Hey, everyone! I'm back! Sorry for the delay, life's been a bit rough (see "notes" on my profile for details), and because of that I can't guarantee quick updates on anything. I managed to get this in, though (mostly because it was already started before the issues began). I hope you all enjoy!

The next morning everyone awoke very quickly. Their alarm was a shrill shriek from the master bedroom.

"What in the blazes was that?" Kobayashi yelped.

Obi-Wan sighed. "I believe that was the missus."

"Oh dear," Marrax laughed. "He's in a bit of trouble."

The rest of the roommates joined Marrax in laughter. Obi-Wan then stood and smoothed the wrinkles out of his traveling clothes; he, along with the rest of his roommates, had been too tired to get into some proper nightclothes.

"Dear, I told you last night,"

"Sorry! I just—you—oh, Rowan, don't scare me like that!"

Everyone suppressed a snort of laughter and Kobayashi led them out of the room.

Mrs. Chupa-Pau was a slender woman with a calm and mature chiseled face. Her ultramarine blue eyes were slender but curved. She had thin brown eyebrows and fluffy brown hair which bounced to her shoulders. Her smooth pink skin had ghosts of wrinkles, barely giving away her age. She was currently giving her husband a reproachful look.

Mrs. Chupa-Pau quickly noticed her guests had awakened and bowed in greeting. "I am Jan Chupa-Pau. It is a pleasure to meet you all. You must forgive me for yelling earlier; I'm afraid my husband gave me quite a scare. I'm sorry for the mess the apartment is in; I wasn't expecting guests."

As Jan Chupa-Pau stated the last part of her sentence, she glared at her husband irritably. Rowan gave a feeble smile.

"Now, do you all have any preferences for breakfast?" she asked the group.

"Not really," Kobayashi shrugged and replied for all of them. "We appreciate anything you could give."

"I should have enough for breakfast," Jan nodded. Then she looked at her husband. "But I'll need you to get groceries for lunch and dinner."

Jan and Rowan went to the kitchen together. Obi-Wan yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Kobayashi, Jifo, and Marrax walked down the hall towards the living room while Obi-Wan watched the rest of the Imperials go. The women from the first guest room were already lounging around the room. Carh'la and Moeema began to help Jan and Rowan in the kitchen. Numel was grumbling on the couch, trying to get more sleep. Ooke, however, was wide awake and chattering away with Kerrick, who was still half asleep. Ton, Shiine, and Padmé exited the other guest room, but Anakin did not.

Obi-Wan approached Padmé. "Is Anakin still asleep?"

Padmé looked at him. Her gaze was clear, but Obi-Wan could sense an underlying tension. "I don't know."

Ryatsi saw Padmé and called her over. Padmé went to the living room and had a lively conversation with the doctor. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, sighed and leaned against the wall, watching the former Naboo senator.

Padmé was a kind person and had been gracious and helpful to Anakin earlier because he was tired and sick. Now the friction between the couple was beginning to show since they had nothing to do but lie low and wait. There was no immediate danger, there were no natives trying to worship anyone. It was just Padmé and Anakin.

And that was the problem.

Padmé and Anakin still had a lot of issues to mull over from Mustafar. In truth, Anakin and Obi-Wan still had a lot of issues to mull over from Mustafar. However, Obi-Wan was a Jedi; he knew that he needed to forgive. It hurt more than anyone knew that Anakin had massacred the Jedi. He had killed Obi-Wan's family… he had not even spared the younglings. However, Anakin was Obi-Wan's youngling in a sense, and a parent never lost love for his child. Obi-Wan had forgiven Anakin because he could see Anakin was struggling to be a Jedi once more, even if the boy wasn't quite sure of it. The Imperials had helped him immensely, probably more than anyone would ever know.

Padmé however… Padmé was a very strong minded woman. She believed in certain principles and would not back down from them. When Anakin turned away and refused to listen to her… and then threatened the lives of their children, Padmé… well, to say the least, she would be slow to forgive. At the very least, she wouldn't immediately fall into his arms. She still loved Anakin deeply, but unlike Obi-Wan, she wouldn't forgive him as easily.

Sighing again, Obi-Wan decided to search the apartment for Anakin, who was nowhere to be seen.

He found him out on the balcony, his head drooped low. Obi-Wan crouched down to him and gave him a slight shake. Anakin stirred and then moaned, rubbing his neck.

"You could have found a better place to sleep, Anakin," Obi-Wan chuckled softly.

