As always, I appreciate all the comments and reviews left by those of you who are reading this story! Here's another chapter, I hope you continue to enjoy. And, a happy Thanksgiving to any readers that celebrate the holiday. : )

11

Anakin lost track of his time spent on Stalynia. A month had passed, perhaps more. He didn't know the conversion for Menslech days between standards days.

However, he didn't care.

On his first day, he met the local people. There were two groups: the Coastals, who settled nearest to him, then the Inlanders. As far as he could tell, they were the same species, speaking the same tongue – or near enough to the same tongue. The main difference between them was their livelihoods.

The Coastals were a fishing people, living from one generation to the next in the same village. The Inlanders traveled from place to place - chasing after the herds of large herbivores that lived on the massive continents of the planet. They regarded these creatures almost as gods, and conflict occurs between the two groups; the Coastals believe themselves to be above the Inlanders and their "animal worship". The Coastals ruthlessly slaughter any of these herds that come close to their villages, citing that the animals damage their settlements.

Aside from this, and the fact that both groups expected Anakin to solve their problems, he found Stalynia quite pleasant. On his first meeting with the Coastals, when their chieftan saw that he had slain one of the ghastly creatures that hunted the Inlander's herds, he told Anakin that he knew he would do great things for all the people of the planet.

"After all, we knew that there would come a day when someone from the stars would make everything as it was meant to be," he said – or rather, what Anakin understood him to say.

Anakin heard this, and instantly soured. He was sick of prophecies, thinking, If I hear of another one, I think I might scream. I am not your golden boy.

Regardless, as there was not much else to do, and that by being a Jedi Anakin was bound to help those in need, he worked with both groups of people to help them. He was unsure of what exactly to do so that the Coastals and Inlanders would stop fighting each other incessantly.

One day, however, the negotiations reached an impasse between the two groups. Anakin wandered back to his small hut, an idea of how to work things out nagging at him. He understood the basic idea of what he was going to do, he even accomplished it before. He knew that what he was about to do would raise some eyebrows.

Not that he was not used to that.

Anakin knew he would probably have to force these people to agree to his terms. He reasoned to himself that with his plan, both of them would be better off, even though they were too ignorant and stubborn to see it. Why, when the wellbeing of both of these groups was protected - even enhanced - was mind control such a dangerous thing? Surely something that brings good to all cannot be purely evil.

In his makeshift hut, constructed with the help of the Coastals to survive the strong winds that blew in from the sea, he found a new way to meditate that allowed him to find the Force in a way he never thought possible. Once again, he was able to connect to the Force – completely with the Uniyfing Force. Here away from the Masters, he was able to explore it at length. It was the way that he did so that would have raised questions at the Temple.

The process involved him reflecting more on the self, rather than outside. Through looking into himself, Anakin discovered, a Jedi could find a much stronger connection to the Force than by looking out beyond himself. At first, he was nervous about such methods, but then became unconcerned – the Force is the Force.

There is no dark.

There is no light.

As the Jedi preach, there is only the Force. By accessing it, by attuning himself to it, he was only doing what was natural. Using his innate strength, something he believed the Jedi feared, was only natural. It mattered not how Anakin got there, but only the end result.

And the end result would be the improvement in living for the Coastals and Inlanders.

Anakin believed, from a certain point of view, everything could be regarded as good or evil, based on the consequences from actions. After all, the Jedi pushed this idea in their teachings to make Padawans understand that there are two sides to any conflict and that true resolution can come only by understanding both of these sides.

Sometimes, at moments such as this, Anakin wished for the guidance of the Jedi, even for the aide of Obi-Wan. However, he knew that he could not go back to them or to Coruscant. He had to remain here – and do the work of a Jedi.

Anakin shook his head, breaking his concentration and coming out of his meditation. Outside, he could hear the chirping of the many insects that lived in the tall grasses surrounding his hut. Taking a deep breath, he allowed his senses to come to full alertness. His mind wandered back to early that evening.

This particular night had been quite interesting for Anakin as the Coastals invited him into their village for a grand feast. He was not sure about the whole reason behind the celebration, but from what he could gather, they had a rather remarkable day fishing day. Add in the fact that it was something along the lines of the middle of the season; the sun shining and being set for nearly exactly half of a local day had some impact on the tides and therefore on the fish. Regardless, the food was good even if creatures from underwater made Anakin a little hesitant.

