Eleven

"I can't feel Luke anymore, Master. I think we've missed them. They're gone."

Ahsoka was deeply disheartened by the realization for more reasons than one. For a minute there, it looked as if they might actually be successful in bringing the Skywalker children home. Between the two of them, she and Obi-Wan had managed to cover a fair bit of ground in their attempt to locate Luke and Leia. That had been in large part to Anakin, who had provided them with a general idea of where to target their search based on where he had sensed Luke's presence the strongest. That information had saved them from hours of fruitlessly combing the city.

Their pursuit eventually led them to a dilapidated junk shop where they found a shady Zabrak "repurposing" what had once been the Lars' family swoop bike. It had been dismantled for parts but the children's Force presence still clung to the separated parts heavily. After vehemently denying that he had stolen the vehicle, the Zabrak claimed that he had legitimately purchased the item from two "dusty, human children" who seemed in need of some quick currency. He'd speculated to Ahsoka and Obi-Wan that he'd gotten the impression they were running from something.

It wasn't a far leap from there to determine why Luke and Leia might need money. They intended to leave the planet. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had sprinted to the city port in the hopes of intercepting them before they could, heartened by the strengthening of Luke's Force signature as they got closer. But, by the time they made it to the bustling station, both Luke and Leia were nowhere to be seen.

Further, Ahsoka could no longer sense Luke at all. It was almost as if he had abruptly and deliberately closed himself off from her. Whereas in the beginning he had felt excited and almost relieved over her presence, Luke had gradually grown cold and distant until she could no longer feel. Even when she tried to reach out to him again, it felt as if there was a barrier between them that effectively shrouded Luke from her view. She couldn't cross it.

That surprised Ahsoka. Even at his angriest, Luke had never rejected her so coldly before. He had always kept their bond free and open, except for the times he was attempting to lie to her. Ahsoka tried not to be too aggrieved over his emotional withdrawal from her, but the action smarted.

Obi-Wan squinted skyward, towards the plethora of departing vessels. "Where do you think they've gone?" he wondered aloud.

"Back to Naboo maybe," Ahsoka considered despondently, "Anakin said that Leia was almost irrational when they decided to leave her newfound friend behind. Maybe she and Luke have decided to go back there to find her."

"But Anakin also said that he saw that woman in a vision and that she was quite obviously dead. The entity very likely killed her," Obi-Wan speculated, "If this Abeloth is misleading Leia, I very much doubt that she will direct her back to Naboo."

"You have a point," Ahsoka agreed, "So, where are they going?"

"We need to figure out exactly what that creature wants from Leia. There must be a grand purpose for these machinations."

"And how are we supposed to do that?"

"Let's investigate the cave where Anakin said he had his confrontation with her," Obi-Wan suggested, "Perhaps we'll find some answers there."

Ahsoka surveyed him with a doubtful expression. "You don't think we should return to the moisture farm and update Anakin and Padmé on what's happened?"

"Are you truly in a hurry to tell them that their children, who are under the influence of an evil Force entity, fled the planet and likely at her behest?" Ahsoka considered that prospect grimly and then shook her head. "Right. I feel similarly at the moment."

"You'd rather explore a cave with a dead woman inside then? Is that what you're saying?"

There wasn't even the barest hint of irony in Obi-Wan's tone when he replied, "Exactly."

Because they didn't want to alert Anakin to their intentions and would likely do so if they questioned him about the previous day's events, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had to rely heavily on the detailed account he had already provided as well as their own Force intuition to locate the cave. However, that endeavor didn't prove to be nearly as challenging as the two Jedi had initially assumed. The place stood out like a heralding beacon in the middle of the barren, desert terrain.

Pulses of foreboding energy radiated out from the area, a haunting remnant of the disturbing events that had occurred there only a day earlier. The stirrings of the dark side billowed out over the surrounding crags and caverns, cascading over the barren terrain like a thundercloud in the wilderness. The nebulous energy expanded like a malignant halo on the horizon, and it was impossible to miss. Though there was nothing at all visible to the naked eye, anyone with Force sensitivity would have immediately recognized the place for what it had become…a dark side nexus.

