WOW! 17 reviews on one chapter! HELL YEAH. Ahem. Anyway, on to my notes; the city name is made up as is the description of the planet and, once again, everything that happens in the EU will not happen as it actually occurs in the EU. Again, that's a given but just thought I'd point it out again. Also, I'm not that great with lightsaber duels so sorry about that.

Chapter 1

The plains stretched out endlessly toward the mountains lying in the distance. At the base of the mountains was the city of Thyr, the capital of the planet Thustra, where delegates were gathered to discuss a possible treaty between Thustra and the Republic. Thustra had once been a Republic planet but they had betrayed the Republic during the Clone Wars and joined the Confederacy. Following the defeat and disbandment of the Confederacy, the Sephi on Thustra remained outside the Republic until recently when they sent an emissary to negotiate the possibility of rejoining the Republic.

Luke Skywalker may only be a Padawan but even he could sense that the Sephi had ulterior motives for wishing to rejoin the Republic though it wasn't clear what those motives were. Whatever they were, the Sephi obviously believed it would be in their best interests to rejoin the Republic hence why Luke was standing in a conference room bored out of his skull while he listened to the Sephi and the Senate's representative, his mother Senator Padmé Amidala Skywalker, negotiate the terms of the treaty.

Luke's best friend Jinn often joked that Luke had inherited his dislike of politics from his father, a claim that Luke didn't deny. He wasn't like his twin sister Leia; he didn't like politics. But all Jedi were trained in diplomacy just as they were trained in lightsaber combat and Force skills. The negotiations on Thustra were supposed to be a learning experience for Luke to see diplomacy in action.

Luke's mother sat to the right of Representative Lirka, the Sephi whom had originally sent the emissary with the request, listening to the representative put forth her proposal while remaining calm and still like a statue. She nodded her head when Lirka finished speaking before saying, "The Republic will welcome you and your people, Representative Lirka. We are willing to give you all the benefits you had when you were a member of the Republic before you left. However, the rumor that you mentioned that has you so concerned, that is something we can do nothing about until we have more information."

Luke straightened up a little; he had been tuning out most of the representative's talk that he had missed the mention of any rumors. He looked over the table toward Jinn as his best friend, leaning against the wall of the conference room, narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. Luke was positive that his friend had listened to everything the representative had said though; he usually did. He was like his father, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, in that he was a great listener and on his way to being a negotiator possibly as great as his father.

Jinn tipped his head to one side with a faint knowing smirk on his face and Luke, feeling embarrassed, looked away before listening when Lirka began speaking again.

"We have many eyewitnesses to the fleet massing near the Unknown Regions, Senator Skywalker," the Sephi said.

"I am not saying you're lying, Representative Lirka, but unless we have concrete evidence and unless this fleet makes a move against the Republic, there is little we can do," said Padmé. "I will bring this warning to Chancellor Mothma's attention though when I return to Coruscant. If there is a fleet massing near the Unknown Regions, it might be best to figure out why they are there and whether they pose a threat to the Republic or not."

"From what the eyewitnesses have said, the sheer size of the fleet is enough to threaten the Republic," said Lirka."

"We don't know that. Is it possible they are remnants of the Confederacy?" Padmé said it calmly with no emotion passing across her face while Lirka flinched a little at the mention of the Confederacy her planet betrayed the Republic to join.

"If they are, we would not know. We left the Confederacy right after the end of the wars," she said. "However, I don't see how the remnants of the Confederacy could have amassed a fleet of that size without anyone knowing it."

"It has been sixteen years, Representative," said Padmé. "It is possible. How big is the fleet?"

"The eyewitnesses aren't sure."

"I see. Very well, I will tell Chancellor Mothma and we'll see if there is any truth to these rumors. Might I suggest we shelve these discussions for after we discover whether these rumors are true?"

Lirka was silent for a long moment before she nodded causing a few strands of black hair to fall into her face. "That would be best. If we discover anything more then we shall let you know. Thank you for taking the time to hear my proposal."

"Of course, Representative." Padmé and the Sephi stood up at the same time before inclining their heads to each other politely before Padmé turned around and walked toward the door to the conference room, her long yellow gown trailing behind her.

Luke and Jinn walked after the Senator as she led the way out of the palace and into the courtyard. They were halfway across the courtyard when Luke's comlink chimed; fishing it out of his belt, he activated it. "Skywalker," he said.

"Luke, how'd the negotiations go?" Luke's father Anakin Skywalker asked.

"What I paid attention to went well," Luke said.

"You weren't paying attention?"

