Prologue

Plot: The Empire has risen from the ashes of the Republic and Jedi Order. Anakin and Aniya Skywalker, now Sith, meet the mastermind behind it all: Darth Plagueis. But there can only be one Sith Master, and as the rivalry between Plagueis and Sidious becomes real, the consequences are bound to be galactic in the most unpredictable ways imaginable.

Author's Note: So we're finally starting the last book in the Twins series. :D Though we do plan to do some one shots throughout time in the same universe.

The plot of this one isn't based off anything like the previous books were, and I've never seen a Twins fic that takes the direction this does. Looking back, there's a lot of things we wished we'd done differently, but we're still happy with how the ending went.

As a warning from the beginning, I don't know if anyone else is going to like what happens, but I can't say why because spoilers. But still, I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the Twins journey as much we did. ^-^

~ Tirana Sorki

PS. Updates will continue to be weekly on Friday. :)

~ Amina Gila

Qui-Gon Jinn

It's been so many years since I worked alongside my master. After what happened with the war, I never believed I would again, but here we are, side-by-side again. Except every moment, I can only think about the overwhelming darkness in the Force, and how Anakin and Aniya are gone.

Obi-Wan is gone, too, hiding somewhere on the far side of the galaxy. I don't know where, and it's safer that way, but I'm far more worried for the twins.

Sidious and Plagueis won. It still leaves me feeling numb most of the time, after I worked so hard over the past months to try and stop it, but it still happened. Whyever the reason, this is the will of the Force, and I can only trust that, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried for the twins. They're Fallen, and who knows what Sidious is doing to them or teaching them or anything?

But if nothing else, I can at least try to keep an eye on what's happening.

"What do you want us to report on?" Jango Fett asks, helmet under his arm as he eyes me.

I still remember when we first met on Kamino, and I doubt he's forgotten that either. He was in prison for years because of me, but... this is business. He's quite aware of that, and I know he'll stick to a code of honor more than most other bounty hunters.

"Anything you can see about them, without giving them the impression that they're being observed," I reply, looking at the hologram on the table of Anakin and Aniya.

At least if Jango is watching them, I'll know what they're up to, and what the Sith are doing to them. And maybe, somehow, I can find a way to get them back. In the meantime, I need to keep my focus on the galaxy.

"Don't Jedi sense things like that?" Boba objects, approaching.

I nod. "Yes. It is likely they will suspect something, but if you stay out of sight, they won't have any concrete evidence of it."

"Is that all?" Jango inquires.

I pause a moment, considering, before picking up another hologram, holding it out to them. "There has been little public information on Hugo Damask recently, but if you can find out about his whereabouts and current activities... through looking deeper, I would like to know. But he will be even riskier to observe than the twins."

"Why?" the other boy, a little shorter than Boba, asks. Din, I remember his name was. He's not a clone like Boba, but Jango seems to have adopted Din as a son anyway.

"He's a Sith. Rumored to be the most powerful Force user," I tell them.

Jango looks between Boba and Din, for a moment, where they stand together. "We'll handle it," he replies, firmly.

Of course, they know they'll be paid as much as they ask for. Dooku got as much of his wealth from his Serenno castle out and escaped, barely in time before the Empire showed up and bombarded the city. We were already gone when it happened, but that makes it no less awful that they would do that.

"They have been doing it across the galaxy already, especially in Separatist systems who are resisting clone army control," Dooku had told me, "We will use it as an opportunity to gain their support."

If the Sith are trying to make an Empire that's loyal to them, they certainly are not doing a very good job at it. Although very few people except those who were there have even heard of it. Already, I can tell how the news across the galaxy is being very well controlled.

I watch as the three bounty hunters disappear from the room, before heading out myself, to meet up with Dooku again in our current hideout.

"I gave Jango the mission," I tell him.

"Good. He was always trustworthy," Dooku comments reflectively. It reminds me again of how he... had such a play in starting the Clone Wars, which isn't something I can just forget, but I know he's at least trying to help, even if I don't always agree with how he's doing it. He may have done what needed to be, played the role he has to, but that doesn't make it all right. And... at the end of the day, I often find myself questioning if he really had a choice in doing it. Not as if my master would ever admit to it if he didn't.

**w**

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Restlessness is eating at me as I return to my home for the day from the job I have here on Mandalore. Something I am very under-qualified for, but there's a limited number of jobs I can get when I have to keep everything about my identity a secret. I'm used to the constant action of missions, and especially war, and being here now with none of that is... It will take a lot of getting used to. I don't even want to get used to it.