"There it is," Obi-Wan said to Ahsoka, pointing in the distance as he brought their ship down for landing, "Can you sense it? That's where we're headed."

Ahsoka shuddered her reluctance. "Fantastic," she muttered, "Can't wait."

"Let's get in and get out as quickly as we can," Obi-Wan advised Ahsoka as they prepared to alight from the ship, "The less time we spend in this area, the better."

"Agreed."

The first thing they noticed when they entered the cave was how frigidly cold the temperature was inside. It dropped precipitously the instant they crossed the threshold. That was a bizarre discovery, especially in comparison to the dry, baking heat that crackled just beyond the cavern entrance. The inexplicable chill, however, did little to mute the fetid smell of decay that hung in the air. Both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan reflexively covered their noses and mouths to block the stench as they ventured deeper into the cavity.

The dead woman within remained undisturbed. Her shriveled remains were half turned on her flank, her limbs stiffened with the extreme cold now that rigor had come and gone. Had it not been so frigid inside, the corpse might have been swarming with decay eating insects by now, but the lack of activity had helped to slow the decomposition of what had been left. Obi-Wan grimaced in revulsion as he looked her over before he quickly stepped away to survey the opposite side of the cave. While he toed the ground for any fallen clues that might indicate the woman's identity, Ahsoka crept forward for closer inspection of the dead woman.

"Who do you think she is?" she whispered aloud to Obi-Wan, "Why do you think Abeloth chose her?"

"Who knows?" Obi-Wan replied, "Perhaps she was some sort of acolyte."

Ahsoka thoughtfully considered that possibility as she studied the body. The woman was frozen in what appeared to be startlement, her thin arms were half-raised and bent at the elbows, her bony fingers curled into eternal claws, her cracked, peeling lips locked in a silent "o" of disbelief. Even her eyes, which were black and sunken deep into her skull, appeared widened with astonishment…as if she had not anticipated her death at all.

Crouching closer to the body, Ahsoka noted the tattered remnants of the woman's clothing. They seemed almost too small for the woman's tall frame, the ill-fitting sleeves stretching several inches above the woman's wrists. However, there was something distinctive about her weathered garb that caught Ahsoka's attention and stunned to realize that they seemed vaguely familiar to her. She reared back with a soundless gasp.

"Obi-Wan, come look at this!" she cried, "I think this woman might have been a Jedi!"

"A Jedi!" he balked as he moved closer, his forehead etched in a deep frown filled with skepticism, "Where would you get such an idea?"

"Look at her clothing," Ahsoka whispered, "It reminds me of the tunics that the padawans used to wear at the Temple."

Obi-Wan peered closer, noting the same similarities as he conducted his own careful inspection. "There is a likeness there," he agreed, "However, this clothing is very outdated. I haven't seen this particular style since before the Empire came to power."

"From that point of view, everything is outdated," Ahsoka retorted drolly, "No one has worn anything like this since then."

"Very true, but I highly doubt this woman was a Jedi," Obi-Wan posited, "More than likely she stole this tunic from someone who was."

"But why would she?" Ahsoka pressed, "The Jedi have been pariahs since before the Empire came to power. I don't know anyone who would have openly associated themselves with the Order after Preet began hunting us. Wearing something like this would have placed a target on her back."

"You're right." Obi-Wan palmed his beard in thoughtful consideration. "It is curious. I'm surprised Anakin didn't mention it before."

"He probably didn't notice due to everything happening with Leia."

"It's possible."

Ahsoka fixed him with an earnest, blue stare. "Do you think this woman might be one of 'The Lost?'" she wondered.

