Finally an update. Those of you still with me and those of you just joining the adventure, thank you so much for your patience. Summer has officially arrived for me. I'm back home and looking forward to finishing this story . . . which means much more frequent updates. Thanks again guys, and as always, feedback is appreciated.

PS. I owe some recognition to LadyKelina. Without her plotting help and advice, it would have taken even longer for me to get this chapter out. Thanks again for all your help, Kelina.

-WizardWriter86

Condemned Refuge

Obi Wan sighed, as his footsteps echoed about the hollow hanger bay. At last he had reached the secret fortress of the Jedi. He knew he should feel relieved, yet the place seemed devoid of peace and felt like anything but a sanctuary. The massive aircraft hanger, which could hold thousands of ships, now held only a fraction of its capacity. Much had been lost. The Jedi's numbers had been whittled down to only a small portion of their pre-war ranks.

As he walked with Anakin toward the far doorway, Obi Wan looked at his former padawan with an expression of concern. Their detour to Courscant had brought them to the ruins and devastation which now stood in place of the temple. It was a mission inspired by hope but had ended grief, when the terrible discovery was made there. Anakin's reaction to the ill-fated incident only puzzled Obi Wan more, making him doubt every decision he had made. When the dust had settled and they had once again escaped Courscant's atmosphere, even less was clear to the two Jedi. There seemed to be nothing left to do, so after much persuasion, Anakin had agreed to go on the refuge. On the terms of his compliance, however, he was insistent. In three days, Obi Wan was to take him to Padme, just as he had promised.

Obi Wan felt a pang of regret. Did he really believe that when it came to a choice between Padme and the Jedi, Anakin would choose the Order? Even after all the years they had been Master and Padawan, Obi Wan knew Anakin had never been wholly loyal to the Order. He was as stubborn and rebellious as Qui Gon, maybe more. Maybe if Qui Gon had lived . . . Obi Wan shook his head, he could not allow himself to dwell on the past. Not now.

As they reached the doorway, exiting the hanger, Shaak Ti came to greet them. "Master Kenobi," she said warmly. "I'm glad you made it here. We have lost so many Jedi, it is a relief to find you safe."

Obi Wan nodded his head in greeting, "I'm glad to see you as well Master Ti."

Her gaze moved and fell on Anakin. "Knight Skywalker, it has been so long since you left. I'm sure Master Yoda will be pleased to see you have returned and to hear of your journey."

Obi Wan wasn't sure if there was a tone of reprimand in her voice, but the reaction he sensed from Anakin was not encouraging. "I'm sure Master Yoda wishes to speak to me," Anakin said dryly. "But if you'll excuse me, it's been a long journey and I'd like to rest."

Obi Wan noticed that Anakin had neglected to call Shaak Ti "Master". However, if she noticed, she didn't let on. She remained neutral. "Of course," she said.

Anakin nodded toward the two masters and continued on. As he moved past Shaak Ti, he shot Obi Wan a look, and the elder Jedi sensed the distain. He supposed he deserved it. He should have let Anakin choose his own path, instead of getting involved and hiding Padme behind Anakin's back. He should have let him go, should have told him were Padme was. He had just wanted Anakin to follow his destiny. He had never thought Anakin would reject the prophecy, but it seemed the "Chosen One" had chosen a different path.

Obi Wan finally spoke, distantly. "It was a difficult journey here. Before reaching the Haven, Anakin and myself returned to Courscant to search for survivors, but we narrowly escaped ourselves. I must apologize for him, Master, he has had a rough time lately. If you remember, he was driven out of Courscant by Palpatine's forces just after Master Windu was killed. Before I found him, he had been living in exile on Tatooine."

Shaak Ti said nothing for a long moment, before finally speaking, "You look tired as well, Master Kenobi."

He forced a smile, but he could not mask the sadness in his eyes. "It has been a long week."

"The council will understand. Go and take some rest."

Obi Wan shook his head, "I'm certain the Council would prefer I report to them first. I thank you for your concern, but I do not think I have time for the luxury of rest. Since Anakin and myself are unable to linger here-"

Shaak Ti's demeanor seemed to change. Her calm serenity became suspicious inquiry. "And Master Kenobi, what is it that would draw you away from this place without the order of the Council?"

Obi Wan cringed inwardly. Was it so easy to sense what was going on? Could she read in his thoughts that he meant to help Anakin abandon the Order? "My former Padawan and I," Obi Wan began slowly, "have a pressing matter that we must see to in a few days. Once our mission is finished, we plan to once again reunite with the Council. It's simply-"

"Master Kenobi," Shaak Ti said, coolly. "I'm certain that you will have no trouble in gaining clearance to carry out this mission. However, I am not as optimistic about your suggestion to bring Anakin with you. He has just returned to the Order, after being missing for nearly seven standard weeks. In these dark days, we need the Chosen One to remain at our side. You know full well that if the prophecy is true, then he is the only one that can save us." A long moment passed in awkward silence. Finally she shook her head and mused quietly, "I pray to the force that he will not abandon us."

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Anakin lay on his cot, thinking. He really did want to rest, but he could sense the turmoil of the Jedi. The tumult was flooding the force, and he could not shut it out.

