Hey, everyone, sorry for the delay. I guess it was a good thing I gave warning ahead of time, right? I hope you all think this chapter was worth waiting for. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything Star Wars related.

CHAPTER 4

Serenity


Although he had partially enjoyed his time away from the constant politics and busy traffic of Coruscant, Obi-Wan felt a wave of comfort and relief wash over him when he spotted the familiar sight of the five spires that capped the towering edifice of the Jedi Temple from the cockpit of his approaching starfighter. At the peak of the Clone Wars, he and Anakin had spent months upon months away from their home while battling the Separatist army, but it was never easy. He never felt more at peace than when he walked within the walls of the majestic establishment, among his friends and family. He had always felt a great sense of belonging and purpose when he was there – though he knew that Jedi were not to know possession and that was precisely what he felt towards it.

Piloting his starfighting down and descending into the Temple's central spire, the Jedi Master skillfully entered its spacious and fully stocked hangar bay. Expertly touching down on the retractable landing pad that had been extending in anticipation of his return to Coruscant, he quickly flicked the array of switches and various controls in front of him off until the roar of his ships engines faded.

Once his starfighter had been properly shut down, he climbed up from his seat and hopped out onto its wing, only to find that Mace Windu and Yoda were patiently waiting for him several feet below. He quickly dropped down to the ground a short distance away from where they stood and closed the area between them, casually folding his hands beneath his robes and giving them both a sincere bow of respect.

"Masters," he greeted.

"Welcome back, Obi-Wan," Mace replied, returning the gesture with a curt nod of his head.

"It is good to be back," Obi-Wan commented with a smirk. "It has been far too long."

"Warms my heart, it does, to know that you and young Skywalker are well," Yoda spoke up with a pleased expression etched on his withered face. "Your discovery…helpful, it will be."

"Thank you, Master Yoda, but me and Anakin may have never found our way out of that maze if it weren't for Master Secura," Obi-Wan retorted.

"Yes, we will see to it that credit is given where it is deserved," Mace interjected before extending his hand, indicating that he wished to take their conversation elsewhere. "Come with us, there is a matter of utmost importance that we must tend to."

Obi-Wan quirked a brow as the three Masters moved to exit the massive hangar. "Is something wrong?"

"A troubling discovery of our own, we have made," Yoda somberly answered.

"What kind of discovery?"

"We have identified the symbols that you presented to us," Mace added, his features hardening while he spoke. "The ones that you and Skywalker found on your attackers. According to the archives, they date back to the ancients of Korriban."

"Korriban?" Obi-Wan repeated aloud. The startling revelation was enough to stop him dead in his tracks – the abrupt halt catching his elder Masters' attention enough to stop them in place as well. "How can that be?"

Having studied the history of the Sith as a padawan learner, Obi-Wan knew exactly what had transpired on the primitive planet of Korriban decades ago. Although the modern era of the Sith Order had been attributed to a Sith Lord known as Darth Bane, and the Dark Jedi that had preceded him, records showed that the cult could find its roots even further back in the galaxies ancient past.

Long before the Republic had ever formed, there lived a culture on the small world of Korriban. Its natives called themselves the Sith and the Force flowed strongly through their bloodlines. They didn't practice the Force as the Jedi would have, but they were talented in their own brand of exceptional abilities – abilities that were speculated to have been driven by the dark side.

In the early days of the Jedi, a great schism had torn the new Order apart. Jedi who had tapped into the forbidden power of the Force's dark side rebelled against their light-sided brothers and, after a terrible war, the Dark Jedi had been exiled from the Republic. Past the Republic's growing borders, these castaways soon after discovered Korriban and the Sith people.

Powerful with the dark side, the Jedi outcasts had set themselves up as gods on the planet. The primitive Sith worshipped them as their lords, and so the Dark Jedi grew – the natives even going as far as building temples and monuments to celebrate their power. Millennia of interbreeding gradually blurred the distinction between Sith native and off-worlder, and the term Sith eventually came to encompass not only the indigenous people of Korriban, but also the powerful overlords that ruled them.

Nearly five thousand years before the present, during the Sith Empire's reign, a Republic explorer vessel had stumbled upon the secluded world of the Sith. One Sith Lord, Naga Sadow, had seen this as an opportunity to invade the Republic and exact vengeance on the Jedi who had banished them. History had recorded the invasion that followed as the Great Hyperspace War, and it had been only the first of many terrible conflicts that followed between the Jedi and the vicious Sith.

Time and again the Sith and Jedi had clashed, with devastated worlds lying in their wake. The last great conflict had taken place on the scarred plains of Ruusan. The Sith Lord known as Kaan and his Brotherhood of Darkness had done battle with the Jedi Army of Light. From this onslaught, only one Sith had escaped: Darth Bane. It was he who was assumed to have resurrected the Dark Order with duplicity and secrecy in mind…

In short, Obi-Wan knew that Korriban was the homeworld of the Sith and the possibility that the dark side was still the way of its people was most disturbing.

"Shortly before the structures on Korriban were destroyed, they were searched and studied for future knowledge," Mace explained, instantly pulling the other Master from his wandering thoughts. "The marks that your attackers dawned match many of which were found in their temples."

"Do you know what they mean?" Obi-Wan inquired.

"No," was Mace's blunt response. "The ancients spoke a rare language that has yet to have been deciphered by even the most decorated of historians throughout the entire galaxy."

"Visit Korriban, you and Anakin must," Yoda said as he firmly placed his hands atop his walking stick. "Find the source of the language…and find our answers, we will."


