Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun shone down on the grass and reflective water as Luke meditated. A slight breeze brushed his cheeks as he took in a slow, deep, breath. Ever since the end of the war with the Empire, meditating became a welcome practice and one that he took part in daily. The war with the Empire was over. A phrase he had only recently gotten used to. It had taken so many years to end the war; it had taken even more lives with it. But it was over now. Luke couldn't help let a smile grow on his face; for once, everything was ok.

A crunch in the grass nearby confirmed him of Leia's growing presence. He let his eyes slowly open.

"Hello Leia." An easy smile spread across her beautiful face. She had more reason to smile than ever: Leia was going to marry Han soon.

"Hello." Was her simple reply as she stopped in front of him supporting both of her elbows with her hands. "What do you do out here every day?" She gathered her legs underneath her as she sat down next to him.

"I'm meditating. Ben used to do it a lot…or so I've been told." He smiled at the memory of his old friend. It would have been better if he was here with them now, but he had comfort in knowing that he was one with the force.

"Ah…" Leia didn't know Ben like Luke did but he could still see the pain on her face for another fallen friend.

"Would you like to join me?" Her eyes brightened before she nodded.

"Sure." She adjusted her legs so that they were crossed and closed her eyes along with Luke. It was nice to sit here with his sister like this. Everything was still so chaotic from the end of the war a couple of months ago that any chance for peace was wonderful. It was especially nice when he could share those moments with his sister.

Minutes passed and all Luke could hear was the breeze, the water, and the breathing that Leia and he provided. He imagined Leia would get frustrated soon though. She was never as patient as he was; which was saying something. She always seemed to be doing something, and if she wasn't, she was with Han, who made anyone's day interesting. The grass crunched again only this time it was louder.

"There you two are." Speaking of the devil. Luke opened his eyes to see Leia frown at the lopsided grin Han was giving her.

"Can't you see we're busy?" Leia Demanded, exasperated.

"Well sorry sweetheart," Han raised his hands in a mock gesture of surrender. "I just needed some air so I decided to look for my fiancé." He turned in a dramatic swoop to walk away but Leia cut him off. After she rolled her eyes of course.

"Alright you big lug, come over here and sit." She patted the ground next to her twice for good measure. Han snuck a look behind him and smirked at her loss of composure. Only Han could do that to her and the thought made Luke smile in amusement at the couple.

Han collapsed down where Leia had patted and raised an eyebrow at the siblings. "So what exactly were you two doing way out here anyways?"

"We were meditating." Luke said simply. Han raised both eyebrows at the statement.

"Leia…meditating?" It came out half as a laugh, which earned him a fresh glare from the woman sitting next to him.

"It's not that crazy." She folded her arms and her back straightened. "I can be peaceful and patient."

Han Laughed again and Leia smacked his arm hard. "Hey, what happened to peaceful and patient?" Han complained while he griped his arm.

"I reserve my patience for things that have a hope for getting better." She smiled, content with the frown and 'Hey…' Han provided.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment after that. It wasn't a bad silence, but a comfortable one. All three of them had been through hell together; they didn't need to talk. After a few minutes Han spoke again.

"You can finish your thing if you want." He waved his hand in front of Luke and Leia to indicate he was talking about their meditating.

"How kind of you." Leia deadpanned. However, despite Leia's remark or Han's eyes rolling, the twins both closed their eyes and resumed what they had been doing.

For a moment, all was quiet again; the sun continued to shine and the breeze to softly blow. Seconds flew by then minutes. Luke had lost count of how many when he was suddenly assaulted with a strong disturbance in the force.

Luke snapped his eyes open when a wave of internal pain washed over his senses. He clutched his head and only barley noticed when Leia did the same. Luke heard Leia weakly reply to Han's concerns when he turned his attention to Luke.

"Luke what's wrong? What's happening?" Han Demanded, all of the playfulness gone from his face.

"I…don't know. I felt a disturbance in the force. It's like none I've ever felt before…" Luke shook his head of the feeling before looking over at Leia.

"Yes, I felt it too." She answered the silent question that had appeared on Luke's face. "Although I have noe idea what it means…"

"You think it has something to do with the Empire?" Han demanded.

"No, I don't think so." Luke met Han's gaze. "It was different. It was almost like I could feel death of many people all around me—Ack!" Luke almost doubled over when the pain came back. Yes, he was sure of it now. This feeling he was getting was from death, the death of a lot of people.

"Luke—Leia!" Luke ignored Han and tried to focus on the force. It hurt, but he needed to know what was happening. The feeling he was getting came in pulses. They seemed to be getting more frequent as time went on as well. It felt like being dunked in ice water on Tatooine over and over again. It was getting harder to focus when a large disturbance nearly knocked him out. Vaguely, he could hear Leia cry in pain.

Luke opened his eyes to see things were not right. In some spots of the field it was raining. It was like someone was tearing the sky open and small holes were beginning to form. A couple of ghostly figures ran by and were shooting at something. He noticed the look of shock and confusion on Han and Leia's faces so he knew they were seeing it as well. The breeze he was feeling earlier became random and felt wrong. A burst of rain hit his face when he heard Leia speak.

"Luke…" The worry and question was evident in her voice, however he couldn't answer her. He felt her cling to his right hand so tightly that for a second he thought that he'd have to get in replaced again.

Another wave of rain and pain hit him so hard that he instantly fell into darkness.

Chapter Text

Rain poured and beat against Ahsoka's face as she deflected the seemingly unlimited shots from the droids across the field. The grass had long before mixed with the mud she was now standing on. The stream nearby had overflowed as well. She was careful not to step on any of the fallen clones or droids though, because to do so would probably result in her slipping on the mud, blood, and oil that now covered their remains.

Looking to her left she saw her Master—Anakin Skywalker—slowly increased his advance, all the while with the same determined face he always wore in battle. Well, besides the moments that they teased each other.

"Getting tired in your old age?" Ahsoka yelled over the rain and gunfire. She saw his eyes flash to meet hers with a burst of amusement.

"You have no idea how many times I've said that to Obi-Wan!" He laughed openly. Ahsoka couldn't help but chuckle at the image of Obi-Wan being harassed with old-man jokes. Heck, she still heard Anakin tease his poor former-master about his age.

"Anakin—Anakin can you read me?" Obi-Wan's voice crackled from Anakin's communicator.

"I'm here." Anakin clipped, barley managing to block three shots speeding at him all at once.

"There's something wrong Anakin—fssshhhh—disturbance—ffsssshh—be careful—"Ahsoka saw Anakin's face flash with frustration as he furiously stabbed at his com a couple of times. After a couple of curse words she couldn't understand, Anakin snapped his head between Ahsoka and the oncoming fire.

"I don't know what's happening, but it sounds like there's some kind of problem. Keep your eyes open Snips." Ahsoka replied with a "You got it" before focusing fully on the battle that raged on around them.

The Jedi and the clones advanced until they came upon some rocks near a forest. Fighting the droids back some more, Anakin called for a rest.

"We've pushed them far back enough that we should be about a day's away from their last outpost." Anakin was talking to Rex-which could take a while-so Ahsoka decided to check up on some of the men.

"How are you guys holding up?" She placed a small hand on the shoulder of a random clone who was sitting down along with two others.

"Ah, Commander Tano." They stood up and saluted.

"At ease." She said simply. It was becoming alarmingly easier to have grown men treating her like she was an adult in war. Sure she really was in war, but it was the part about her only being sixteen and a Commander in the war that was strange.

The clones sat back down. "Thank you for asking Commander, we're fine, just a couple of bumps and bruises." She imagined she would see a small smile on the clone's face if he hadn't been wearing his helmet.

"I'm glad. It got pretty rough out there." She supported her elbows with her hands, shifting her weight to rest on her right foot as she talked.

"You got that right; I'm just glad most of us got out in one piece." She nodded with a small smile before she heard Anakin walk up beside her.

"Hey Snips," The clones sprung up and saluted again but Anakin quickly waved them down. "Obi-Wan is gonna be here any minute and he said he had something important he wanted to talk to us about. It probably has something to do with the message he was trying to get through to us earlier."

"I'm right behind you Skyguy." She smirked up at him and he mirrored the look, turned, and walked away with his Palawan close behind.

It was all very strange; first the weather, then the fading clone troopers. At first, he thought he was going crazy, but then he felt a disturbance in the force that made him think something was really, actually, very wrong. It was weird because along with the disturbance, he felt waves of peace. Obi-Wan hadn't felt that kind of peace since before the war had started.

Obi-Wan had tried to contact Anakin and Ahsoka after he felt the disturbance, but the connection had broken up along with the weather. Whatever was happening, it was affecting their communication.

Then, like nothing had happened, it stopped.

A clone came up and gave a quick salute. "Sir, we're coming up on the camp General Skywalker and Commander Tano have set up." Obi-Wan nodded and stroked a hand over his beard in thought.

"Good, I need to have a word with Anakin."

"Is there something wrong Sir?" Obi-Wan shook his head.

"I hope not…" The clone nodded before saluting again and walking off. He certainly did hope it was nothing, but he couldn't deny the feeling he got from the force, and he couldn't help but wonder if Anakin and Ahsoka had felt it too.

He saw Anakin and Ahsoka approach him as he entered the camp.

"Hello Master." A small smirk grew on his former-Padawan's face. "Good to see you can still keep up with my pace." Obi-Wan gave a disapproving glare that seemed to receive no response from the man if front of him.

"I have something important I need to discuss with you and your Padawan." The amusement on Anakin's face fell and he gave a sharp nod. It always amazed him of how quickly Anakin was able to change his mood. He might even compare it to the strange weather he had experienced earlier.

"What is it Master Kenobi?" Ahsoka's eyes filled with question and a little worry.

"I have been feeling…disturbances in the force. It would come in waves and it was very strong. It even affected the weather and men." He stroked his beard again, thinking of the last battle where he had experienced it.

"How could a disturbance affect the weather?" Ahsoka didn't give Anakin a chance to speak.

"In all honesty: I don't know. I would have ignored it except for the fact that when the men were in the sunlight, they would disappear for a moment." Ahsoka looked confused while Anakin crossed his arms, a look of deep thought contorting his young face.

"We haven't felt anything wrong. Do you think the Separatists have something to do with it?"