Anakin muttered something incoherent in response and stalked into the living room.

Obi-Wan watched the Imperials interact throughout the day. Moeema seemed to have noticed Anakin's disgruntled state and, being the mother that she was, immediately asked what was wrong. Anakin brushed her off, still awkward when the Imperials grew concerned for him.

Anakin and Padmé did a rather good job of avoiding each other, though Obi-Wan could see it pained both parties to do so. However, neither one would back down. Padmé was still angry with Anakin, and Anakin still didn't know what to say to Padmé. He also seemed convinced that nothing would be able to make up for what he did and so there was no way Padmé would forgive him.

That night the sleeping arrangements did not change. Anakin once again vanished, but this time Shiine went to look for him. When the boy was finally found, Anakin said he was more comfortable out in the night air, so Shiine at least provided him with a sleeping mat and pillow.

Obi-Wan sighed and fell asleep.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Rowan sighed, leaning further into his pillow. His wife had been pestering him for an explanation all day, and now that they were alone in the bedroom there was no avoiding it.

"Jan, I couldn't tell you."

"Why couldn't you, Rowan?"

"Because…" Rowan shifted uncomfortably.

Jan looked him in the eye. "Whatever it is, I can handle it. I've handled all the problems you've thrown at me for twenty-eight years."

Rowan smiled gently and stroked her face. As wonderful as his wife was, she was no fighter. He didn't want her to get involved too much… but he supposed she was already involved enough to be entitled to know. If there was one thing about Jan, it was that she wanted to be well informed, even if it was something that would panic her.

Sighing, he lowered his hand and she waited expectantly. He said, "Jan, it's complicated. Suffice it to say I'm…"

Rowan then shuddered and looked away. Jan, obviously concerned, gently placed her hand on his chin and directed his gaze at her once more. "Tell me, Rowan. Maybe I can help."

"I'm on the run, Jan," Rowan said.

Jan stared at him in horror, stunned speechless.

Rowan could see the thousands of things going through her mind just by watching her eyes. She was wondering what he could have done wrong; perhaps it was a mistake? Did he make a mistake? Did he disagree with an order? Was someone out to get him? Was he a scapegoat of some sort? He silenced all of her thoughts by stroking her face once more, though this time it was to reassure her.

"What happened?" she finally whispered.

"Something happened to Lord Vader," Rowan began to explain while continuing to reassure her through his touch. "I still don't know how it happened, but it did. He vanished one day, and then the next we found him looking like a twenty-two-year-old boy and completely amnesiac. We had to take care of him, but we did not inform the emperor. Not even the entire fleet knew what had happened; it was mainly a core group of us. So the fleet vanished off the charts. We told no one where we had gone. In the beginning we were just heading to a new destination, still trying to figure out what to do with him, but then something happened. He accidentally caused the hyperdrive to stall… for the entire fleet… and we ran into the Rebels. We fought them; we had found their base, Jan."

Jan hung on to every word, listening intently as Rowan spoke.

"We managed to get them on the run, but we were too injured to pursue," Rowan continued. "Then we fled the system. We headed for the far Outer Rim. We knew that if we reported the Rebel presence to anyone, they would inevitably find out about Lord Vader. So not only did we not report what had happened to Lord Vader, we also didn't report the Rebel sighting: two major mistakes.

"We arrived on a planet and remained there for liberty. However, Lord Vader suddenly remembered everything all at once and caused a bit of a panic. To top it off, the emperor had started searching for Death Squadron and had caught a lead, bringing him straight to us. We had to leave, Jan. So we did. We evacuated the fleet so those who didn't know would not get involved and would not hamper us, and then we took the Executor and fled. We just abandoned the Executor and sent her hurtling into a star three days ago. I brought them here because I knew it was a good place to lie low for a short while and then we would leave."

Jan was crying silently by the time he was finished. She shook her head and looked down at the bed. "Why did you do it, Rowan? Why didn't you just report it?"

"He was a boy, Jan," Rowan said a little defensively. "I couldn't just hand a boy who didn't even know his own name over to the emperor. I believe in the Empire, but Emperor Palpatine… he doesn't strike me as a fatherly kind of man. Besides, the boy was terrified. He is younger than our son."

Though it did little to soothe her nerves, Jan was satisfied with the answer. Then she seemed to remember what he had said earlier. "No, Rowan, don't leave! How will I know if I'll see you…?"

Then she trailed off and began sobbing. Rowan hugged her, running a hand through her hair. "We'll figure something out, Jan. I promise."