That was a possibility Obi-Wan had not considered before that moment, but he wasn't surprised that Ahsoka raised the question. "The Lost" were a group of Jedi knights and padawans who had remained unaccounted for following the fall of the Empire and could not have their deaths corroborated or confirmed. In the weeks that followed the dismantling of Preet's regime, the still living Jedi Council members had turned their attention towards locating the scattered remnants of their Jedi ranks. Most had reemerged when news of the Chosen One's return had reached them, but there were still quite a few who were missing.

What had begun as a small list that had been cobbled together by the Jedi High Council members had ultimately grown into a large database that now contained the names of hundreds. The Jedi Council had made it their business to locate the missing Jedi. There were some masters who believed that the missing, if they weren't dead, had deliberately chosen to keep themselves separate from the Order and, in doing so, should have their wishes respected by the Council. Their cohorts, however, didn't believe that their disappearances shouldn't be explained away so easily. Obi-Wan was one of them.

Shortly before Preet named himself Emperor and officially declared the Jedi enemies of the Imperial State, the Jedi High Council had foreseen the ominous threat that was looming over their fracturing Order. Around that time, there had been a great deal of dissention within their ranks. An unusual number of Jedi had begun to question the fallibility of the Order and the code. Many were vocal in their disenchantment with the Order's response to the clone internment, angered that they were expected to stand aside and "remain neutral" while the Republic targeted their former troops and allies. Matters only worsened when the Republic turned its attention to the Jedi. The direction from the Jedi High Council had been to passively accept the scorn and mistreatment they were enduring from the Republic and its citizens without retaliation.

Obi-Wan had strongly agreed with that edict at the time. By responding to Preet's increasing pressure with violence or aggression, the Jedi would only further play into his hands, solidifying in the public's mind that the slander that he had levied against them was true after all. And that was exactly what happened. Those Jedi who rebelled and bucked under the persecution were immediately branded as violent traitors. That was all the ammunition Preet needed to declare himself Emperor and finally order the complete eradication of the Jedi Order.

Because the High Council had foreseen the coming calamity, they began taking steps to locate places of refuge for Jedi to conceal themselves from the Empire's wrath. Several small teams had been formed for that very purpose. Unfortunately, many of those teams never returned. And the one team that had come back was severely altered when they did. Obi-Wan shuddered at the memory.

They had never had the chance to get answers regarding what had happened to those knights on that last mission. After that, the law against Force users was put into place with the punishment for violation being immediate death for the Force sensitive and anyone who dared to harbor them. Left with little choice, the Jedi scattered to different corners of the distant galaxy and largely kept themselves isolated and hidden until the Empire was finally destroyed. Some became rebels while others withdrew from the Force entirely. Now had begun the painstakingly process of regathering their dispersed members and locating their dead. The questions about those still missing lingered on, however.

Obi-Wan sighed in longsuffering, noting Ahsoka's determined expression. "Not every dead body we encounter is a potential lost Jedi, Ahsoka," he said.

"It can't hurt to check," she whispered, "And, even if she isn't, she's still someone's daughter or sister. We can't just leave her here, Obi-Wan."

"Fine," he replied. He motioned to the utility pouch that was slung across her chest. "I'm assuming you have a portable DNA analyzer in there somewhere."

She reached into the small satchel and pulled free the aforementioned device. "You know me too well."

"Alright then. Confirm her identity and we'll notify her next of kin."

As much as he grumbled about her crusading spirit, Obi-Wan was secretly proud of her compassionate nature. He was grateful that the past ten years hadn't worn away her innate goodness and determination to advocate for others. She was the embodiment of what a Jedi should always strive to be. He liked to think that he'd had a small part in that.

Ahsoka smiled at him, sensing his paternal pride. "I love you too, Master."

"Just do it as quickly as you can," he muttered, attempting to conceal his growing smile of affection, "I'd like to leave this place as soon as possible. We still have Anakin and Padmé to deal with it if you recall."

"Right," Ahsoka mumbled at the unhappy reminder, "I'll make this quick then."