"No, I don't think so. There was peace mixed in with what I felt, like there was no war going on."

A few moments of silence filled the air around them. "Do you think we should go back and check it out again?" Anakin asked.

"I think it's worth a shot. But you should stay here with the men; we are going to attack their base tomorrow after all." Anakin looked upset, he wanted to go see what was wrong too, but instead, he simply nodded.

"You should take Ahsoka with you," He jerked his head towards said Padawan. "It might be dangerous."

"I'm happy to help." Excitement was buried under Ahsoka's voice. She was obviously as interested in the presence as the two older Jedi.

"Very well. Ahsoka, get yourself ready, we'll leave just as soon as I tell my men where I am headed."

With a quick nod, Ahsoka spun around on her heel and jogged off. Obi-Wan started to walk towards his men when Anakin's flesh hand gripped his shoulder.

"Master, be careful." The look in Anakin's eyes caused him to consider it for a moment before giving him an amused smile.

"Really Anakin, you shouldn't worry so much. After all, I don't believe you have the right to demand such a thing from me, seeing that you're usually the one pulling crazy stunts without thinking of your own well-being."

Anakin rolled his eyes and removed his hand. "At least make sure Ahsoka doesn't get into anything." He sighed, frustrated.

"Don't worry, I will." With that, Obi-Wan patted Anakin on the side of his arm and walked past him. For someone called 'The Hero With no Fear,' Anakin worried more than any Jedi Obi-Wan had ever known.

Leia's Vision swam in front of her as she came to. It was pouring rain and it felt icy cold against her face. She was on her back and facing the sky, which seemed to be throwing everything it had at her. With her senses returning to her, she curled up in a sad attempt to stay warm. At least I can move. She found that fact the only comforting thing about her situation.

Just then, she heard movement.

Her first instinct was to get as far away from the unidentified sound, but seeing that she wasn't sure she could, she decided to settle for snapping her head to look at the source.

"Luke!" Relief flooded her system. She heard a soft moan before her brother groggily opened his eyes.

"Leia…?" It was slurred, but she could tell he was regaining his conciseness with every passing second.

"Luke, I'm here!" She attempted to get up, which she found shockingly easy, as she scrambled over to her brother. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" She panicked. She had no idea if she was lucky for not being injured.

"I'm fine…I think. What happened?" Leia supported her brother as he sat up. What had happened? She was meditating with Luke while sitting with—!

"Luke, where's Han?" She demanded, completely forgetting Luke's question.

Luke snapped his head back and forth, now completely sitting up.

"He was just here a second ago…how long have we been here?"

Leia looked around at last; it was the same place they had been meditating. How long had it really been? The ground was soaked with water, and the stream nearby was overflowing. But that wasn't the only thing that caught Leia's eye…

"Luke…" She had to cover her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. Her stomach twisted violently at the sight of bodies laying everywhere. And they were fresh.

"What…happened here?" Luke's voice was strained with revulsion. He slowly stood up and glance around himself again. His face twisted with disgust and sadness when he saw that he had been laying half-way on a fallen storm trooper.

"These are storm troopers; I thought there weren't any left!" Leia exclaimed as she subconsciously accepted the hand Luke held out to help her up.

"I don't understand…why were we left here? Why hadn't anyone seen us?" Although the questions were sensible, Leia couldn't care less, she needed to know where Han was.

All thoughts were interrupted when Luke snapped his head to face Leia though, the look in his eyes making her jump.

"I sense two presences approaching—but that's impossible—one of them seems to be…"

Before Leia could question his rambling, he stopped and his look towards her softened just slightly.

"Leia, I need to talk to these people. I want you to go and find a place to hide—"

"There is no way in the seven sith pits I am leaving!" Obvious disapproval was showing on his face, but before he could retort, they were interrupted.

"Hello there." She snapped her head to face the mystery man.

What she saw was a man who seemed to be somewhere in his thirties with short copper hair and a very nicely groomed beard and mustache. Next to him was a young Togruta girl who didn't seem older than sixteen with bright orange skin and even brighter blue eyes.

Leia stood in shock and slowly realized that Luke wasn't saying anything as well. At least the rain seemed to be letting up.

Seeing that they would get no reply from the two strangers, the man spoke again.

"My name is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this is Padawan Ahsoka Tano. What are you two doing all the way out here in the middle of a war-zone?"

Leia chanced a glance at Luke, hearing the name of his old Master. But that was impossible; Ben Kenobi was dead, and much older at that.

Luke's face betrayed no shock at the mention of his name however, and it puzzled Leia. Instead, Luke calmly answered his question.

"We have no memory of why we're here. We seemed to have hit our heads somewhere along the line of the past couple days."

Leia was baffled by the fact that Luke had openly answered the two Jedi's question. But then again, she was pretty sure the part about them hitting their heads was a lie. Though, Luke might have trusted the man because of his name. Still, who was to say that the man only had Ben Kenobi's name by coincidence? Suddenly Leia felt very uneasy.

"I was here earlier today and I didn't see you. Did you just wander onto this battlefield recently?" Although the man's face betrayed no emotion, his eyes held suspicion for the story Luke had just offered.

"We just came to." The Togruta girl looked over the siblings and crossed her arms; she continued to remain quiet though.

"This is very strange…" Kenobi sat silent for a moment. "I'm sorry but we should bring you back with us, we need to ask you some questions."

"We'll come with you." Luke stated.

"Luke—!" Leia tried to protest but he gave her a look that told her that he'd explain later.

"Our camp isn't too far off, are you two injured in any way?" The girl spoke up at last.

"We're fine." Luke seemed anxious, and Leia was confused. Why would he want to go with them so much? It probably had something to do with the man's name, but that hardly had any effect on Leia, in fact, it made her uneasy. But she would trust her brother for now, after all, these two seemed to know what was going on and Leia wanted answers.

It didn't take long for them to reach the camp site Ben Kenobi had mentioned. Luke couldn't help but feel completely stupefied by the fact that he was with a younger—very much alive—Obi-Wan Kenobi. At first he couldn't believe it, but he had sensed it and seeing old Ben had confirmed it. They were somehow, someway, in the past. But why?

"Here we are." Ben turned to face the Padawan. "Ahsoka can you bring them over to the interro—questioning tent while I go see what your Master is up to?" The girl nodded and turned her head towards the twins.

"This way." She started walking and they followed. Luke could feel Leia's confusion and dread as they approached the tent. It was understandable that she wouldn't know what was going on, and it was obvious that she didn't think that old Ben was actually old Ben, but he would have to wait to explain everything that he had more or less figured out.

Once they entered the tent, the rain finally stopped hitting their faces. Luke heard Leia sigh in relief, but he had to repress a shiver from the feeling of being soaked to the bone.

"Please, take a seat." The Padawan motioned to a small bench at the back of the small area. At least it was dry.

Luke couldn't help but cringe at the squish their clothing made when they sat down. It wouldn't have been so loud if it hadn't been the only noise inside the tent. Of course there was rain noise, but that seemed to fade into the background as the three sat-or stood-in silence.

The Padawan, he noticed, was trying to steal glances at the two strange humans. She was trying not to be obvious, but she was failing. Their outfits probably seemed weird to the young Togruta seeing as they were apparently from a different time. Force, how were they going to explain that, especially since Leia still had no idea what was going on. Not that he knew much more though.

After a minute, he decided he would try to explain thing a little more to Leia now that they were waiting in silence. The tricky part would be explaining to her without their Padawan guard hearing their conversation. Luckily, because of past events, he knew he could communicate with her through the force eavesdrop free.

Leia, Leia can you hear me? He felt a force nudge in confirmation. Establishing a connection with her was easy enough, but telling her that they were in the past with his old Master wouldn't be.

Leia, I need you to listen to me and don't make a scene. What I'm about to tell you won't make sense but you have to trust me. Ok? He received another nudge in the force, only this time reluctant. Leia met his eyes with clear worry and frustration. He knew she wanted to have a fit because of this whole thing but thankfully she had enough control to pull herself together. He had politics to thank for that.

He took an unneeded breath and finally continued. That man we met earlier was my old Master, Ben Kenobi. He waited for a moment to make sure she wouldn't make a scene. All he got was a surprised and confused look. He sighed.

I think…this sounds crazy…but I think we may be in the past, during the clone wars. This time he got a reaction.

"No." It was so forceful that he could only blink; she had spoken out loud as well.

"Leia, it's going to be alright." He weakly supplied. He had no idea if it was going to be all right or not but he had to try to comfort her somehow.

"No, it's not! I can't believe it, I just…!" She threw her head in her hands. "I just can't!" She was cracking, and he could tell that the bodies and the idea of another adventure with an unknown ending was tearing away at her composed aura.

Just before he could try to comfort his sister, two more people entered the room along with two storm—clone troopers. And what Luke saw nearly caused his eyes to bulge out of his head. The last time he had seen that face had been on Endor, right after the burring of Vader's body.

Anakin Skywalker: Luke and Leia's father.

Chapter Text

Anakin was tense. He had felt the two strangers' presence before they had even made it to the camp. He wasn't sure why he had felt them so easily without even trying, so he made it a point to not meet them when they came, not because he was avoiding them, but because he wanted to talk to Obi-Wan first.

"Obi-Wan." He whipped around to face his old Master.

"Have you sensed them?" Was all Obi-Wan asked. Anakin frowned. They were definitely strong in the force, but only one had some control. The fact that they were force sensitive and had little to no training wasn't completely uncommon though, plenty of people hid their children from the Jedi Order so they wouldn't be taken away. They were definitely not Sith either.

So why did he feel so on edge?

"Why are they here?" He demanded.

"They claim to have no memory of why or how they got here. I don't believe it's the whole truth but they don't seem to have any ill intentions so I let it slide. Perhaps when we question them we'll find out more." Obi-Wan barley had enough time to stroke his beard before Anakin supplied a quick "Let's go" and stormed past him.

When he approached the tent he stopped for a second motioning for a couple of clone troopers to come with him and decided to wait a second as Obi-Wan came up next to him. Although he wanted to know who these people were and why he felt so connected to them, he needed Obi-Wan's calm presence to keep him from getting sucked into the overwhelming emotion he was feeling in the force.