"He's your son all right," Padmé said hearing Anakin's voice and Luke could feel a twinge of irritation combined with amusement come off Anakin through the Force bond that connected them.

"I wasn't that bad," Anakin said.

"Dad has many tales that clearly say otherwise," Jinn said with a faint smile.

"Old man should've been a storyteller."

Luke chuckled. "So what's up, Dad?" he asked.

"The Council wants us to return to Coruscant right away. Obi-Wan just got a surprise visit by Jenica and the news she brought with her isn't good," Anakin said.

Luke hasn't seen Jenica in years. The dark-haired young woman who had been Obi-Wan's second apprentice before she left the Order often babysat Luke, his sister and Jinn and his sister Kira when they were little and their parents were too busy with missions or with the Senate. Luke had come to see her as an aunt and she didn't seem to mind it when he called her Aunt Jeni whenever she babysat the four of them.

"What kind of news?" he asked curiously.

"Don't know. Obi-Wan didn't say. He just said that it's important."

"All right, dad. We're on our way to the landing bay now," Luke said before he disconnected the transmission and put his comlink away and the three of them began walking again.

It was when they had just reached the landing bay that the disturbance flashed through the Force. Luke started before shouting "look out!" and pushing his mother out of the way just as the blaster bolt blazed through the air where Padmé had been standing moments before.

Luke whirled around eyes trying to find the source of the assassination attempt with his lightsaber in his hand. Jinn, green lightsaber in hand and ignited, was also scanning the area. "There," he said pointing with his lightsaber toward a figure that was fleeing from the scene with his sniper rifle in hand.

"I'm going after him," Jinn said looking at Luke. "You, get Aunt Padmé back to the ship." Without waiting for Luke to respond, Jinn dashed off in the direction the assassin had fled.

"Are you all right, Mom?" Luke asked holding out a hand and helping his mother to her feet.

"Just a bit bruised from the fall but I'm fine," Padmé said.

"Come on, let's get out of here. There could be more of them," Luke said and quickly guided Padmé into the landing bay and toward the shuttle.

The Chancellor's office was done in gentle earth tones with its large transparisteel windows offering a splendid view of the Senate distract. It was the office of the former Chancellor Finis Valorum though it wasn't used following Palpatine's election but, as the office that served as Palpatine's office during his reign as Chancellor held too many bad memories, the Chancellors after Palpatine decided to use Valorum's old office instead.

Leia Skywalker stood beside the desk of the current Chancellor of the Republic, Mon Mothma, as she read over the many reports she was delivered every day. Leia had taken after her mother in her love of politics and she hoped that she could be as great a Senator as her mother currently was. Her mother had been offered the chance to be Chancellor following the defeat of Palpatine but refused and, instead, remained a senator while she was raising Leia and her twin brother Luke.

Bail Organa was elected as Chancellor following the end of the Clone Wars and, with the approval of the Senate to avoid another Palpatine from rising, put into affect an amendment to the Constitution that stated that a Chancellor could only serve a maximum of two terms, or eight years, and could not stay in office past his or her two terms. It was agreed by many members of the Senate that Palpatine being allowed to stay in office longer than his two terms gave him too much power so they created an amendment to properly address that problem.

Mon Mothma was in her last year as Chancellor, having been elected after Bail eight years earlier, and the Senate were hinting that they were going to attempt to convince Leia's mother to enter in the running for the position. Now that Leia and her brother were old enough to watch out for themselves, Leia had a feeling that if Padmé was offered the chance then she would take it.

Mon Mothma looked toward Leia. "I believe I'm done here, Leia. You can head home now if you want," she said.

"Are you sure?" Leia asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, Leia. Go home."

"Very well, Chancellor. I'll be back here tomorrow morning," Leia said before she turned and made her way out of the office where her bodyguard joined her. She headed down the corridor toward the nearest turbolift and slipped into it before heading down to the first floor of the Senate building. Leaving the turbolift and walking across the atrium, Leia's thoughts drifted.

She thought about her mother who was away on the planet Thustra negotiating a possible treaty between the Sephi and the Republic but she was worried. She had some training in the Force and her Force bond with Luke allowed her to feel the sudden worry her brother had felt and she felt worried as well.

Did something happen to Mom? Leia thought wishing, not for the first time, that she could speak to Luke though they were light-years apart. Despite how strong their bond was, Leia couldn't do that with her brother; she had learned from her godfather, Obi-Wan, that to speak to someone through the Force over long distances required training, training that couldn't be done overnight.

Leia's father did his best to teach her enough about the Force so that she could control it but her desire to follow in her mother's footsteps made it so that the training she received from her father wasn't as extensive as the training Luke received. Luke's training was more extensive because he wanted to be a Jedi.