I've settled for going with the name Ben, since no one here will recognize me under it.

Wearing clothes that fit in with what Mandalorians usually wear is also taking getting used to, and I can't help wondering if we shouldn't have picked a safer place to stay. I know most about Mandalore, but my identity isn't exactly unknown, even if we're living in a more remote area.

I'm pulling up to my house in my speeder when I notice someone standing nearby it, a hood pulled up over her head. I can tell who it is instantly – I could sense her presence anywhere. Satine.

What?

What's she doing here?

"Did something happen?" I ask briskly, approaching her. She helped get us settled here and pointed out a good place for us to hide. We didn't have anyone else to go to for help.

"I was passing by," she replies, "I came by to see if you needed anything."

"We're fine," I respond, curtly. Really, I have little desire to talk to anyone right now, even if her concern is appreciated. It's strange being around her, given what was... between us when we were teenagers. It only happened because I was young, and it's awkward, looking back on it.

"The Empire is already coming here," Satine responds, "You will need to be extra careful." It's expected, given where Mandalore is. Maybe we really should have chosen a different hiding spot.

"I can't imagine they could force Mandalore under their authority if the majority didn't want it. That would spark a war," I point out.

"Most of our people do not have weapons," she replies, grimly. It's strange seeing her, knowing she's not the leader of Mandalore anymore. Bo-Katan took over once we chased out Maul. All of it feels pointless now, though, in the face of everything that happened. "And some of those in power may be willing to make deals with the Empire, even if it's to the detriment of the planet."

"Being a pacifist does have a way of making you completely unprepared for war," I point out dryly.

Satine glares at me. "It is war that brought this on the galaxy."

"The Sith did that," I retort, sharply. I roughly shove the memory of Anakin and Aniya's yellow eyes from mind.

"How so?" she asks, frowning.

"Palpatine is a Sith, though I imagine he's keeping it well-concealed from the Republic."

"The Jedi never saw it?"

Even now, I still wonder how no one did. In retrospect, it seems so obvious. Maybe we would have, if hadn't thought for so long that Dooku and Plagueis were the only Sith. "He concealed himself well," I respond, tersely.

I sense her flare of shock in the Force. "A Sith?!" she repeats.

"Yes," I reply bluntly, "And it will take more than we have to stop him."

"Perhaps resorting to violence will only escalate the situation," Satine points out.

Any time, I would have argued it. But now, I'm already on a really, short fuse. Typically, only Anakin will tolerate me when I feel like this, and that makes me miss him even more. "You know nothing about the Sith," I throw back sharply, "Here in your high and lofty palace, free of all hardship, you wouldn't know."

Satine's eyes narrow sharply, something almost icy in her blue eyes. "I grew up with the commoners, Obi-Wan, not in a Temple on the most privileged planet in the galaxy. I lived with them, bore their suffering, and I tried to end it. Say what you may, but you failed precisely as much as I have." She turns away, and I feel almost numb watching her disappearing form.

I shouldn't have said that, but I'm almost too angry to care right now. I've been so angry since everything happened, angry enough that everything feels cold, and it's not stopping. I don't know if I want it to. It would be worse if I could feel normal after losing Anakin and Aniya, and... the Jedi. Everything. Everyone. And that Qui-Gon is apparently a Dark Sider as well. I can't even imagine that. We may have had our problems, but I know he cared for me. We were... close. He raised me. It's nothing like my bond with Anakin is, because nothing ever could be – what we have is unique to just both of us – but it was still something unlike what most people have. It wasn't quite familial, but it... also was, in a way.

With Satine gone, I'm left alone outside my very empty home. It's too big for only one person, and it feels too empty to not have people I know constantly moving about.

I really have no idea how to live alone. How Ahsoka and Alema were able to survive, I can't even fathom, but I just... need something to do. Something to focus on.

Every time I close my eyes, trying to reach into the Force to meditate, all I can see is Mustafar, or what happened at the Temple. Or that look on Anakin's face before I'd fallen from sight and escaped.

All I can remember and feel is how glaringly empty the Force is around me, and everything of it feels of death and darkness. It feels cold and wild and sharp, or maybe it's just that I'm too angry to find any other focus right now. I can't deny that I'm off-balance, but it's only been days since everything happened.

Days since the twins were lost, and I have to do something about them.

I want to find a way to get them back, but I don't think it's possible. I don't even know how I could. There's a whole galaxy out there that they could be in, and I don't know where I'd start looking. Besides, nothing has changed since Mustafar. If they didn't stop then, they wouldn't now, either.