During the feast, it was hard for Anakin to keep his focus on what was going on around him. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have found the whole affair fascinating, since he came from such a cultureless planet as Tatooine.

Tonight, there was a couple that...reminded him very much of Padmé and himself. At one point the whole group honored their union; Anakin believed he witnessed what passed for a wedding ceremony for these people.

After the feast was over, the village leader came over to him, noticing how much Anakin watched the young couple.

"Ghedi," he asked me, pronouncing 'Jedi' with a heavy 'G' sound, "you love someone very much. Is this not true?"

Anakin could only stare at the humanoid.

"You have the mark of one who has loved, and who has been loved," the slightly furred alien continued.

Anakin shifted on his feet, staring down at the ground. He was unsure of how to respond. No longer did he worry about being expelled from the Jedi – already he had done as much himself. This comment by the village leader sent his mind tumbling again.

Over and over all he could see in his mind was Padme's smiling face. How he wished she could be here. Just to be with her...she was the one thing that had kept him from completely coming undone while he was away from Coruscant for all that time. The thought of her...

Anakin glanced out across the square in the middle of the village where they stood. His gaze went straight ahead of him, to the side of the village where there were no houses or any other buildings. The sight of the vast ocean met his eyes, the dark skyline melting into the black water. Stars reflected from the sky off the surface of the water.

Padmé.

All I want is you, my love. I just want to be with you, to have a life with you. Why couldn't you come away with me, why couldn't you let us have a life together?

As he watched the ocean, Anakin's chest felt like it would crack open. He knew that he and Padmé could not be together, for now at least. Taking a glance around him, he knew that if she were to ever come here she would be very pleased. He always worked with her in mind, thinking of how she would be proud and approve of what he was doing for these people.

Padmé.

Anakin could not allow his thoughts to dwell on her. Thinking of her only made him feel more despair. The fact that she has not tried to contact him...lead him to thoughts too painful to bear.

Taking a deep breath, Anakin stared across the water once more. He could not bring himself to let her go, though. She was too much a part of him, after just a few short months. Forcing himself to not think about her was worse than recalling her; her smile, her touch, her caring…the idea of never allowing himself to feel that deep sense of love again left him emptier than when he dwelled on her.

No, he could not let her go. There was no other option. He would not allow himself to be left alone in the galaxy. And if he was…he did not know what the consequences would be.

I love you Padmé, my dear Padmé. I will not loose you. As long as the Jedi no longer interfere with us, I will make it so that we can be together…

"Master Yoda, we can't – she'll hate us–" Obi-Wan nearly shouted at the small blue hologram of the Jedi Master with the pointed ears.

"Obi-Wan! Think!" Mace admonished him. "Master Yoda is right. It's the only way."

"I'm telling you, this will not go over well!" Obi-Wan repeated fervently.

"Did you really think that they could stay here on Alderaan forever?"

"No, but–" he stammered, then clenched his jaw and let out something akin to a strangled growl. The few peaceful days spent on the beautiful planet had been enough to almost make him forget that the rest of the galaxy was in turmoil and under the rule of a hideous tyrant.

"Perhaps at first angry with us young Padmé will be, but see the importance of this decision she will," Yoda said calmly.

Obi-Wan resisted the temptation to say otherwise in a very colorful fashion.

Sithspawn, he cursed to himself. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse…

"Where would we even take them?" Obi-Wan asked with strain. If there was nowhere safely send them then this might not have to be done. He might have just found the loophole out of this small mess.

Mace looked to Yoda, obviously they had not thought this far ahead. After a second the dark-skinned Master spoke.

"I leave you two to figure this out. I don't want to know where they are. The fewer that know, the better."

"Right Master Windu is. Discuss this you and I shall, young Obi-Wan."

Mentally Obi-Wan cursed again. Mace gave him a look then left the room.

"Master…do we have to send both of them away?"

Yoda took a deep breath before answering. "Mmm. What suggest you?"

"This might go better if…if we take only one. Let one of them stay. It seems so cruel."

A second of silence passed. Obi-Wan could tell Yoda was thinking this over with the gravest concern.

