Chapter 2

The sky above the city-planet was cast in a deep purple hue as the third of the four moons dipped below the horizon. Standing together on a balcony toward the middle of a large, rounded skyscraper were two human figures, one seemingly a male and another a female. The male was covered from head to toe in a coarse, brown Jedi robe, the hood pulled up and the bottom spilling out over the floor behind him. Standing before him was the petite Padmé, clad in little more than a robe tied tightly from the hip with a sky-blue silk sash which complimented the equally pale blue silk gown. Together they remained in each others arms, basking in the other's presence as the rising sun cast a golden halo around them.

They then pulled back from their embrace, allowing Padmé to look up into the darkness of the hood, "You better be home by the time I come back."

"I'll be back by thirteen hundred hours, I promise." he assured.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, a curious smirk spreading across her face, "What are you going to do with all that extra time?"

He shrugged, "It's a...surprise."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "As long as it's not dinner again."

His shoulders visibly slumped following that, and he grumbled just loud enough for her to hear while crossing his arms, "Had to ruin it."

"Aw, Ani." she replied, rubbing his shoulders into relaxation and prompting his arms to return to his side, "I'm sorry I ruined your surprise."

He sighed, then continued to mumble, "Doesn't even appreciate my acts of love."

"Of course I appreciate them honey." she assured, moving in closer, "I would just appreciate them more if they were, oh, I don't know... edible."

"My meals are perfectly edible." He said with complete conviction.

She pulled back just a hair, her smile seemingly growing as their interaction continued, "Maybe to someone who hasn't eaten anything but military rations for the past two months."

He turned to the right away from her, facing away from the rising sun, "Maybe I just won't make you anything if you'll be like that."

"Sure you won't." she agreed sarcastically while moving as close as she could, placing her left hand within the hood to turn the head within to look down at her.

Without instruction, they moved together slowly, her eyes closing more and more as their faces approached before meeting in the middle. There they stayed, seemingly stuck in time, their arms snaking their way around each other as they returned to their original position.

Then, perhaps too quickly, they separated, and while Padmé was still mere centimeters from his lips, she whispered, "Just make sure Threepio helps."

With the hood pulled back slightly, everything below his nose was cast in the brilliant glow of the morning sun, revealing his bashful, almost stupid grin as he replied, "I'll try not to burn anything...again."

In lieu of responding, she merely stayed there in his arms, looking lovingly up into his cloaked eyes while he returned the favor. As the seconds ticked by, the sound of speeders slowly filled their hearing, having been ignored since their first embrace.

She sighed heavily, "I shouldn't hold you up anymore. You'll be late."

He shook his head, his grin becoming decidedly more mischievous, "Please do. At this rate, I won't even have to talk to Obi-Wan today."

"Now we can't have that, can we?" she said while smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles in his robe.

His grin fell to form little more than the ghost of a smile, "I suppose not."

He leaned down and pecked her on the lips, then said when they were just millimeters apart, "I love you with all my heart, Angel."

She smiled fully at his romantic declaration, and replied with content sincerity, "And I love you with all my soul, Ani."

He turned and jumped over the nearby railing, landing perfectly into the driver's seat of the two-person, yellow speeder. Her eyes followed the craft as it deftly turned towards the giant, five spired ziggurat in the distance. Far too quickly for her tastes, the red rear lights of the slim flying craft disappeared into the kilometer-wide speeder lane some two kilometers away from the building he departed from. As she stood there, alone, her arms were left grasping at the opposite sleeves of her robe, her love-struck smile faded more and more before she took one last, large breath and turned to face the opened door leading to her living room. Composing herself, she seemingly put on an impassive mask as she strode confidently into her apartment, each step as measured and graceful as the one before it. Behind her, the automatic doors closed, sealing the room and allowing her to begin preparing for the day ahead. As he whipped through traffic, young Anakin, his face now revealed as the hood flew back from his tremendous speed, he whipped away a single tear which fell from his watery eyes before composing himself as well. Within moments, he veered to the right from his place in the far right lane, following the blinking red lights directing him to the ziggurat seen before.

