Wow, I got a lot of reviews for last chapter, thank you to everyone!!! :-D

They had finally reached their destination. He had been meditating and anticipating the arrival for two days. He was most interested in what would be found at Dantooine.

From what the reports had said, the Imperial damage consisted of two Star Destroyers. The Destroyers had been identified as the Accuser and the Stalker from Death Squadron.

Apparently they had found the Rebel base. But the question now was where had they gone after the battle? Had they limped to an Imperial outpost? That was doubtful, considering no one in the entire navy had the faintest idea where they went.

So that was it. Death Squadron, the most powerful fleet in the Imperial Navy, had vanished after a battle three weeks ago, along with its commanding officer.

Frustration burned Palpatine's blood. How could a fleet so famous, so large, so utterly discernable just vanish? He really hated sending a search party of numerous fleets to search the entire galaxy, but finding that fleet was a top priority now.

Moeema sighed and sat down in her room. She shared it with Zhymmia and Carh'la. The room had wooden floors and cream colored walls. The beds were deep, covered in white, almost making it seem like sleeping on a cloud. The three beds were against the right wall. The left wall had a desk and a dresser. The back wall had a transparent door that slid open to the balcony, revealing a stunning view of the lake. The women preferred to keep the door open in order to bring a breeze through the room.

Carh'la walked over and sat down beside Moeema on her bed. "Is it what happened this afternoon?"

Moeema nodded. "I can't believe Lo did that. I… even I thought he wasn't that crazy! Why did he jump off like that?"

"Why don't we go ask him?" Zhymmia proposed.

"He's resting right now," Carh'la replied. "We just finally got him to sleep. He wanted to go explore, but we convinced him that it was too dark."

Zhymmia paced the room twice before sitting on her own bed. "What do you think of Ben?"

"He seems nice enough," Carh'la shrugged. "If not a bit quiet… but I suppose that's expected of a person who was literally dragged into a vacation with a group of strangers."

"He seems to have adapted well," Moeema sighed again, shaking her head. "But why is Lo so attached to him?"

"I don't know…"

Changing the subject, Carh'la looked over at Zhymmia. "Why are you wearing those sleeping pants and tunic, though? If it weren't for your hair I'd say you look like a man."

"I was thinking of getting my hair cut, anyway," Zhymmia laughed.

"Why do you dress like a man, Zhymmia?"

"Because that's all the Empire wants in the navy," Zhymmia answered, crossing her arms irritably.

"Zhymmia, it was probably tough to go through the academy, but you've graduated." Moeema joined the conversation, facing the younger woman seriously. "You are a woman, whether they like it or not. The point is that you're in the navy now. You're an ensign and a very capable one at that."

Zhymmia sighed. "How is it that you two can be so feminine and yet not be bothered? I mean you're both lieutenant commanders! How did you get so far, particularly with families?"

Carh'la smiled. "My husband takes care of the younglings while I'm gone. He's pretty much a stay-at-home-dad."

"So you reversed roles?"

"I suppose you could say that. I felt it was my duty to serve the Empire since I had enlisted too late to serve the Republic during the war."

"You enlisted in the Republic Navy?"

"Yes, I did."

"What about you, Moeema?"

Moeema gave a shrug. "My younglings are all grown. I have four boys and one girl. The girl was the oldest. She's now married and expecting her second child. My two elder boys are also married. The eldest boy has a son on the way. Then my two younger boys are studying in a university. One wants to be a linguist and the other wants to be an actor."

"How old are you?" Zhymmia asked. "I mean, I thought you were thirty-something."

Moeema laughed. "No, I'm forty-nine. I had my first child when I was twenty."

"That's awfully young to be having younglings," Carh'la noted. "I didn't have my first until I was twenty-six."

"It wasn't too bad," Moeema said. "We struggled financially at first but we got through it."

"What about you, Zhymmia?" Carh'la asked. "Have you ever given marriage consideration?"

Zhymmia blushed furiously and looked away. "My goal was always to be the best naval officer I could be. My goal was always to serve in the Imperial Navy. I… never even thought about marriage,"

"You only live once, you know," Moeema said knowingly.