Taris proved to be fun to explore, though Rowan made sure to keep them away from the lower levels of the city. Nevertheless, Kobayashi found it all quite exciting; he had never been to Taris before.

This was their third day on the planet. Marrax had heard news that the emperor's fleet was searching the D'Astan Sector, which was a good three sectors away from Taris. They needed to leave soon, though; the fleet would eventually head in their general direction and they didn't even want to be in the same sector if they could help it.

Rowan's poor wife was nearly beside herself with worry. Kobayashi felt sorry for the poor woman.

As for the rest of the Imperials, they had been settling in rather well. Kobayashi and Marrax constantly went exploring the Upper City while Ooke fiddled and fixed every bit of machinery in the apartment along with Anakin. Obi-Wan was content with meditating and watching everyone else go about their business, occasionally running errands for Jan. Numel wandered in districts that Kobayashi probably didn't want to know about, while Moeema, Padmé, Ryatsi, and Carh'la constantly helped and reassured Jan alongside Rowan. Shiine took Zhymmia everywhere to visit the local sites and try the local cuisine, running into Kobayashi and Marrax on numerous occasions. Ress and Jifo were getting along well and went about their own business, going where they pleased, which mostly consisted of parks and other not so adrenaline jerking areas. Even Capt. Mentzer seemed relaxed, though he was oddly enough trying to spend more time with the rest of them instead of going off by himself.

Kobayashi could definitely tell that the captain was an introvert and did not feel entirely comfortable starting conversations with officers he barely knew. However, he could also tell that the captain was trying to make amends and get to know them better, so Kobayashi helped and provided ways of making the conversation a little less awkward as often as he could.

Today Kobayashi was watching Anakin wander the streets. He had finally left the apartment, growing restless. Kobayashi had volunteered to keep an eye on him alongside Obi-Wan and Marrax.

Kobayashi had suggested simply walking with Anakin, but Obi-Wan had said he needed to be alone; it was what he wanted. Anakin needed time to think. So they followed from a distance.

The city was bustling. They were walking through downtown where people ran to and fro, talking happily or rushing to their destination. Kobayashi pointed out a restaurant. "Marrax, remember that place? Obi-Wan, you should try it out; the cuisine there is terrific!"

"Yeah," Marrax nodded, catching Kobayashi's meaning. "Maybe we could ask Anakin if he wants to eat there too."

"No," Obi-Wan said.

Kobayashi and Marrax sighed.

"This was a lot easier when we didn't have to worry about stepping on his toes," Marrax muttered to Kobayashi.

Kobayashi merely shrugged. "I know what you mean, but we don't have much of a choice. After all, he now remembers how to crush our windpipes."

Marrax laughed. "That sounds like a good reason to me."

Anakin walked ahead, vanishing into a crowd. The three men froze. "Where did he go?"

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, concentrating. Then he sighed. "He's hiding himself from me. He knows we're following him."

"Then let's try a less subtle approach," Kobayashi suggested. "Come on; Anakin's a man of action, so let's do something rather than slinking after him."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "If you can find him, we will."

This was just the problem.

Kobayashi, Marrax, and Obi-Wan spent the next few hours searching the city high and low to find him. As they did so, they practically ran into every member of the group.

Kobayashi had the unfortunate honor of finding Numel.

"Numel—ah, oh…" Kobayashi looked away after feeling sick to his stomach as Numel flirted with an entire brothel.

Numel called out. "Hey, Koby! Meet my new friends! Ladies, this is Kobayashi, the sweetest man alive."

The woman eyed Kobayashi in a manner he rather did not like, making him feel exposed as if their eyes were piercing right through his clothes and to his nether regions. "Ah, Numel, we need to… eh… to talk."

"Oh, Koby, can't it wait?" Numel whined, leaning against a Twi'lek who, in all respects, was essentially naked. "I'm a bit busy."

Kobayashi stuttered, blushing furiously and looking away once again.

"Oh, he's so cute," a Zeltron woman cooed, causing all the other women to suddenly find Kobayashi interesting.

"He's not your type," a voice behind Kobayashi said and then Kobayashi saw Anakin walk up to the women. "He likes Numel more than you ladies."

"I—wha—" Numel and Kobayashi both stuttered, and the woman cuddling with the former quickly lost interest in him. However, they suddenly thought Anakin was the greatest thing since the discovery of hyperspace.