With a fwhip, Anakin walked under the tent he saw Ahsoka standing guard. They locked eyes before he followed her gaze to the two strangers sitting in the room.

The first one he noticed was the man with blond hair and bright blue eyes that could rival his own. The man sent an explosion of shock through the force when he saw Anakin but quickly concealed it. Anakin raised an eyebrow at that. Maybe he recognized him from the holonet, but that hardly gave any reason to react in such a way. At least he didn't think so.

Not completely brushing off the feeling of suspicion, he turned his gaze to the brunette that had just looked from her hands up to see them standing there, and he had to check himself so that he wouldn't give off any strange ripples in the force.

She looked so much like Padmé.

Her chocolate brown hair was a mess and her eyes were red a puffy from fresh tears but she still had an uncanny likeness to his wife. Everything about these two were making him uncomfortable and he suddenly wished he was in battle instead of standing in front of the two pairs of questioning eyes. However, despite his unease, he stepped forward and crossed his arms.

"My name is Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker and I need to ask you two a couple of questions." He forced all emotion to drop from his face and waited a couple of moments before continuing. "If you answer them all truthfully, then you have nothing to worry about." The silence in the tent made Anakin distantly realize the ringing in his ear as a result of the previous battle. But all thought of the past were halted when he felt—and saw—the intense hatred radiating off of the woman towards him. Whether or not she meant to hide it didn't matter, he got the message; she hated him.

Why she hated him was a mystery though. He was The Hero with no Fear, and his face was on the holonet almost every day as just that, a hero. It took him aback for a second before he tried to brush it off. He had no idea what he had done to this woman, but whatever it was, she despised him for it. He took a moment to feel his stomach twist at the thought of doing something that had destroyed someone's life. He was, after all, fighting this war to stop that very thing.

Obi-Wan spoke at the silence. "This won't be long, we just have to confirm a couple of things—"

"But we don't know anything!" The girl seemed to have composed herself, however still clearly very upset.

"Then you have nothing to worry about…" Anakin stated dangerously. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the two back and forth. He was defiantly keeping his guard up, but he couldn't help but get the feeling that he could trust what they said, which confused him immensely. Especially considering the obvious feeling of malice towards him.

The girl glared right back at him, balling her hands into what looked half like fists and half like claws.

"Leia…" The blond man next to her comfortingly covered one of her hands with his own. She seemed to calm at his touch and sighed. With that, Anakin let his arms drop to his sides and had to repress a sigh himself.

"We should start with who you are." Anakin motioned towards the two. "And who you are to each other." He said as an afterthought. Best to know more about them than they needed, plus it might add another chance for a slip-up if they were making things up.

"We're Luke and Leia…Solo." The man—Luke, had hesitated. "We're siblings. Twins actually." Twins…huh, Anakin honestly wouldn't have guessed but it made sense, they had a strong bond in the force.

"Where are you two from originally?"

"Tatooine and Alderaan." He answered simply. The mention of the dessert planet had Anakin stiffen; he hadn't been there since the mission with Ahsoka and the baby hutt, but the thought of that death trap had him close to anger. However, despite the burst of emotion he felt, he managed to remain professional…barley.

"You two were separated?" It was more of a statement. How else could they be twins and grown up on different planets?

"Yes." Was all Luke supplied.

"What do you two do?"

"I was a farmer before I left Tatooine and my sister is a politician." A politician. Great. Now they would probably hear complaints from other stuffy politicians—Padmé not included—that would feel moved at her sad tale of being held by three Jedi and their clone troopers against her will. Ugh.

"A politician from Alderaan?" He asked wearily.

"Yes." The girl clipped, while she raised her head in pride. Of course Anakin had never heard of a Leia Solo in Alderaan politics, but in all honesty, he didn't really know any of them besides Bail, so he couldn't really say she was lying.

"If what you say is true—"

"Which it is." She cut into the middle of his sentence, much to his frustration.

"—then you should contact your planet. We have a communicator here that you can use…but first I need to ask you one more question." The confident irritation he felt from the girl was making it hard for him the keep his eye from twitching.

"Why are you two here? In the middle of a war-zone at that." The room became silent suddenly and all that could be heard was the rain picking up again.

"We…don't know." Luke sigh, defeated. His head sunk a little and he broke eye contact to look at his hands. Anakin stood there, looking over the young man. He tried to spot anything that would give him reason to not believe them, but he didn't; even Leia seemed to grow sad and frustrated at the statement.

Anakin hesitated before speaking. "Well you can stay here for now, until you are able to contact your planet. We can even meet someone for you once we leave the planet tomorrow. If you'd like, that is." The two sibling heads shot up at the same time in surprise. He vaguely noticed Ahsoka looking at him in mild shock as well. He couldn't blame her, he was probably crazy for trusting the strange siblings, but he couldn't help it. It was almost like he had to, like in not doing so would be going against himself. Why he was feeling this way, however, he had no idea, and it was frustrating him to no end.

"Thank you…" Luke managed to gather his wits, and Anakin nodded in a dismissive gesture. Leia, however, looked at him with suspicion through narrowed eyes; she didn't trust his word. He found hiself upset at that fact though, to his utter confusion. Anakin turned to a trooper.

"Get a tent set up for these two with some blankets, they're our guests." The trooper nodded and left along with the other trooper accompanying him. He turned back to the two siblings again.

"They should be back for you in a minute, I'm sorry for any stress this may have caused." He pointedly looked at Leia, who crossed her arms. "If you'll excuse us." He jerked his head to the exit, motioning for Ahsoka to follow. She did so, but not without giving him a questioning glare.

"I'll stay here with these two until they're properly taken care of." He heard Obi-Wan call out after him as he left.

Sighing, he finally acknowledged his Padawan's glare.

"What is it Snips?"

In all honesty, Ahsoka was confused. Her Master never trusted strange people they had knew nothing about. Not to mention strange siblings that mysteriously appeared on a planet in the middle of a wa-rzone. So when he did, Ahsoka wanted to scratch her head, or at least make sure her Master wasn't going off the deep end. The former wouldn't accomplish anything so she decided to go with the latter.

"What do you mean, what is it?" She crossed her arms. "Master, I don't mean to be disrespectful," Anakin snorted at that. "but really, why are we trusting them so easily? What if they're Separatist?" She demanded, and Anakin ran a frustrated hand through his messy hair.

"I can't explain it Snips." He grumbled, clearly upset. "I know it doesn't make sense, but I feel a…connection to them." His gaze lingered over at the tent where the two strangers were before locking his eyes with her again. She found wasn't surprised when she saw that oh-so-familiar look of confidence and determination spread itself over his face. "You have to trust me Ahsoka."

Normally she would comment on how he would have to trust her first, but that didn't seem appropriate at the moment. Instead she uncrossed her arms and made some of her glare drop off her face.

"Ok, I will." It wasn't completely certain, but Anakin had done some crazy stuff in the past and they had made it out ok so far, so what was on more time? Sometimes she didn't even want to know what would happen if her Master's luck ran out. She hoped she would never see the day.

"So what know?" She asked.

"Now," he started. "we get ready for tomorrow. Something tells me it's going to be more eventful than we thought." A lopsided grin appeared on his face and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. Somehow she knew that his luck hadn't run out just yet.

And of course she would have his back like always, so even if the two strangers tried something, she would be quick to end it. No one was going to get the jump on her master, not if she had anything to say about it.

It wasn't long before the two troopers came back into the tent. For once, Leia didn't protest when Luke helped her up and led her to follow the troopers. Truth be told, she was exhausted. She just didn't have the energy to put up a fight anymore. Everything that had happened that day was catching up with her.

The idea that they were somehow in the past still didn't sit well with her. Not at all. They also still had no idea where Han was. She wanted to cry at the thought of him. Why had they been separated? What happened to him? Did he even come back with them at all? She tried to force the thought of her fiancé out of her mind. She couldn't deal with it at the moment. Not yet.

The thought of speaking to Vader, however, was taking over all of her thoughts. She could barley believe it when he had introduced himself. She still could hardly believe it. The monster that destroyed her home, her father, her very life, was in the same camp as her! She had surprised herself when she didn't attack him when she first realized who he was. She didn't know if she could do so well a second time though. She hated him, plain and simple.

Deciding to take her thoughts elsewhere, she thought of meeting a younger Ben Kenobi. It felt so surreal and she almost didn't believe it. It was only because of Luke's recognition of the man that made her even consider the possibility. She looked over to Luke with sympathy. When Obi-Wan Kenobi had died, Luke had taken it hard; she could only imagine how he was feeling right now.

There was also the Togruta girl. It was definitely strange to meet another Jedi besides Luke, and a Padawan at that. She had only ever heard Luke talk about those. He had sometimes talked about teaching Leia before, and that she would be similar to a Padawan, but she had refused so far. She didn't think she was ready, not yet anyway. She didn't know if she ever would be, after all, being a Jedi was Luke's place, hers was being a senator.

Once they reached the tent, Leia became aware of Obi-Wan's presence behind her.

"I hope everything is suitable for you." She studied his face. He was handsome in his own right, with his hair and beard groomed to perfection. His eyes were also a pleasant shade of blue, even though she could see the heaviness of a hard life weighing them down. For a moment she wondered what they looked like when Luke had known him.

"This should be fine." Luke said, looking around the small tent. It had two floor mats they had gotten from who-knows-where with some blankets thrown over them. They also had a small light in the back. It was nicer than some places Leia had slept in the past, namely, a certain cell on a certain planet destroyer. Ben looked at Leia.

"And for you m'lady?" He asked politely.

"It's fine." She attempted a smile. She knew they were a hindrance, being two 'civilians' in the middle of a war-zone and all so she was going to at least act polite.

"Don't hesitate to ask if you need something. If I am not available there are plenty of clone troopers around to get you anything you need." A warm smile appeared on his mouth, succeeding in making him look younger.

"Thank you for your kindness." Leia had her political face on, summoning an easy smile. She heard Luke echo her thanks, and like they hadn't been there at all, Ben and the troopers were gone. Leia felt her legs collapse beneath her and fell on one of the beds. She let her face fall into her hands as her shoulders started shaking.

