Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Star Wars or SEE. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Note: Baba is twenty-four now, so Obi-Wan is about twenty-two. That makes Obi-Wan a few years younger than the canon. I don't think anyone will be too annoyed by that but I thought I should point it out.

Chapter Four - A New Journey

Four Years Later

Baba Voss sat on a ridge over his village, listening deeply to the sounds of his world. The wind, the animals, the old branches snapping and leaves rustling, and found himself wondering how, in all of this peace and perfection, he could feel so restless. He was happy on Paya, happier than he'd ever been before, yet his heart would not remain calm or still. The force itself seemed to be constantly on his mind, forcing his head to the skies. It hadn't been an issue at first, but over time the compulsion had grown ever greater.

The first sign he had of a visitor was a breath of air against his neck, and then a slender pair of arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders. He smiled, only his wife could shield her presence that well. It had been an amazing four years of marriage, and though they had yet to be blessed with children, they had been happy. The force had done its job well when it led them together. One of his most cherished moments had been the night of their marriage. They'd coupled at the festival, but the actual ceremony was held in his village. After they'd said their vows, and consummated their union, he'd led her hands to his collection of stones and other items taken from his room in the Jedi Temple, and had delighted in the feelings of awe as her touch allowed Bow Lion to actually know what it was to see the world around her for the first time through his memories.

"Why are you out here so early, Baba? Come back to bed."

"I will soon, Bow. I am sorry for waking you, but I needed… to feel." And indeed, his senses were open to the will of Paya, and to the Force as it permeated through it."

Instead of heading back to wait for him as he expected, the woman instead plopped down beside him and shuffled into his side, taking one end of his blanket and wrapping it around her own body. "This is not the first night you have woken restless. No matter how much I have exhausted you." She ran her hand over his chest through his robe top, and he shuddered at the touch. Four years and she still made his heart soar. "My love, what is it that haunts you so?"

Baba breathed in his wife's scent, and answered, "I am not sure. For some time now my dreams have been… troubled. I sense unease, impatience, a need to go somewhere that I do not know. It has only been growing stronger as time has passed."

Bow was silent for several moments as she considered his words. "The Force desires you to leave?"

"It feels that way, but I do not want to go. I have peace here, I have a life here, I have you here." He felt for her face and cupped it gently in his palm. "I don't want anything else, but I am being pulled regardless."

Against his expectations, his wife actually chuckled. "We are all at the will of the Force, husband. We cannot deny who we are no matter what we may desire. And if it is your destiny to go, then you must. I'm assuming you've meditated on the future?"

"I have, and I have felt many different things, none of which are Paya."

"Then we will have to go and find them won't we."

"We?" He asked, hardly daring to hope.

"Did you think I would let you go anywhere without me? We are bound until death, Baba."

"My mother? The village?"

"They understand the responsibility you hold inside you. We are all sensitive to the Force, but none are more so than you. If you are instructed to leave, then you must. The Living Force calls many where it wills. And do not worry too much about the village. Your mother still has things in hand for the moment and Edo is more than ready to take over when she doesn't. His wife has also given him two sons and a daughter so the bloodline is secure." She grew pensive at the end of that statement, and her husband's hold on her grew stronger, and more comforting.

"If it happens for us, it will happen in its own time."

"And if it does not?" Bow asked miserably.

"Then we do as many other couples have before and find a child in need of a home. The village has taken in foundlings before. Perhaps on our travels we'll meet such a soul? I only wish I knew where we were going."

"Where's the fun in that, Baba?" Bow Lion forced some of her earlier cheer into her voice. "You know Tomacti Jun is going to want to come right? He still has that perceived life debt of his."

"Yeah, it's a good thing he knows the way to the city's spaceport. Cause I'd have us wandering blind through the woods for months."

"You're an excellent tracker!"

"Yes, tracker, not navigator. It was a great boon that Tomacti found me all those years ago."

"So it'll be you, me, and Tomacti against this big old galaxy of ours until we reach whatever it is the force wants from you?"

"Most likely."

Bow kissed his neck tenderly and whispered, "I can hardly wait." Then she shuffled around behind him and released his hair from the cord he'd tied it with. "Since e're both up anyway I might as well braid this up for you."

Baba smiled at the feeling of her slender fingers running against his scalp. Bow Lion liked grooming him, and he enjoyed the experience immensely. It was tender, intimate, and a perfect way to start the day.