She could admit to herself that while her motives for determining the woman's identity were mostly altruistic, Ahsoka also couldn't pretend that part of her was trying to stall. She was in no hurry to return to the Lars household and gut Anakin and Padmé with her news. She knew that they would be devastated, and she didn't particularly relish the prospect of being the one to do the devastating. If she was able to glean at least one small kernel of goodness from so much sorrow and grief, Ahsoka would gladly take it.

Ahsoka unpacked a sterile swab from her pouch and used it to collect a sample of dead skin from the woman's flaking lips. She fed the sample into the analyzer and waited. A complete crossmatch of the woman's identity and history might have taken days to complete ten years ago, but now it could be accomplished in a matter of seconds as a result of numerous interlinked databases the Empire had amassed on their galactic citizens.

There had not been very much that Ahsoka had admired about the previous regime (if anything at all), but she could grudgingly acknowledge that their technological strides had been impressive. It had most certainly allowed them to keep close tabs on their enemies. Then again, she considered acerbically, such advances were no doubt made easier after having brutalized and enslaved the species responsible for such research and development of that technology. The Empire used the Kaminoans for what they could gain from them, and then swiftly annihilated them afterwards.

The machine abruptly pinged, the soft sound signaling that its analysis was complete. The alarm jarred Ahsoka from her internal musing and refocused her attention. She glanced down at the results, her blue eyes widening.

"Master…I was right." She turned an astonished glance over her shoulder up at Obi-Wan. "This woman was Jedi."

"You don't say," Obi-Wan breathed as he bent over her shoulders to read the results himself, "Unbelievable."

"Her name was Reva Sevander," Ahsoka said, "The last record of her was right before the Empire's rise. I've never heard of her."

"I have," Obi-Wan replied grimly, "I knew her master quite well. He was an Iktochi Jedi knight, very capable and insightful. His name was Jev'Tok Tun, and I considered him a friend."

"Was?"

"Unfortunately, he was killed after he attempted to assassinate Master Windu." Ahsoka swiveled to face him entirely then, her features slackened with shock. "Until this moment, I wasn't even certain that his young padawan had survived."

"He tried to kill Master Windu? Why? What happened?"

"Shortly before the Empire rose, the High Council decided to begin making preparations to establish a safe haven for the Jedi in the event the Republic chose to target us in the same way they had the clones," Obi-Wan explained, "We sent out several teams to scout for suitable locations over a period of many months, but only one team returned to us."

"What about the rest?"

"Unknown."

"And the team that returned?" Ahsoka pressed when he puttered off into silence.

"None of them were the same after that mission," he replied, his expression becoming haunted as he recalled the events of that day, "They were all maddened and filled with paranoia, ranting about how the Jedi had manipulated the Force and 'perverted its purity.' I had never seen anything like it. They all shared the same delusion, even the younglings. They accused the Council of being heretics and imposters. It was as if they believed that we were deceiving them about who we were. They attacked us. We had no choice but to defend ourselves."

"You never told me any of this."

"I've never told anyone," Obi-Wan said, "It was a very dark day, but I'll never forget it…" He shivered as his countenance became haunted with the recollection. "…how crazed they had all been, and how vacant and cold Jev'Tok's eyes were…a frigid, frightful silver-gray that I didn't even recognize."

Ahsoka nodded to the dead woman. "And this girl?"

"She escaped with the remaining survivors," Obi-Wan said, "We never saw them again."

"Until now…when she resurfaces as a host for this Force entity," Ahsoka murmured, "Do you think that what happened to them and what happened to her might be linked somehow?"

"I'm not certain, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan replied, "We weren't given the chance to look into the circumstances any deeper before everything fell apart."

"And you have no idea what went wrong? No clue as to what led to their madness in the first place?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "In our last communication with Jev'Tok before the attack happened, he mentioned something about an abandoned civilization that he believed would be the key to everything. He claimed it would be our salvation. None of it made much sense and he never clarified exactly what he found. When we rendezvoused with him later, he and his team ambushed us."