XXX

Walking with his hands clasped firmly on the small of his back was a human male, his steps slow and relaxed. His pale, almost grey, blue eyes stared forward into nothing, his focus apparently on something else. Atop his high-held head was a full mane of auburn hair with several grey hairs mingled with the rest, barely visible against the rusty background. Surrounding his thinly pursed mouth was a similarly ginger goatee, each small hair organized and maintained as if hours of service were devoted to its appearance. Covering his broad, muscular torso was a light beige tunic, a white undershirt appearing from beneath the collar and at the ends of his sleeves. This tunic extending beyond the black utility belt fastened around his hip, forming a small skirt, beyond which was a pair of equally light-colored trousers. Covering everything from his shins down was a pair of military-grade brown boots, more than a handful of straps along the front sole. Silently swaying at his right hip was a small silver cylinder with a variety of buttons and knobs of various colors spread across its small surface.

Each footfall reverberated off of the nearby marble walls on his right and left. The hallway itself was no more than five or six meters in width, yet stretched on for well over a hundred meters before him in a straight line. Along the right and left walls, equidistant from each other was a seemingly never-ending supply of durasteel doors, a small plaque at eye-level to the right of each one denoting the room number and the residents in Galactic Basic. Above, artificial lights illuminated every square centimeter in a brilliant yellow-white light, forcing away every shadow save for the one hiding beneath the man's feet.

Suddenly, breaking through the serene atmosphere, a pair of hurried footfalls from behind grew and grew steadily in volume. The man stopped and turned to witness who was causing such a ruckus when Anakin, his robe flying behind him, rushed around the corner, only to stop when he eyed the human. Despite the great distance separating them, the pale-skinned man could still easily hear the younger man's ragged breath.

Within seconds, Anakin composed himself, walking much like his compatriot was just moments earlier with his hands clasped firmly together on the small of his back. Each step was confident and calculated, and his head was held high as he approached the still figure, who by now had crossed his arms and turned his body to focus on the new arrival.

Once they were mere meters apart, the young man inclined his head and said respectfully, "Master."

The master merely shook his head, replying while stepping in concert with Anakin with a thick, Coruscanti accent, "Padawan."

As they continued to walk, Anakin shot the older man an annoyed look, his eyebrows furrowed and lips thinned, "I'm not your Padawan anymore."

"And I'm not your master anymore," he responded while still looking forward as he did earlier, "yet you still insist on using our old titles."

Anakin shrugged, "Force of habit, I suppose."

"A habit I would hope my young apprentice would break by now." he replied stoically, the faintest hint of amusement hidden beneath in his tone.

When Anakin failed to say anything, the ginger male asked, "Am I correct in assuming you were running around because you forgot about the war meeting?"

Anakin cringed, "I was hoping I could find you first."

The older man raised his left eyebrow questioningly at this, "So you didn't forget."

Anakin nodded, "Oh, I did."

The older man sighed as he returned his focus forward, "Thankfully, that's where I'm going."

"Good." Anakin replied neutrally, his face the very definition of calm and collected.

As the following silence dragged on, the older man asked slowly, "So why were you in such a rush to find me?"

At this point, the pair turned left at a T intersection in the corridors before stepping into a nearby lift on the left. Anakin pressed down on the top button, causing it to light up in a bright green light, before stepping back to the older man's side.

After waiting another moment to collect his thoughts, Anakin said, "I'll tell you after the meeting when I can find a more...private area to discuss with you what I must."

"Hm," the older human said while knitting his brow together in confusion, "I have the feeling I'm not going to like what you plan on saying."

Anakin shrugged as the doors opened, revealing a transparisteel-walled lift, a pair of waist-high durasteel railings running along the length of the right and left walls and a brilliant cityscape beyond, "That's to be seen."

Once they entered, the older human pressed down on a button along the right side on a panel with dozens of other buttons arranged in three vertical columns, a number in Galactic basic reading "1" to "60". Above the now closing doors was a panel which read in bright, digital red the floor number, now displaying "22".

