Here we go with an update! Enjoy!

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"Yeah, that one. Thanks, Artoo." Anakin Skywalker said, from under a small land speeder. He rolled out and grabbed the hydrospanner being offered to him.

His appearance had changed a bit since he and his family had settled on Iego around six years ago. He had managed to grow his hair out a bit more, enough to where he had it held back by a low ponytail. Padme hated it, so he was constantly subject to mockery. The fact of the matter was that he really didn't need to change the way he looked. He wasn't paranoid; they had managed to dodge any side-ways glances from strangers and could successfully throw people off should the "hey, you look like that senator and Skywalker guy!" conversation get started. He would never admit to Padme and Obi-Wan, though, he simply liked his new style.

He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts, as a few sparks flew down from the thruster he was working on. Artoo chirped and beeped in amusement.

"Can it." Anakin replied, scoffing. He rolled out from under the speeder and sat up.

"I'm calling it a day." he stated, looking over at his astromech. Another chirp from Artoo earned an eye roll from Anakin.

"I know it's only fifteen-hundred. But this thing doesn't need to be done for another three rotations, and I'm sure Padme would enjoy the surprise." he grinned, mischievously. Artoo beeped indignantly.

"You know what? Why am I even listening to you! You're my droid for kriff's sake! I should be the one ordering you around!" he retorted, still smiling. A series of beeps and boops came as a reply. Anakin's eyes widened in surprise.

"You better not talk like that in front of the kids, little buddy. Padme would definitely have you deactivated." he said gravely, with a hint of humor. "Come on, let's go."

They both walked out of the small garage that Anakin had come to own. He had Jaybo Hood to thank for that, after he left the system a few years prior in order to travel across the galaxy. He often wondered how the kid was doing. Anakin chuckled, shaking his head. He locked it, and began walking towards his own speeder. He was intercepted, however, by a tall Twi'Lek male.

"Hey, Jerrick!" the Twi'Lek called out, waving. Anakin stopped and grinned, now used to being called by his fake name: Jerrick Denal.

"Dreks? I thought you all were still on vacation!" he exclaimed, walking toward his friend.

"Yeah, well, you can thank that damned Empire for that," he replied. "The kids are pretty disappointed."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Anakin shook his head. More and more systems were being infiltrated by the Empire. Check points were being set up everywhere now. Non-humans were often sent back to where they had come from, a part of new 'protocols' that the Empire had put in place.

"Hey, why don't you and the family come around tomorrow night? It sure isn't Glee Anselm, but we could keep the kids entertained for a while. Luke and Leia would enjoy having Myra, Tasha, and Zev over." Anakin raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, that- that would be good!" Dreks replied, nodding. His comlink then went off. "Oh, that would be Shanna."

"So tomorrow?" Anakin asked. "Say eighteen-hundred?"

"That would work perfectly. See you then!"

Anakin walked away to his speeder, which Artoo had already started, waiting impatiently for his owner to return. Anakin hopped in and rode off. Meanwhile, Dreks walked over to his own speeder and clicked a button on his comlink.

"Report." a loud female voice demanded.

"It's him." he replied shakily. "I'm sure of it."

"Good. You've done well."

"An-and what of my family?" he stuttered.

"All in good time, as soon as Skywalker is in my custody." the voice hissed, and the communication was cut from her side.

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"No." Padme Skywalker said firmly. She stood before her two children, her arms crossed and a frown on her face.

"But mom-" the young Luke Skywalker started.

"No." Padme repeated.

"It would be-" young Leia Skywalker cut in.

"No. In what universe is it a good idea to put a jetpack on a lothcat!?" she exclaimed.

"But Gucci is okay with it!" Leia exclaimed.

"Darling, Gucci is an animal. And I have a funny feeling he would agree with me on this." she replied. Just then, Obi-Wan Kenobi walked into the small kitchen. He observed the situation quickly: Padme standing by the sink, Luke stood in front of her with the family pet with a small turbine engine strapped to its back, and Leia stood next to her twin brother with her arms crossed just like her mother. He quickly decided he didn't want to be a part of it, and turned to leave. He wasn't quick enough.

"Obi-Wan!" Padme called, a smile of relief appeared on her face. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and turned on heels back into the kitchen.

"Please explain to Luke and Leia that putting a jetpack on Gucci is a terrible idea." she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Erm, well. It's not exactly up to me, uh." he trailed off.

