Coruscant

Emperor Palpatine stretched his senses deep into the Force, desperate to forestall any plans his enemies might make against him. The Force was attempting some form of balance against the darkness, but it still held sway over the galaxy. He was deep in the streams when he finally saw a clear vision: a battle being played out by the Imperial fleet. It was obviously a future vision as these ships were more advanced than the current fleet. He saw the ranking Imperial officer, whose face was clouded from him, watching the battle play out, when out of the blue he was stabbed in the back by one of his own bodyguards. With the commander out of the way, the vision showed the battle quickly turning from evenly matched to a rout. The vision ended with Sidious opening his eyes to the darkness of his throne room.

He looked up through the skylight into the night sky. It was obvious that this battle was crucial, perhaps to the survival of the Empire. That commander must live. His mind traced back the memory to the bodyguard who had stabbed him. The creature was familiar in a way he had not considered in a very long time. His master and he had long ago considered many different warrior races for the creation of the clone army. One of them was the Noghri, an fierce, indigenous warrior race said in tales to be vicious even against Jedi or Sith but without space capable technology.

He carefully weighed his options. The Noghri were relatively few in number. While an alliance might prove useful in the extermination of Jedi, it might also put the traitor in the position to kill his commander. All in all, a few thousand Noghri lives versus his Empire was nothing, a mere hour's casualty rate in the Clone Wars. He activated his commlink and gave the order that a ground campaign should be underway on the planet Honohr.

Ossus

The Millennium Falcon had touched down a kilometer away from where Ben and Ves knew the entrance into the old Jedi archives was. Anakin and Han were once again at the controls, bringing her down to the surface. Han had picked up the Falcon's flight patterns fast enough that he was the primary pilot when Anakin and Ahsoka were not at the controls. The ramp opened, allowing the Jedi to walk down the ramp.

"So, what is this place?" Ahsoka asked.

"I will save that as a surprise," Ben said. "But first we need to have a talk with the natives before the others come out."

"Are they dangerous?"

"Yes if your intentions are bad, they are very dangerous. We need them to realize we are Jedi, and we are not here to harm them. So if they engage without asking first, use non-lethal methods and delve deep into the light. and they will know us for what we are,"Ben said.

"Hmm. A simpler way to things there may be young Skywalker," Yoda said.

"And how is that Master Yoda?" Ben asked.

Without answering, Yoda walked over to a stone and sat on it and closed his eyes. Ben felt Yoda's presence encompass him and spread out over the area.

"Well, that will work if you want to do it the easy way," Ves said.

"Skywalkers always wanting to do things the hard way." Yoda said.

It was only a few minutes before a member of the Yasanna ( the native people of Ossus, descended from the knights who were unable to evacuate Ossus when the cataclysm occurred) popped a head above a nearby bush.

"Come young one," Yoda said, "harm you we will not."

The young one, a girl Anakin noted, maybe eight or nine, approached with a combination of giddiness and wariness.

"Are you Jedi?" the girl asked in a whisper.

"Jedi we are," Yoda said affirmatively.

The girl turned around and with the use of the Force let out a celebratory shout.

The shout was echoed and repeated throughout the mountain valley they were in.

"Umm, is that a good thing?" Ahsoka asked.

"Why, Snips they're welcoming us to dinner," Anakin said

"Hopefully we're not on the menu," Ahsoka muttered as a crowd of people were rushing their direction.

Yoda giggled. "Have faith, padawan. This one here would not be dancing if we were in danger."

There are eyes briefly went back to their greeter who was skipping around them still, seemingly oblivious to the wave of people heading their direction.

Ben called up into the Falcon, "No one panic over the throngs of screaming people coming this way. This will probably be the friendliest greeting we get for years.

Padme and the brothers walked down right in time for the members of the village to reach them. Yoda was still stretching out his Force presence for those nearby to feel.

Before Rex or Jesse could say anything the entire group had been lifted off their feet into the air.

"I don't remember your dad and Master Kam getting this kind of reception when they landed on Ossus," Ves sent to Ben

"They showed up with Imperials on their heels and Kam had only recently got pulled back from the darkness so he felt tainted. It was in their battle when they realized they were drawing on the light side of the Force and halted hostilities. They were actually going to have a celebration, but that got crashed by Imperials. Fortunately for us, Palpatine never found Ossus and the planet's Force nexus should be sufficient to shield even the entire Order unless someone pops out of hyperspace near here," Ben replied.

Yassana Village

Yoda and the village elders spent a long period of the night discussing the return of the Jedi to Ossus, including the danger the galaxy was in under the control of the Sith. It was also that night, as the festivities were dying down, that Padme went into labor. As Yoda predicted on Dagobah, Anakin panicked and subsequently got kicked out of the healing center by the midwives. Panicked, he went and woke Ben and Ves. Ben wasn't terribly amused to find out at 2:00 AM that Padme had just started labor, and Anakin was already freaking out. He was certain he could hear the midwife yelling to just knock him unconscious, which he was considering doing. Yoda came by and took him off Ben's hands to go spar and get his mind off the situation.