Something had changed since he had come to this room. The ruminations in the force that had felt so dark when they first arrived had turned more hopeful. The Jedi were looking to their Chosen One to save them. After all that had happened on Coruscant, how could anyone look to him now?

It didn't matter anyway. There was only one person Anakin was interested in saving. Padme, he could still save her, despite everything.

He drew a deep breath, rolled over on to his side and closed his eyes. Yet, every time he released himself to peace, he felt the force and all the pain that coursed through it. A pain which he felt partly responsible for. If only he had been ready. Obi Wan had wanted to save survivors, to rescue any that lived through Palpatines attack. In theory, it should have been one of the easiest missions he had ever been given. Once you've battled hundreds of droids single-handedly, a simple reconnaissance mission should have been effortless. But it wasn't. Something terrible had happened, yet another failure to add to an ever growing list. How could this have happened? How had he become this, this shadow of what he was meant to be? He wasn't the Jedi he was supposed to be, and he had no idea how to change that simple fact.

With a sigh he realized there was no rest for him in the present, so he turned to the past. There would be no rest so long as he dwelled on everything that was happening now. So, he let his mind drift back to a simpler time, when his life was full of ambition, hope and peace, yes peace, something that had been missing for a long time. He blocked all else from his mind. There were no Clone Wars, there never had been. There was only Padme, the lake country on Naboo, and isolated conflicts so far across the galaxy that even the Jedi paid them little mind. That was the reality that he created for himself, and in his delusion of false serenity, he drifted discontentedly and fitfully off to sleep.

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Silently, Obi Wan walked along the smooth floor of the corridors somewhere in the holds of the secret Jedi base. Shaak Ti had little more to say to him, and his meeting with the remaining members of the Council had been no more encouraging. There was contention among the Jedi. Their fear had grown into an enemy greater than any of Palpatine's forces. In times like these, keeping fear from their minds was a strain greater than any physical battle. Exhaustion and the lack of comfort in the Force had made all among the Jedi tense and guarded.

Whatever hope Anakin's return had inspired was dissolved in his withdrawal to his chamber. The Council asked little of Obi Wan's request to leave in less than three days, but as Shaak Ti had predicted, there was flat refusal in allowing Anakin to leave as well. Obi Wan didn't have the heart to tell the Council that they really didn't have a say.

Obi Wan stopped before a door. He reached up his hand to knock against the steel panel and then stopped himself. He stretched out through the force, and though he knew Anakin was in the room, he could not sense him. His friend had shut himself out from the Force, and Obi Wan realized it was the only way Anakin could find rest. Although there was much to discuss, he decided it was best to let the knight sleep. There would be plenty of time to talk when Anakin was more rested and hopefully more reasonable.

Turning away, Obi Wan moved down to the next chamber and sighed as the door slid open. Removing his outer robe, he took a seat on the cot and drawing a deep breath, he closed his eyes and opened himself to the force. At first it was difficult, like walking from the sand into the sea with storm driven waves crashing against him. Then as he waded into the deep of the Force, he found the swells were high and yet less driving. Here in the depths, he allowed himself to meditate. So much rose about him, yet he strained to listen to what the Force was whispering at its core.

As he struggled to listen to the guidance he so desperately needed, a vision came, unbidden and unexpected.

Mountains fell under shadow, storm clouds blocked out the sun. An era was about to end and another was about to begin.

Black ships approached from the east driving the dwindling numbers of white ships into the distance. The Haven was surrounded, and then there was only fire and ash.

Padme ran down a corridor upon a planet he could not recognize. She reached an end and was unable to flee further. Turning bravely to face whatever pursued her, there was no fear in her eyes, only exhaustion. She looked older and weathered. Then suddenly her face changed. It was younger and somehow different. Similar to her face and yet not hers. With brown eyes and flowing brown hair, this young woman who so much resembled Padme, cried out, "HELP ME!"

A young man, in a likeness of Anakin, dared to rise up against the daunting odds. He was raw and untrained, though his power was great. He raced to the rescue of the young woman, but the darkness saw and fell upon him, engulfing him and the one he sought to rescue. There was an anguished cry, "NOOO!" Yet the cry came not from either of the enemy's prey.

Anakin, with devastation etched across his face, looked upon all this, shadowed in darkness and bound in binders. Something terrible had happened, something that even he could not stop. The stars were fading and Anakin's silhouette blended into the darkness.

The vision began to fade, yet Obi Wan knew there must be more. With a sigh he opened his eyes and looked about the sparse room. He rested his chin on his hand, giving in to his confusing thoughts. Something in the force had shifted, and somehow all his efforts seemed fruitless. The future he was trying to protect Anakin and his children from somehow seemed to have changed. Or perhaps it had not changed at all. Perhaps this vision and the visions of Luke battling his father were part of the same whole. Perhaps it was just a new piece and a changed perspective, giving him the chance to understand and maybe even save those he desperately wanted to help.

Nothing had made sense lately. His reuniting with Anakin on Tatooine and all that had followed only seemed to cloud all he had thought was obvious. He let his mind drift back over the past few days, looking for some answer in the pattern of events and the strange visions. As he considered the events at the ruins of the Jedi Temple, just days before, his brow grew more furrowed. In that moment, Master Obi Wan Kenobi only felt more troubled.

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There you go, hope you enjoyed it.

Coming Soon (in the next few days): Chapter 14