The Next Day

Bow Lion had been right. The village, while sad at the prospect of their war chief leaving them so suddenly, understood that the Will of the Force came first, and each member of the village presented Baba with a small pebble so that he might hold them in his hands to remember them all in his travels. Edo took the news the hardest, but he swore valiantly to look after their people to the best of his ability, and to tell his children endlessly embarrassing tales of his brother until the big brute returned to stop him. There was a massive party to celebrate their time amongst the people, and the understanding of their continued place there, and the next morning the three travelers finally took their leave.

It was a three month trek to the seeing city, and from there it was a simple matter to trade some of the rare metals he'd found over the years for a Payan vessel. It was during the preflight check that they received one of the greatest shocks of their lives. Tomacti Jun sat in the pilot's chair.

"Uh, Tomacti, that's my spot. I need to see to fly the ship."

The older man huffed with annoyance. "Just because I'm blind you assume I can't do this?" Then his fingers began rapidly shifting over the keys and levers before him, finishing the pre-flight check in seconds and rocketing them off into the sky.

"W-What?"

The former witch finder smirked into the distance and answered, "I flew more than a few offworld supply and reconnaissance missions for my former queen. You haven't been over to this seat yet, so you don't know, but all of these levers and keys have raised indentations engraved onto their surface to denote their meanings, and there are over five hundred verbal prompts spread across our sensors so that I can react should a fight be necessary. Honestly, my reaction time by ear is better than most by sight. So where should I point us, boy?"

Baba thought about it, and reached out with his senses. He felt a pull toward a very particular world he'd hoped never to see again, and a malevolent darkness growing in strength and malice somewhere near to it. "Coruscant, Tomacti. Take us to Coruscant."

When they arrived, the old warrior insisted on staying to watch over the ship, and the couple took their leave in search of where the Force was guiding them. They'd expected stares and confusion, as they were clearly blind and walking in furs and leathers with large sticks in their hands and weapons on their belts. Baba should have remembered there was nothing too ostentatious or weird on Coruscant. The center of the Republic saw untold sights as a matter of normality so what was two blind people from a clearly forested world walking down the street to the populace?

"I feel strange here." Bow murmured as she swept her staff back and forth. "People are everywhere, yet no one is noticing anything. I miss my body paint. On Paya it helped me hide, here it might be the only thing that would make anyone see me."

"We could always go back to the ship to get it, but I prefer being the only sighted person to see you in it. This world isn't ready for the true depths of your beauty."

Bow bumped his shoulder happily, delighted at his continued flirting in spite of their circumstances. "I'm still pretty sure I could sneak up on any of these people regardless. They see only with their eyes, so as long as I stay outside their line of vision and remain silent, I'll have no problems."

"And if we run into a Jedi?"

"I've never tried to hide from one. Should be interesting."

Her words proved prophetic, as they soon found themselves facing the steps that would lead up to the entrance of the Jedi Temple.

"Well, this is awkward."

"You lived here?" Bow gasped, her staff rapping a staccato on the ground to provide her an idea of the dimensions before her. "It's so large! I can't perceive it all!"

"Yeah. No matter my issues with the Jedi, I have to admit they have fine taste in buildings. Come on, we can't go in the front door, but we can explore the less beaten paths. Something inside is calling to me and I need to know what."

The pair set a wide area of search with the temple at the center and began reaching out with their senses. It was troublesome in the extreme because they couldn't get any closer. Even after this long Baba had no illusions about having been forgotten; if he got too close to the structure then the guards, or the council, or even one of the younglings he'd known before his sudden departure might sense him and raise the alarm. He'd be brought before the council to face judgment in no time. Technically Jedi were allowed to voluntarily leave, so theoretically there was nothing they could do to him, but after learning what they'd done to get him in the first place he wasn't taking any chances. He could have hidden himself from the Force, but that would mean he'd no longer be able to sense what was drawing him as a result.

So it was that for the next four hours he and Bow Lion ascended several large buildings and used their skyline walkways to circle the structure, constantly searching, constantly moving, and eventually they were rewarded as whatever it was began to move. "On me." Baba declared, and raced back down the building to the street. The source was moving at a rapid pace, and sure enough it was heading straight for the spaceport.

Coruscant Spaceport

"Master, remind me again, what is the purpose of our mission?"

Qui Gon Jinn looked down at his shorter padawan and sighed, "You've already heard this, Obi Wan."

"Yes, Master, which is why I am confused. Our mandate is to approach the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo and negotiate their cessation of hostilities. Yet you have booked one of the temple corvette's for twice the time it'll take to get there and back, even if negotiations take some time.

"It is the will of the Living Force."

"Master," The blonde groaned, "This is exactly why you are not on the council yet despite your literal decades of service. "We have a mission. That mission has parameters and a set mandate. We cannot deviate from it."