However, what she was taught allowed her to feel the Force's subtle nudges whenever she was in danger like at that moment.

Leia's head shot up as the danger sense surged through her before she scanned the atrium but she couldn't see anything or anyone other than the other senators and aides who were walking across the smooth tiled floor. She shook her head but the bad feeling continued to cling to her.

Something wasn't right.

Leia reached out with the Force hoping what her father had taught her would help her figure out who was causing her bad feeling but she couldn't pinpoint its source. She could feel the emotions of the senators and aides that wandered around her as well as the emotions of the Republic soldiers and Senate guards but nothing that could have caused the bad feeling, at least nothing that she could pinpoint.

Leia knew to trust the Force though and so kept a lookout as she made her way to the doors to the Great Door that led into the atrium. She wished she had her blaster with her; at least she would have been able to protect herself if something happened. But weapons weren't permitted in the presence of the Chancellor unless the Senate guards were the ones carrying them.

Leia sighed as she walked past the Great Door and stepped into the large, flat concourse outside that was known as the Avenue of the Core Founders. The bad feeling suddenly grew stronger and Leia again looked around but whoever was causing the bad feeling, whether they were Force sensitive or just posing ill-intent toward Leia, remained hidden.

"Are you all right?" her bodyguard, a dark-haired Republic soldier whom had taken to being Leia's bodyguard ever since someone tried to kill her while on a mission that he was part of three years earlier, asked.

"I'm fine, Wes. Just a bad feeling," Leia said.

Wes Janson scanned the area as well brown eyes narrowed. "Let's get moving. I'd rather not have your dad come after me if anything happened to you. He already doesn't like me."

Leia knew that was only because Janson tried to flirt with her every chance he got and that irritated her rather overprotective father. Not to say it didn't irritate her because it did.

They had just reached the speeder when that bad feeling surged so violently that Leia swayed just as Janson suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her down as blasterfire shot through the air where she had been standing. Janson, blaster in hand, looked out over the speeder eyes narrowed.

"Coward," he muttered before he looked at Leia. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," Leia said. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"No, he was in armor. Could've been a Mandalorian but that's doubtful. Come on, let's get ya outta here before he comes back."

Leia nodded in agreement before she stood up and climbed into the speeder's passenger seat while Janson got into the pilot's seat. "He's gone," she said as the bad feeling went away though she wondered why he left right away. She then noticed the patrol speeders that were heading in the direction the assassin had attacked from and she figured that was why.

Janson guided the airspeeder away from the avenue and toward 500 Republica while Leia wondered who had attacked her and why.

Jinn Kenobi used the Force to leap onto the roof of the building he had seen the assassin on before dashing across its surface. The assassin was keeping ahead of him but Jinn wasn't about to let him get away not after what happened. He wanted to know why the assassin tried to kill his aunt and who he was especially since he could feel that the assassin was using the Force to increase his speed, something that had only been taught to Jinn recently.

He used the Force to augment his speed as well and began to gain on the assassin. Lashing out with the Force once he and the assassin were on the roof of the same building, he watched as the assassin dropped the sniper rifle and did a one-handed flip in response to the Force push. He then turned around the hood of his cloak falling to reveal that he was in fact a she and she was young, around Jinn's age.

Instead of using Jinn's momentary surprise to escape, the assassin's lips parted in a small smile and her green eyes glinted with anticipation as she called a cylindrical handle to her hand and the magenta blade cut through the air with a hiss. She raised an eyebrow challengingly at Jinn who ignited his own blade in response.

"Who are you?" he said.

The assassin said nothing as she, with a front flip that brought her closer to the Padawan, attacked. Jinn caught the attack with his blade and the duel began in a blur. Blades clashed, attacks were blocked, thrusts were parried and Jinn immediately noted that the assassin's attacks were wide and fast but also clumsy as if she had just started learning to fight with a lightsaber. But she backed her attacks with uses of the Force.

A Force push sent Jinn skidding backwards a few feet before he was forced onto the defensive when the assassin launched a series of short strikes that were a blur of magenta. Jinn managed to block all the strikes but the assassin wasn't letting up, thrusting and slashing at Jinn forcing him to remain on the defensive.

Whoever the assassin was, she had some skill with a lightsaber.

But Jinn could also see by her ruthless attacks that she was starting to get overconfident. When he saw an opening on her left side, he parried a slash before retracting his blade and nearly succeeded in landing a blow on the assassin's side had she not saw it coming. She leapt backwards to avoid it before lifting her blade to block Jinn's next attack.

"Who are you?" he said again.