"But being an admiral is my dream!" Zhymmia protested. "I can't do that if I've got kids to worry about!"

"Younglings are a blessing, young Zhymmia. They're not a curse."

"I don't look at them as a curse; I just don't want them right now."

Carh'la nodded her head forward slightly. "You claim to never have considered marriage and yet the mere mention of it sends you blushing, Zhymmia. Are you really telling us the truth?"

"Yes," came the all-too-hasty reply.

"Zhymmia," Moeema stood. "We're not telling you to quit your dream. We're just saying that once you get to the top and you're an admiral, then you'll want to have someone there to share the joy with. You won't want to be alone. This is a big galaxy, you know."

"Now get out of those hideous clothes and put some real clothes on," Carh'la laughed. "I believe any woman caught wearing those would be ashamed."

Zhymmia shook her head. "Sorry, but no. I'm an Imperial, not a woman."

Both elder women sighed. Moeema knew it would take a while for Zhymmia to realize that being a woman was nothing of which she should be ashamed.

Returning to the previous conversation, Zhymmia said, "What do you think that Ben guy was doing when we ran into him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well he said he was just trying to get away from Noriyuki. My question is why he was doing that with no particular place to go."

"People often find themselves desperate to get away from things, even if they have nowhere else to go," Carh'la said. "Kobayashi is a perfect example."

"I guess," Zhymmia looked down. "But what are we going to do? I mean, we can't tell that guy who Lo really is."

"Of course not," Moeema replied. "We just have to figure out why Lo is so attached to him. Then, when the shore leave is over, we can easily separate him from Ben and we can go along our merry way."

"Speaking of merry ways, how are we going to explain this whole incident?" Zhymmia continued, unrelenting.

"What—as in the whole incident?"

"Yes,"

Carh'la laughed. "We aren't going to explain anything. That will be left up to Captain Mentzer."

"We're Death Squadron, though; I mean half of the Empire probably knows we've been missing for four weeks now!"

"I believe that issue is looming over all of us," Moeema said. "But it's not going to do us any good to worry about it while we're on vacation. Relax, Zhymmia. We'll figure this out."

The three women went to their respective beds and turned out the lights, quickly falling asleep.

The smell of water wafted in through the open door and filled her nostrils. She could feel the warmth of the sun shining on her. Sounds of countless birds chirping rang in her ears. It was a bombardment of the senses, and yet it was calming. Between the sounds, smells, and the comfortable bed, Moeema found that she did not want to wake up from this state.

She heard shifting from the bed to her right. Carh'la was waking. A yawn from the bed on the other side of the room told her that Zhymmia was also awakening.

Suppressing a sigh of disappointment at being forced out of bed, Moeema opened her eyes and sat up, stretching her back. When she hazarded a glance at the chronometer hanging on the wall, she saw that it was nine in the morning, far later than she would have normally awoken.

"Did you sleep well?" Carh'la asked softly, blinking slowly and running a hand through her blonde hair.

Moeema offered an affirmative grunt, too tired to say anything. After a few minutes, she finally pulled the covers off and placed her bare feet on the wooden floor. Moeema stood and stretched again, walking towards the balcony.

The view was impeccable at that time of the morning. The sun was just rising over the mountains, making the lake sparkle. Moeema caught sight of the new companion, Ben, sitting on the lake shore. He was sitting on his feet, his hands placed on his lap. From what she could see, his eyes appeared to be closed, his head tilted forward in deep concentration. He was meditating.

"He's such an odd person," Moeema muttered.

"Who?" Carh'la asked as she walked onto the balcony followed by Zhymmia.

"Our mysterious new friend," Moeema answered, motioning towards the man. "He dresses in Nihoman clothing, rides a dragon, and meditates like the natives, but he claims he is not Nihoman."

"There are other cultures out there that meditate," Carh'la suggested.

"I don't know," Zhymmia said slowly. "I agree with Moeema. Something about him is just… odd."

"Well, let's head down to breakfast," Moeema sighed, turning away from the balcony. "That is if the other men are awake."