"I don't recall any of this," Ahsoka murmured, "Where was I?"

"You were ensuring that Padmé and the children were relocated someplace safe," he reminded her, "It happened just before Preet sent men to take her and the children into custody."

"Right. So, then this happened right before he declared himself Emperor and it all went to hell?"

"Yes."

She glanced back at the dead woman. "Well, we can't just leave her here," Ahsoka determined softly, "Regardless of what happened, she's Jedi. She deserves a proper service, Master."

Obi-Wan jerked a quick nod. "Then we shall give her one."

An hour later, after they had carefully wrapped and prepared Reva Sevander's remains just outside of the cave where she had taken her last breaths, Obi-Wan murmured a traditional prayer for her spiritual sendoff and reconnection with the living Force before setting the shell that had once housed her Force spirit ablaze. He and Ahsoka stood silent and watched the makeshift pyre burn down to nothing, largely impervious to the intensified heat, until little more than ashes remained. Afterwards, they boarded their ship and made the hesitant trip back to the Lars homestead.

Anakin and Padmé ran from the house to meet them even before they had landed completely. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were greeted with their anxious countenances when they alighted from the ship. But as soon as the two beleaguered parents recognized their friends were alone, their expressions clouded. Padmé stifled a despaired sob behind her hand, but Anakin stiffened, his jaw hardened with resolve.

"They left the planet, didn't they?" he asked flatly.

Obi-Wan blinked at him in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I sensed it," he said, "We were only hoping I was wrong."

Padmé turned a tearful glance, filled with mourning, up at him. "Can't you pull them back here like you said? Do that now!"

"I've tried," he told her, "It's as if Abeloth has put a shield around them. She is very strong and growing stronger. She doesn't want me to know where she's leading them." He looked over to Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. "Did you manage to see them at all?" he pressed, "Talk to them?"

Pangs of empathy flickered across Ahsoka's face as she glanced from a weeping Padmé to Anakin's stoic features and hesitantly shook her head. "For a while I could feel Luke and I thought he would reveal his location to us…and then nothing."

Yet more sobs bubbled up from Padmé. "But you were gone for so long!" she cried pitifully, "I thought for sure…"

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan exchanged a grim look before Obi-Wan said, "We went to investigate the cave where Anakin had his confrontation with the entity. We thought we might be able to find some clue there that would help us understand her motives."

Anakin darted a look at them, keenly discerning that they were leaving much unspoken. "And?" he prompted impatiently, "What did you find?"

"A dark side nexus," Obi-Wan said, "One has formed there now."

"And?" Anakin prompted impatiently.

"The woman that Abeloth chose as her host," Obi-Wan continued, "She was a Jedi."

"A Jedi?" Anakin echoed in disbelief.

"She was only a padawan when I last saw her. But Ahsoka ran a DNA analysis and confirmed her identity."

"Who was she?"

"Her name was Reva Sevander," Obi-Wan said, "She disappeared shortly before Preet named himself as Emperor."

The color immediately drained from Anakin's features when he heard the name. He literally staggered back a single step, briefly reeling. Third sister. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence! He hadn't recognized her at all. The woman in that cave had been little more than bone and gristle, not at all like the fierce, duplicitous, hatred-filled Inquisitor he had trained so many years before. Even her Force signature had been unrecognizable, and Anakin could only attribute the difference to the fact that Abeloth had been overriding her will.

Abeloth's decision to use her as a vessel seemed to have sinister connotations! Clearly, that Force demon was taunting him. First, she had laid his disgraceful past bare to his innocent daughter which had twisted Leia's mind and robbed her of the ability to differentiate the past from the present, and now she was taking every opportunity to throw his most shameful actions back in his face. Anakin had only suspected that he was being deliberately targeted before but now he knew it for sure.