She didn't answer though she did glare at him with frustration in her eyes as if she couldn't believe she wasn't getting any closer to beating him. She lashed out with the Force but Jinn leapt out of the way to dodge the Force blast only to realize it was a distraction as the assassin, deactivating her lightsaber, grabbed her sniper rifle and took off.

Jinn started to go after her until his comlink went off. He deactivated his lightsaber with a sigh before pulling his comlink out. "Yes?" he said into it.

"Jinn, Luke said you went after the assassin. Did you catch him?" his master, and mother, demanded.

"Her and no, she escaped but she was a dark Jedi."

"A dark Jedi? Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be."

"Very well. Get back. We need to report this to the Council."

"All right, mom, I'm on my way." Jinn deactivated the comlink and glanced in the general direction the assassin had gone in before he leapt off the roof of the building he was on and made his way toward the landing bay.

Once onboard the shuttle that had transported him, his mother, Anakin, Luke and Padmé to Thustra, he was immediately confronted by his mother. Siri rested her hands on her hips and gazed at Jinn with narrowed eyes.

"You shouldn't have gone off by yourself. That was incredibly reckless of you" she said before she sighed and added, "Next time, think before you do something."

"I will and I'm sorry but I couldn't let her get away."

"She still got away," said Luke.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Jinn said with a glare at Luke who chuckled.

"Let's head back to Coruscant," said Anakin. "Luke, do you…?"

"Yes," Luke said cutting his father off midsentence before he got to his feet and made his way into the cockpit. Jinn chuckled before he sat down beside his aunt.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Jinn. It's been a while since that's happened though," Padmé said. "I'm wondering why though."

"I wish I knew, Aunt Padmé," said Jinn as the ship shuddered before lifting off the landing pad and flew through the atmosphere before making the jump to hyperspace once the ship was beyond the planet's gravity well.

Jinn moved to the floor of the lounge before crossing his legs and slipping into a light meditative trance. His thoughts were on the assassin and he had to wonder where she came from and why she tried to kill his aunt. She was obviously skilled in lightsaber combat and in using the Force and that made Jinn wonder who taught her.

He also reached out with the Force to his sister. Among other things they were taught when they became Padawans, Jinn and Kira had also been trained to speak through the bond that connected them even if they were light-years away. He was able to connect with his sister with ease after eight years of training.

'Jinn, what happened?' Kira's voice asked in his mind.

He told her about the assassination attempt. 'She was taught how to fight with a lightsaber and how to use the Force,' he finished. 'I wish I knew why she tried to kill Aunt Padmé though.'

Kira was silent for a long moment. 'It's similar to what Aunt Jeni told Dad,' she said.

'What did Aunt Jeni tell Dad?'

'Apparently, she was attacked by a dark Jedi while on Bellassa. She said that the dark Jedi wanted to destroy the Jedi and said that he needed her help to do it. When she refused to help him, he said that her death would work just as much as her being alive.'

'Why her?'

'I don't know. Dad thinks it's because the dark Jedi wants the Jedi to know about him though he doesn't know why,' said Kira. 'But don't you think it's odd that both Jeni and Aunt Padmé were attacked by dark Jedi?'

'It is an odd coincidence,' said Jinn. 'But we don't know that the dark Jedi are working together though we shouldn't assume they aren't working together.'

'Good point. I'll see you when you return to Coruscant, Jinn. Dad wants to spar,' Kira said and her presence drifted from Jinn's mind.

Igniting her yellow lightsaber, Kira Kenobi stood across the training room from her father whose own lightsaber was ignited and in his hand. She took a deep breath before attacking; she slashed toward her father's side but Obi-Wan easily blocked the move before parrying the thrust that Kira, after retracting her blade, aimed at him.

Kira gritted her teeth before releasing her frustration into the Force. She had been fighting with her father for the past half an hour and the only reason she wasn't tired was because they had taken a ten minute break. She let out an explosive breath as she gazed at her father who held her gaze.

Before Kira could attack though, the door opened and Jenica made her way into the training room. She remained standing by the door as Obi-Wan lowered his blade and looked toward her. "Jenica," he greeted her.

"Obi-Wan," Jenica said. "The Council wants to see you."

"They didn't contact me."

"I offered to tell you myself." There was a profound sadness in her eyes but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared.

Obi-Wan blinked in understanding. "You miss the Temple." It wasn't a question.

Jenica sighed. "I don't regret leaving but I do miss it," she said before she looked at Kira. "Kira, you've grown since I last saw you. You're even taller than your father."

"Everyone's taller than dad," said Kira.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow while Jenica chuckled.

