The battle helped with her focus. She was a born warrior. Her skills with military tactics helped the Republican army a great deal. Nonetheless, Alto Stratus' elite Nimbus troops were too much for the clone army to handle in this strange and wet environment. She forgot about all her troubles with the task at hand. With the diminishing supplies and unfamiliarity with the enemy, General Kenobi ordered a retreat in order to prepare for a full-on attack. Nonetheless, the Jabiimites, fueled by their apparent victory and their leader's charismatic speech, attacked the Republic army at its heart, at the Shelter Base. All perished except a handful of padawans and squadrons of clone troops holding the minor bases.

Finn never felt so lost before in her entire life. Everyone was gone, even Obi-Wan. He was dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. She repeated to herself, yet it could not stick. Every time that she had an idea, she thought about telling him, then the realization dawned on her over and over again, hurting her anew. Nevertheless, to mask up her own uncertainty, she felt it was her duty to give the orphaned padawans a purpose. She calculated the risks. It was a long shot, extremely dangerous. But if they don't stop the Jabiimites now, they will soon gain more following. At that point, they would be invincible.

"It is our last and only chance," she emphasized. The padawans looked at each other, with doubts in their eyes. "Their plan is to gain the support of more star systems and launch an offensive attack on Coruscant. The Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order will be at stake!"

"But it's far too dangerous, the Council had instructed us to stay put until reinforcements come." One of the older padawans asserted.

"If we don't fight now, there will be no council to send us any reinforcements." She felt as if she was talking to a group of ignorant children, rather than her own peers. "Your masters would wish it so," she looked at their faces and saw some affirmation.

"Why should we listen to you? You are not a Jedi." A padawan challenged.

"Because I am also a military commander, aside from General Kenobi's aide. Unless you have a better plan, I suggest you to shut up. This may not be the safest plan for us. It is the best we've got. If you were ever called on to risk everything to save the Republic, my Jedi friends, it is now or never." She began to walk toward the spaceship, not really caring if anyone followed her or not. "I will not let the Republic of a Thousand Years die in my hands," she told herself.

The campaign, to everyone's surprise, was a huge success. The Jabiimites were severely damaged by the group of vigorous young padawans and their clone troops. Using the few days of dry weather to their advantage, they were able to reverse the situation and bring the Separatists fully under control on Jabiim. When the reinforcements finally came, they were astounded to be greeted by the victorious young padawans and the imprisoned Jabiimite leaders.

It was when she spoke to a fellow lieutenant that she saw him, as she looked up from the maps. At first she thought that he was a ghost, or a remnant of a longing in her heart that was haunting her. Then she noticed his gaunt appearance and the torn sleeves of his robes. She let out a small gasp and ran up to him, nearly knocking him over and before anyone even saw him. After Obi-Wan had a change of clothes and rested, Finn came into his room. She was afraid to look at him fully, thinking that he will just vanish in a puff of smoke. She heard about his capture by the Jabiimite and his imprisonment. She did not care about his miraculous escape, except that he was here. He was alive.

His blue eyes flashed as he saw her, "Master Yoda has told me everything, I'm very proud of you, Finn." He gave her a rather lazy but dreamy smile. She didn't say anything, but stood in front of him and looked at him. He smiled and extended his arms to embrace her. All the crushing pains and doubts of the past few months finally broke the wall of silence, she sobbed into his shoulder.

He rocked her gently and rested his chin on her head. He could not help but wonder at how thin and frail she was in his arms, and how much her shoulders trembled between the sobs. "Do you have any idea what you put me through?" she admonished him, while brushing a few strands of stray hair from his forehead. "I thought you were dead, I thought I'd lost you just like how I lost everyone else."

"Don't worry, Fina. I'm here now," he hugged her closer. When he bent down to look at her, she held his face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth, long and hard. A large part of him marveled at the kiss itself: how soft her lips felt, how he could feel both of their hearts racing, and how he felt that it should have been done a long time ago. Nonetheless, a small corner of his mind reminded him of his duties. It was a very small corner, but it was very loud and it echoed. Reluctantly, he broke off the kiss. "I, err," he felt extremely embarrassed under her piercing gaze, "I need to speak to Master Windu." He could not betray the Code, but he betrayed his heart.

She felt like a fool, a much bigger fool than she ever teased Obi-Wan to be. He did not want to kiss her, she was sure. She had loved him all his life, yet, yet, all he cared about were the Jedi. This was the most patience she had ever shown on anything or anyone. Nonetheless, her heart was too broken for her to stay here, so near to him. She had her duties, but after ten years, she decided that it was all too much.