"Oh Luke..." She gasped, and before she knew it, Luke was covering her in a comforting hug. "I don't know if I can do this! Everything was finally right! Everything finally made sense!" Her shoulders were bouncing up and down uncontrollably. She hated when she lost control, but she was sick of it. Sick of no knowing whether or not they were going to make it. Sick of worrying about Han. Just sick of everything.

"It's going to be ok Leia. We'll get through this, just like we always do. You'll see." He reassuringly rubbed her arms. It was soothing and helped to calm her a bit, but Leia was still upset. At least with the tears gone she would be able to think better, and she knew she needed to get a hold of herself. She was acting like a child and not making anything better by doing it. Poor Luke had to put up with it too.

Summoning what courage she had left, she wiped her eyes in a fury. She was a Senator for force's sake! She had gone through what would have broken most people. She could do this, and even if she was telling herself a lie by saying it, she would until she believed it. She needed to be strong for not only herself, but for Luke as well. She couldn't let him shoulder this alone. She wouldn't. With a shaky sigh she sat up straight and looked Luke in the eyes.

"Thank you Luke, I know." She smiled reassuringly. "We need to think about how we're going to convince anyone on Alderaan to come and meet with us. If no one will, then we need a backup plan. We got lucky here, we can't take any chances." She got up and started pacing. It was very unlike her, but it seemed to be helping her think.

She stopped when she noticed Luke smiling at her and laughing to himself.

"What?" She demanded.

"Oh, it's just you're your old self again. It's really entertaining to see you pace back and forth talking like that. Leia gave him one of her famous glares at that remark, but couldn't keep it when he kept laughing.

"Luke, I swear!" She threw her hands in the air dramatically. His laughing grew louder and she felt herself joining him. It seemed like they hadn't laughed in forever, although they were laughing earlier that same day…with Han.

Leia's laugh died off when she thought about him again, but instead of losing her head, she simply sat down next to Luke and let her face droop into one of concern.

"Luke, do you think Han came back with us?" She searched his eyes as if they held the answers to the universe. Luke's face turned steely and determined.

"If he's here we'll find him, and if he's not we'll get back to him. Leia, I promise you I'll do everything in my power to get you back to him." It took a moment for Leia to mull over the words in her head. She was honestly taken aback at the pure confidence in his voice.

"I believe you." She said simply. She really did, and she felt a hundred pounds lift off her shoulders. "Thank you Luke, for everything." She beamed. She was so lucky to have him with her, she didn't know what she would have done if he hadn't been there. She didn't even want to think about it.

A large smile grew on Luke's face as well. He nodded a "you're welcome", and they sat there in silence for a couple of minutes. The rain had picked up again and Leia felt a growing appreciation for the tent that was now over their heads. She was still wet though, and she couldn't help but grimace at the fact.

"Maybe we can get someone to bring us some dry clothing." She smirked at Luke who just rolled his eyes and laid down.

"Once a princess, always a princess." The mock barley had enough time to escape his lips before a blanket was very un-ceremonially thrown at his head.

"Shut up."

Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.

Cold darkness greeted Han as he slowly cracked open his swollen eyes. His mind was swimming as well as his vision. He could feel his heartbeat throb in his head as he found himself lying on a metal bed in an empty room. Grunting, he had to work to scrape together the memory of how he had arrived where he was.

Where was he anyway?

He attempted to move his arms, but all efforts were stopped short by the thick metal bars covering his wrists. He halted all attempts at moving though, when his thoughts cleared and he was able to remember what had happened earlier.

He had woken up in the same place he had been sitting at with Luke and Leia. He had no idea how long he had been there, but if he was remembering right, he was pretty pissed at the fact that the two twins had left him there to lay in the rain. That was, until he realized that there was a possibility that they were in some sort of trouble. His head had hurt like it was a victim in a rancor stampede.

But whatever the reason, they weren't there. He almost left to search for them when an old man in a hooded cape walked up to him. At first, he thought he was going crazy, and that he was seeing that old geezer that Luke had been so fond of, but as he had gotten closer, he found he didn't recognize him at all.

One snide remark led to another, and Han had found himself knocked out for the second time that day. The next thing he knew he was being questioned—and tortured —by the same man he had first seen out in the field. Of course the questions were ridiculous, like; what time are you from, and who is the leader in your time? The man was crazy, he was sure of that. No one in their right mind would knock out a strange man and bring him back to some place in the back-end of nowhere, only to ask what year it is.

Although, thinking back on it, the man almost seemed like he was waiting for him. Only, maybe not him personally, but defiantly someone. He let a breath escape his mouth when he realized Leia could have been in his position. He was really getting sick of being the one who got all of the torture though.

Cursing loudly, Han tried to struggle one more time before he gave his weak muscles a break. He needed to find a way out, and he would, but first he let his eyes rest…

Chapter Text

For Obi-Wan, it was all a blur as the clones got ready for the mission with a mechanical preciseness that only war-saturated men could have. He himself had been in so many missions and fights in the past couple of years that even he would find himself going through the robotic motions of preparation for battle. He always found time to meditate before a battle though; he would never become complacent with that.

Meditation had always helped Obi-Wan find peace before a battle. He remembered, with a bit of remorse, that once he meditated simply to absorb the presence of the Force; feel its ever-wonderful warmth flow through everything around him—speak to him. Sadly, those days were long gone.

Oh, how times have changed.

"Are you ready Master Kenobi?" It was Ahsoka.

"Yes, I believe I am." Obi-Wan nodded without a smile. Sometimes he felt conflicted about letting Padawans like Ahsoka and Barris participate in the war. It just didn't feel right to let children fight in war and have them risk their lives like the men and women they stood beside. Of course, Ahsoka would never agree, she never has on that point. She's just as reckless as her Master. And truthfully, that's what worries him.

Just as Obi-Wan started to pass by Ahsoka, he felt her grab onto his sleeve with hesitant fingers.

"Master Kenobi?" She sounded unsure; like she always did when there was something she devoted her thoughts to without the success of finding an answer.

"Yes?" He found, that when he looked at her, there was almost no show of any unease. Her eyes—being the only part that betrayed her agitated state—glanced down to the side, and at a spot of muddied grass.

"Do you think we should trust these two strangers? I know we're supposed to help people—but these people might be Separatists!" The last part was shouted in a whisper. He could tell how much it bothered her that these people were found in such a strange place, and then let in with little to no question. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel a little uneasy as well.

But something felt…right about having them there. He didn't know why that was, but he knew the Force had a hand in it somehow. And if they were here by the Forces design, then that was enough for him. At least, for now anyway.

"I don't mean to question Master Skywalker, but something feels wrong." She continued. "I just don't want this to be a mistake is all." Oni-Wan took a moment to ponder what she had said. Of course, he did feel something wrong when the Force started wavering in his last battle, but that discomfort was overridden by the peace he had felt in those short moments. Before speaking, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Trust in your Master Ahsoka. It may seem wrong now, but in the end it should work itself out." She didn't seem convinced.

"But how can you be so sure Master?" She demanded, and he got the feeling that had had this conversation before, with another frustrated, young Padawan. Sighing, he removed his hand and draped his arms over each other.

"Not everything is always as it seems, Ahsoka. I'm not pretending to know them or their motives, but I do know this: They are here by the will of the Force. Search your feelings, but do not be blinded by them; you will get the answers you're looking for, I promise you."

He could tell that she was still unnerved, but she accepted what he told her with a nod. He knew that she would, undoubtedly, follow his instructions later when she found the time, but as she left him there, he found himself releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding. For a moment, he expected her to argue more—to not listen to him. Gently massaging his left temple, he stood in exasperation. Anakin's ability to cause him stress, even when he wasn't present, was truly amazing.

Luke found himself—and Leia—standing in between two arguing Jedi Generals. They were moments before leaving for their mission, but apparently, they forgot to discuss what to do with the two strays they had picked up.

"Well we can't bring them with us." Anakin raised his voice at Obi-Wan as their "discussion" raged on.

"We can't leave them here alone; it's dangerous."Anakin opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by Obi-Wan lifting a swift hand. "We can't leave them with any of the clones either. We can't afford the loss of any troops in our plan. I'm afraid we don't have a choice." Obi-Wan looked over at the twins with what Luke assumed was an apologetic gaze. Anakin, however, scrunched his face a bit, obviously upset with the whole situation.

Luke decided to speak up. "We are no strangers to danger. We can take care of ourselves." When Luke was met with two pairs of unsure eyes, Luke sighed. "Listen, before we came here, we were involved in a rebellion. It took years to stop; so trust me when I say we have experience." He stared at the other two men seriously. He could hear Leia's sleeves move with her arms as she crossed them. He knew that they looked genuine to Old Ben and his father, and they should; he wasn't even lying when he said what they had been through.

After a few moments, Obi-Wan was the first to speak up. "I guess that settles it then: you'll come with us." he looked over at Anakin. "It will be too much of a risk for them to go with you, so they'll have to come with me." Luke felt disappointment creep into his stomach; he wouldn't be able to go with his father.

"Are you sure that's wise, Master?" Anakin crossed his arms. "You're the distraction team, and even though getting into the base will be difficult, it might be safer if they come with me."

"Yes, but not for the mission. If you get caught, then it would give the Separatists a chance to take back this world, and that would be...problematic, considering how many resources we've used to take it."

Luke's father seemed to ponder his former-Master's words for a moment. Luke took the time to look over his father.

He was tall; there was no doubt about that. Luke almost felt upset at having not grown to the full height that his father had. His eyes, he noticed, were as bright a blue as his own. Maybe brighter. He suddenly remembered those eyes the day that the Death Star was destroyed. His eyes then were dying. They had little left to live for, but he also remembered a new hope in them—hope that things would be made new—hope because he had his son. His eyes now were tired, but still bright, and determined. Luke reflected that he still had much to live for, that he still had much to fight for.

"I guess you're right." Anakin spoke, but had time to do little else before Luke's mouth got the better of him.

"I want to go with Anakin." He snapped his mouth shut too late. He didn't know what he was thinking, but the idea that he would be fighting with his father got the better of him before his senses did.

Everyone's eyes locked onto Luke's. Even, he noticed, the young Padawan that had just walked into his line of sight. They were suspicious; that much was certain. He heard Leia snap a "Luke!" through clenched teeth beside him. Ignoring her, he felt himself swallow as he dreaded the question that was sure to come.