"What about you?" the Twi'lek who had been cuddling with Numel asked, licking her lips.

Anakin shrugged. "I'm not interested. But I know someone who is just dying for some of your attention. Let's leave these two lovers," he motioned to Numel and Kobayashi, "and find the real one you're looking for,"

The women all followed Anakin, throwing disdainful glances at Kobayashi and Numel who stood in stunned silence.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Numel roared. "Now you've ruined everything, Koby! What do you want?"

Kobayashi stuttered again.

"Well?"

"I was looking for Anakin," Kobayashi replied feebly.

Numel stared at him. Kobayashi took it as his cue to flee the area. Maybe even the planet. In fact, he would rather leave the galaxy right now.

As Kobayashi made his hasty retreat, he caught sight of Obi-Wan desperately trying to fight off the horde of women who were surrounding him. Marrax was hiding in the shadows to avoid being spotted while Anakin was calmly strolling down an alley.

Kobayashi decided it was now time to stop following Anakin. He was far too dangerous… more dangerous than he was as Vader!

"Marrax, let's… go get something to eat at that restaurant, shall we?" Kobayashi said as he approached his friend.

Marrax nodded and the two scampered away.

That night, Zhymmia greeted Numel with the biggest smack he had ever felt. Kobayashi was greeted by giggles from all the women, and Marrax was greeted by a glare from Anakin's direction, while Obi-Wan was greeted by comforting hugs from the women.

"Why does he get the hugs?" Numel asked, sounding wounded as he rubbed his now red cheek.

"Because he's a gentleman," Carh'la laughed.

"I don't believe you," Zhymmia stuttered, her normally dark face flushed with anger. "You—you disgusting—"

Shiine held his hands in the air. "Steady, Zhymmia, we don't want to kill him."

Numel skulked out of the apartment once more, so Kobayashi and Marrax followed him along with Shiine and Carh'la. They found him sitting in the very restaurant they had been dining in earlier in the day in downtown.

The restaurant was on top of a fancy shopping center, providing a skyline view of the city. There were different levels. A band stood in the center on a platform that was floating over the customers, literally making the music float through the air. Couches around tables lined the edge while a bar was directly under the band. The lighting from the ceiling was a cool blue, accenting the navy carpeting and the neon blue lights on the floor by the walls.

Numel was sitting at the bar sipping a drink. The group joined him.

"You know, if you didn't go chasing women you wouldn't have this issue," Carh'la commented as she sat beside him.

"This is revenge for flirting with his wife," Numel grumbled. "I just know it."

"You're kidding me," Shiine laughed. "You flirted with another married woman?"

"I flirted with Anakin's wife, remember?" Numel moaned. "At the Unification Day Ball,"

"Good Force, that seems so long ago now," Kobayashi sighed.

The bartender walked over. "What'll it be?"

"Another Twi'lek Fizz," Numel tossed the glass carelessly to the bartender.

"I'll have a Red Blaster," Carh'la said. "On the rocks,"

"Make that two," Shiine nodded.

Marrax and Kobayashi looked at each other and shrugged. "Give us a Flameout,"

Shiine raised his eyebrows. "That's the stiffest drink a bar can offer,"

"We've had a rough day," Marrax ran a weary hand through his hair.

When their drinks arrived, Marrax and Kobayashi reached for the fizzing red liquid. They looked at each other and raised their glasses.

"To Anakin," Marrax said. "May he some day learn how to interact with living beings."

Kobayashi laughed. "Here's to that!"

The two clanked their glasses and then downed their drinks.

Kobayashi felt fire go through his veins. He and Marrax both shuddered, licked their lips, and then looked at each other in astonishment.

"Let's have another!" Kobayashi slammed his glass onto the counter.

Shiine sighed. "They're going to get thrown out."

"Let them," Carh'la shrugged. "I'm enjoying myself."

Five minutes later, as a roaring drunk Kobayashi and Marrax were being escorted out of the room by two burly Whipids, Shiine and Carh'la enjoyed themselves with a pleasant conversation, leaving Numel to brood.

Jifo and Ress sighed contently as they strolled down a busy lit up street. They had been rather enjoying themselves, doing nothing but talking about everything and nothing and not having to worry about dragons, the emperor, Death Squadron, Anakin, or anything of the sort.

"Hey, the night is young," Jifo looked at Ress. "What say you and I go to the movies and see what they've got to offer?"

Ress shrugged. "I suppose. I've never really gone to the movies."

