Chapter 10 A Desperate Hope

Present Time

Anakin watched Padme, sitting on the floor in the midst of the toddlers in the nursery. Of all the Jedi in the Temple, they were the most innocent, and as such, had been shielded from the tragic events of the previous night. The Force works in mysterious ways at times, and it had blocked horror from them; and, looking back, he realized that his own toddler, Livie, had also been shielded. She had not felt what he had as she sat on his lap listening to him read to her; the other children, the older ones had, but not Livie. Not that Livie didn't now know what had happened, even though she didn't fully understand it; but she had not felt so much as a ripple in the Force. Sensing her father was near, she now looked up from her place on Padme's lap, smiled and then turned to pat her mother's face; having gotten her attention, Livie pointed toward the observation window. As soon as she spied her husband, Padme lifted her youngest daughter from her lap, turned to speak with the nursery master who had been busy on the other side of the room, then stood up and moved toward the door. The toddlers continued with their play as the nursery master took Padme's place on the floor and Padme opened the door to join her husband, "Any news, Annie?" She asked hopefully.

Anakin sighed, "Not much; but we did get some information from the woman who tried to invade the 22nd." He answered.

"Where they've taken the younglings?" Padme hoped.

"No, but we know where she was meeting Melak; Obi-Wan and I are going out there to meet him instead." Anakin replied.

"And if you don't find him?"

"Well, then we're back to searching all the systems Dena and Boba came up with." Anakin said with a resigned sigh.

"Are you gonna find Fewwi and Sackie, Daddy?" Livie asked.

Anakin bent down and scooped her up, "We're going to try, Baby." He told her.

"There is no twy, Daddy." Livie reminded him solemnly.

Anakin had to smile as Yoda's wisdom echoed in his youngest child's words, "You're right, Livie; there is no try." He admitted.

"You'll find them; if anyone can, it's you and Obi-Wan." Padme assured him.

Anakin sighed again, "I just hope it's not too late when we do." He replied.

Padme slipped her arm around his waist, "I do too."

"Force, I'm glad you're here." Anakin said as he pulled her closer, "I'm glad all of you are here."

Eight Hours Earlier

"Annie? What's happened?" Padme asked as she rushed toward him, carrying her younger daughter, "No one will tell me anything, and I had a hard time even getting in."

Anakin frowned, "What are you doing here, Padme?" He demanded.

"I hadn't heard from you and I was worried; we all were." Padme answered.

"You've brought them all here? That was not a good idea." Anakin replied.

"I didn't think it would be a problem; I thought we were always welcome here." Padme said.

Anakin sighed and looked down, "I'm sorry; it's just that...well, I don't really know how safe it is here yet." He told her.

"Safe? Annie, what's going on?" Padme asked.

"The Temple was invaded; that's what I felt earlier." He answered, "They were after the younglings; now do you understand why it was not safe to bring the children here?"

"The younglings?"

"Like me, Daddy?" Livie asked.

"Oh, baby, I would never let anyone take you." Anakin assured her as he took the toddler in his own arms.

"Please, tell me what's happened, Anakin." Padme requested.

Anakin hugged Livie tightly, "Alright; as long as the children are here, we might as well settle them into our quarters. It would be better if you and I talked alone." He acquiesced.

"Tru took charge of them as soon as we were cleared through security; but Livie wouldn't go with him." Padme replied.

"Livie, you're not afraid of Tru are you?" Anakin asked.

"No, Daddy; I jus' wanted to see you." Livie murmured sleepily.

"Well, you should be sleeping." Anakin admonished.

"Uh huh." Livie replied with a yawn as she settled against her father's shoulder.

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The other children were waiting for them when they arrived; Leia seated on one chair with Kendyl curled up in her lap, and the other two boys perched on the arms of the other.

"You should all be in bed." Anakin said sternly as the door slid up and he observed his brood.

"We want to know what's going on, Daddy." Luke answered, speaking for all of them.

"I'll talk with you in the morning; right now, you all go to bed and let me talk to Mommy." Anakin replied.

"But..." Luke started to protest.

"Not again; go to bed, now, and we'll talk in the morning." Anakin ordered.

Luke scowled at him, but Leia roused Kendyl, stood up and led him toward the sleeping rooms, "You know better than to argue with Daddy, Luke." She said, "Come on, Haddie."

Hadrian obeyed without protest, but Luke stood his ground for a moment longer, then huffed and stomped after Leia. Anakin shook his head as he watched his blond-haired son retreat from the sitting area, "He's just like you, Anakin." Padme told him.

"I know; too much like me, I fear." Anakin admitted, "I'll just put Livie down and be right back."

Padme was seated in her chair when he returned and flopped into his, "We still don't know how they got in..." Anakin began.

Padme listened in silence until he had finished, "And what happens now?" She wondered.

Anakin sighed heavily, "Obi-Wan and I keep trying to reach Zak and Ferri; we try to figure out who has done this and why; we say...goodbye to our dead." He answered and then buried his head in hands, "And hope the missing don't join them."

Padme leaned forward and put a hand on his knee, "I know you; you're not going to let that happen." She said.

"We might not be able to stop it. There should have been some warning; a premonition, or something. Why did the Force not warn us, not warn me?" Anakin questioned.

"I'm sorry, Anakin." Padme said in answer, moving closer and laying her head on his, "I'm so sorry."