Padme's Bedside

The midwife was seeing to Padme as Vestara walked in to check on her, having been woken up by the terrified husband and having to listen to the voice getting higher in octaves while Ben was failing to calm him down. Last she saw was Yoda intercede for her husband's help. Ben had three cousins and spent enough time in the temple nursery that childbirth didn't phase him to the degree of panic it was causing Anakin.

"How's it going?" Ves asked Padme.

"They say its going very well. The child should be here soon. It's just a question of whether it's a Luke or a Leia," Padme said. "I think it's a Luke. What do you think?"

Ves just smiled at her. "It wouldn't be fair if I told you, now would it?"

"Maybe not. I do find it odd, though, that your father-in-law has the same name I had already chosen for my son. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Its not my secret to tell," Vestara said.

"Hmm, well. I find it awfully suspicious- the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo and soon to be my son Luke Skywalker," Padme muttered through the pain medications she was on. "But the disk is over 30 years old, so the Luke on the disk must be a cousin, unless you're time travelers. Which would make Ben my grandson." Her eyes widened at the thought and she looked at Ves, who was watching her.

"What medications exactly are you on?" Ves asked.

Padme just narrowed her eyes at her.

Ves sighed. "Even if what you said was true, the secret must never be discovered by the Sith, who could use it to disastrous effect."

Padme leaned back and sighed and nodded. "You're not telling me I'm wrong, though."

"No," Ves said, "but I'm also not telling you you're having twins."

Padme's eyes opened wide as she looked at Ves, who was setting on a chair between the two twin beds in the room. She was about to speak when the door opened with the Force. Yoda hobbled into the room.

"Ahh. good evening, Senator. Your husband needed to get his mind off the present for once." He giggled as he walked in further and both the women's mouths dropped open as Anakin's prone body floated in flat behind Yoda. He used the Force to move the covers on the other bed and placed Anakin on the bed, then replaced the covers over him.

"Some peace and quiet we can have now, especially him, out for twenty-four hours he could be, but awaken him I will when ready to arrive the children are."

"What did you do- take the midwifes knock him out statement at face value?" Ves asked looking at him.

"Mysterious are the ways of the Force as the ways of healers." Yoda giggled and left the room. "Good for the children his stress was not nor for the peace of the village residents," was the call they heard as the door slid back closed.

Ves examined Anakin. "He's going to have a headache when he wakes up, I imagine. Looks like Yoda whacked him in the back of the head with a blunt instrument."

About 8 Hours Later

Anakin woke up in a daze of confusion. The last thing he vaguely recalled was Yoda jumping over his head dueling with a lightsaber and it was lights out. Slowly, as his eyes opened, he also realized he had been placed in a sleeping command. He turned on his side briefly as he heard Padme say, "Luke." His only partially conscious brain registered the small bundle, and then he saw a second bundle being handed to her and she said, "Leia". Consciousness came flooding back about this time as heard the old Grandmaster tell Padme that Anakin had been awake as the children had been born. Anakin bolted upright but his shoes got hung in the covers and he tumbled into the floor.

"See?" Yoda said.

"Wait, what happened?" Anakin said, standing as Padme pushed a baby into his arms.

"Distracted you were. Easy to defeat you were. Nearly missed the children's arrival you have," Yoda said chiding him softly. "Leave you alone I will."

Several Hours Later

Ben, Ves, and Yoda were all waiting for Anakin to emerge with a baby, Obi-Wan having been admitted to the only one visitor room some time earlier.

"Disappear you have not into the Force," Yoda commented.

"No, the way we traveled here protects the traveler from paradoxes caused by their actions, even from running into themselves," Ben said. "But we cannot return to the future. as it would have been erased or we have taken time down a separate path or branch and any future travel will continue along that branch."

Yoda nodded. "Very dangerous should the Sith discover that."

"Indeed, though few Sith would likely ever mess with the past for fear of uncertainty. Sidious, though, would be extremely dangerous if he were able to see the future with that much clarity," Vestara said.

Anakin walked out about that time, holding Leia. He came and sat in front of the other Skywalkers. He had that look in his eyes of a father of a newborn holding the most precious thing in the galaxy. He looked up at the others.

"So young, so innocent. How do we keep them safe from the Sith? They tried kidnapping Force user children years ago; they can do it again," Anakin said. "I won't always be around to protect them."

"Actually," Ben said, "I have an idea about that, until they are trained as full knights and can protect themselves."

Author's notes

Ok everyone were back on the non holiday schedule.

So the twins are here at last I figured that the events of ROTS caused padme to have them early. Unfortunately this is where Yoda and Ahsoka start going more into the background so I had to give the troll one last major hurrah.

Thanks for the reviews favorites and likes.