I have little else to do here, so I head over to the Naberries house instead. Threepio ushers me inside when I knock.

Jaufre is seated in the living room, holding one of the twins in each arm. Padme is sitting next to him – she looks very worn out, though quickly blinks herself awake when I enter.

"Obi-Wan," Jaufre greets, neutrally. From what I've seen before, he was always cheerful, but that's different now. I haven't seen him smile at all. Then again, he'd have to be crazy to find anything to be cheerful about in this situation.

"How are they?" I inquire, sitting across from them. My only focus is Luke and Leia now. They're... the future. (Unless I can find Anakin and Aniya. I can't imagine spending the rest of... forever without them. I can't imagine having to raise and train Luke and Leia to fight against them.)

"They're fine," Padme replies. Even she is... different. More withdrawn and closed off than I've ever seen her before. She's always fighting. That doesn't seem to be there now, though then again, she's obviously not physically very well right now either.

"And you?" I ask, just to be polite.

"Recovering."

"Slowly," Jaufre corrects, shooting her a worried look. The caring they're showing each other only reminds me of the twins again, and it sends another sharp pang through me. I have never... had a bond like that before. I don't understand it, but I... just want them back.

"We can't just keep hiding out here," Jaufre says finally, straightening.

"There is little else we can do," I reply flatly.

"I'm not waiting for years to find Anakin and Aniya."

"What good would finding them do?"

"We need to talk to them," Padme replies, sitting up. She's looking upset now, too.

"I already tried that."

"But I haven't," Jaufre retorts, "They'd listen. We don't even understand why they did this."

Maybe not, but it doesn't really matter or change anything, does it? It won't change that they did. And they couldn't have been forced into it when they easily could have told me or Qui-Gon if something was that wrong. Though I don't trust the idea of them going to my former master anymore. I still can't believe he was willing to use the Dark Side. "It won't change," I reply, sharply, "For now, we must protect Luke and Leia. They are the only hope of defeating the Sith."

"They're not being raised as weapons of the Jedi," Jaufre snaps.

"They will have to be trained when they're older."

"We aren't waiting until they grow up to do something," Padme responds, firmly, "They're not growing up without Anakin."

"That was his choice."

"What's wrong with you?" Jaufre hisses, abruptly standing, "I know this this isn't easy for you, with what they did, but how can you just give up on them?"

"Sith cannot be redeemed," I reply icily, "You do not understand the ways of the Force." He also doesn't understand what it's like to go back to the only home I've ever known, to find it destroyed, by the very children I raised and cared for, for years. "You were not there on Mustafar when I spoke to them."

"I never did hear the details of what happened there," Padme comments. She takes Luke and Leia from Jaufre when they start to stir, likely from the noise of the conversation. Or the feelings in the room. That's possible, too.

"They had no interest in talking," I retort, "The most they would offer is for me to join them." I still don't understand how they could ever think I would do that.

"If they actually said that, it sounds to me like they're perfectly willing to listen to reason," Jaufre replies.

He cannot be serious. "A chance to join the corrupt Empire, created from the destruction of the Jedi, is not defined as 'willing to listen to reason'," I snap.

"I can't pretend to understand why they would ever support the Empire, either," Padme interjects, "I'll have a word with them about it, but first we have to find them."

"They're working for Sidious now. If they aren't on... missions, they're likely on Coruscant." I don't see any way we could find them. I want to, but it's not realistic. If we already fought once, I doubt a second meeting would go down any differently.

"Master, I'm so sorry. I –"

"We were fighting. He attacked us."

"Obi-Wan!"

Their attitudes at the end were... different, but only after things had already gone so far. I could care less about the burn on my arm from it, but it doesn't change that they... did that. That things actually went that far.

And I see no reason why Anakin and Aniya would be more willing to listen to Padme and Jaufre, than they would be to me.

"Then maybe we need to lure them out," Jaufre muses.

"And attract the attention of the Empire?" I shoot back.

"Not to here, but there has to be something."

"I want to find them too," Padme asserts, "But realistically, I don't know what we could do right now. We have no way of contacting them, and we're traitors to the Empire. All of us."

Amazing to see one of them still being a little reasonable.

"When you're better, then," Jaufre replies, firmly, "Once you're recovered enough to take care of the twins yourself, we can do something."

I don't bother to point out again that there's little that can be done without him senselessly endangering himself. He should have figured that out on his own by now. Right now, all I can I do is watch over Luke and Leia; it's a small consolation from how cold and dark the Force feels constantly and from the twins I really want to see again.

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