For several minutes, Anakin didn't move as he tried to draw comfort from her; then he took a deep breath, exhaled and lifted his head, "I should meet Obi-Wan; he wants to keep trying to connect with them." He told her as he stood up.

"What do we tell the children?" Padme asked as she walked to the door with him.

"I don't know yet; I don't want to frighten them, especially Livie." Anakin answered, "Maybe Obi-Wan will have some idea."

Padme nodded, reached up and pulled his head down to kiss him, "I'll see you in the morning." She said.

Anakin held her for a moment before releasing her to trigger the door. Padme watched as he made his way down the hallway; she could see the weariness in his slumped shoulders and she wondered how long it would be before he, or any of the other Jedi, would sleep.

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Ferri had lapsed into a fitful sleep as the hypo took effect, relieving enough of the pain to allow him to relax. Soon after Ferri slipped into sleep, Zak had managed to resettle Shel and the younglings so that they, too were sleeping; only Zak remained awake, vigilantly watching over them. Neither Devan nor any of Melak's followers had returned after confiscating their utility belts, and Zak could only conclude that they hadn't bothered to check them. Ferri shifted restlessly and murmured something; Zak reached out and touched his forehead. It was warm to the touch and so Zak unwrapped the bandage around Ferri's leg to check for signs of infection. The wound was sore-looking, and the leg slightly swollen, but there was no sign of sepsis; Ferri's fever seemed to be a natural reaction to being injured. Zak redressed the wound with bacta and replaced the bandage. Satisfied, he resumed his vigil.

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Light years away, in one of the many private meditation rooms inside the Jedi Temple, Zak's Master waited for Ferri's. Shielding his concern from Anakin, Obi-Wan allowed himself the luxury of worry in the few moments he had before Anakin arrived. It had been his own idea to merge together in an effort to reach their missing apprentices, but now he feared it was an effort doomed to fail; if they had been taken from the planet, their dampened Force sense would be difficult, if not impossible to reach. But he would not share his pessimism with Anakin; he did not want to even entertain it himself, although he was finding it hard not to do so under the current circumstances. He sighed as he watched the post mid night traffic flow by, did Coruscant ever sleep?, he wondered.

"I've been wondering that since I first came here." Anakin answered from the doorway.

Quickly pushing his negative thoughts down, Obi-Wan mustered a smile and turned to greet his former Padawan, "Have Padme and your children settled in?" He asked.

"Yes, the Temple is like their second home." Anakin replied, then knitted his brow and frowned, "You don't think is going to work, do you."

"There's no way to know until we try." Obi-Wan said evasively and then seated himself on one of cushions, "Shall we get started?"

Anakin shook his head, sighed and then, knowing it would be a futile effort to pursue it, sat down on the cushion facing him.

Present Time

The mother ship was gone; it had disappeared into hyperspace more than an hour ago, leaving the shuttle to its fate. Now, their destination, the only one close enough to reach with their damaged ship, loomed closer; in minutes, the ship would enter the atmosphere. Neither apprentice knew what awaited them there, they were not even sure of their location; but they had to land, they had no choice. What they did know, was that whatever place the Belaridians had chosen for exile, it would definitely be a harsh one. They could only hope that it would not take the Jedi long to find them.

"Hold this course; I'm going back to prepare them for landing." Zak announced as he unfastened his shoulder harness.

"You keep flying, I can do that." Ferri told him.

"No, you just rest your leg; by the time you managed to hobble there and back, I'll have already landed." Zak replied.

Ferri nodded and then sighed, realizing Zak was right and knowing he was not in any position to argue with him.

All the younglings were secured when Zak entered the passenger's compartment; all of them looked up as he entered, "Alright, the ship is going to enter the atmosphere; I'm not really sure how rough it's going to get, so I want you all to be prepared for a rough landing. Stay strapped in and no one is to get up for any reason, is that understood?" He instructed.

"Where are we, Zak?" Shel asked.

"I don't know; and I don't know what it's going to be like down there." Zak answered.

"Are we going to crash?" One youngling wondered.

"Well, I hope not; not if I can help it anyway." Zak replied.

"What will happen after we land?" One youngling asked.

"Ferri and I will take care of you until they find us; I'm sure they have already started looking." Zak said, "It's going to be alright, Tullie; I promise."

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Obi-Wan watched the government shuttle as it settled into the temporary berth assigned to it. The shuttle, sent by the Chancellor, would take Obi-Wan and Anakin to the Republic docks where a transport and a task force of Clones waited. A great deal of hope was placed on finding and confronting the leader of the Belaridian extremists who were believed to be behind the abduction of the younglings. With Anakin's powerful ability to probe minds, finding Melak would almost certainly lead them to their missing children. If Melak managed to escape, then they would be forced to conduct extensive searches of the systems close to Belarid; and that could take a very long time. Time they feared the exiles did not have; finding Melak would save that precious time.

"Padme is coming with us." Anakin announced as they joined Obi-Wan a few minutes later.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow as he turned toward them, "I do not think that is a good idea." He replied.

"Well, I do; and I am going." Padme countered, pushing past both of them to board the shuttle first.

"Do we have any say in this?" Obi-Wan asked.

"You're joking, right." Anakin answered.

"Apparently." Obi-Wan sighed.

"There's no point in arguing with her once her mind is made up; you know that." Anakin said, "We might just as well accept it."

"Come on, you two, you're wasting time." Padme called from the hatchway.

"Unbelievable." Obi-Wan murmured, and with a shake of his head followed Anakin aboard.