Obi-Wan, noting Anakin's stricken reaction with growing concern, asked, "Does that name mean something to you?"

"Yes. Reva Sevander was known as Third Sister in my original timeline," Anakin replied in a hollow tone, "She was part of the Inquisitorious."

"The Inquisitorious? What is that?"

"I told you that I made it my mission to exterminate all Jedi after Sidious ascended," Anakin said, "The Inquisitorious is how I did that. Jedi hunting Jedi. I trained her to kill her own. I'm certain that's the reason Abeloth chose her as a host. She had to have known who Third Sister was to me."

Obi-Wan frowned. "But for what purpose?" he asked, "To torment you? It isn't as if you have a connection to Reva Sevander in this timeline, do you?"

"No," he replied, "None at all."

That had been no accident either. Anakin had taken deliberate steps to avoid Reva Sevander altogether. When the first group of younglings that he had slaughtered in the original timeline passed their initiate trials in his current one, Padmé had encouraged him to attend their celebration ceremony as a means of catharsis. She'd imagined that witnessing firsthand as those younglings passed into their next phase as Jedi padawans would help him lay his past to rest. Reva Sevander had been among that group, but Anakin had refused to be present. As grateful as he had been that those younglings were able to live out a different destiny because he had made a better choice, he still hadn't felt he deserved to be any part of their lives. He would never earn that privilege.

It had been enough to know that they would live, and that they each had a future ahead of them. The decision to leave and stay with the Jedi Order was theirs to make. He had put that choice back into their hands. But now, even that comfort had been taken from him. He had unknowingly released Abeloth and Abeloth had killed Reva Sevander, just as he had killed her in that first timeline. In both instances, whether directly or indirectly, Anakin was responsible for the young woman's death. He felt sick at the irony.

Obi-Wan called his name sharply, causing Anakin to jerk a wild glance in his direction. "You never explained your reasoning," he said, "Why do you think Abeloth deliberately used Reva Sevander as a host?"

"Because of who she was. She wasn't only an Inquisitor. She was one of the younglings in the Temple the night I…"

Anakin swallowed thickly, unable to finish the statement because he could feel both Ahsoka and Padmé watching him intently. He wasn't revealing to them anything they didn't already know about his past, but with everything that happened with Leia those events had all become so fresh and so raw again that he was practically drowning in his own shame. Once again, he was back at the Temple, stalking the halls with grim determination and killing without restraint. He could barely look at any of them directly. It took several beats before he managed to compose himself enough to speak again.

"She survived the attack," he continued, "But she made it her mission to seek vengeance against me for what I did." He looked over to Obi-Wan. "And against you too."

"Why me?" Obi-Wan whispered.

"Because you didn't kill me on Mustafar," Anakin replied gravely, "and no one wishes you had finished the job more than I do right now."

Padmé groaned at his words. "Oh Anakin, please don't start that again!"

"Well, none of this would be happening if he had, would it?" he retorted, "We're all thinking it so, why not just say it out loud?"

Ahsoka hissed his name in sharp reprimand. "No one is thinking that! No one here is blaming you."

He glanced over at Padmé with a disheartened expression, noting with deepening sorrow how she avoided meeting his eyes. "You don't speak for everyone here, Ahsoka," he whispered.

Acutely aware of the thickening tension and hoping to diffuse it before it could balloon out of control, Obi-Wan tried to reassure his distraught friend. He surveyed Anakin with a commiserating expression. "Ahsoka is right. That past is dead, regardless of what Abeloth has done to resurrect it! That is not the life Reva Sevander had in this timeline," he reminded Anakin softly, "She passed her initiate trials. She was a young, gifted padawan with bright future ahead of her."

"So how did Abeloth get to her?" Anakin wanted to know. He tried to see the full picture for himself, to pull back the veil on all of his enemy's schemes and plans, but what Abeloth wanted to keep secret she took care to guard jealously. Now that she knew he was aware of her, she was acting with extreme caution. She kept herself cloaked in the shadows. Anakin grunted in frustration.