Obi-Wan sat on the lake shore. He had been meditating for about four hours now. He was trying to find some sort of peace of mind so he could properly organize his thoughts and figure out what in the blazes was going on. His mind swirled with so many questions. He couldn't even sleep last night.

Why did Anakin not remember anything? Why did he look just as he did before the Republic fell? Why did the Imperials call him Lo? Did the Imperials even know who he really was? If they did, why were they treating him in such a way? Why didn't the emperor know? Where did the emperor fit in all of this? What about the rest of Death Squadron?

Sighing, Obi-Wan opened his eyes and looked up at the retreat. It was a pleasant area to be sure. Under normal circumstances, Obi-Wan would have found it to be quite relaxing. However, he hadn't had normal circumstances since before the Clone Wars.

Obi-Wan let his mind clear while he watched the lake water lapping against the shore. Birds swooped down to the lake before shooting into the air once more, fish in their beaks. Nihoman ducks landed on the water and began swimming and quacking loudly. Geese soon joined them.

Smiling softly, Obi-Wan stood. He shook the dust off his clothes and turned to walk inside.

Anakin was standing in the doorway.

"Uh…" Obi-Wan's statement died before it could reach his throat.

Anakin walked out towards him, calm and silent. When he reached Obi-Wan, he watched him, examining him closely. His blue eyes showed confusion.

"Kichita," he whispered.

Obi-Wan didn't know if he could respond, but any thought of doing so vanished the instant the boy threw his arms around him.

"I feel sick," the boy mumbled into Obi-Wan's shoulder.

"Then you should be lying down," Obi-Wan said automatically. "Come on, Ana…"

He stopped himself from saying the name but then curiosity flooded him. What would happen if he did say the boy's name?

"I don't want to lie down," Anakin mumbled, a touch of exasperation filtering into his tone.

Obi-Wan sighed. "Well you need to. You shouldn't be out here if you're sick."

"I'm not that sick…"

"Naturally," Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. Even when the boy didn't remember he still tried to avoid admitting being ill. "And the Sith have a heart,"

Ah, blast, Obi-Wan silently cursed as Anakin stiffened upon hearing the name.

"What are Sith, Kichita?"

"Why don't we leave that discussion for later?" Obi-Wan replied hastily. "Tell me, child: What is your name?"

"Lo,"

"Are you sure?"

"That's what everyone says it is."

"And you believe them?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"I have no reason to believe you should mistrust them, young one. I'm just wondering if you think that's what your name is."

"I never really thought about it,"

Obi-Wan was tempted to roll his eyes again, but he controlled the gesture. "Somehow that does not surprise me."

"Well… it doesn't seem right."

"What doesn't seem right?"

"My name… it doesn't seem right. I don't think it's Lo, but I do like Little One."

"Little one? That's what they call you?"

"They called me that at first. They still do. They just call me Lo, too."

"I see,"

"Kichita, can we go to the hot springs now?"

"There are hot springs here?"

Anakin immediately leapt out of Obi-Wan's arms and began bouncing on his heels with excitement. He immediately started to ramble on and on, saying, "Oh, yes there are! There are tons of hot springs here, I heard from one of the servants at the palace! They said that if you go swimming in them it makes you feel a lot better! I heard them talking about a lot of things with hot springs, they said that there's a hot spring near the retreat called Bul-san that's really big and private! They said that when we go to the retreat they would show us because they were supposed to come along and—uh-oh."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I don't think they know we're here,"

"Who doesn't know?"

"The palace… or the other Imperials…"

"The other Imperials? How many Imperials are there?"

"All of Death Squadron is here! Didn't you know, Kichita?"

"All—all of Death Squadron?" Obi-Wan stuttered.

"Yes,"

"Oh. Wonderful,"

"What do you think of him?"

Kobayashi shrugged. "I don't know what to think of him. I just met him. What I'm wondering is why Lo is so attached to him."

"That's worrying me," Moeema said.

"Why is it worrying you?"

"Because that man could be trouble and we wouldn't know it,"

Kobayashi laughed. "I beg to differ, Moeema. You didn't see Lo when the Rebels boarded the Executor. He knew there was danger. If this man were out to hurt us, I believe Lo would have let us know by now."