"Just tell me," he began as the doors closed completely, "how serious is your crime this time?"

Anakin turned to look at his friend offended, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The ginger turned his head to look at his young comrade, "It means you have a knack for doing things you're not supposed to do."

He then turned to look forward at the durasteel doors, "And you love to drag me down with you."

Anakin turned his body towards him, his brow deepened and arms crossed, "When have I ever-"

Cutting him off, the older man said, "Anakin, there isn't enough time between now and the meeting to list off all the instances of you mading me an accomplice in one of your escapades."

Anakin opened his mouth to reply, but closed it a moment later when nothing was said, opting to turn to face the doors again and reply several moments later, "I wouldn't call them escapades."

"Oh?" the greying man asked, looking to the side at his companion, "And what would you call them?"

Anakin looked up and to the side as if in deep thought before settling on, "Adventures."

The older man laughed at this, "That's one way to look at it."

Upon dropping the last syllable of his remark, the door before them opened, revealing a massive hallway. Twenty meters wide and at least a hundred meters long between the two ascending staircases, the corridor floor covered with a seemingly soft red carpeting. Along the wall the lift was from, a series of twenty meter-wide transparisteel windows reaching high to the ceiling and equidistant from each other allowed the bright light of Coruscant Prime to cascade into the area, casting everything in a soft orange hue from the early morning sunrise. Directly opposite the lift, a group of five durasteel doors, each three or so meters in width and height, stood. Each of these doors remained closed, both the thick metal plates coming to meet in the middle. Above each door was a small phrase denoting the function of each room. The shining black font, a stark contrast to the almost pure white marble of the wall behind it, said above the door furthest to the right, "War Room."

The second the door was completely open, the pair quickly strode out and walked without thought to the right, towards the door furthest to the right. Once within a meter of the door, it automatically opened, revealing a large holoprojector in the middle of the room. Surrounding the massive machine, albeit from a meter or so away, was a series of three terraced benches that curved along the edges of the room. A small ramp connected the area immediately around the holoprojector and the threshold of now open door. Along that ramp was a small walkway with a rounded roof as wide and high as the door it proceeded from. The room was cast in a bright white light from some unknown source on the ceiling, illuminating almost every corner.

Standing around the holoprojector was a small group of five beings, all dressed in similar clothes as the recent arrivals. The one facing away from them in front of the device was a man of the same species, only with a darker skin complexion, and who's head was completely free from hair save for the peppered-black eyebrows. His attire was of the same bright color as the older of the pair. He seemed to be hunched over, his hands gripping the sides of the holoprojector as he stared at something the pair could not yet see. To this man's right, a green, Nautolan male with a plethora of long tentacles stemming from atop his head stood with his arms crossed, his massive black eyes studying whatever was displayed as well. He, too, wore light tan robes and trousers, like the human beside him. Across from the darker-skinned Jedi was another humanoid, with all the appearance of a human save for his elongated, wrinkled head. He, like the human across from him, hadn't a single strand of hair atop his head. His face, seemingly of equal proportions of that of a typical human face, adorned with a large, bright white beard, a rail-thin white mustache, and similarly colored eyebrows. This man was clad in a dark brown, almost black sleeveless robe, under which was a neutral tan under tunic which covered his arms, the rest of his attire being the same as the previous two. While his left hand was tucked away in the crook of his right arm, his right hand stroked his mustache and beard in a continuous motion as if deep in thought. Beside him was another humanoid, again male, with a dark brown skin tone and a series of dulled horns atop his head, behind which was a long mane of black hair. His arms, covered like the rest of his torso in a grey tunic peppered with black spots throughout, were crossed across his chest as he studied the images before him. Finally, to the original man's left was a human male with a head of short, white hair and of a fair complexion. Unlike the others around him, this aged man had over his Jedi tunics a dull, metal armor chest and back plate, a pair of armored shoulder pauldrons, and a pair of protective knee guards of similar material. He stood with his left hand resting the crook of his right arm, his right hand gently stroking his small, white beard. Even from the entrance, the pair of newcomers could clearly see the many scars that adorned the human's face.

