes and looked to where Jovarii stood just inside the meditation room. She gave a small smile. "I had a strange dream last night. I thought I would take a few hours to meditate on what it meant before we did anything else."

Jovarii knelt before her, a look of curiosity and even a little scepticism on her face.

"You are certain your dream had a meaning?"

"Yes, Master."

"What was it about?"

Tsena proceeded to explain her dream. "And then there was nothing but black," she finished.

Her Master's face was serious. "What did you discover from your meditation?"

Tsena blinked slowly. "Those last words – emin talu raya. They were the words my mother said to me when I left to begin my training."

Jovarii looked at her Padawan sharply. "You would have been a baby when you left – are you sure about this?"

"Yes." Tsena's voice was firm. "My first memory is of my mother whispering to me. This morning I remembered what those words were. It was revealed to me through the Force."

"Do you have any idea what they mean?" her Master asked.

She shook her head. "There is still much I don't understand."

Jovarii rose. "Don't concentrate on your anxieties of the future. In time it will be revealed. Trust the Force, Tsena."

"Yes, Master."

"Now come. We will continue your lightsaber training."

Tsena stood up reluctantly. "Again, Master? Will I have to fight against Master Yoda this time?" Her tone was more teasing than complaining.

Jovarii grinned at her. "Well, that's not a bad idea."

Laughing, they left the room, all thoughts of dreams driven to the back of their minds.