"You don't know what you're missing," Jifo grabbed Ress by the arm. "Let me enlighten you to the experience."

The two walked to the local theater, which was large and had forty high resolution screens. A movie caught Jifo's attention and he pointed it out to Ress.

"How about that one?" he pointed to the title, which read Trek of the Stars. "I've heard some good stuff about it. A bit barmy, though; they've got people who can transport from one place to another by a beam or something – honestly, the things people come up with to make money."

Ress laughed. "Sure, let's watch it."

Padmé stood in the kitchen assisting Jan with dinner alongside Rowan.

"Pass me the breadcrumbs, dear," Jan said to Rowan, who obliged her and then continued to chop vegetables.

Padmé couldn't see how the two did it. They worked together flawlessly. It had to have been some sort of talent that some men and women were simply born with, and apparently she hadn't inherited it. Sola and Darred were the same way; they could always interact with each other in any situation, and even when they didn't get along, they would find a way to overcome it.

Yet when it came to her and Anakin…

Sighing, Padmé pushed the thoughts aside.

"There's still good in him…"

Her last words before falling into a coma whispered in her mind, making her heart ache. It had been a desperate plea to Obi-Wan to find a way to get to Anakin. It had been her last hope, her last bit of life to hold on to. She had never expected to survive after that point; her Republic had died, her husband was lost… everything seemed so empty. There was nothing left for her

Looking at Jan, Padmé suddenly wished she was her. Jan Chupa-Pau was no soldier, she was no politician, and she was not known by the galaxy. Jan had not discovered anything new, she had not fought in a war, and she had not saved planets or countless beings. She didn't even go to an everyday job. Jan was a housewife, and yet she had a strength Padmé couldn't even begin to imagine. Jan's husband was on the run; her son was in the navy, probably searching for her husband; she was holding Darth Vader in her home along with other now-outlaws; there was a rather large possibility that she would never see her husband again… and yet she could simply continue to be a supportive and loving wife and a generous hostess.

How could someone so insignificant to the galactic scheme be so strong? Jan was the real hero here, not Padmé, or Anakin, or others like them.

Padmé watched Jan and Rowan cook alongside each other as if this were just another day, as if they weren't constantly thinking about when a squad of stormtroopers could break in and kill them all, and she shook her head. No, between her and Jan there was no contest. She just didn't understand it.

Moeema and Kerrick sat on the long light blue couch in Rowan's apartment, enjoying the skyline view.

"I just wish there was something I could do," Moeema sighed.

Kerrick shook his head. "Moeema, there are some things that just need to be addressed by the people themselves. You can't make Anakin and Padmé get over whatever feud they're having."

"They're avoiding each other," Moeema stressed. "How can they talk if they're doing that?"

"Stop worrying," Kerrick leaned further into the comfortable cushions. "There's a time when you need to stop and let them make their own decisions. We may view him as just a boy, but he's married, and his wife doesn't view him as a little boy, otherwise she wouldn't have married him."

"I wonder how old they were when they married." Moeema thought aloud. "They had to have been extremely young."

"You married extremely young," Kerrick shrugged. "You were what, nineteen?"

Moeema nodded. "I got very lucky. Few marriages last when they start at such a raw age when hormones are working overtime and the brain's higher functions don't seem to be making a connection."

Kerrick suddenly grew curious and looked over at Obi-Wan, who was silently watching the stars from the sliding glass door leading to the balcony. "What about you, Obi-Wan? What do you think of marriage?"

Obi-Wan jumped. "Eh, Jedi aren't allowed to marry."

"Then what happened with Anakin?" Moeema and Kerrick suddenly grew confused.

"He broke the rules," Obi-Wan sighed, shaking his head. "Jedi are not allowed attachment for a reason."

"What do you mean Jedi aren't allowed attachment?" the two asked, horrified at a concept.

"It's not as terrible as it sounds," Obi-Wan faced them fully. "Although it can be extremely difficult. The Jedi rule of non-attachment is simply that we cannot allow our emotions to get in the way of our duty. Jedi are allowed to love, but we cannot let our love for one person blind us to the needs of many. That's exactly what happened to Anakin."

"What… what did happen?" Moeema asked.

Obi-Wan sighed again. "I can't tell you. Maybe Anakin can when he feels up to it… when he can face it."

Please review. Rowan's explanation to his wife was Little One in a nutshell, haha! Oh, and yes, that was a completely shameless reference with Jifo and Ress. :-)

Imperial Profiles: Jifo!

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