Upon hearing the door open, each of the figures turned to look at what caused the commotion, eyeing up the two Jedi. The Nautolan smiled and nodded at them as they began going up the ramp. The fair-skinned human merely nodded, as did the long-headed Cerean and horned Zabrak, before turning to look at the display once more. The bald human merely turned his head, seeing who it was before resuming his train-of-thought. Anakin, already to the older man's right, walked to stand between the Nautolan and dark-skinned human while his companion moved between the two humans.

"Good for you to finally join us, my friend." the green humanoid merrily said while slapping Anakin on the back.

Anakin produced a wide smile at this, and replied with equal merriment, "Come now, Master Fisto! I wouldn't miss this for the galaxy."

The Cerulean male smiled faintly upon hearing this, and responded facetiously, "Evidently, if the last five meeting are anything to go by."

Anakin's smile morphed into a self-deprecating grin as he rubbed the back of his neck, responding lamely, "I, uh, had other things I had to... attend to."

The smile on the ginger-haired man's face only grew while the other human male with pale skin cocked his left eyebrow up questioningly and asked, "Please elaborate on these," then raised both his hands to eye-level, bending the index and middle fingers several times while he continued, "'other things.'"

"Enough!" the dark-skinned human male bellowed, drawing the attention of all in the room, "We can get a thorough report on why Knight Skywalker is consistently absent at a later time. Right now, we have the War to consider."

Anakin nodded in his direction, "I agree. We need to get back to the task at hand."

Both the dark-skinned male and lighter skinned ginger rolled their eyes, but it was only the former who replied, "Now then, let's begin."

Upon finishing his statement, the room darkened considerably as the holoprojector in the middle of the room lit up, the three-dimensional image of the galaxy casting a soft blue light on every nearby surface. The Western-half of the galaxy darkened considerably, and the remaining half was divided by a pair of colored planes, one red and the other blue, running along the outer edge of the galaxy, forming a reversed crescent with a handful of small and medium-sized spheres, all with thin corridors connecting these spheres to the overall crescent and each other. Next a series of white tubes began crossing the galaxy, branching out like a tree in every direction, connecting every corner with the other like that of a circulatory system.

The hologram zoomed in to the Galactic North-West, just off the border of the Mid-Rim, revealing a region known as the Belsmuth Sector, then further in to a single star system featuring five planets orbiting a Class-K sun. The second planet orbiting the sun was then highlighted in a bright white light, the name "New Bornalex" appearing underneath in Galactic Basic.

"The planet of New Bornalex is of incredible importance to the Serenno Theater." intoned the bald human, "As you can see, it lies on a direct path to Serenno and Celanon, both Separatists fortress-worlds and both vital for the Separatist war-effort."

As he continued talking, the world was engulfed in a blue light, portions of the sphere lighting up red, "Our forces on New Bornalex are under heavy assault and are unable to secure the stellar region without reinforcements."

He then straightened up, crossing his arms and taking on an intimidating countenance, "Any suggestions?"

Two Hours Later

The massive door on the far right of the hallway opened up suddenly, spewing forth the Jedi from earlier, the ginger and Anakin in front. The crowd quickly dispersed after the passing of a handful of pleasantries, leaving Anakin and his companion alone in the lift once more. The sun, having risen more, gleamed brilliantly off of the shining durasteel surfaces of the stratuscrappers, forcing Anakin and the ginger to squint momentarily as they entered the lift, turning around quickly away from the bright sunlight. Once they had their backs to the transparisteel, the older man pressed down on the button labeled, "24", causing said button to give off a verdant glow.