"Why?" His father demanded in a slow voice. He stared at Luke through narrow slits, and Luke felt the urge to swallow again.

"I-uh, I know a thing or two about explosives. I think I could help with your mission." Luke tried his best to repress a cringe at the poor excuse. Sure, he knew some things about explosives, but that was only because of his mechanical experience. Other than that, he was in no way an expert.

Luke's eyes were focused on his father's questioning gaze, but noticed Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, and the Padawan crossed her arms. She was the first to speak, much to Luke's surprise.

"My Master knows plenty about bombs; he doesn't need your help." The low tone in her voice was threatening, but only slightly. She didn't trust him and Leia at all, and he couldn't blame her.

Soon after the Padawan spoke, Anakin stepped forward and uncrossed his arms. "No, Ahsoka, it's okay." He directed the comment at the upset Togruta. "I'll allow you to come with me. If you can defend yourself of course." A small smirk found its way up to his father's lips, and Luke had to work to keep his jaw from dropping. Luke could even feel Leia's shock at the news.

"Master—!" The Padawan started, but bit her lip at the look Anakin gave her.

"Are you sure about this Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked reasonably. The only conformation he got from his former-apprentice was a curt nod. "Very well." He looked at Leia, who had kept silent for most of the time, only really observing. "And you milady?"

Luke turned his head to look over at his sister. She looked between her brother and Obi-Wan, obviously frustrated at the situation.

"I think I'll stay with Master Kenobi." Leia looked at Luke, her face filled with irritation, and what looked like betrayal.

"Well, if that finally settles things, then I think we should be on our way. We've lost enough time arguing already." Obi-Wan placed his hands on his hips in slight impatience.

"I agree." Anakin nodded. "Let's move out!" He motioned for his men to follow before turning to Luke.

"Are you coming?"

Pure frustration filled Ahsoka's whole being. She knew she shouldn't have such strong feelings as a Jedi, but she still took a moment to fester in it. She had never gotten the chance to release her emotions into the Force through meditation like she wanted to, but she would just have to get over herself. Of course, she could just release them now, but like her Master, she found that hard to do when in the middle of something like a mission. Sighing, she attempted to release some of them anyway.

Ahsoka did trust Master Kenobi, but she was still going to keep an eye on the twins. Especially Luke. He had already shown a discomforting amount of interest in her Master, and she didn't like it. She might had thought he was just another fan of The Hero With No Fear, but her and Master Kenobi had found him and his sister standing alone in the middle of the bodies from a recent battle. It just didn't make any sense.

She tried to brush off the thoughts and put her focus on the mission. They were headed to a rock face, and she would need all of her attention to be on the mission at had if she wanted to be useful.

It didn't take long to reach the cliff where their mission really started. They would have to climb down half a mile, and then over a full one. It was the only way into the Separatist base unfortunately, but they've had to do worse—and crazier—things before.

The mission was fairly simple: get in, plant bombs in the center of the base, and get out, all while Master Kenobi distracts most of the droids at the front of the base. Thankfully, they wouldn't have to come out the same way they went in; Force knows that would be hard while being shot at. No, after planting the bombs, they would attack the remaining droids from behind and make their way out to meet up with Master Kenobi, and then they would light the place up.

Approaching footsteps snapped Ahsoka back into reality.

"So, your name in Tano, correct?" It was the man, Luke. Ahsoka sighed before facing the man she still didn't trust.

"Yes," She attempted a smile. "Padawan Ahsoka Tano." She received a smile from the man as well, when he repeated her words to himself.

If she wasn't crazy, she would think that his eyes seemed strangely familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on it. They stood in silence for a couple of moments before the troops were ready to get going.

"Come on you two, we need to move fast if we want to get there before the sun goes down." Anakin looked at Luke. "You know how to do this?" He asked.

Ahsoka looked at Luke as well. "Yes, I believe I can figure it out." He simply replied. With a nod, Anakin was off. He was leading the front of the group, leaving Ahsoka to hold up the rear and help Luke if he needed it.

"Why don't you stay near me?" Ahsoka told, more than asked Luke, and started to walk over to where she would be positioned on the rock wall.

"Okay." He said hesitantly. He didn't seem upset to go with her; he seemed more…out of place, like he felt awkward.

Once Ahsoka made sure Luke knew what he was doing, she situated herself at the edge of the cliff next to him. Ahsoka met her Master's eyes in conformation before he gave the all clear to repel.

A standard half-hour later, they were almost to the base without too much trouble. The sun was setting and Obi-Wan's team was in position waiting for Anakin's signal. The wind on the cliff made climbing sideways slightly difficult, but when they finally reached the base, the wind had died down.

Anakin gave Obi-Wan the signal then turned to address his team. "Head up behind me. And slowly." Soon after the words were spoken, a fire fight at the front of the base could be heard. Ahsoka almost wished she was in the distraction team fighting, rather than sneaking around behind enemy lines. Even with the small desire, she was still glad she was in the bomb team; at least then she could keep an eye on that Luke man. Plus, her Master had been acting strange and too trusting lately. She had to watch his back. After all, he never did.

When she got to the top of the cliff, she decided she would have to ask him later, why he allowed Luke to go with him. Sure, Luke seemed fine, but there was something wrong with the whole situation. Master Kenobi had said that it was the will of the force, but she had a hard time seeing why that was. She would meditate on it later, but she didn't have time now, now she had a job to do.

Yes, right now, she would focus on the mission…and keep an eye on Luke while she was at it.

Fire erupted all around when Obi-Wan got the signal from Anakin to start the distraction. Leia had been told by Obi-Wan to stay near a clone named Captain Rex. It unnerved her to be so close to the man in armor: it was too similar to the stormtroopers back in her time, even if there were differences in the design, but she tried to ignore it.

She couldn't tell how the clone felt about it though, the helmet made it extremely difficult to tell. The fact that they were in the middle of a fire fight didn't help either, considering his body language was almost impossible to read because of the continuous shooting and ducking.

Captain Rex had given her a gun to defend herself with, and she was thankful. She hated feeling helpless, especially when she could help. She had picked off a couple of droids, and she had to admit, it was completely different than killing stormtroopers. Stormtroopers were humans; she had to deal with the guilt of taking a life when she first killed one. But with droids—with droids she could shoot continuously without feeling an ounce of guilt. It felt…good to not care who you were hurting.

Leia felt her lips pull into a smirk when she shot another droid.

"You're pretty good with a blaster." Rex didn't bother looking back at her when he snapped her out of her reverie.

"Thanks." She frowned. She didn't say anything else because she didn't want to get into why she was good. Force, most of the time—although she was proud of her skill—she wished that she wasn't any good at shooting a blaster. All it did was remind her of what gave her reason to shoot in the first place.

When she ducked back into cover, she sighed as she thought of Luke. He had gone with their father—no, his father—and left her alone. Of course, she could have gone with them, but she wouldn't. It was as simple as that. She felt hurt when Luke chose to go with him, but she could deal with it. Sure, it would have been nice if Luke had been there with her, but she could take care of herself. She even found herself glad that she was in a plain shoot out rather than a covert operation. It always irritated her when she had to sneak around everywhere.

"They don't ever seem to end!" Leia exclaimed, exasperated. She had been wondering how droids could win battles over anything that was able to think—to improvise—but now she understood; the sheer numbers of the droids was enough to make anyone uneasy. The fact that there were droids that looked like they could think more than others didn't help either.

"Once General Skywalker sets those bombs, things will get easier. We just have to hold out." A blaster bolt zoomed right by Rex's face and he hardly seemed to notice. Leia stared at him and couldn't help but wonder how human the clones really were.

Leia's ears seemed to be deafening as the seconds dragged on. The only words spoken were orders, and even those were starting to drown out. The only noises she heard were blaster shots. She distantly realized she was in some sort of battle-haze. All she could think about was what she was going to shoot next, and she found herself feeling the same pleasure she had earlier when first shooting the droids.

She didn't know how long they had been there anymore, nor did it matter; she was okay just like this.

Chapter Text

It was almost dark by the time Luke and the others made their way into the camp. Climbing had been slightly difficult, but really only because he had never done it like that before. They were making their way to the middle of the base slowly, and Luke's hands were starting to sweat. Sneaking around droids with heightened senses was proving to be more difficult than he thought it would be; he couldn't just mind trick them like Ben had taught him, he would have to rely on his skill alone.

At least I have the Force to help keep me light on my feet. He tried to encourage himself.

A quick hand from his father signaled everyone's halt. Droids passed by them in the hallway in front of them as they all lowered themselves to a crouch. There were only three clones with them because they needed a small group to get past without being caught, but it was still strange to him how similar they looked to stormtroopers. He could only imagine how Leia was feeling about it.

Leia…He shook his head. She was mad at him; he could sense it, even from all the way across the base. He knew that she felt like he abandoned her, but he just couldn't pass up a chance to do something with his father. He felt like a kid for acting on his feelings, but he didn't care; he would do it again in a heartbeat.

Watching his father, he could clearly see that he was skilled. Even without seeing him fight, he could tell. The way he moved was with such an unusual grace that it almost looked out of place on his tall frame. He had been trained as a Jedi, and it was showing. Ben had always talked about how capable of a Jedi his father was, and Luke couldn't help but be excited to be able to see it for himself.

Another hand signal and everyone straightened up a little bit to run across the hall. "This way!" Ahsoka bit out in a whisper.

They ran down a few more hallways before approaching the center of the base. Luke swallowed when he saw the multitudes of battle droids crowding the area. They would have to fight; they would have to fight a lot.

Instinctively, Luke reached for his lightsaber, only to touch his hip instead.

Oh Force no.

Frantically, Luke snapped his eyes to look at the empty spot on his belt. There was no lightsaber, and Luke almost cursed out loud at the realization. No doubt they would give him a gun to use, but the missing weight on his side became more painful by the second.

Where could it have gone? I had it while I was meditating…

Meditating! Of course! When Leia, himself—and he assumed Han—went back into the past, his lightsaber must have been knocked off his person. Either that or it was still in the future. Luke really hoped it wasn't that.

"Take this blaster, Sir." A clone handed a military grade gun over to Luke, and he had to repress a sigh. He couldn't help but feel incomplete without his treasured weapon, but he didn't have time to think about it. He would have to suck it up and move on for now.

