A.N. Some people seemed to be confused- it was Obi Wan who Anakin found, the scene in Ch. 10 shifted back in time to when Obi Wan arrived on Tatooine, to explain why he was there- he talked to Padme first, then went off to find Anakin, which is how he wound up there in Ch. 9-it's sort of confusing, I realize, some got it some didn't so I just wanted to clarify. Now this continues from where Ch. 9 left off, when Anakin found Obi Wan.

Ch. 11

"How could you?" Anakin asked through gritted teeth, his light saber raised to his former Master's neck.

"What?" Obi Wan exclaimed, honestly confused about what Anakin meant. Suddenly, the meaning dawned on him. "Anakin, you can't possibly think I actually had something to do with this, Anakin, I… how could you even think that?"
Anakin's eyes shifted to the speeder, the palace, and the sense of betrayal and confusion was obvious in them.

"Anakin, no, you know I would never…"

"How else do you explain your presence here," Anakin asked, still threatening Obi Wan.

"Anakin, please, calm down," Obi Wan said, trying to back away from him. "Padme called me, Anakin. She told me where you were, I'm only here to help."

"Padme…" Anakin muttered, his light saber suddenly lowering, though whether this was voluntary or not was unclear- his whole body had become weak and numb as the truth of the situation dawned on him. He had just been accusing his best friend of kidnapping his children, when really he just wanted to help…

Suddenly, Obi Wan found Anakin Skywalker, one of the most powerful Jedi of all time and most prone to masking his emotions with anger and rage, sobbing on his shoulder. After a moment of shock, Obi Wan put his arms around his friend and hugged him tightly.

"It will be ok, Anakin. I promise you, we will find them," he said reassuringly, a tear in his own eye upon seeing his friend's vulnerability.

"How could someone," Anakin asked in tears, "want to hurt two little children? What did they… what did they ever do to anyone?" He stared at Obi Wan, and for the first time ever Obi Wan noticed a feeling of helplessness and insecurity radiating from his former Padawan. He had never seen Anakin so confused, so unsure of himself, in all of the years he had known him.

"I don't know, my friend," Obi Wan said. "But I certainly won't stand for it."
"Is it my fault?" Anakin asked, and Obi Wan stared at him dumfounded.

"What do you mean, of course not!"

"I mean… do they want me, or want something from me…because of what I've done as a Jedi… did I somehow bring this upon them?" Anakin asked, and Obi Wan could see the pleading in his friend's eyes to be told otherwise.

"No Anakin," Obi Wan reassured him. "This is no one's fault, bad people simply exist. You know that, you've fought your whole life against people like this, and you've always won in the name of justice and peace. And you will win again. I promise."

Anakin's eyes gave a silent thank you to Obi Wan, and Obi Wan could sense Anakin's resolution begin to strengthen again. "Now Anakin, we must go quickly back to the ship. Padme saw the kidnappers leave the planet, but some boy jumped on the ship with a tracking device, or something…" Before he could even finish, Anakin was walking back towards the ship. Obi Wan caught up and put an arm around Anakin's shoulders.

After some time of walking in silence, Anakin turned to Obi Wan with the familiar look of having had one of his 'brilliant' ideas. "Obi Wan," Anakin began, eyeing his former Master, "I've been thinking-"

"Oh dear," Obi Wan laughed. Anakin managed to give Obi Wan a small smile as well a shove in return for that comment.

"I'm serious though," he said, as they trudged through the sand. "I think that this goes way farther than some kind of local ransom kidnapping or something- I think this was planned out…"

"What do you mean?" Obi Wan asked, the two now in the familiar scenario of analyzing the facts of a mission.

"Those shots that were fired on us a couple of days ago," Anakin began, and Obi Wan started to see where he was going. "Remember how I couldn't see the ship anywhere? Well I think that's because the attack was very carefully staged- the ship went into hyperspace right after firing… Obi Wan, I think that they aimed specifically at that part of my ship, knowing that I would have to come here to get the replacement, and then with me and the children away from Coruscant, away from the Temple and the other Jedi, they would have the chance to…" he faded out, unable to discuss the kidnapping.

"That's a very good theory, Anakin," Obi Wan agreed. "I believe you could be right, we certainly have a lot to figure out…"

"You said the boy put a tracking device on their ship?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, and himself too, apparently," Obi Wan responded.

"He certainly is daring," Anakin said. "Where was the ship headed?"

"Who is the boy?" Obi Wan asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

"He was Watto's slave…" Anakin muttered, and he didn't have to say any more for Obi Wan to comprehend the situation- Anakin wanted to help this boy. "Where was the ship headed?" Anakin asked again.

"When I got there it had just left Tatooine, but the course seemed to be set for Kashyyyk…"
"Why would they go there?"

"I really don't know, my friend," Obi Wan said.

Suddenly, they found themselves at the ship. Padme ran down and threw herself into Anakin's arms. He hugged her tightly, kissing her head, as she cried.

"We will find them angel. We will," he tried to reassure her.

"Anakin, it's my fault, I'm so sorry," she babbled through her tears.

"What? What are you talking about…"

"I've just realized… the bill to regulate trade in Hutt space, they must've…"

"Shhh, shhh," Anakin said, though he and Obi Wan eyed each other, knowing that this was one possible explanation for the problem.
"It's unlikely though," Obi Wan voiced aloud. "The Hutts would not have acted so audaciously for that one simple political agenda, I highly doubt…"

"Not the Hutts," Padme stuttered, still having trouble expressing herself. "The smugglers, the criminals…"

"I still think it is doubtful," Obi Wan said reassuringly. "This goes deeper than that. Both of you need to stop blaming yourselves."

"But it might have something to do with it," Padme gasped, still crying into Anakin's shoulder.

"It is possible, but not probable," Obi Wan said. "Now let's go find your children."

"It's headed for Kashyyyk," she said, and before she and Obi Wan were even on board Anakin had begun to take off. They sat on the ship, Padme in Anakin's arms and Obi Wan sitting pensively to their side, all of them silently trying to piece together the situation for themselves. It was so incomprehensible that the children were gone, that someone had taken them, and all three could only hope that they would be there in time to help…

Hi! I realize this was kind of short, and I promise the next chapter will be longer and better, but I had to get what was said in this chapter said, so that I can sort of go on to the next step of the story. Hope you're enjoying it!

P.S. Did anyone else's stats for 'hits' get reset and start back at zero a couple days ago? It was really weird.