As the transport landed, a great crowd of people gathered around and cheered for the young heroes. "My dear child," Chancellor Palpatine smiled politely and patted Finn on the back. She bowed formally and accepted the praises with mild gratitude. Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair. He was proud of her. Very proud. Yet at that moment, he didn't know what to do or say, except to watch jealously as the entire Coruscant whisked her away.

"Master Obi-Wan," a familiar voice came to him, "how are you?" It was Anakin, smiling, and tall as ever.

"Anakin!" he clasped his former apprentice's hands warmly.

"I clearly see now that I was not needed for the battle," he glanced sideways at the young lieutenant, who was beginning to have trouble gathering her wits in front of so many admirers and well-wishers.

"I have," Obi-Wan paused, searching for the right words, "missed your company, Anakin. The campaign went well with Finn. I am very proud of her."

Anakin nodded, "You seem distressed about something, Master."

"Come," he drew an arm around the younger man, "I need to speak to you in private. It's about our old friend, Count Dooku."

Anakin was not sure how to feel about Finn Palpatine. She was a caring and genuine person. She was intelligent and witty. She was a good and dutiful soldier. Yet sometimes, she could be none of these. She would become withdrawn and stubborn in a second. He sometimes did feel, as she did, that they had known each other before they met. However, on a different level, they were just two strangers, passing by each other due to some common acquaintances. "So how did you two meet?" Anakin asked his young wife one night.

"Oh, it was so very long ago." She combed her long tresses and gave him an irresistible smile.

It was the beginning of her second term as queen. The Nubian security advisor, Captain Panaka, decided that she should train more rigorously in the fighting arts, just as her handmaidens. He gave her a stack of military personnel profiles, full of Naboo's most talented and skilled soldiers. She was to pick one of the graduating cadets as trainer and bodyguard.

"I saw that there was only one female in the entire file, and she was also the youngest." A part of her thought that a female trainer would prevent the giggly and flirty smiles of her handmaidens, as she had often seen through the years. A very small and guilty part thought that the young girl might not be the most challenging teacher.

"Well?" there was laughter in Anakin's eyes. He had fought with Finn. He knew that she had Jedi-quick reflexes and a good eye for weaknesses.

"She was the most difficult and demanding teacher I have ever had," Padmé sighed and shook her head with a smile.

Another reason was Finn's own family background. Her real name was Aodhfin.

"Aodhfin? What an odd name?" Anakin exclaimed.

It was a very old name, even older than the Republic. Its roots reached back to the dawn of time, even before the Galaxy. It meant, White Fire.

"Don't you think it's very befitting?" Anakin did not answer, but picturing the fiery young woman with her pale cold eyes.

Finn was named after her grandmother, Aodhfin the Wise. She was the youngest queen to ever serve Naboo and an ever-rising political star in her time. Anakin scoffed, and Padmé ignored her husband's indifference to politicians. "I wanted to meet her, to see what she was like. After all, she came from the most prominent family on Naboo. I wanted to see if she was like her grandmother. I was impressed when I met her, of course. But something was amiss."

Finn was deferential to Queen Amidala at all times and took her duties to heart. Nonetheless, she rarely spoke to anyone else and always took her meals apart from the Queen and her handmaidens. She inquired about it with Captain Panaka, who reported that ever since the girl entered the Academy, she had always been introvert and silent. Also, the other cadets were afraid of her, because she was just too good for her age. Nevertheless, she was an excellent teacher and saved Padmé's life in more ways than one. One day, Finn accompanied Padmé back home for a visit. Dressed in plain civilian clothes, the girl was shy and awkward with her family. When they reached Padmé's old room, Finn could not help but stare at one of the holograms framed on her wall. It was a picture of Qui Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, taken by a sensible handmaidens while they were going back to Naboo. It was the only hologram of Qui Gon, taken shortly before he died.

Finn touched the bearded face. "Were you," she swallowed, "were you there when he—" she could not finish. Padmé did not understand why this Nubian girl had such an attachment with the old Jedi knight. "No, I was not there. We were too late to save him. Did you know him?"

"Yes," Padmé could see tears in her eyes, "he was my uncle. I, I'm sorry. It's been so long since I've seen his face." She looked at the youthful face of Obi-Wan, "how did Ben take it?"

"Ben?"