Anakin turned his head to look at the group with a smirk on his face. "Let's go." And just like that, Luke's father and the Padawan jumped out into the thick of the droids, catching them off guard and slicing through the clusters quickly.

Luke started shooting with the clones beside him. The gun felt strange in his hands, and it felt like ages ago he last used one. If fact, he couldn't even remember using one when he first left Tatoonie with Han and old Ben. Maybe he did. It didn't matter; he was using one now.

Pressing himself up against a wall, Luke chanced a look at the Jedi in the room. They worked well together, and Luke couldn't help but feel the small clutch of jealousy grip his heart. Ahsoka Tano was his father's Padawan; she was training under him. She was able to get to know him as he was before Darth Vader—was able to learn from him. Luke tried to repress the negative feelings when he realized that she had had more time to understand Anakin than his own son had.

A blaster bolt next to his eye snapped him back into reality. It was no time to be thinking something like that. It probably wouldn't ever be. After all, jealousy was not the Jedi way. Not to mention it was a path to the dark side.

The fight continued, and Luke felt the sickening presence of the darkside flood the room.

"Master!" Ahsoka's voice sounded worried.

"I know!" Anakin grunted, slashing another droid through its mid-section. "I feel it too…Ventress."

Luke could barely hear the two Jedi's conversation, but he heard enough. A Sith was present. Slight dread inched its way into Luke's stomach; he had never faced a Sith from before the Empire, but he had heard stories of how ruthless they were. Of course, the Sith in Luke's time were a little worse, but that didn't make anything easier.

Two red beams of light poked themselves through the floor beneath one of the clones and spun quickly to create a circle. The clone tried to move, but the Sith was too fast, and blew the cut flooring up and away, violently.

Because most of the droids were already taken care of, Luke held his fire and studied the figure that flipped out from the hole and landed with her feet on either side of it.

Her skin was a sickly white, and her limbs were thin and lanky. He couldn't tell how tall she was because of her hunched position, but Luke had the feeling it wouldn't matter; she was intimidating in her own right.

"Skywalker…what a surprise." Her voice was like venom, slowly dripping over every word like a curse.

"I gotta say, I never expected to see you here Ventress. I figured you'd have run away by now, considering how close we are to taking this planet." Anakin spat.

After the last droid fell, Ahsoka quickly joined her Master to face their opponent together. Luke stayed back behind cover though; he was no match for a Sith without his lightsaber.

"You know nothing Jedi." Luke decided to quietly make his way over to closer cover, and slowly inched his way behind the Sith. "If you surrender now, I promise to give you a less painful death."

With the Sith's back to him, Luke crouched behind large containers that had previously housed droids. He masked his Force presence, so he was fairly sure that she couldn't sense him. She wasn't able to tell him apart from the other two clones at least.

With a growl of anger, Anakin pounced at the ghastly woman, and their lightsabers met with a snap-hiss.

Flashes of blue on red blurred for a moment before Ahsoka flipped over the Sith to introduce her own green and yellow blades into the mix.

When the Sith blocked with both of her blades, her torso was exposed for a brief moment, and Luke took the opportunity to get a shot at her. The blue blast from the blaster easily bounced off of the red blade that swung meet it.

Luke's eyes met ice when he and the Sith caught each other's gaze. The way she looked at him reminded him of the time when Leia was bitten by a bitz bug, and proceeded to crush it under her boot for four whole seconds with extreme prejudice. The thought would have been amusing if Luke didn't know his life was in danger.

Spinning in a violent circle, Anakin and Ahsoka were forced to take a couple of steps back away from the angry Sith. With her arms stretched out, the Sith Force pushed both of the Jedi, but she only really succeeded in skidding them back a couple more feet.

Luke found that that was enough for her however, when he felt himself lifted off of the ground and have his weapon ripped from his hands. He had never been lifted through the Force before, and he realized—with slight panic—that there was nothing that he could do.

With a swing of her wrist, the Sith flung Luke across the room. With a crash, Luke felt himself hit a wall, and his back arched before he fell to the floor with a sickening thud. Vaguely, he heard his father call his name in worry. Everything was a blur for a few, painfully long seconds before his head started to clear.

Coming to again, Luke managed to push himself up on his forearms, and then his hands. When he looked up, he saw Ahsoka get knocked back into storage crates nearby. Her lightsabers were knocked out of her hands when she hit.

The Sith was still fighting his father though, and with a slash to a pipe, Anakin let out a yelp when the burning gas hit his face, rendering his defenses useless when, he too, was thrown across the far side of the room.

Luke was finally able to stand up when he saw that Ahsoka was stuck on something around the containers she was by. He also noticed that the Sith looked like she was about to jump after Anakin to deliver the killing blow.

"Master!" Ahsoka's voice rang in Luke's ears.

Making a split-second decision, Luke used the Force to bring one of Ahsoka's lightsabers to his hand. "Get away from him!" Using the Force once more, Luke jumped across the room and landed, crashing the green lightsaber down onto the Sith's before she had time to attack his father.

The surprise on the Sith's face gave Luke slight satisfaction as they stood there in a saber-lock. Behind her, Anakin scrambled to his feet, and Luke could almost feel Ahsoka's sigh of relief from across the room.

With a nod from Anakin, Luke broke the saber-lock and spun off to stand next to his father. Ahsoka, having finally setting herself free, jumped behind the Sith, her short yellow lightsaber in hand. The Sith looked between the two men and Ahsoka with a frazzled look in her eyes before taking a couple of steps to the side.

"Two Jedi is a dance, three is just crowded. Maybe next time boys." With that, she flipped away from the three Jedi, and ran.

All three of them turned off their lightsabers, and Luke handed Ahsoka's back to her, who received it with a grateful nod.

"That coward." Anakin grumbled in a low voice. His face changed though, when he turned to look at Luke and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "I guess it's a good thing you ended up coming along. Thank you for keeping her off me." A warm smile spread itself over Anakin's face, and Luke found himself returning it wholeheartedly.

"Don't mention it."

Luke felt his spirits drop with Anakin's hand from his shoulder as Anakin addressed Ahsoka. "We need to plant those bombs so we can go meet up with Obi-Wan and blow this place sky-high." Ahsoka nodded again, and opened the bag with the bombs.

"You got it Master."

Obi-Wan let out a deep breath when he saw Anakin, Ahsoka, and the young man Luke emerged from the base behind the droids. They had been fighting from much longer than they had estimated. Of course, that was to be expected, but it didn't make it any easier. Something must have gone wrong.

And when they got closer, he knew he had been right: Ahsoka was walking with a limp, Luke looked a little bruised, and Anakin had somehow managed to get a first degree burn streaked across his face, not to mention his eyes looked slightly red and irritated.

With several destroyer droids—and other kinds of droids—still left, Anakin found a spot next to Obi-Wan for cover.

"What happened this time? Did you finally trip onto your lightsaber after all these years of fumbling about with those long legs of yours?" Anakin's lips pressed into a thin line as he turned towards Obi-Wan with obvious displeasure written all over his face.

"Very funny Master, but don't forget that these long legs can out run and out fight you any day." A pleased smirk from his former Padawan made Obi-Wan struggle to repress an eye roll.

"Force forbid you run or fight yourself off a cliff someday trying to get ahead without me." Obi-Wan shook his head with a small, sad smile. Anakin opened his mouth to respond, but an explosion cut off their conversation.

"I think this would be a good time to set off those bombs, Anakin." With a sharp nod, Anakin contacted Ahsoka with his com-link.

"Ahsoka, light it up." Ahsoka responded with an affirmative before Anakin yelled over the noise of scrap metal and blasters. "EVERYONE, GET DOWN!"

And just like that, heads ducked and the explosion went off.

Debris and dirt went flying everywhere, and for a second, Obi-Wan second guessed whether or not they should have been that close when the bombs went off. A piece of shrapnel to the arm made up his mind for him.

When things settled down, Obi-Wan slowly lifted his head. "Anakin?"

"Right here, Master." Dark boots invaded his vision along with a gloved, outstretched hand. Gladly taking the hand, Obi-Wan stood and found himself looking at a very dirty Anakin. "What's the matter? Never seen dirt before?" Anakin's now obviously cracked lips formed a teasing smile.

"We were too close to that explosion." Obi-Wan deadpanned.

"Sir." Rex walked up to the two dirt-caked men.

"Rex," Anakin faced the Captain with a fondness that showed on his face. "How'd everything go on this end?"

"We held out, Sir. I made the rounds: everyone survived the blast, there are just a few injured."

"That's good." Anakin nodded. "Make sure the injured get treated. We need to make sure everything is set up for Master Plo's arrival before we head out."

"Yes, Sir." With a salute, Rex was gone. Obi-Wan noticed Anakin's shoulders droop after a moment.

"You should get yourself checked out as well; that dirt can't be good for your burns." Anakin frowned at Obi-Wan's words and lightly touched his face where the burns were.

"I guess, you're right…" Anakin looked at Obi-Wan. "I'll see you in fifteen." And then he was gone.

Sighing, Obi-Wan looked at the rubble that was previously the last droid base. Master Plo would be there soon and they would finally be able to leave the planet. Strangely, the idea seemed more appealing two days ago.

Ahsoka choked on a coughed again for the tenth time in the last five minutes. She didn't get hit with anything when the explosion went off, but she did get covered head to toe with dirt and mud.

"Are you ok?" It was Luke.

"I'm fine." She offered a weak smile. "You weren't injured in the blast, were you?" Luke smiled and shook his head.

"Na, I'm just a little," he motioned his hands over himself. "dirty." She couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Tell me about it." She motioned over herself as well, and they both laughed. Their laughter died down and Ahsoka's face turned serious. "Luke, I want to thank you for saving my Master back there when I couldn't." She frowned when she remembered the throat chocking moment when she thought that she might lose her Master. Jedi weren't supposed to form attachments, but Anakin was like family to her—like an older brother she could never have.

"You don't have to—"He started, but Ahsoka held up her hand.

"No, I do. And I'm sorry if I've been cold, I just haven't had the luxury of trusting many people in this war. I thought you were something you're not, and I was wrong. I hope we can start over." She smiled at him apologetically and held her hand out.

For a moment, Luke just stood there and blinked. He quickly composed himself however, and gripped her hand with a large smile.