"The boy is sick," Carh'la pointed out. "He could accidentally miss something."

"I suppose it is possible," Kerrick sighed. "What are we going to do with him, though?"

"Perhaps we should start by asking who he really is." Zhymmia suggested. "After all, since when were people just named Ben?"

Sighing, Kobayashi walked outside of the building to get the man in question. What he saw instead was Vader up on his feet and trying to drag the poor man into the lake.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"No, I—you need to lie down!"

Kobayashi motioned towards the others, who were about to run out and stop Vader when Rowan suddenly stopped them.

"What are you doing?" Kerrick hissed at him.

Rowan put a finger to his lips. "Be silent, Kerrick. Let's see how Ben reacts."

Vader was ankle deep in the water, tugging at Ben's wrist. "Come on!"

Ben tugged back, successfully bringing the boy ashore. "Lo, you have to rest. You won't be able to enjoy all of your time out here if you get even sicker."

"But I don't want to rest!"

"Just because you don't want it doesn't mean you don't need it."

Vader huffed a little, giving the man a sour look. Surprisingly, though, Ben seemed undaunted. "Come on, Little One."

Ben turned to bring the boy inside and paused upon seeing Kobayashi and the others. "Oh. Good morning."

Kobayashi laughed. "Good morning to you too,"

Ben led the boy inside the building and everyone waited for him to return after putting Vader to bed. When he did so, Kerrick motioned for him to step outside.

"Now, friend," Kerrick said to Ben. "We are terribly sorry for what happened yesterday. I'm sure you have somewhere you need to be heading right now."

Ben shook his head, a twinkle coming to his eye. "If you don't mind, I'd really prefer to stay here with the boy."

"You've taken a liking to him?" Moeema asked.

"As a matter of fact I have," Ben replied with a smile.

"Then what is your real name?" Jifo asked.

The twinkle vanished, leaving haunted eyes. "All I can tell you is that my name is Ben."

"How can you expect us to trust you if—" Numel began to say before being interrupted by Ben.

"I never once expected you to trust me. I was very much surprised when you willingly allowed be to join you. I mean none of you any harm. I do not want to hurt anyone. All I want is to help the child. Please… please let me help him."

Kobayashi sighed. "We would like for you to help, but… we cannot allow someone we… well…"

Suddenly, Carh'la stepped forward and said, "If we promise not to tell anyone what you confide in us, will you tell us about yourself?"

The other Imperials gaped at her. Even Kobayashi gaped at her. He knew that Carh'la was assigned to Death Squadron because of her ability to think outside of the box, but… but…

"That's quite a promise," Ben observed.

"Yes, it is," Carh'la nodded. "And I promise it,"

When Jifo made a feeble noise of protest, Carh'la glared at him. Kerrick then stepped forward. "I promise as well,"

Rowan nodded. "I promise,"

Numel looked at his superior officers worriedly, but nonetheless promised as well. Kobayashi prayed that they wouldn't regret this and then promised.

Jifo, Marrax, and Zhymmia were silent. Shiine and Ooke cleared their throats and nodded, saying, "We promise,"

Again, Jifo, Marrax, and Zhymmia were silent. Finally, Marrax promised.

Everyone waited for Jifo and Zhymmia. The two seemed too shocked to speak. Kobayashi prayed that they would just promise already; Ben may not wait forever.

Kerrick narrowed his eyes and Zhymmia immediately said, "I promise,"

Finally, Jifo conceded.

Ben looked over all of them with astonishment before letting out a soft chuckle. "I don't believe you're going to like what you hear."

"We made our oath and we're not going to break it," Carh'la said.

"Now answer this: have we met before?" Rowan suddenly asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Have we met before? You look awfully familiar,"

"I'm afraid not, my friend."

Rowan brushed it aside. "Very well… now what is your name?"

Ben sighed and dropped his gaze, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a calming breath. Kobayashi gulped; who was this guy? The man opened his eyes and looked at them. His eyes clearly indicated that he was ready for anything.

"My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi."

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