"Yes, keep one of them she should. Best for her it will be…and perhaps best for all."

"So…where should the other one go? Master, I can't just give it over in good conscience to someone who will not take care of it as best as possible."

"Right you are, Obi-Wan. A good Jedi you are – with a heart in the right place."

Obi-Wan blushed but said nothing. Normally he would have appreciated such praise from Yoda, but now he was more worried about other things.

"But worry not," Yoda advised. "Present itself, a solution will."

Obi-Wan sighed. "It has to be far away, somewhere where…"

The thought went unfinished. "That's it. No one would even think to look there – it's perfect…"

Yoda blinked wisely, a knowing smile on his face.

"And…my brother. He said that if I ever needed anything, in return for helping him and his wife, to just let him know. I don't know that he would do something this big, but it's worth a shot, it's the only shot we have."

"Settled then it is."

With that, Yoda disappeared.

Obi-Wan sat in the empty room for a second. Now he just had to break the news to Padmé. She would not like this one bit.

"You what?" Padmé exclaimed at him, almost shouting. Her face twisted into a nasty snarl, making her look like a vine tiger about to pounce. A slight hissing growl came from deep in her chest.

Obi-Wan grimaced. After this, he wanted never again to deal with a pregnant woman.

Ever.

"Padmé, it's for the best. We can't have two children like that born to someone like you. If they're split up, at least one of them has a chance–"

The scowl intensified.

"You – will – not – take – away–"

She was interrupted by the door opening and Barriss entering the room. She and Obi-Wan both turned sharply.

"Am I interrupting something?" Barriss asked, noting the very angry look on Padmé's face.

"Do you know about this?" Padmé questioned.

"What?" Barriss looked to Obi-Wan. "Look, I'll just come back later…"

She slipped back out the door and shut it softly behind her. Padmé turned to Obi-Wan.

"I can't Obi-Wan. I can't let you take one of them away. You might as well kill me, rather than do it." She sat down on the ornate chair; the large white cushions were so soft that she almost disappeared into them.

"Padmé," he whispered, leaning down next to her so that he had to look up to meet her eyes, "I wish there was another way. I honestly do. I didn't ask for any of this."

"And you think I did?"

The question needed no further elaboration to make the point any clearer.

"No. I never thought that. Just understand that we are trying to make the best of the situation at hand…regardless of how much we may dislike it."

Padmé's glare made Obi-Wan feel almost sick. The words coming out of his mouth sounded stale and flat, he knew they offered her no comfort. To take away her children, before she even had the chance to know them…left Obi-Wan feeling so hollow. Doubts ran though his own mind, wondering just how the Jedi took away the small babies from their families, to raise them at the Temple…

That was different.

The families gave them up willingly. They knew that the children would have better lives as Jedi – many of them came from dreadful places.

Plus, Padmé would have had to face the fact that she would not raise her children if the Jedi Order were not in such shambles. That in itself was a simple truth.

So, in reality, it was not much different than a normal Jedi…acquisition.

Despite this reasoning Obi-Wan could not calm the increasing feeling that this move was entirely wrong. Children belonged with their families, or in this case, what was left of it. Perhaps even one day Padmé could take them back to Naboo–

Who was he kidding?

That was just as likely as Emperor Palpatine stepping down, saying "Oh, oops sorry, here you can have the Republic back," or Yoda suddenly revealing that he was in fact the Sith Lord the Jedi were searching for.

Obi-Wan snorted at the thought. In return, Padmé narrowed her eyes at him.

"You can't do this, Obi-Wan. You just can't," she pleaded, her voice beginning to crack. Her hands clutched her stomach tightly.

"Will you tell me where you've taken him?"

Obi-Wan searched her face, thinking over how to answer. When it came to him, he found himself unable to speak. He shook his head.

A gasp of anguish escaped Padmé's throat. She leaned forward, and Obi-Wan moved aside, it looked as if she might be sick. After a second she put her hands on the side of her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

Through the Force, Obi-Wan could feel the fear and pain coming from her. Now that he was involved, it hit him harder than anything he'd felt in a long time. Suddenly he found himself speaking without realizing it.

"I'll watch over the child. When things settle down here…you won't hear from me anymore. I promise you, Padmé, as a last favor to you and Anakin, my brother, I'll look after the boy."

