Fourteen Years Later…

*Adam sat down in front of the counter at the cantina in Anchorhead on Tattooine. He never desired to visit this planet, but now that the Galactic Empire ruled the galaxy and many planets were victims in its quest for domination, Adam needed to retreat to one of the few planets that the Empire could care less for. The Jedi were almost all extinct now. It made Adam relieved that he never returned to the Jedi Order, otherwise he would've been one of the many Jedi that died near the end of the Clone Wars.

After having no luck in searching for his sister after investigating Bezo's parents, he was tempted to return to the Jedi Temple and plead for them to take him back. He knew Master Tyson valued him very much, so he didn't doubt that he would try to stand up for him, but somehow, it was as if the Force kept urging him not to return. In the end, the Force was right.

The light was dim inside the cantina and there was a group of Bith musicians playing tunes in the corner. The air stank of cheroot smoke and sweat, and was cluttered with sounds of dozens of visitors laughing and jeering. Adam glanced at the older man sitting next to him, joylessly sipping his glass of ale. Somehow, he felt compelled to speak with him. He didn't know why, but it was as if the Force was pestering him to.

"Hey, you from around here?" Stupid question, but he needed to start somewhere without looking like he was sticking his nose in other people's business. The man rolled his eyes and took another sip from his glass.

"I am now. Why ask?"

Adam bit his lip in thought and scanned through his options in his head. Finally, he decided to come out with the question he felt compelled to ask.

"What's your name?"

The man sighed. "Bezo."

Immediately, the memory of that name dawned on Adam. Bezo was the biological child of Anna's foster parents.

"I've heard of you. You were with my sister Anna," he said. Bezo raised an eyebrow in surprise and finally looked Adam in the eye.

"You're Anna's brother?" He asked. Adam nodded.

"Anna was obsessed with meeting you," Bezo admitted.

"What happened?"

"One day, she said she was going to go to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to see you, but she came back and told me that you had left the Temple to find her. She was very upset. Soon afterwards, she just left without saying anything to me," Bezo explained. Adam thought he could see a hint of a tear growing in Bezo's eye, but it vanished without a trace before it could fall free.

"You don't know where Anna is then," Adam groaned. Bezo sadly shook his head.

"I miss her terribly. We were like rebels traveling the galaxy together. The galaxy could really use some rebels right now."

Adam was silent for a moment. He hated that he found Bezo, someone who knew Anna very well, only to find out that he couldn't help him find her. Even so, maybe Adam had a chance to find clues through Bezo.

"Tell me everything you knew about her. How you two met, what your life was like at home, what you two did when you left your parents, everything," Adam requested. He was relieved when Bezo was willing to tell him. Adam was, after all, Anna's brother. He deserved to know everything.

Even though it wasn't the same thing, Adam felt as though he was reunited with Anna just by hearing numerous stories of her told by Bezo. For years, Adam had tried to get into Anna's mind to speak with her through the Force, but every time he attempted to, he did it to no avail. All he felt was emptiness in return. Maybe Anna was dead. The shroud of the dark side seemed so powerful now, that lots of things can go unnoticed, especially since he wasn't a Jedi anymore. Over time, he realized that he was relying on the Force a lot less often. He believed that he didn't need to be Jedi, Sith, or a member of any Force-sensitive culture in order to be able to use the Force. The Jedi and Sith were just cults. Everybody lived under the hand of the living Force. They breathed it every day. The Force was like their oxygen, and without it, life would cease to exist.

At the moment, as Adam listened intently to Bezo's stories, a cold feeling grew inside his chest. From what Bezo told him, Adam could tell that Anna had had a sad, lonely, terrible life. Even when Anna had Bezo around, she still longed to see Adam, and it had created a hunger that she couldn't seem to fill. It always concerned Bezo, but he was always faithful to her by sticking around and being there for her. Adam had to appreciate Bezo's efforts to protect and comfort Anna.

Finally, Bezo finished telling Adam everything. For a few minutes, the two of them were deathly silent, staring down at their wine glasses.

"I wish I had gotten to know her," Adam finally spoke up. Bezo nodded.

"She was a wonderful girl. I would've never left her."

"Bezo, are you happy that the Jedi Order is gone?"

"Happy? Maybe that's a little too drastic. I think the galaxy would be fine with or without the Jedi. I don't care either way, but I have seen the emotional damage they've caused to Anna."

"How so?" Adam asked.

"She told me that when she was a child, she always dreamed about becoming a Jedi. She wanted to be a hero that stood for what was right. Then a Jedi Master came to her home, took you to be trained, and left her behind because he believed she was too old to be trained. It just feels cruel, it's unjust. Then the Jedi pull a stunt by allowing another ten-year old boy to be trained even though he was too old. It makes no sense," Bezo explained. Adam looked into his wineglass and sighed.

