Thank you to everyone who continues to read this story and leave reviews!
8
"Master Yoda, I…" Obi-Wan said, leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. He sighed heavily and dared not look at the small green Master.
Yoda said nothing, sitting patiently next to the younger Jedi. Instead, he looked to Mace, who gave the slightest shrug of his shoulders.
None of them had answers. There were no answers to be had. Only one fact was obvious:
The Chosen One was gone.
Anakin Skywalker was the Twenty-First now. Something had eaten away at him; there was nothing the Jedi could do to help him. And the Jedi should be able to do anything, should be able to help anyone.
At least that was what the galaxy believed. Sometimes, Mace Windu almost believed it himself, when he saw and heard about all the miraculous things the Jedi accomplished.
However, when one fell…Mace forced himself to ignore the shiver that went down his spine. There was only one option – there was always only one option. Mace just hoped it would not come to that.
"Troubled, your former apprentice is. Heavy does it rest on us all that he felt he must leave," Yoda commented, breaking Mace's train of thought.
Obi-Wan made a noise that sounded akin to a cross between a strangled moan and a snort of disdain. Ignoring it, Yoda went continued.
"Find him, we must…before…"
Even Yoda was afraid of what happened to rogue Jedi. With Anakin, possibly the one Jedi that could become stronger than Yoda, he had reason to be fearful.
"Master Yoda, I don't even know where to begin. I have no idea where he's gone. I can't even…get a sense of him."
This surprised both of the other Masters. Within the Temple, it was well known that Obi-Wan and Anakin were so close it was a rumor with the younger Padawans that they were telepathic. Just a little extra concentration could link a Master with an apprentice, even a former one.
Personally, Mace found it a little amazing that the two Jedi were so close, given the hesitant circumstances that Anakin came under Obi-Wan's wing. No matter though. That was the past. Those things were done and over with. There was the here and the now to focus on.
"I have to find him. I have to bring him back. I'm the only one he'll listen to, I'm the only one who can reason with him," Obi-Wan suddenly spoke up, his voice solid with resolve.
"Obi-Wan…we need you here. There's too many other things going on, let one of the other Masters take care of him. You are…too personally involved with Anakin," Mace advised.
"Excuse me?" came the astounded reply. Obi-Wan stared at Mace, challenging him.
"Young Skywalker is too unbalanced. He is a danger to us – and most of all to you. Perhaps you do not recall the situation that occurred between the two of you nearly a week ago."
Obi-Wan's look only intensified. In a low voice, he growled, "And you believed he was the Chosen One."
He turned and left the Council chamber, saying nothing more. With his back turned to Mace and Yoda, Obi-Wan did not notice the cautious look they gave each other. Right now, he understood more and more why Anakin was fed up with the Council. Perhaps he needed some time away, too.
No.
That was not his path.
Stopping in his steps, Obi-Wan closed his eyes. With a couple deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down and quieted his mind. The Force flowed through him. Its very presence was refreshing, relaxing him. Still, he could not deny that this whole past week had an effect on him.
For thirteen years, Anakin had been his Padawan. For thirteen years, he traveled the galaxy with the boy, then the young man, at his side. As Anakin grew older, the sixteen years between them seemed to be less and less. Obi-Wan began to think of Anakin not merely as a young boy that he was training, but more of as a brother. With Jedi raised apart from their families, it was only natural that after protecting and looking after Anakin for so long he viewed him as a brother.
No matter what, Obi-Wan knew, he would always think of Anakin in this way; Anakin would always feel the same about Obi-Wan. And now the Council dared to tell him that he was too close to his Padawan.
Despite the Force, Obi-Wan still felt deeply upset. Taking a glance around him, he realized that he was in the same entryway where Anakin almost attacked him.
What could have driven Anakin to be so desperate?
No answers came to Obi-Wan. The Temple supposedly stood on the strongest vortex of the Force on Coruscant, and yet it offered no insight. Thinking hard, he knew there had to be answers somewhere. Something had to drive Anakin away, making the Lost Twenty into the Lost Twenty-One.
The Lost Twenty…they all had needs that the Jedi could not fulfill.
That was it.
Perhaps the answers lay not within the Temple, but outside it.
A slight nudge from the Force solidified Obi-Wan's decision and so without second thought he made his way to the hangar bay. There he hopped into a speeder and flew away, heading for the one person that surely missed Anakin as much as he, and perhaps might have a few answers.
Within a short time, Obi-Wan stood inside Padmé's apartment. She bustled about the kitchen, fetching him a refreshing drink. Upon seeing her enormous dress, Obi-Wan's eyebrows went up but he said nothing. He was not exactly sure how long Padmé had been pregnant, he only had a good idea, and it was surprising how much the dress still managed to hide her increasing stomach. Plus, even though he expected it, it felt weird to sense only one being when he knew there were three others in the room.
"So what can I do for you, Obi-Wan?" Padmé said pleasantly, sitting down next to him. Something in her voice sounded false, overly sweet, and she handed him a cup.
Politely, Obi-Wan took a sip. It tasted of a very sweet fruit juice, but he could not place it; perhaps it was something native to Naboo.
"I was wondering if you've seen or heard from Anakin lately," he said carefully.
Instinctively, Padmé's hand went to her stomach. She swallowed before answering. "No...No, I haven't. Why?"
The few seconds of silence, as Obi-Wan thought over his response, put her more on edge.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?"
"I just want to know if you've seen him."
"What's going on?" asked Padmé bluntly. "What happened to him?"
"I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but…" Obi-Wan trailed off, mentally cursing the fact that it seemed he was always the one to bring bad news.
"What?" She looked concernedly at him. "Just tell me! I have the right to know."
Obi-Wan glanced her over. She was right. How could he deny her the knowledge of what was happening to the father of the children she carried? If nothing else, she deserved to know because she was one of the few people that truly knew Anakin.