She stared at him, disbelieving his words.

"You would do that?" she gasped.

He nodded.

"Wait. What do you mean, 'when all this mess dies down?'" her voice changed, suddenly back on edge.

"What?"

"You wouldn't go right away? You sit there and say you want to help, but you're not helping! YOU'VE NEVER HELPED – NONE OF YOU JEDI HAVE!"

She leapt up from the chair so fast that she almost knocked Obi-Wan over. Deftly he ducked out of her way and stood up. Clenching and unclenching her hands into fists, she stepped over to the window and stared out it. Her breathing was ragged. Wanting to make things better, Obi-Wan started to walk up next to her.

She heard him coming up behind her and turned to look at him. Tears made lines down her cheeks and already her eyes were red.

"He just wanted your help, Obi-Wan. He never wanted any of this, neither of us did. No one understood him, what else did you expect him to do? He turned to the one person that did understand him…and he understood me…"

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, trying to maintain control of the guilt that was building up inside him. Perhaps she was right in a way, but Obi-Wan forced himself to put it out of his mind for the time being. The hidden meaning behind her words, that Jedi could not be stopped from having personal attachments, opened up a whole host of new issues.

Sighing, Obi-Wan decided he was going to need a long break when all this was over.

"Padmé, none of us saw this coming. We didn't know that it was going to get this bad."

"Well you should have! He was always upset about something; he was always looking to make things better! For being a Jedi, you sure are blind!"

Looking at him, Padmé's jaw set, and Obi-Wan was unable to tell what she was thinking. All this had to be a great shock to her, and for a second, she winced. Her hand increased pressure on her stomach. The movement brought Obi-Wan's attention back to the fact that Anakin had children, and it just seemed so hard to think that Anakin, of all people, had children…

Obi-Wan surely would need a very long break indeed. If anything, he deserved one.

"Padmé, I don't know what to tell you. I…I'm so sorry. I don't know how things got like this…I'm sorry."

When he looked back at her, he saw that she had covered her eyes with her hand.

"Just go," she muttered softly, her voice cracking. "Please."

"Padmé…"

"Just. Go. Away."

The words came out very harshly, and Obi-Wan could see another tear rolling down her cheek, with more to come. He wished there were something he could do to make her feel better.

Lowering his head in resignation, Obi-Wan did as she asked and left. Back in the quarters he shared with Mace Windu, he found the other Master staring out a window. One of his hands was on the sill, and the other propped on his hip. He did not turn to look at Obi-Wan, but kept his gaze on the Alderaanian night.

"The night is dark. I've never seen one so black," Mace said plainly.

The younger Jedi just stared at him.

"They say that the darkest nights always come after the brightest days," Mace went on, ignoring the fact that Obi-Wan was not responding to him.

He's gone completely insane. I bet he'd be talking to the room if I weren't here.

"What?" Obi-Wan finally managed to blurt out.

"Balance, Obi-Wan. It's all about balance. The deepest dark, the brightest light. They always follow each other. And right now…we are without the one that can bring the balance back. Too far into the dark are we."

Yes. Quite insane – he's even starting to sound like Yoda.

All the emotional stress was starting to make Obi-Wan into a dry cynic.

"Master Windu, what are you…" Obi-Wan started. Mace turned around, and looked at Obi-Wan, as if realizing he was in the room for the first time. He stepped away from the window.

"Balance. Balance is key. We have to have balance, and to have balance…we have to have…"

"Mace, you're not making any sense. Are you alright?"

Silence was the reply. Mace moved past Obi-Wan, heading towards the door. When he reached it he glanced back at the other Jedi.

"The Chosen One is our last hope. Balance has to be restored."

Just like that he was gone.

Obi-Wan's jaw dropped. For a couple seconds he stared at the door through which Mace left. At first he thought about going after him, but knew that he had to remain here.

After all, he had to keep a promise to Padmé.

And Anakin.

If Mace somehow knew where he was…then let him take care of it. Obi-Wan knew that long ago he should have gone after Anakin, should have tried to talk some sense into him, but everyone else convinced him that it was the wrong thing to do. Now he had to stay here. The only thing he could do was watch over Padmé for Anakin, and believe that Mace could bring his old apprentice back.

To be continued...