"I left the Jedi Order because that was the only way I could search for my sister. I threw my real destiny away all because I wanted to see the only family I had left. The Jedi had taken me away from my family when I was too young to decide for myself what I wanted, and they kept me from my family as long as I was inside that Temple."

"Does sound a little messed up doesn't it?" Bezo challenged. Adam couldn't deny that it actually did.**

*It was hot, always hot, on this blasted planet. Volcanoes outside angrily roared and vomited lava and ash into the thick, liquid hot air. Rivers of lava flowed and shrieked. It was dark here, very little sunlight beamed through between the black clouds.

Doctor Nero stared at the pale-skinned woman floating in the bacta tank that had been keeping her alive for fourteen years here on Mustafar. The Emperor was keeping her here until the right time when he believed he can use her. The woman had a prosthetic leg because her real flesh one had broken beyond repair even for the finest surgeons to fix.

Nero kept his posture straight. He knew that this woman was powerful in the ways of the Force, so to show signs of weakness or fear would give the witch the upper hand. He had the woman taken out of the tank and led to a small room where she sat down on a bed shivering. Right behind Nero, a servant droid holding a plate of bantha steak followed him. A force field covering the doorway cut the woman off from possibly escaping. His remote, which controlled the field, needed a special pass code in order to be used.

The woman's face looked even more ashen gray then it was while inside the tank. Water dripped from her hopelessly wild hair.

Nero cleared his throat. "Good evening, Ms. Anna. Your patience is very much appreciated," he complimented. Anna narrowed her eyes irritably, as if a fly was buzzing around in front of her and she was desperate to squash it.

"I am Doctor Nero, and I am here to help you," Nero introduced. Anna continued gazing at him skeptically. Nero sighed, realizing that this wasn't going to be an easy visit, but he needed to be careful.

"You must be hungry. Floating around in a bacta tank for fourteen years is not what I would call a pleasant time."

Nero shivered slightly when he saw Anna's eyes widen a bit. The realization that she had been here for so long was obviously not faring well for her. Her gaze then shifted to the bantha steak, which the servant droid had placed right in front of her. With her bare, wet hands she picked up the steak and sank her teeth into it, tearing a bite away from it and ravenously chewing it. Grease and residue splattered around her chin and stuck to her fingers and dripped down her arms. She ate loudly and sloppily like a greedy rancor. Entrails of meat dangled from between her teeth and juice dripped down her chin. Nero wanted desperately to cover his eyes and stop watching, but he knew that if he showed any sign of weakness, Anna would take advantage of him.

"You're in a facility on the planet Mustafar. Lord Vader tells me that you have been locked up in here for a very long time, so he wants me to get you back to familiarizing yourself with other people."

Anna's ears pricked up at the mention of the name 'Vader'.

"Lord Vader is our supreme commander of the entire Galactic Empire. He is the right-hand man of our Emperor, and with the recent rise of the Empire, the Emperor sees a chance to use you as a powerful ally to help keep the galaxy clear of anyone who dares to rise up against us. In other words, he's offering you another chance," Nero explained. Anna tilted her head in thought. More steak juice dribbled down her chin.

"The Emperor? Was he the one that brought me here?" She asked in a cracked, broken voice. The sound made Nero wish she just kept her mouth shut.

"Yes, and he's offering you another chance. My job is to help you get back on your feet, and then you will be presented to the Emperor himself for orders."

"This Vader you speak of. What is he exactly?"

"Most of us within the Empire refer to him as 'Lord Vader' to give him respect, but he is fully known as Darth Vader," Nero replied. Anna's expression changed, as if she was putting two and two together about something. It tormented Nero not knowing what she was thinking about. Anna stuffed the last of the steak in her mouth and licked her fingers. Nero grimaced at her and tried hard to keep a straight face. Anna stood up on her feet and slowly began to approach the doctor with a seductive smile.

"You will deactivate the force field and let me out," she slowly purred. Nero's mind felt as though it was being bent to submit to her will. He struggled to fight it.

"I…I can't…I won't…" He groaned. Anna reached up and touched Nero's cheek with the back of her greasy hand. Sweat broke out on the doctor's face and he tried to step back, but his feet stayed where they were.

"Do it for me, doctor. Deactivate the force field and let me out," she pressed in her soft voice. The doctor's chest heaved up and down as he tried to resist her.

"Deactivate the force field," she purred. Doctor Nero felt himself nod without his own control and he used his remote with the special pass code to deactivate the force field.

"Now lead me to the communications room," Anna ordered in the same soft tone. Nero nodded again without his own control over his body and led her to the main communications center.**