Padme Naberrie-Skywalker silently sat in one of the numerous lounge chairs that rested on the veranda of Varykino, distantly gazing out at the glistening water of the Lake Retreat while she sipped at a steaming mug of tea. The natural concoction consisted of various plants and herbs that she had taken from her very own gardens. The particular combination of assorted Naboo wildlife that she had fixed was meant to calm and soothe headaches, but so far it had been no use. The common Naboo remedy did nothing to ease the throbbing of her head, and she could only imagine that nothing but the return of her husband would help.

She felt guilty for forcing Sabe to endure her outburst of despair the night before, but she knew that her closest friend was one of the few people she could truly open up to. She could act like Padme around her and not Amidala, the former Senator of Naboo. Other than her, Anakin was the only other person she could completely confide in.

Of course, she shared a loving and trusting relationship with her sister Sola and the rest of her family, but she just couldn't tell them everything. With Anakin, she could. She had told him her greatest fears, her most embarrassing moments in life, her desires and ambitions…but most importantly, she was free to express her love. She could fully reveal herself to him. They shared a bond that only the two of them ever could.

Setting her hot mug aside, Padme sadly brushed her fingers across a black object that sat on the small table beside her. In it, it held the last message she had received from her husband before his disappearance on the desolate world of Hoth. She had watched it repeatedly since first hearing the agonizing news of he and Obi-Wan from Coruscant. He seemed to be so crestfallen in it, yet she could also sense a great deal of optimism and hope emanating from him at the end, just like all the other transmissions that he had sent in the past. Every time he spoke of returning home, he would visibly brighten. The fact that the mere thought of returning to Naboo evoked such a positive reaction in her husband was enough to warm her heart.

Finally, after a long moment of contemplation, Padme slowly activated the device on the table and a blue image sprang to life. She smiled when the hologram of Anakin flickered into existence. Even though she had watched the recording enough times that she had it memorized, each viewing still had the same affect on her.

She intently gazed at the image as it spoke…

"Angel, it's me. I don't have long before the power cuts out. We're getting interference from the blizzards, so I'll have to be brief. I just want you to know that you are always in my thoughts and I'll be back as soon as I can. Sooner or later, the Council will have to come to their senses and pull us off this block of ice…but until then, know that I love you and I always will. I can't wait to see you and Naboo again. I'll try to send a longer message when the storm lets up."

And with those last words, it was over. Pressing the pause button on the receiver, Padme struggled to fight back tears while she stared at the holographic image of her Jedi husband frozen in place.

Just then, she heard the sound of Threepio clanking about inside the lodge. Knowing that Sabe must have returned from her trip to town earlier in the morning, she assumed that the protocol droid must have been scurrying to her friend with the intentions of lending his assistance with whatever she had picked up from the local shops.

However, her head quickly whipped around when she heard his excited voice call out from behind her.

"Oh, Master Ani, you're back! I trust your trip went well?"

When her eyes fell on the sight of the man standing before the golden droid, she bolted up out of her seat and her gaze locked on him in disbelief.

"Yes, Threepio, it was fine," he impatiently retorted, anxiously glancing around and scanning the area. "Where's Padme?"

"Anakin!" Padme shouted as she darted inside.

The second his searching eyes found his wife, Anakin Skywalker rushed in her direction and met her half way, desperately wrapping his arms around her.

"Oh my!" Threepio exclaimed, nearly toppling over from the surprise of his sudden movement.

Padme could no longer hold back her tears as she clung to her husband, her mind whirling and leaving her feeling slightly dizzy. She closed her eyes and prayed that she wasn't dreaming – that he was really with her and not a frozen corpse somewhere on Hoth.

"H-how?" was all she could manage to choke out.

"It's a long story, Angel, but I'm alright," Anakin answered, quite amazed that a woman as petite as his wife could possess the strength that she did as she grasped onto him. "We were just…lost for awhile."

Tearing herself from her husbands' chest, Padme hastily reached up and cupped his cheeks in her hands, pulling his head down until their lips met. Anakin hungrily returned the kiss and tightened their embrace, pulling her further into him and drowning in the depths of their love. What had been missing from his life was returned to him at that very moment. As he absorbed Padme's presence, everything felt as though it had fallen back into place. The taste of her lips, the feel of her body against his…he had finally been reunited with his other half.

Padme was left breathless by the time their lips parted, her head spinning and chest heaving as she did her best to comprehend exactly what had happened. Only seconds ago, she had been afraid that she would never see the love of her life again, but now here he was…she was back in his arms and she had never felt safer. All of her previous worries had been completely alleviated in the blink of an eye.

"Force help me, I don't know what I would do without you," Anakin sighed as he affectionately traced the contours of her hips with his hands, gently drawing her closer to his tall frame.

"You'll never have to find out," Padme assured him, sniffing while her tears of pain turned to tears of joy. "I've missed you so much, Ani."

"I've always been with you," he replied as he moved back just enough to look his wife in her captivating brown eyes. He smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek before gingerly taking the trinket at the end of her necklace in his fingers. "You'll always have a part of me with you, Padme. No matter what."

She smiled and placed a tender kiss on his lips before responding. "I won't settle for any less than all of you, Master Skywalker."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he lightly laughed. "How did I ever get so lucky?"

Padme's mouth curled up into a mischievous grin. "You're the Chosen One…you get your every desire"

"Every desire?" he retorted as he raised an eyebrow and a mischievous look of his own surfaced.

He couldn't contain another laugh as he leaned down and captured his wife's lips in his own once again, causing her to whimper in satisfaction as a sense of pure tranquility surrounded her.

"Anakin?"

They both reluctantly pulled away from their intimate position and glanced over when a new voice suddenly called out to them. Despite the unpleasant interruption, Padme smiled when she saw Sabe walk in with several shopping bags in hand.

"Anakin, it is you!"