"Oh, come on Uncle Ben!" Luke whined. "You can help! You can be our pernental superkitchen." He added, scrunching up his face as he attempted to say the large words.

"I thank you for the invitation, young Luke, but I think I will pass up on your offer. Parental supervision has never been one of my favorite jobs." Obi-Wan smiled, winking at the young boy.

"However, I do believe in this situation, it would be best to listen to your mother." he finished, nodding his head. Padme smiled in satisfaction as the children's faces drooped in disappointment. Suddenly, the front door slid open and Anakin stepped through.

"Hello? Anybody home?" he yelled through the house. Luke dropped the poor lothcat, the homemade jetpack clattering on the ground. Gucci screeched and ran out of the kitchen. Luke and Leia ran out of the kitchen as well, through the living area and to the front entry way.

"Daddy!" Leia squealed, running to her father's arms. Anakin grinned as he scooped his daughter up. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"What about me!" Luke exclaimed, tugging at his father's pant leg. Anakin smiled and set Leia down, only to have Luke throw his arms around him. Anakin let out an 'oof!'

"I've still gotta teach you patience, don't I?" he said, catching his breath. Padme walked into the entry way, a smile on her face. Anakin caught her gaze and beamed. He set Luke down, not taking his eyes off of Padme.

"Ani, you're not supposed to be home for another three hours," Padme said, shaking her head. Anakin raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so I should just go back to work?" he joked. Padme laughed as the children cried in protest.

"Well, as long as you're home, I suppose you could-" she was interrupted mid sentence as her husband's lips collided with hers, and she was pulled into a tight embrace.

"Bleck!" Leia scowled, turning to walk back down the hallway. Luke scrunched up his face in disgust as he followed his sister. Padme pulled away, somewhat unwillingly.

"That should buy us some time." Anakin grinned as Obi-Wan appeared in the doorway.

"Anakin. And what excuse do you have for coming home early today?" he asked, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.

"Ah, Master," Anakin started, chuckling, "I'm disappointed. I would think you'd be more excited to see me." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and walked back into the kitchen. Anakin and Padme followed.

Not a day went by when Anakin didn't appreciate Obi-Wan's decision to remain on Iego. Obi-Wan usually stayed with the children in the house, while Padme would go out and work on docks, taking inventories of supplies. She was often home by mid afternoon. Obi-Wan didn't really need to stay, the Skywalkers had everything under control. But, as Obi-Wan had come to realize those six years ago, he had no where to go. And when people have no where else to go, they tend to just stay where they are. So he did.

It was a nice house: two stories with four bedrooms, a large kitchen, an office space that acted as a toy room, a large living area, and a large backyard. All with a gorgeous view of the city of Cliffhold. Iego had become much more popular since the early days of the Empire. It was well hidden in the Outer Rim, the perfect hideaway from Imperials. Of course, it was just getting started, there was no real government. Everyone was free to come and go as they pleased. Smugglers were really the only ones that dropped by, taking a break from their line of work. There had yet to be an Imperial presence on Iego, which was a good thing for the Skywalkers. Still, they were prepared to abandon their lovely home should the Empire come knocking on their door.

The smell of a roast shaak filled the kitchen as it sat cooking in the oven. Anakin grinned, proud to see that his wife's cooking had improved to a point where she could probably best him. Padme continued to work on dinner as Anakin finished washing dishes. Luke and Leia soon came running into the kitchen, causing even more commotion.

"Is dinner ready yet? I'm starving!" Luke whined.

"Luke, what did I say about using that phrase?" Padme said, sternly. Her years of working with refugees and the impoverished causing her to cringe at the use of that hyperbole. Luke huffed.

"I shouldn't because there are people who don't get to eat tonight." he replied, looking down. Padme nodded.

"But we're bored." Leia stated. "We don't know what to do, since you won't let us put a jetpack on Gucci."

Padme ignored the surprised "what?" from Anakin and bent over to her children's height.

"And I don't regret making that decision. Why don't you two take daddy into the play room and play some games?" Padme said, looking up to Anakin, who nodded.

"Sure, come on kids." he said, leading the twins into the next room. Leia sat down at a small easel sitting by a bay window.

"Daddy, I wanna draw." she stated.

"What do you want to draw, Princess?" Anakin raised an eyebrow, sitting against one of the walls by a bookshelf.