Together they sat in comfortable silence, each tapping their feet in alternating synchronized fashion while having their hands clasped firmly on the small of their backs. Before long, the lift stopped with the digital red letters displaying "24" in Basic, followed by the doors opening to reveal a hallway similar to the original in build and aesthetic. Our two heroes then stepped out, the older taking the lead with Anakin behind him and on his right by a step in both directions, then turned to the right. Through the hallway they walked, each step precise and synchronized, as they held their chins confidently high. This new path was roughly six or seven meters in width, with dozens of durasteel doors equidistant from each other, a plaque to the right at human eye-level of each door denoting the room number and resident in Basic. Together they continued their trek past five pairs of doors before stopping, turning to the right of their direction to face room number, "24-0011". The auburn-haired man then waved his hand, opening the door and revealing a short walkway leading to a small living room. The only visible features of this room were the small meter-wide transparisteel window with a small, flourishing garden of exotic plants; a knee-high caf table made of some dark wood and austere in appearance, which itself was paired with a single cream-colored chair able to seat one human-sized being with its back to the window and a part of a larger, cream-colored couch along the right wall; and a pair of meter-wide and two-meter high durasteel doors resting on the left wall.

With the older man taking the lead, the pair entered the room, revealing the couch earlier was able to seat three human-sized sapients, and a bar immediately to the right of the end of the walkway, a myriad of variously colored drinks adorned the three stands built into the wall, each contained in various bottle, each as unique as Aleraanian snowflakes. The ginger turned right into the bar, pulling out from one of the cabinets beneath the wall-connected island two small glasses.

"What would you like to drink?" he asked as Anakin continued walking past the bar and towards the couch, sitting in the section furthest from the chair nearby.

"I don't care." Anakin replied offhandedly, leaning back in the couch in a vain attempt to get comfortable.

The older man merely shrugged before producing an amber-colored bottle from the bottom rack, pouring the liquid into the glasses until there was but two or three centimeters separating the liquid form the lip of the glass. So skilled was he in this task that not a drop of the alcohol was outside the glasses, his experienced hand going back to the bottle's cap and reapplying the part in one fluid motion. After placing the bottle back where it was earlier, he turned and grasped the glasses in each hand, moving quickly towards the couch where his friend still squirmed in mild discomfort. Placing one on the table close to his friend, he held the remaining in his left hand was he walked to the chair nearby, taking a careful seat while nursing the drink. Once he was securely in the chair, he leaned forward, placing the drink on the table before leaning back to examine Anakin. Quite conscious of his old mentor's scrutiny, Anakin quickly grasped the beverage, gulping it down quickly and greedily, his face scrunching up in discomfort a second later.

"So what is it that you had to say?" the man asked tonelessly while remaining leaned back in the chair, his arms resting on the seemingly-comfortable armrests.

Anakin blinked his eyes open several times, his face returning to normal slowly before he straightened his back, sighing lightly then responding, "I have a confession, and you might want to bring that bottle here. You'll need it."

The old master furrowed his brow in confusion before lifting his right hand off of its resting place, the palm of his hand facing the cabinet of alcohol. Once his arm stilled the bottle he previously used floated effortlessly away from its companions and towards the pair, ending its flight in his outstretched hand.

Once his eyes focused enough to see Anakin dumbstruck look, he simply said, "I have a feeling I want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

Anakin merely nodded as his old master poured him another drink, polishing off his own before refilling it and taking another full drink. upon finishing his second, he filled his glass again and set the bottle on the coffee table, his face remaining as stoic as ever before.

"Well," Anakin stalled momentarily, considering each word as if they were his last, "I'm not quite sure where to begin, so I'll just start from the earliest point and work my way forward."

He paused again for just a short moment, causing the older man to lean forward slightly more, "Last night, as I was sleeping, I think I had a vision."

The ginger reared back slightly, his brow deeply furrowed as his companion continued, "They were just like the ones I had before my mother died. They were so...vivid, it was like I could reach out and touch the people in these scenes, but there's nothing I can do for them."

"People?" the master calmly inquired, "Who did you see, Anakin, and what happens to them?"

Burying himself in the couch, Anakin continues, "I saw...you, and, uh, me. In separate scenes, though. I was...on the front steps of the Temple, with the five-oh-first behind me. You were in a medical room, I think, with..."

This pause extended longer than the auburn-haired man cared to handle, prompting him to all but yell, "Anakin!"

