Darkness shrouds the galaxy, its claws sunk into every planet and star. Where there was light there are only tiny flickers here and there. None of these flickers of light bother the darkness, in fact they were ignored. The darkness had become overconfident in its abilities, in its power, soon it would be time to strike. The pirate raids were very convincing. The empire has no idea that they were rebels in disguise. The galaxy is so dark, will the light ever burn like it did in the golden age of the Republic? With Jedi to defend the galaxy from the darkness? Are we helpless without the Jedi? One Jedi against two Sith is not good odds. I am not ready. I am determined to be ready, but I fear that I will fail. Fear. I must not fear, Master Yoda said that that is the path to the Darkside. I must remember his teachings. There is no try, there is do or do not. However, what good will it do the galaxy if I die while doing? I do not like this burden, it is to much, but I will be strong. Strong for the Alliance, strong for my friends, strong for those who are no longer with us. There is so much Darkness.

"Mara." Leia called, awakening Mara from her meditation.

Mara opened her eyes and looked across the desk at Leia. "Feeling better?"

Leia kept a straight face and did not respond to Mara's question. "Was your mission successful?"

Nodding her head, Mara stood up and placed a datapad on Leia's desk. "It was. Grand Moff Tarken has been eliminated and the plans for the project that he was going to send to Palpatine have been destroyed, permanently." Mara reported, her face an emotionless mask.

A small smile appeared on Leia's face and she picked up Mara's report. "Well done, Mara. The Alliance High Command will be pleased." Leia paused, set the datapad down on the desk, and picked another one up and handed it to Mara. "There has been another target selected, if you wish to take it."

Mara accepted the datapad and turned it on to see the assignment. "Prince Xizor? Are we getting a little to close to catching Palpatine's attention? Removing Grand Moffs is one thing, but to go after the leader of an organization that Palpatine uses is suicide."

Ignoring her, Leia picked another datapad and began to read it.

Mara closed her eyes and took a deep breath and slowly let it out, sending her irritation into the Force like she had been taught. "Leia." Mara began in a gentle voice and then she opened her eyes. "Is the Alliance ready?"

"We're ready." Leia replied confidently as she set her datapad down and looked at Mara. "Are you ready?"

"I'll be back in two weeks." Mara said instead and walked out of Leia's office.

Anakin felt a sense of wrongness as he meditated. Before when he had meditated he was too excited and nervous to notice, but now that he was calm he could feel it. It felt like darkness had engulfed the whole galaxy and… Anakin sharply inhaled and an icy chill crept up his spine. He could not sense any Jedi. In the past, when he and his Master were at the Temple or on Missions, Anakin could always sense, through his meditation, Jedi who were near and far away. The Force signatures of Jedi were bright white flames of light while those with no Force sensitivity were a dull yellow or gray. The Sith Force signatures were always black, a deep void of nothing. Anakin immediately shielded his presence and his Master's.

Opening his eyes, Anakin gazed out of the veiwport. No. Everything is fine. The Jedi are safe, the Sith must have been destroyed. There must be another reason for the darkness. The Jedi must be shielding theirselves, that must be the answer. Everything will be fine once we reach the Temple. The Sith did not win, the Sith did not win. No, there must be something else, something else.

The thought of all the Jedi being gone scared him. During the time he had been without his Master during the eighteen years they had been gone, Anakin found that he had a hard time being away from another Force user. Before those long eighteen years, during the war, he had thought that the worst separation was to be away from his wife for a long time. His perspective had changed since then. Yes he missed his wife, but he also found that he missed the presence of Jedi nearby and faraway. Even with Obi-Wan with him, Anakin felt almost alone. Sure he had the Force too, but the Force could not take the place of being around more then one Jedi.

Anakin remembered talking to Obi-Wan about this when he had finally returned to Obi-Wan's side. His Master told him that he too felt the same way and that it was normal for Jedi to feel that way. Anakin took a deep breath and slowly let it out, attempting to calm himself. He felt a hand on his shoulder and a reassuring squeeze.

"You're worrying again." Obi-Wan stated before sitting in the pilot's chair.

"Sorry Master." Anakin apologized, breaking out of his troubled thoughts. He checked their location and then looked at Obi-Wan. "We're about three hours from Coruscant."

Obi-Wan casually stroked his beard for a few seconds before speaking. "You sense it too don't you?"

Anakin nodded his head and looked out the veiwport. "Other then us, it feels like we're the only Jedi alive." Shaking his head, Anakin looked at his Master with his intense blue eyes. "The Jedi can't be gone. I didn't fulfill the prophecy yet. Are there supposed to be Jedi around when I fulfill the prophecy?"

"I don't know." Obi-Wan admitted, his face and voice passive. "The prophecy you carry has been debated over for generations about how it will come about and what it means."

Anakin frowned as he took Obi-Wan's words in. "But it doesn't make sense. How can balance be obtained if there are barely any Jedi left?"

"In my opinion," Obi-Wan began as he studied Anakin's face. "Is that the bringing of balance is not between the light and dark, but the balance that the Jedi need to regain."

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan turned his head to look out at the stars that were racing by before explaining. "I believe you know the answer already, but I will explain. You came to the Jedi at a late age and you had experienced many things that the younglings at the Temple had not experienced. You saw the code differently then other Jedi, and you even broke the code because you saw it as a hindrance. During the war you had to do your duty as a Jedi as well as be a husband. Balancing duty and having a family is not an easy task, but you managed to do it for three years."

Anakin shook his head. "I still don't understand. I broke the code."

"Did you really?" Obi-Wan asked, looking at Anakin. "I spent fifteen years thinking about you and the prophecy, Anakin. I even thought of myself, my Master, and the other Jedi. Remember when you told me that you thought I was holding you back?"

"I remember." Anakin answered.

"You were right. The Jedi had used the code to limit theirselves instead of using it to grow. There were a few times in my Padawan days when I wanted, and a few times actually tried to breach those limitations that were set up. I was always rebuffed, even my Master who would defy the Council rebuffed me. I understood why my Master did it, but it would contradict his past actions. What I am trying to get at is that the Jedi are the ones in need of being brought back to balance, not the Force." Obi-Wan explained.

Anakin pressed his lips together in a thin line and slowly answered. "I think that makes sense. It does explain some things."

"Good." Obi-Wan looked at the console and checked the various readings. "Has the generator acted up at all since you last fixed it?"

"No, but I'm sure it will eventually. It just better not happen while we're coming out of hyperspace." Anakin replied.

Beeps and whistles sounded from behind the cockpit door and Anakin turned his head just as the door slid open and Artoo rolled in.

"Hello Artoo, did you get enough power?" Anakin asked as Artoo came to a stop between the pilot and copilot seat.

Artoo emitted a series of whistles and beeps, causing Anakin to laugh while Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"Your droid has a weird sense of humor." Obi-Wan remarked, earning what sounded like a splat sound from Artoo.

Anakin patted Artoo's domed head. "He does doesn't he?"

Artoo tooted loudly in indignation and rolled back out of the cockpit.

Obi-Wan shook his head in amusement. "When did we start teasing Artoo?"

"Since we found out how he outwitted the Vong." Anakin answered. "I think I need to do a few more adjustments on him before he's back to his old self."

Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment before he spoke. "I don't know. I think I like him the way he is now."

They both laughed until tears came to their eyes.

"I think," Anakin began as his laughter subsided, "that if Threepio is still around we will be hearing a lot of oh my's when Artoo tells Threepio what happened."

"Indeed." Obi-Wan agreed. "I can see that happening."

Anakin looked down at the hyperspace countdown on the console and watched as the seconds went by. Soon they would be home. Soon.