"I mean, Obi-Wan. I've called him 'Ben' since I was a child." She never used his real name, his Jedi name. Obi-Wan was a name with a sound that belonged in the Jedi Council. Ben was the name of her best friend.

"Master Kenobi was very brave. And I believe now he is a great Jedi knight. Anakin is his padawan."

Finn nodded, yet she was unable to tear her eyes off her uncle's face. To comfort her, Padmé said, "Qui Gon served Naboo nobly. He died for the Republic, for the Jedi. You should be proud."

"But it just doesn't seem fair, does it? The Jedi, the protector of peace and justice of the whole galaxy, should have prevented it," Finn said flatly. "It just wasn't fair. Uncle promised me that he or Ben would train me once Ben gets knighted. I was to be trained as a Jedi. When mother gets better, she would go to Coruscant and live with father and us. We would have been happy, we would have been a family." She covered her face with her white, thin hands, sobbing, "then he, my brother, and my mother all died, all in a month. I was left with nothing. I miss them. I miss them so much."

Padmé felt the young girl's pain, of losing everything and everyone she held dear to, of having her only dream crushed by the Jedi Council that she worshiped, and of having to leave home because there was nothing left for her to stay. "I'm sorry," she hugged the trembling shoulders closer to her chest and pressed her cheek onto the blonde head. "I'm so sorry."

"You called Master Mace Windu a bantha fodder reeking of what? And you got away alive?" Anakin was credulous. It was when Finn had first arrived at the Temple, and she was telling him about Obi-Wan's young and wild days.

"But don't think that it didn't get me into enough trouble," Obi-Wan chuckled, then he straightened his face. "Don't you attempt anything of the kind, my young padawan. This is the wisdom I wish to impart to you."

"Oh, Ben. Let the boy make his own mistakes," she slapped Anakin on the shoulder. "That's the only way he'll learn. Anakin, have your master ever told you about the time that he snuck out of the temple with me one night and…"

Anakin noticed that his master was always different when Finn was around. Of course, he was still the mild-toned, serious Master Kenobi as ever. Yet he was always more cheerful and humorous. Finn's stories often put him back to many happy memories, some were no less than embarrassing, especially for a full-fledged Jedi master, and told to his padawan for that matter. Nonetheless, the crushing tension in Obi-Wan subsided when Finn would remind him of the times when he was the padawan and of the silly and serious mistakes he had made.

When Master Kenobi was out of the room for a moment for a glass of water, Anakin raised his eyebrows and sighed, "I can't believe that all these things happened to my master."

"Oh yes, they did," she drawled, "he was quite the 'you'll be the death of me' padawan, when he was your age."

Anakin shook his head, still with incredulity, "yet he never permits my mistakes. He always disapproves of me."

Just then, Finn saw the eager-to-please padawan in Anakin's face and pitied him. She had no master to please and wished for none, but she understood his anxiety. "No, he is very proud of you. The only reason that he expects more from you is because he believe you will be so much more."

"What are you two talking about?" Obi-Wan poked his head in, holding a pitcher of water and some cups.

"Oh, nothing." They spoke at once and grinned at him. Just that split moment, Obi-Wan Kenobi could have swore that the two had the same smile. Nonetheless, the similarity disappeared as quickly as it came. These two have become quite the friends, the Jedi master thought to himself satisfactorily. He was glad that Anakin would have the wisdom of a friend other than Obi-Wan himself by his side.

"There once was a family, a rich and noble family," a fifteen-year-old Kyler told Finn, who was still very young at the time, "they had no children for a long time. Then one year, they were suddenly blessed with a healthy and beautiful baby boy. Wishing the best for their son, the parents called in all the notable augurs of the land. They promised the parents that their son would be powerful. They promised that he would have many children. And they promised that the son would bring the family glory beyond anything they have experienced. However," his eyes were twinkling with childish wickness, "after all the augurs have prophesized, a dirty old beggar came to their house, telling them that he, alone, knew of the child's destiny. The father drew his ear closer to the old man's toothless mouth and only three words came out, 'he will die' in a whisper."

"Why are you telling me this, Kyler?" Finn did not understand the story.

"It means, that no matter what happens in a person's life, that person will eventually die. His bones will turn into dust and no one will remember him."

Tears began to collect in her eyes. "Are you dying, Kyler? I won't let you die," she shouted, hanging on to her big brother's robes.

"No, but I will, one day." He placed a hand affectionately on her head, and spoke in a whisper, "if that day should come too soon, I want you to take my place, Finn. I want you to defend what we have been building for so long."

A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated. :D