The night on Solas was far less dim than I had hoped. There was always a grayish tint to the sky that never really darkened and left me feeling strange. I had hoped for a decent nights sleep, but it was becoming very obvious to me that I was hoping for far too much.

I turned over for the third time in less than five standard minutes and threw the sheets from my body. Standing, I walked shirtless to the window and gazed out into the putrid light that seemed determined to steal away my sleep.

"Anakin, if you would simply follow those meditations I taught you last month you would be sleeping right now."

I opened my mouth to speak, but my master interrupted me.

"And don't think to blame the twilight conditions for your lack of rest, I've been forced to listen long enough to that line of thought, thank you very much."

I turned from the window toward the closest bed, my cheeks burning from the rebuke, and stared at my master. Obi-Wan Kenobi was laid out across his bed as though he were quite comfortable; his arms crossed behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankle. He wore a serene expression and his eyes were closed as though he were ready to drift off into sleep at a moment's notice.

It wasn't fair, I thought to myself.

"You're right, padawan, it isn't fair. I deserve a lot more consideration from my apprentice than to be kept awake all night listening to all sorts of mental complaints. Just get into the blasted bed and meditate!"

I crossed the room and sat on the edge of my bed. "I can't sleep here!"

"Why not?" Obi-Wan asked me, cracking open one eye and gazing at me with clear irritation. "Just recall the meditation techniques and imagine yourself on Coruscant or Alderaan or wherever you like so long as it silences your mind."

I let myself fall back on the bed. "You wouldn't understand, master."

"Probably not," he conceded with a weary sigh. "but I'm willing to listen if you are willing to voice your concerns. We both need sleep if we are to find those kidnap victims, Anakin."

I found myself staring up at the ceiling in the muddy light. A part of me wanted to tell Master Obi-Wan about my dreams and how they haunted and frightened me deep into my very being, but another part of me was desperate not to expose any sort of weakness that might hold me back in my training.

Obi-Wan turned towards me. "What is it, Anakin?"

"I… I had another dream, master." I rubbed my hands over my face and winced at the hard calluses on my palms scraping against the softer skin on my cheeks. "I'm afraid to fall asleep again tonight." I felt like a fool for admitting my concern, but it was necessary.

He drew himself up and rested on one elbow as he looked over at me. "Was the dream about your mother?"

I reached over and pulled a stray thread on the blanket until it worked loose. "My mother and someone else." I was hoping to be vague; my dreams of Padmé had become more and more real to me and I was embarrassed that after some of them, I woke up physically aroused.

"Padmé Amidala," Obi-Wan supplied. "I'm not ignorant of your feelings regarding her, Anakin. I know you have been worried about your mother for some time, but you need to let her go."

I could still see my mother fearful and bleeding from her mouth as though someone had struck her violently. My greatest desire after leaving home to join the Jedi Order at the age of nine was to one day return and set free not just my mother, but all the slaves that had been taken to Tatooine. Sometimes it felt as though I would never accomplish that one goal; my training was taking so long.

But it wasn't just my mother that I had dreamt of. Just the memory of seeing Padmé with all her dark hair flowing down over her creamy shoulders was enough to send a shiver of pleasure running up and down my spine.

I turned toward the wall, away from Obi-Wan, and cushioned my head with my forearm. "Maybe your right, master. I'll try to meditate as you suggested."

A satisfied grunt was Obi-Wan's only response. I listened to him turn over and get comfortable again as I stared hard at the wall. My mind slowly began to empty of every thought and every worry as I imagined a myself on a ship staring out at an endless bank of stars…

I felt just the faintest touch whisper along my left arm leaving pimpled gooseflesh in its wake. I turned in the half-light of the corridor and saw a shrouded figure walking slowly ahead of me. Though I could not see the face hidden in the deep shadows of the hood, I could sense a female presence.

My feet moved of their own accord and I found myself following her.

I knew that this creature… this woman was not Padmé nor was she my mother, but perhaps some other mysterious denizen of my mind. The only sound that now accompanied me was the sound of my boots echoing hollowly along the floor and the soft rustling of the lady's robes.