"I would love that."

Grey wall. Grey floor. Grey bed. Grey toilet. Han resisted the urge to smack his head against his hands as he sat on the hard, thin, grey bed in his cell. If he was in the mood to be dramatic about it—which he was—then he would complain that he had been in much nicer, much more colorful cells than this one.

At least they had a different color other than grey in them.

Of course, he probably shouldn't be so nonchalant about his situation, but he was running on little to no sleep. All thanks to the negative amount of comfortable sleeping positions he had. And that was thanks to the torture he was so graciously given the night before.

Today though, he was almost sure he would be able to get out. The meals given to him at breakfast and lunch were brought into the cell by guards. It was a dumb risk they were taking, and Han would make them pay for it. Of course, if he failed, he probably wouldn't get a chance like this again.

Though, if it didn't work, he would find a different way to get out. He was, after all, the Han Solo, and he had escaped many many cells in his lifetime.

Two knocks on the door signaled dinner. "Back away from the door." A muffled, gruff voice spoke from outside of the cell.

Keeping his face straight, Han rested his elbows on his bent knees. He needed to appear like he wasn't going to try anything and stay completely calm if his plan was going to work.

The door whined and creaked when the guard came in. The man stood above Han and looked down his nose at the Corellian smuggler with obvious distain. Han gave him a lopsided smirk, but had enough experience not to laugh at the man.

Backing up a couple of steps, the guard stooped down to place the tray of food down on the floor. Han finally let himself chuckle, catching the attention of the guard.

"I gotta say, I've seen better prison food," The guard fully snapped his head up with a glare but Han spoke before he could. "I've seen a lot worse though." And with that, Han ignored sore and strained muscles and lunged at the guard. The guard wasn't expecting it, and the though made Han want to laugh. The man who was holding him there really needed some new guards.

"Get off me! Guards—!" Han straddled the man and covered his mouth quickly. The other guards may have already heard it, so he had to be quick. Three hard punches to the face later, and the man was knocked out cold. It would be a while before he woke up. And man would he have a headache.

Pushing himself off the man's body, Han searched the man for a weapon. There was only a taser on his person, and Han briefly wondered why there hadn't been any guards rushing in the sedate him yet.

Ignoring the feeling, Han grabbed the taser and ran out of the cell. He was in a hallway, but there didn't seem to be any guards or doors other than his own.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." He frowned at the silence in the area. Something was definitely up; there was no doubt about that. He just needed to figure out what, and then to figure out how to avoid it. "I could really use some of those Force powers Luke has right about now." He mumbled, having decided to walk down the left of the hallway.

Han picked up his pace: if he was going to run into a trap, better sooner than later. With the clanking of his shoes against the metal floor, Han had to resist the urge to yelling just to make a noise other than his shose. It was driving him insane to not know what was going on. Of course, he had been in similar situations, but nothing to this extent.

Turning down another hallway, Han stumbled upon the first door he had seen in ten minutes. It was dark inside, but a dark room was better than endless hallways, so he went in.

Low, blinking lights were scattered across the room, as Han make his way over to them. There could have been any kind of trap or alarm in the room, but nothing seemed to happen, the lights didn't even turn on.

Han ran a light hand over a cool metal surface that he assumed to be a holomap. If he could just turn it on and see where he was…no, something in Han's stomach told him that it wouldn't be a good idea. But if this was the trap set out for him, he might as well spring it. At least he would know where he was.

Cursing under his breath, Han stabbed at the button that would turn the map on. Even when the lights turned on and the alarms started ringing along with the voices of guards, Han could only stare at the map, frozen in confusion.

"Tatooine?"

Chapter Text

With a moan and a violent twitch, Han woke up and found himself strapped to a chair. When the guards had gotten to him at the room with the holomap, he hadn't resisted arrest. He hadn't seen a point. He wasn't going anywhere after all.

Blinking, Han tried to adjust his eyes to the thick darkness in the room. It wasn't working though, and he decided to just give up and try to find out if anyone was nearby.

"Hey, is anyone there?!" He demanded in frustration. He was getting really sick of not knowing what was going on.

The only answer he got was silence.

Cursing, Han thought of Leia and Luke. He still didn't know where they were, but he hoped they were in a better situation than he was. After all, the kid had gone through enough in the last couple of years. They all had. And Leia, well he just didn't want her getting hurt, not again. And especially not when he finally got the nerve the ask her to marry him! None of that would matter if he died here though…

Shaking his head of the thought, he decided to stop wasting his breath anymore than he needed, and started to struggle in the chair. The chair was metal, but it was warm; he must have already been there for a while. The restraints on his wrists and ankles were metal as well, but Han noticed—with growing horror—that there was about an inch of water on the floor. They must have put him in some sort of electrical torture room.

Han swallowed.

"I do hope you will stop struggling: you're not going anywhere." A dark voice from the shadows spoke painfully slow; an unnatural breath followed, causing Han to snap his head in different directions to figure out where it was coming from.

"What do you want?" Han Snapped, furious. He wanted answers, and that seemed to be something he was seriously lacking lately.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Han strained to hear movement—anything that would help him figure out who the mystery person was—but he couldn't. Even the unnatural breathing seemed to fade with the bodiless voice. "I am, however, going to give you an opportunity."

Dread froze Han where he sat. Choices were never good in these kinds of situations; they always involved two less-than-desirable options. "Yeah well, whatever the opportunity is, I'll pass. I don't make a habit of making deals with people like you… No offence." He added the last part as an afterthought, and made sure to deliver it with an extra dose of sarcasm.

Sarcasm always seemed to make him feel better when he had no control over the situation.

The shallow breathing picked up again, and for a moment, Han was reminded of Vader. Just the thought of the dark, masked man sent shivers up his arms. Vader's mechanical breathing was one of the last things he heard before being frozen in carbonite. The memory managed to bring a smirk to his mouth as well though: Leia had admitted her feelings for him in that moment.

"I believe you will find the opportunity alluring, Captain Solo, when you are enlightened as to what you will be doing." Han raised an eyebrow. This guy was crazy if he thought he had anything to tell Han that would be appealing in any way.

Well, besides an offer of freedom: no charge, of course.

The raspy voice continued when it didn't receive a reply. "It is only a simple task really; all I need you to do is call your friends and tell them where you are. The coordinates are ready to be sent when you speak to them."

Stunned silence was the only thing Han was capable of at the moment. The guy really was crazy. None of it made any sense. Why would this guy want his friends to find him, assuming they were here at all. He wasn't sure of the details, but Han was getting the sneaking suspicion that maybe he wasn't in his exact time period. Call it a smuggler's intuition.

More silence filled the room, and for a moment, he almost thought that the person in the shadows had left. Patient, stiff breathing convinced him otherwise.

"I—what are you trying to pull?" Han's eyes turned to dangerous slits, not really being able to glare at anything in particular. It sounded too good to be true. It had to be. He wasn't stupid enough to think that bringing them there would be anything other than a trap, but he was tempted. After all, Luke and Leia were good enough to get them all out without much incident…right?

A dark chuckle crackled its way into Han's ears, making him wince. "You may take some time to think it over." The chuckling stopped suddenly, the voice deepening to a dangerously low tone. "Just remember that you may regret one of your options, should you so choose it."

With the threat spoken, the breathing faded again, and this time, Han was sure the figure was gone. A sigh of relief escaped his dry lips. He didn't really enjoy talking to shadows. And that was putting it mildly.

Sudden movement in the corner of his right eye had him startled. Han looked down at a compartment opening on the armrest, next to his hip. A comm. device made itself known to him when it opened the rest of the way. He stared at it blankly.

After a slight pause, and his arms and leg restraints opened, allowing free movement. But even with his limbs free, he knew wasn't going anywhere, not when the shadow man obviously had more plans.

Gripping the comm. device roughly in his hands, he stared at it for a long moment. He knew he had to choose. He knew what was on the line. He just had to suck it up and do something…or not do it.

With a long, rough sigh, Han chose.

They were almost ready to set off. All they were waiting on was a Jedi Master named Plo Koon. After the Empire had fallen, Luke had looked up stories—and anything he could find—on the Jedi of the Republic. He remembered that this specific Jedi was on the Council, and the thought of seeing a Jedi who was on the Council was exciting. Of course, Obi-Wan was on the Council, but Luke had never considered the thought to be extremely exciting because of the fact that he met him as a hermit first. With that kind of image, it made it hard to take the thought seriously. At first, anyway.

Smiling at the memory of first meeting old Ben, Luke shook his head and focused his thoughts on his newest problem: his lightsaber. He needed to see if it was with him in this time, and if so, then he needed to get it. He was fairly sure it would be where he woke up if it was there at all. He couldn't just up and leave though, and he couldn't just show up with a lightsaber of his own. No, he needed to address this problem now, and he knew how he was going to do it.

Swallowing, Luke walked up to his father.

"Anakin?" Spinning around, Anakin seemed surprised to see him. The thought was strange though, considering he should be able to feel him in the Force before he got there.

"Luke!" Anakin gave an awkward smile, lightly fidgeting with the comm. device in his hands. "What do you need?" He regained his composure and stood a little straighter.

Ignoring the weird moment with a raised eyebrow, Luke remembered why he was there. "I need your permission—and help if possible—to find something that I lost when I woke up in the field with my sister." Luke almost held his breath, hoping he would help him without much question. It was a stupid wish, of course.

"What is it?" Anakin asked, crossing his arms. Luke sighed.

"It's a lightsaber." He decided to just say it. There was no need to lie about it, if his father went with him, he would find out about it anyway. Plus, he wasn't willing to just not have his lightsaber with him. Especially not in the Clone Wars.

Anakin's expression betrayed shock, and then stormed over. "You have a lightsaber? Why? How? Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded, lowering his voice, taking a step forward, and uncrossing his arms. Luke kept his face calm and free of emotion. It wouldn't do any good to escalate the situation. Luke silently hoped that some of Leia's diplomatic side had rubbed off on him in the past couple of years.

"I don't know really," Luke let his shoulders slump a little bit. "I guess I thought that you wouldn't trust me." It sounded pitiful to his own ears, but it was partly true; he thought that they might think he was some sort of rough Jedi, or worse—especially Ahsoka. The main reason though, was because he didn't want to explain why he had one, and why he could use it.