"I don't know." she replied, looking flustered. Anakin chuckled.

Luke sat down next to his father, who put his arm around him.

"What about you, Luke? What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I want you to tell me another story." he said, looking up into his father's matching blue eyes.

"But I think I've told you just about every story I've got!" Anakin said, thoughtfully, a story coming to mind. "Maybe I've got one more for you."

"It was just another mission for the Jedi, Obi-Wan falling behind as usual," Anakin started.

"You know Uncle Ben always says that you were the one always falling behind," Leia said matter-of-factly. Anakin smiled.

"Anyway, this mission occurred on..." he trailed off, thinking hard, "Oh yes! Felucia!"

"You see," he continued, "Obi-Wan, my apprentice, and I had to make an emergency landing-"

"You mean crash landing?" Leia remarked, now busily drawing what looked like Gucci the family Lothcat.

"Do you want to tell the story?" Anakin replied.

"Daddy, when do I get to be a Jedi?" Luke looked up to his father, who returned a look of surprise.

"I- uh." Anakin stopped. Of course he had shared his stories of being a Jedi, and Padme and Obi-Wan did the same thing.

Anakin knew his children were strong with the Force, it made it that much harder to hide from the Emperor. Luke had shown a specific interest in becoming a Jedi. Anakin often caught Luke trying to levitate various objects. The Skywalkers had given the children a very watered down version of what had happened to the Jedi, basically saying that the Empire thought they were the "bad guys" so they had to go into "hiding". Luke and Leia knew nothing of what happened that night, and Anakin never wanted them to.

"Luke, I don't know." Anakin said, somberly, "I'm sorry."

"But Daddy, why are you sorry?" Luke raised an eyebrow. Anakin looked away from Luke. Obi-Wan stepped into the playroom, smiling warmly.

"Dinner is ready. Your mother wants you two to wash up." he said. Leia got up from her easel and walked over to Obi-Wan. Luke got up hesitantly, seeing his father hadn't moved.

"Go on, Luke." Obi-Wan added, sensing Anakin's distress. Luke got up and walked over to his "uncle". Obi-Wan looked over to his dear friend.

"Anakin?" he smiled sadly.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm coming."

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"So that's all I am now? Just 'your apprentice'? I don't even have a name." her voice called to him. Anakin opened his eyes to see he was back in the Jedi Temple, the bodies of hundreds of Jedi all around him. Slaughtered by his hand.

"Ahsoka?" Anakin cried.

"No! You don't get to speak!" she shouted, stepping out of the shadows. She looked so ghostly, so dark.

"You hide the pain you caused, not taking the blame. You are a liar! A hypocrite! Your children don't know what kind of monster you are. You don't deserve the family you have." There was venom in her words.

"Please, Ahsoka! Please!" Anakin begged, as he always did.

"I'm dead because of you! You left me to die! And you didn't even have the courage to face me and do it yourself. You're no better than Dooku."

"Ahsoka-"

"Coward! Look at what you've done!" she gestured to the dead Jedi around them.

"I know." Anakin replied, barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry."

"Prove it."

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Anakin woke up, seeing he was still in his bed, Padme still sleeping beside him. He looked at the clock at his bedside. 0243. He sighed.

It was the same thing every night. He was always back the Jedi Temple, looking upon the damage he had caused. Ahsoka was always there, speaking to him, taunting him. It seemed that every night, she would get angrier and angrier. Obi-Wan had told him that some spirits end up in a limbo of sorts when the circumstances of their death was hard to come to terms with. It made sense to Anakin, but it also made him feel worse. I'm what's keeping her from truly becoming one with Force.

Guilt swept over Anakin. It was as if every night he was sent to his own personal hell, forced to look at what he had done those years ago. He often woke up feeling dirty, completely disgusted with himself. Padme knew of the nightmares, but not of the details.

"It wasn't you. It was Vader." she always said, trying to give him an encouraging smile. But it always seemed fake.

It never made him feel better anyway. He was Vader. No matter what, they were the same person. No matter what, he was the one who brought the Jedi Order to its knees. And now a Dark Empire ruled over the galaxy while he and his perfect family remained hidden and untouched.

Anakin rolled over, adjusting the blankets around him. He had to try to get more sleep. Today is another day. he thought, forcing his eyes shut, praying the Force would spare him from those horrid nightmares.

Apparently, the Force didn't hear his request.

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