"And yet we will." If there was one thing the older Jedi was not a fan of about his student it was his strict adherence to the Jedi code and the edicts of the council. They were more like guidelines than actual rules, but the young man treated them like law. "Padawan, you must learn, that we are agents of the Force first, followers of a bureaucracy second. There was a time that Jedi simply went to aid problems once they were detected instead of waiting for permission, and I wish for us to reach that stage again. In my meditation I have felt a great need on Naboo that I feel I must see to, so the moment we are done with the Trade Federation that is exactly what I will do."

"The council will not like this, Master." Kenobi was practically begging the bearded man to see reason, to alter course. He might as well have been speaking to a brick wall.

"Your opinion is well noted, and dismissed. Remember who is the teacher and who is the student. I followed the will of the council without question once, and I regret it to this very day. I lost a great deal because of that choice. You are too obstinate, Obi Wan. Please, at least try to keep yourself open to what I teach."

Properly chastised, the younger man nodded his head. He'd been told many times before that he was too hard headed and set in his ways to be good for him. Even Master Yoda had counseled him to be more open to the wisdom and guidance of others. His head snapped back up in a second though as something strange began to happen. His Master was searching the crowd at a rapid pace, his features slack as if he'd seen a ghost. "Master Qui-Gon?"

His words seemed to shock his master out of whatever stupor he was in as he shook himself rapidly and looked back at his student. "Apologies, Obi-Wan. For a moment I could have sworn I felt… nevermind. Let us get to our craft and be away. Every moment we delay is time that Naboo spends under siege."

As the Jedi and his padawan set off through security to the hanger the Jedi used to store their ships, a blindfolded man was leaning heavily against the wall out of sight as his wife frantically cupped his face and asked him what was wrong.

"It was him." He muttered. "Why? Why would the Force want me to watch over 'him' of all people?"

Space Over Naboo

"Are you sure about this, Baba?" Bow Lion didn't like the way her husband's hand was clenched inside both of hers. She just knew if she reached up and felt his face it would be set in a heavy frown. He'd been tense ever since they'd found the subject of their task, and even more so since they'd followed the man to a Trade Federation blockade carrier and turned off all their instruments except the external sensors to await their exit outside of scanner range. "You've told me of this Qui-Gon Jinn, surely the Force would not demand of you to protect someone that has betrayed you so?"

"I think…. I think it wants me to follow him, not protect him."

"Ah, a tracking mission." Tomacti tapped his foot in acknowledgement from his place at the pilot's chair.

"Yes. My meditations don't point me directly at Qui-Gon, but at a space next to him, one full of darkness and pain. The dark side is with him, following him, and getting closer. I believe I am meant to deal with it when it comes. I am not protecting my former master, he is the bait for my trap."

All further conversation was broken up however as the external sensors began blaring. "What happened!?"

"An explosion in the hanger bay." Tomacti translated the raised dot print rolling by on the center monitor with his hand. The craft had been made specifically for men like him and its interfaces had several forms of communication for the vision impaired. "That ship your old teacher went in on was just destroyed by turret fire and… it seems that the other blockade craft are tightening in their perimeter. Negotiations must have broken down."

"Take us in, low power to avoid their sensors." Baba ordered as he ducked down into the co-pilot's chair."

"Eh? I thought we were here for the Jedi?"

"He'd not be killed by something as simple as that. No, Qui-Gon's alive, and that means he'll be looking for a way to get planetside. Most likely, he'll hitch a ride with some landing craft, so we follow the troops, we'll eventually find him again."

"Why would he try to get to the planet instead of escaping?" Bow Lion wanted to know.

Baba tapped his foot in a rapid staccato of annoyance. "Because he's too damned noble. I know Qui-Gon Jinn, and in his mind this blockade, I guess it's an invasion now, is completely unjust, and he knows they'll go for the queen of Naboo next as it's the quickest way to cement their Federation authority on the world. He'll want to get to her first and try to help her escape."

"You're the boss, kid, but you do realize we'll be heading into a possible warzone right?"

"I do, but there is no other way. Once the noose closes completely there will be no way in at all."

It was a harrowing turn from there as their velocity and momentum dipped and turned with their movement as Tomacti wheeled them around cones of Trade Federation sensors and landing craft until at last they found themselves falling through the atmosphere and landing slowly on the outcroppings of what seemed to be a large city based on their own readings.

"Tomacti, where are we?"

"Theed. Figured the capital was the best bet."

"Smart, let's arm up and go."