"Padmé." he replied silently, causing his old master's face to scrunch up in confusion.

"Padmé?" he echoed to himself as his eyes drifted elsewhere.

Once his focused himself on Anakin again, he inquired cautiously, "Why was Senator Amidala in your vision, Anakin?"

"I think it has something to do with our... um, our..." he paused again, licking his lips and continuing silently before his old mentor could prompt him to continue again, "marriage."

The older man blinked his eyes several times in shock, then leaned back a bit, leaving his arms where they were as he thought for a moment. Anakin waited with bated breath as his companion's face remained furrowed in confusion, his gaze unfocused.

A second later, he leaned forward again and stated with thinly veiled anger, "I'm sorry Anakin. I'm afraid I misheard you. It sounded like you said you were-"

He was cut off when Anakin, having leaned forward with his chin held high in confidence, stated calmly, "Married."

He then turned to focus on his mentor's eyes, which has narrowed considerably in fury, "Padmé and I are a couple, bound together by the Force, much like a planet to its star."

The ginger breathed heavily for several seconds before retorting, "I'm waiting for the punchline, Anakin."

Anakin shook his head, "There is none, Obi-Wan. I-I feel that I should tell you now rather than later. It feels wrong keeping that part of my life from my best friend."

Obi-Wan's eyes softened just a fraction as he countered with slightly less venom, "I can't believe you would be so...foolish."

He then leaned back, his right hand going up with his index finger pointed upwards, "Actually," before recoiling it down to the rest of his fingers, "I can see you doing something so short-sighted," then shook his head, "but not Senator Amidala. She seems so...rational."

"Hey!" Anakin warned, offended.

Obi-Wan waved this off, "Nevermind that Anakin. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Followed my heart." Anakin announced confidently, "I followed the will of the Force. The fact that it led me to Padmé is beyond my control."

"How did you come to that brilliant conclusion?" Obi-Wan asked sarcastically.

Ignoring his friend's facetious attitude, Anakin answered, "It nudged me to her direction, and her to mine. It compelled me to confess my feelings to her, and hers to me. It facilitated the creation of the deep bond we share today."

When Obi-Wan failed to respond, Anakin pressed on, "There's more, Master."

Obi-Wan sighed deeply as if he'd taken a hit to the gut, "How can there be more?"

As Obi-Wan poured himself another drink, Anakin said, "You two were in the same part of the vision. She was...lying down, on a medical cot, screaming. You were there, comforting her, but I wasn't."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows deepened even more, "Why was she screaming?"

Anakin began rubbing the back of his neck, "I think she was, uh... pregnant."

"Force-damn it, Anakin!" Obi-Wan verbally lashed out, no doubt silently thankful the rooms were sound proof.

Anakin winced back, before regaining his confident stature, "Calm down, Obi-Wan! She isn't pregnant yet... I think."

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan furiously yells.

"Alright!" Anakin replied defensively, "I'm just trying to, I don't know, lighten the mood or something."

"Well you're doing a terrible job!" Obi-Wan retorted.

He then sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if a headache was rearing its ugly head, "I need to think Anakin. Meditate on this. I'll comm. you when I've come to some decision before I do anything."

As he swallowed the entire contents of his full glass, Anakin rose from his seat, placing the glass down on the table before them. Once he was standing at his full height, he looked down at Obi-Wan, who was now pouring himself yet another drink.

"I'm sorry, Master," he said sincerely, "I just hope I don't unfairly disgrace your name."

Obi-Wan winced noticeably at this, only recovering just as Anakin finished his bow and turned around. He opened his mouth as if about to say something, but stopped before a single syllable could be uttered as his old apprentice took his first steps away, crossing the short distance to the threshold in mere seconds. The door slid open upwards into the top of the frame as he approached, allowing him to enter the hallway and turn left towards the lifts. Once the door closed behind his old apprentice, he gulped the whole glass-full of alcohol, wincing slightly for the first time before setting the glass down, allowing his forehead to rest on his templed hands while he took a break to breath and sort things out.