"What is the connection between them?" he muttered to himself.

"That is the question," Obi-Wan replied as if Anakin had posed the query to him directly, "Reva Sevander accompanied her master Jev'Tok Tun on a mission for the Jedi Council, and when they returned, they had all been struck with unexplainable madness."

Anakin frowned at his description. "What kind of madness?"

"Incoherent ranting. Farfetched delusions. Rampant paranoia," Obi-Wan replied, "They were convinced that they were surrounded by imposters. Reva's own master tried to assassinate Master Windu in a delusional fit of temper. We still have no idea what altered them."

Anakin and Padmé exchanged a glance. Padmé whispered, "That sounds a lot like Leia, doesn't it?"

"It does," Anakin agreed. He turned his attention back to Obi-Wan. "You said that they were on a mission before this happened. What sort of mission? Where did they go?"

"I don't have all the details, only that they were dispatched to find a suitable location for the Jedi to relocate out from beneath the watchful eye of the Republic," Obi-Wan replied, "Back then, everything we said and did was being closely monitored. Spies were everywhere. As a result, information was given on a need-to-know basis."

"But you were on the Council too! You didn't need to know?"

"My responsibility back then was keeping Padmé and your children safe," Obi-Wan said, "If we want more information on where exactly Jev'Tok Tun and his team were sent, we will need to ask Masters Yoda, Windu and Ki-Adi-Mundi."

Anakin was already shaking his head in refusal before Obi-Wan could finish his sentence. "I don't want them involved in this at all," he grated, "This is my private family business, and they don't get to weigh in on that! It doesn't concern the Jedi High Council!"

"Don't be so quick to refuse their help, Anakin! This is all interconnected somehow. It's possible that wherever Luke and Leia are headed now has something to do with Tun's last mission," Obi-Wan reasoned calmly, "We have to explore it."

Desperation and fear caused Anakin to relent much more quickly than he would have previously. He was too frightened to argue. "Fine," he muttered, "I don't care. If it helps me find my children, I'll do whatever you ask."

"We have a plan then," Obi-Wan sighed, "I'll send the transmission. Perhaps they might also be able to shed more light on this Abeloth's origins."

However, after he was gone, neither Anakin nor Padmé appeared eased by the prospect at all. Ahsoka didn't miss the fact that, while it was evident that they were both in extreme anguish, they made no attempt to seek comfort in one another. It was difficult to watch them suffer, not just individually but as a couple as well. She could imagine that the current situation with the children had placed an understandable strain on their marriage. In Ahsoka's humble opinion, the last thing either of them needed was to be divided at such a critical time, but it was hardly the time for a lecture on marital unity…especially from someone who had never been married herself and had only recently entered her first serious relationship.

She decided to focus on reassuring them instead. Because Ahsoka suspected that reasoning with Anakin would prove to be a fruitless endeavor right then because he was much too busy hating himself to be swayed by anything remotely positive, Ahsoka tried her best to comfort Padmé instead. She reached over to give Padmé's shoulder a supportive squeeze when her friend's eyes began to well with fresh tears.

"I know this is a stressful time for you but try not to worry so much. This is a good thing," she insisted softly, "We have a lead and that's more than what we had an hour ago. Whatever happened to Reva Sevander is likely what's happening to Leia now. If we can find out where she went after she disappeared, we might be able to find the children as well."

"That hardly reassures me, Ahsoka," Padmé grunted, "That spirit possessed that woman and then killed her without a second thought. I'd rather the same thing not happen to my child!"

Anakin caught hold of her hand, lightly squeezing her fingers in a silent bid for her to meet his eyes. "It won't," he vowed, "I will not allow that to happen, Padmé."

She regarded him with a dull stare before pulling her fingers free from his hold. "Really, Anakin? And how exactly are you going to stop it?"