"Who are you?" My voice bounced off the stone walls surrounding us and echoed back at me threefold. A feminine, husky laugh was my only response and I found myself determined to discover who and what this female was.

I followed her through a large door that appeared as though it had been carved out of onyx and found myself in a room swathed in black silk wall hangings and golden candlelight. The door closed softly behind me and I turned at the sound of a lock clinking into place.

Hands; small, delicate, but strong, touched my shoulders.

I bit back a moan as a body, most definitely female, pressed itself to my back; soft, firm breasts were sealed against my shoulder blades and warm breath superheated the flesh just below my ear.

I was ashamed that my own body responded so anxiously to someone that I didn't even know. Who was to say if she was even humanoid?

"Anakin… "

The whisper of my name from her lips only made me want her more.

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes against the false reality of the dream. "Please tell me who you are."

She laughed again and the sound sent pleasure racing to my groin. Her voice was low and I felt as though I could have listened to it forever. "I've been waiting so long for you to find me, Anakin. When the time is right you will know who I am, just as I know who you are."

I could take no more and turned impatiently to find… Padmé.

The room was different; all airy and filled with light from windows facing a huge, cerulean blue lake. The scent of flowers filled the air and for a moment I felt as though I could taste the sunshine on my lips.

Padmé was standing there staring up at me with huge brown eyes that glimmered with unshed tears. She wore a strapless, pale blue gown of silk and her long mocha-colored hair flowed freely over her shoulders. "You don't love me, Ani, you never did… not really. Please, I'm begging you to let me go."

"I don't understand, Padmé," I began in an uncertain voice. "what are you talking about?"

She shook her head slowly and turned away from me. "Ani, we were always friends, but you tried to turn our friendship into something that wasn't meant to be. I don't love you the way you want to be loved; I saw you with her."

Anger, irrational and blazing hot, filled me until I could hardly draw a breath. "What do you mean? Who did you see me with?"

Padmé turned with a look of rage and sorrow in her eyes. "Do not dare play me for a fool, Anakin Skywalker! I saw you with her… with your wife."

"I'm not married, Padmé… "

"Liar!" she snarled as she backed away from me; it was as though she were afraid and revolted by me all at once. "Everyone at the Temple knows you broke your vows to the Jedi by marrying that woman and now you try to seduce me with promises that you could never keep! You used me, Ani, how could you?"

I put my hands out to calm her and was rewarded with a sharp slap to my right cheek that burned like fire...

… I awoke covered in sweat and trying desperately to catch my breath. The light in the room was far brighter, though still a sullen gray. A glance at the next bed showed me that my master had already arisen and the lack of movement in our lodgings only confirmed that he was in deep meditation.

Rising quickly, I pulled on a fresh tunic and headed for the balcony.

Sure enough, Obi-Wan Kenobi was seated in a tight lotus-position on the duracrete terrace with his arms stretched straight out on either side of him at shoulder level. His keen azure eyes were wide open, but a million kilometers away as he stared straight ahead.

This was one of the harder poses of Jedi meditation to master, but Obi-Wan had conquered it a few years earlier. The pose called for sitting for hours in the same position while drawing deeply on the Force to strengthen oneself.

Knowing better than to disrupt him in meditation, I turned to leave.

"Who was she, Anakin?"

My master's voice caught me off guard and showed me just how badly I needed to see to my own meditation. When I was properly meditating every day it was difficult, if not near impossible, to surprise me.

I leaned against the railing nearby and shrugged. "I have no clue. Did I wake you this morning?"

Obi-Wan leapt to his feet easily and joined me. "Not in the manner you think you did. I believe that you projected your inner turmoil outward and I picked up on a bit of it."

I looked over at him. "Sorry, master. I'll try to meditate more when we return to the Temple. Maybe that will help."

He reached out and patted me affectionately on the shoulder before gazing out at the stormy, swampy landscape ahead of us. "Maybe," Obi-Wan allowed. "I think we need to get moving. If we hit the Orionos Gang early enough, I think we might be able to take them by surprise."

Following my master back into our rooms, I pushed aside all thoughts of both the mystery woman and Padmé from my dreams and poured all my concentration into the task at hand.