"I'd better go see what the Council wants. How long are you staying on Coruscant, Jenica?"

"I think I'll stay long enough to greet Ahsoka and Anakin when they get back to Coruscant but then I'm heading back to Bellassa?"

"Is that a good idea?" Kira said. "I mean the dark Jedi could come back."

"I don't think so. He didn't kill me when he had the chance."

"I agree with Kira, Jenica," said Obi-Wan. "I'm sure the Council will let you stay within the Temple for the time being."

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask." Obi-Wan left the training room and Jenica walked over to join Kira as she deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt.

"What are you going to do now?" Jenica asked.

"I don't know. Meditate probably."

"Mind if I join you?"

Kira glanced at the dark-haired former Jedi before she nodded. "No, I don't mind." She left the training room and Jenica followed her as she walked down the hall toward the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Entering the room, she took a seat on one of the many benches that lined the stone paths of the room. Jenica sat down beside her as Kira reached into the Force slipping into a meditative trance.

"What do these dark Jedi hope to accomplish by revealing themselves?" Kira said softly.

"I wish I knew," said Jenica.

"Do you think the dark Jedi who attacked you is connected to the dark Jedi who tried to kill Aunt Padmé?"

Jenica was silent for a long moment. "I don't know. I don't know any more than what I've already told you, Obi-Wan and the Council. Whoever this dark Jedi is, he obviously wants to try to accomplish what Palpatine couldn't. He said as much."

"Yes you said that before. Could he have been an apprentice of Palpatine?"

"I don't think so. There are only ever two and Palpatine's apprentice was Dooku."

"But wasn't Dooku arrested? Could Palpatine have taken on another apprentice after Dooku's arrest?"

Jenica fell silent again. "It's possible but unlikely. Based on what he told me, we can assume he knew Palpatine at least. He didn't necessarily have to be Palpatine's apprentice."

"Good point."

A few days later, Kira and Jenica, along with Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and her apprentice Mara, were waiting outside the Temple to greet the party returning from Thustra. Jenica had decided to stay on Coruscant for the time being and spent most of her time catching up with Obi-Wan and the rest of the Jedi within the Temple especially Ahsoka. They had been close friends before Jenica left the Order and still kept in contact after the Clone Wars ended.

The ship glided toward the landing pad before landing and the boarding ramp lowered before Jinn and Luke walked out of the ship with Anakin and Siri just behind them. "Hey Aunt Jeni," Luke greeted Jenica who smiled in response.

"The Council wants a report of the negotiations on Thustra as well as tell you of what's happened," said Obi-Wan walking over to join his wife.

"Now?" Siri said with a frown.

"The news Jenica brought with her when she arrived on Coruscant is important and I think it could be linked to what happened on Thustra." Kira had told him what Jinn told her about what happened after the negotiations.

"What did happen?" asked Anakin.

"It'd be better if we talk about it inside." Obi-Wan turned around before leading the way back into the Temple.

Kira fell into step beside her brother. "So, before the assassination attempt, how'd the negotiations go?" she asked.

Jinn glanced at her. "They went fine," he said, "though the representative talked about rumors suggesting there was a fleet near the Unknown Regions."

"Remnants of the Separatists?" Kira knew that though many of the Separatist leaders were apprehended, and the movement was disbanded, there were still some Separatists out there who managed to escape capture.

"That's what Aunt Padmé thought but there's no proof that the fleet belong to the remnants of the Separatists," said Jinn.

Kira pressed her lips together as she entered the Temple at her brother's side a thoughtful look crossing her eyes. "Seems odd that there would be two dark Jedi attacks around the same time that we learn about these rumors," she said.

"Do you think they're connected?"

"I wish I knew."

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: well, that was the first chapter, introducing the two sets of twins

Darth: cool

Blaze: all the characters whom are OCs or are hardly mentioned in the EU and whom weren't developed in Here I Go Again will be developed in this story (or in Album or, more likely, both) though not in the first chapter

Darth: duh

Blaze: (pushes Darth into gigantic chocolate cream pie)

Darth: YUM! THANKS! (Starts eating chocolate cream pie)

Blaze: in the next chapter, we'll be going to the POV of the parents

Anakin: yay!

Obi-Wan: you're thirty-eight years old and still acting like a kid

Anakin: of course

Blaze: also, I was going to include flashbacks but I decided to post a story that I'm calling Album that will be a series of oneshots and short stories set between Here I Go Again and Shards of Darkness

Darth: (still eating chocolate cream pie) cool

Blaze: so please review and I will post chapter 2 as soon as I possibly can (maybe this weekend)