"I have no idea where he is. I haven't seen him for over nearly a week. I thought you might have heard from him, or know where he is."
"I was hoping you could tell me where he is," she said, turning to look at the floor, seeming as if her last hope had failed her. Her next words came out softly, like a heavy admission of defeat. "I haven't heard from him either."
Suddenly a faint glimmer of insight came to Obi-Wan. Something happened between Anakin and Padmé; Anakin came back to the Temple accusing him of doing something with Padmé. He must have just returned from seeing her that night.
Deciding that it was a good time for the plain truth, and in the hopes that Padmé would open up if he were honest with her Obi-Wan said, "I know he was with you the night that he left."
"He left? Just what do you mean by that?" she cut in accusatorily.
"I have no intention of turning him in to the Council. There are worse things we have to worry about right now than the relationship you two have," Obi-Wan reassured her. Relief passed over Padmé's face. However, Obi-Wan's next words quickly erased it.
"You should know that when he got back to the Temple he was very upset. I don't know what was wrong with him; he was accusing me of turning you against him. I've only ever tried to help you both – you know this."
She said nothing, letting him explain the events of later that day. A small voice in the back of her mind echoed Anakin's words about the Jedi, how they were all against him. Obi-Wan was not an enemy where Padmé was concerned, but her many years as Queen taught her to hear all sides of a story – even the side of a potential, if unlikely, enemy.
"Anakin and I had a fight that night," Obi-Wan continued, "and during it, he fled. He suddenly became very afraid of something, more afraid than I've ever seen him. Without any explanation he left the Temple, saying that he could never return."
"Are you saying that he's left the Order?" She leaned forward in her seat, obviously on edge. For a second Obi-Wan thought he sensed anger at Anakin coming from her, as if he had done something she expressly told him not to do.
That's Anakin for you. Not listening to advice about what he should or should not do…he thought.
"Unfortunately, I think he has. Jedi usually do not leave the Temple…in the way that he did. It's a sign that something's very wrong."
"'It's a sign that something's wrong'! It took you that long to figure out that something was wrong?" she accused him. A noise came from her throat that sounded like she was holding in some very strong and colorful words. "What are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know," Obi-Wan said simply. He really had no idea.
The Jedi were stretched too thin.
Chasing after a rogue Jedi determined to leave the Order was something they could not spend time on, with the current situation of the galaxy. On the other hand, the consequences of not reigning in someone as unstable as Anakin could be…disastrous.
"Well this just keeps getting better and better," she spat out. "I can't believe you're not going to do anything!"
Obi-Wan just held her gaze, at a complete loss for words. For a few seconds they stared at each other then she got up. Turning her back to Obi-Wan, she walked halfway across the room when she glanced slightly over her shoulder.
"He just wanted to be happy," she whispered. "It's all I wanted – just for him to be happy."
Without another word, she walked into her bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her. Too add insult to injury, a reprimanding whine came from R2-D2, who was in his post by the door. Obi-Wan jumped at the droid's bleeping.
"Great, now droids are mad at me too…" he cursed to himself, glancing back at the door to Padmé's bedroom.
He did not need the Force to know that she was very upset, she was crying just beyond him in the other room. Feeling that he had accomplished nothing, perhaps that he even made the situation worse, he left the small apartment.
Padmé Amidala stared out her window. Her hands frayed a loose part of her tunic. Today she opted for the comfortable clothes she had, not planning on any Jedi coming to visit. Or anyone else stopping by, for that matter.
Right now, she was alone on Coruscant.
Well, not completely alone. She always had two others with her now.
Inside her, she felt one of the twins kick, upsetting its sibling, who kicked in return. The response between the two tiny fetuses made Padmé smile. She wondered how much of their reactions to each other was the Force, as opposed to the development of their own senses. Her intuition told her it was the Force. After all, they were the children of Anakin Skywalker.
As her body changed, and she could feel the growth of the babies, it still amazed her to think that Anakin had children. That she was a mother. She knew nothing of how to be a mother, she was raised to be a leader, her knowledge was all about the political systems of Naboo, and the Republic. She knew how to be proper, yet still retain her own strength. Wryly, Padmé thought that it would be perfectly ironic if her daughter turned out to be the exact opposite of herself.
Motherhood…there was so much to do. There was so much to worry about – whether she was raising them the right wiay, that they were happy. She could see them growing up together, bright and smiling –
And then she realized that she probably would not be seeing them grow up. At least under her care.
They were the children of Anakin Skywalker.
There was no way, here on Coruscant, that they would escape detection of the Jedi. No, she would watch from afar as they grew up, becoming Jedi. Padmé would be a mother only for the time that she carried them, having almost just enough time to name them before they would be whisked away for a life at the Temple.
This thought made her notice that so far she had not even thought about what to name them. And what of their surname? Having them carry their father's name would only complicate the situation – if that were even possible.
Perhaps she could give one of them their father's name, and the other hers. That was no good though. The Jedi would still figure it out and expel Anakin.
Then again, maybe it didn't matter.
Only a couple days ago had Obi-Wan told her that Anakin as well as withdrew himself from the Order. In that case, yes, one of the children would carry the name of Skywalker. Without further hesitation, Padmé knew that it would be the boy. No matter how bad things got in the galaxy, there would always be a Skywalker to bring hope to it.
Now to just figure out the first names to call them. Whatever she chose, they had to be just right. After all, they had large shoes to fill, coming after Anakin. Wishing that Anakin were here, to help her and to share this life-changing event, Padmé swallowed and forced herself to maintain her composure. She glanced up, wondering if Anakin could see any of the stars that she did, and wondering whether he might be on a planet belonging to one of the many small points of light she could see.
To be continued...