Each threw on their thicket furs and leathers, knowing that each was tempered enough to stop light blaster fire. Tomacti slid a vibrosword of Payan steel into his belt along with his twin scythes. Bow pulled an energy bow, a quiver of arrows, and her usual double tipped spear. Baba checked the function of his staff. His lightsaber hilt was still the grip, but the bottom end held an extra sheathe with a thin bladed sword of his own. Sometimes a lightsaber wasn't what was necessary, especially when one was supposed to be keeping a low profile.

When everyone was ready, they split into two groups. Baba and Bow to the city and Tomacti to the hanger. The older guy wanted to play around with some of the ships. For his part, Baba had noticed a twinge in the force upon landing that he wanted to investigate. It seemed that Qui-Gon wasn't his only mission this day. A second source was calling to him just as loudly.

Together he and his wife shuffled through the city streets as all around them came the sounds of incoming craft, sirens announcing invaders, and loudspeakers calling for the citizen's surrender. The distant clanking of metal on stone let them know that the droid forces were already on the way.

"The defenders won't hold out for long." Bow noted.

"No, they won't. We must hurry."

It took about an hour to reach where the fighting was thickest, and by their estimation the location seemed to be the royal palace in the center of the city. It had been relatively simple to avoid the patrols of Trade Federation troops. As Bow had pointed out, droids had a set line of focus that tended to be centered around their line of sight. If one stayed away from it and didn't make enough noise to trigger their auditory sensors, then that person was basically invisible. For a Shadow and a man trained in the intricacies of the Force as well as hunting and tracking, this was an incredibly simple task.

"How close are we now?" Bow asked.

"Close." Baba answered, still amazed at how trusting his wife was in his skills and senses. She believed wholeheartedly that he'd lead them where they were meant to go. "The second divergence is just ahead. I sense… conflict."

"We are in a warzone, Baba."

"Not that kind. This person is about to make a very difficult decision."

That decision became obvious when the sounds of blaster fire and explosions suddenly ceased. A ceasefire? No, most likely a surrender. "We must go faster."

Theed - Royal Palace

Padme Amidala, Queen of Naboo, and currently hiding behind her body double in the guise of a servant, was almost visibly steaming. She'd done everything the right way. When the Trade Federation began to overcharge her planet into near bankruptcy with the raised prices of trade goods, she'd appealed to the Senate and managed to gather enough votes to install a tax at a set rate that meant every world could at least maintain a 'set standard' cost for necessities. It seemed the Federation was not keen to have their profits tampered with however as they had immediately moved to blockade her planet in retaliation.

Following this blatantly illegal act, Padme, in her role as queen, had again petitioned the Senate, detailing what was happening and requesting aid. She'd been told that 'a committee was being formed to investigate' which was just Senate-speak for 'we don't want to risk our own planets by getting involved so we are going to bide our time. Maybe we'll send a Jedi to handle it for us…'. When confirmation of a republic cruiser had been made by her orbital scanners a brief glimmer of hope had sprouted in the hearts of herself and her advisors, only to have them dashed when the blockade tightened further and sent out landing craft, turning the situation into an invasion.

She had authorized her soldiers to fight at first, hoping a show of resistance would make the Federation hesitate in their forward march, but all that had accomplished was the death of hundreds. Naboo was a peaceful world, one that generally abhorred violence, and they were far from known for military might even if they did have a hangar full of fighter craft. In the end demands for surrender had been made, and she'd finally agreed after extracting a promise that none of her people would be harmed any further. Padme wasn't sure if that promise would be kept, but at the moment hostilities seemed to have ceased, so her people had a chance to move, and she had time to make another plan.

Said plan at the moment involved creating some kind of distraction so she could reach her cruiser and escape to demand actual action from the senate for this travesty, but she, her handmaids, and all of her guards had been disarmed by the droid company that had come to collect them, so she wasn't really sure how to make that happen.

They were being marched through the front doors of her palace when it happened for her. The lead droid was just starting to give its company directions with plenty of 'roger rogers' thrown in, when what looked like an arrow from an energy bow of all things slammed through what would have been the neck of a living creature, and completely destroyed the link to its cerebral network. In the blink of an eye three more shots took down an equal number of other droids in the same manner and just as she was going to give the order to run a very large shape suddenly dropped to the ground in front of them.

The queen only had enough time to notice a glimmer of freshly drawn steel before it shot past her and around her group. Five sharp screeches of metal tearing through metal later and it was done. Their captors all lay destroyed upon the floor, and their savior was standing resolutely over them with a large stick in one hand and a long straight sword in the other. Was it a vibro-blade?

It was with great shock to them all that the stranger turned and smiled directly at her, instead of the girl in queen's clothing, and bowed. Almost as shocking as the long stretch of cloth completely covering his eyes. Was the man blind?

"Greetings, Your Majesty. My name is Baba Voss and I am here to rescue you."