Anakin's frown grew a hair longer. "Why do you have one? You're not a Jedi, so you must have gotten it from somewhere." He paused, and his nose wrinkled a bit. "Or someone."

Feeling his own frown form, Luke felt irritated at his father for the first time since he got there. "I didn't kill anyone if that's what you're getting at. I built it." Surprise and something akin to respect flashed through Anakin's eyes, but a moment later, his frown returned again, but it was less threatening.

"I…shouldn't have blown up at you like that, forgive me." A pause. "You should have told me though, I might have understood." Unfortunately, something in his gut told Luke that Anakin would have dealt with it the same way.

"I'm sorry." And Luke found that he really was. He was upset that his father thought that he might have killed to get his lightsaber though. Although, it couldn't be helped he guessed; enemies of the Jedi were everywhere, and he was more than sure that people had attempted to kill Jedi for their powerful weapons. But it still hurt.

Anakin nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll help you look for it."

"Thanks." Luke nodded as well.

"Let's go before Master Plo gets here."

Standing in the communication room, Leia stared at the holoprojecter, arms lightly hugging herself. She had been like that for the past twenty minutes. She was supposed to contact someone from Alderaan, but she didn't really know anyone besides Bail, and he didn't know her, so that was out of the question. Sighing, she let her arms fall. As she did, Obi-Wan walked in.

"Having trouble?" His voice made her jump. "Sorry." He supplied, seeing her reaction.

"It's fine." She quickly composed herself. "Thing aren't working out with Alderaan, I think it would just be best if you dropped us off at a spaceport." She smiled apologetically.

"I do hope nothing is wrong." He stroked his beard and stared at the holoprojecter before glancing over at her with a question in his eyes.

Understanding, she replied. "No, nothing is wrong," She fought for the words in her head. "It's…complicated." She sighed, giving up trying to explain it.

Recognizing her reluctance, he simply nodded, respecting her privacy. She smiled at his thoughtfulness. She never really got to know Obi-Wan, but so far she could understand why Luke cherished his friendship so much.

The same could not be said for Vader though. Luke saw him as their father, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. Her father died with her planet, along with a little bit of her heart. Luke would never understand how she felt. How could he? He had only ever seen the light in him, even now. Leia, Leia saw him for what he really was: a monster in a cocoon, just waiting to hatch.

Turning away from her darkening thoughts, Leia focused her eyes on Obi-Wan again. She truly was grateful for him. He had helped Luke, and been a mentor to him in the beginning and since. She had known of him only through her father Bail, but Luke had known him personally. It didn't matter though; she found his presence comforting, like she might have known him this entire time as well.

"I'm sorry for adding the burden of my brother and I when you are trying to fight a war." She frowned, looking away. "You've been so kind to us; I'd hate to make things hard on you."

Leia ignored the thoughtful look that was directed at the side of her head. "Believe me, it's no trouble. In fact, it's quite a welcome distraction. For once we're doing something that doesn't involve fighting the enemy. I'm just sorry you were dragged into that last battle with us." He draped his arms over each other, shaking his head.

She smiled. "Either way, thank you. And don't worry about that, you had a job to do, who were we to get in the way of that?"

There was another moment of silence, and Leia found Obi-Wan's eyes searching hers. "Yes, and that brings up another interesting subject. Your brother said you were in a rebellion before; would you mind telling me which one? There have been so many recently, I'm curious to know." He sounded curious, but Leia heard the real reason for the question: it was a test to see how open she was going to be. A test to see how much he could trust her.

A pit dropped in Leia's stomach. She was going to kill Luke for his impulsive reveal of that little bit of information. She should have stopped him from speaking. She was better at it anyway.

"After I first met Luke, we went to Tatooine together," She began cautiously. "We got sucked into a problem between the Hutts, bounty hunters, and smugglers. It wasn't large enough for news of it to reach off-world, but me and my brother got some of our experience from the whole ordeal."

It wasn't a lie, she had gone to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt and gotten captured. Luke had followed, and it turned into fight. Sure, it wasn't the galaxy-wide rebellion against the Empire, but it would have to do. There was no way she was revealing anything about that, to do so would open a whole other can of worms. She just hoped that she would have the time discuss the subject with Luke before he said something stupid and got them both in trouble.

Mild surprise showed itself on his face. "Oh? I'm sorry that you had to get caught in their crosshairs. The Hutts are very dangerous, as you obviously know. I trust that everything worked out in the end?" If he didn't believe her, it didn't show.

She nodded. "Yes, it did." She answered shortly. Taking it as a sign that she felt uncomfortable continuing the conversation, he backed off.

"I hope you'll forgive my prying, I'm too nosy for my own good I'm afraid." He smiled ruefully.

"It's fine." She let a small smile form on her face. She was thankful he hadn't pushed for more information. She didn't know if she could keep up her side of the conversation for much longer while sounding genuine. She didn't want to lie to him after all.

Letting his arms drop, he motioned towards the door. "Would you like me to show you your quarters and the mess hall?" She smiled, thankful for the change of subject.

"Yes, thank you."

It had started to rain again when Anakin and Luke had gone to look for the missing lightsaber. Pouring rain and mud dripping over Anakin's face made it seem like forever before Luke found his lightsaber. Anakin had gotten a pretty runny nose by the time the weapon was found as well, and looking under and in-between droid scrap metal while bending over had not helped it to stop. Now they were back at the ship though, and back under the dry covering it provided.

Anakin sniffled.

"Is there a—uh—a place where I can clean up?" Anakin turned half way, and found Luke comically trying not to drip any of the mud on the ship's dark grey floor. He felt a smile tug at his lips.

"Yeah, I can take you to where you're staying, there's a shower there. And don't worry about making a mess; it's a little late for that."

Smiling widely, Luke's eyes apologized before he spoke. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." He shrugged it off. He as making a bigger mess himself anyway.

It only took a couple of minutes to drop Luke off at his room before he was able to go to his own quarters and get clean himself. Getting out of the shower and throwing on a fresh outfit, Anakin left his room to head towards the mess hall. He hadn't eaten in a day or two, and his apatite was finally catching up to him.

On his way there, he had been told that Obi-Wan had met with Plo Koon, and they were ready to leave. An elated feeling filled him, making him lighter on his feet. They might get a chance to go back to Coruscant, which meant he would be able to see Padmé—his beautiful wife. He hadn't seen her in three months, and the aching feeling he got when thinking about her was constant. He missed her with every fiber of his being.

Taking comfort and excitement in the thought of seeing her again, Anakin stepped into the mess hall. Clones were seated at rectangular tables, and there seemed to be few seats open. Everyone had had a hard week, but it smelled like the cook had actually tried to make a decent meal that day.

After he got his food, he saw Leia sitting alone, and decided to sit across from her. She was messing with her food, not really eating anything, and she didn't seem to notice him at first.

"Hello, Leia." She jumped, and he heard her curse under her breath. She looked up at him with obvious displeasure, but he brushed it off as being irritated for being scared so easily.

"Master Skywalker." Her tone was flat, and her face took on a cold look. Anakin readjusted himself in his seat.

"I'm not a Master yet. Please, just call me Anakin." He frowned at the title he was so close to achieving. It felt a little further away every day the war dragged on. It was frustrating him to no end that he wasn't granted the rant of Master, but he told himself that it was because Ahsoka hadn't finished her training yet.

"Anakin." It sounded almost like a curse on her tongue, or maybe a mock. He couldn't tell. He had to repress a wince; he was starting to think that he liked it better when she called him Skywalker.

"Is something wrong?" He prompted. Her frown deepened, as did his confusion. Whatever was bothering her, she didn't want to talk about it. At least not to him.

"No." She cut, and Anakin raised an eyebrow. He decided not to push it with her, so he stayed quiet and just nodded instead. There were a couple of moments of silence as they stared at their food, before Anakin looked up at her through his lashes.

He just couldn't get over how much she looked like Padmé. Everything from the curve of her face, to the deep, dusky-brown eyes that Padmé had was the same. Even the fact that she was in politics was strikingly consistent with Padmé. Similarities like these made it easier to keep his patience with the petulant woman sitting in front of him, no matter how much she seemed to dislike him.

"So you're in politics?" Anakin tried at starting a conversation.

"Yes." She didn't bother to look up at him.

"What do you do?"

"I'm a Senator."

"Really?"

"Yes."

The amount of tension he felt radiating off of her made him frown again. Before he could say anything though, his com-link went off.

"Skywalker here."

"Anakin, have you contacted the Chancellor yet?" It was Obi-Wan.

"Not yet. I was going to do that after I ate." As Anakin waited for a response, he could have sworn he heard Ahsoka arguing with Yularen in the background. Anakin smirked.

"Good. He's been asking for a report from you specifically. I'd don't know why though." Obi-Wan's voice lowered for the last part and Anakin could imagine him stroking his beard with the same look of misplaced concern written on his face. Anakin's smirk fell.

"I'll get to it. Skywalker out." Anakin started to stand up when he noticed Leia's face. Her mouth was set in a firm frown, and she seemed as stiff as a rock. He couldn't read her eyes though, and he had to catch himself from staring at them too openly.

"The Chancellor wants to speak to you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, I have to give a full report of our mission." He stepped around his seat and grabbed his tray. He stood there for a second, before dipping his head in a shallow bow. "Until next time, m'lady." He turned and walked away, leaving her there.

Just before he got the chance to leave the room, Luke ran in, barreling past him and stopping in front of Leia. Anakin stopped at the doorway.

"Leia…" His tone was urgent and strained. Leia picked up on it immediately.

"What is it Luke?" Her fists clenched a little, and then relaxed. Anakin watched them do that several times before Luke finally answered.

"It's Han. He's in trouble."

Chapter Text

Leia could feel the panic slowly spread through her gut, threatening to overwhelm her. Han was in trouble. Han. She swallowed, her throat painfully dry all of the sudden. Luke was looking at her with his intense blue eyes, expecting her to say something. She blinked.

"Leia?" Luke sounded worried and uncertain. Snapping up from her seat with a loud screech on the floor, Luke winced.

"Where?" Her voice sounded harsh to her own ears.

"Leia—"

"Where, Luke!" She snapped. She felt her anger rise. Why wasn't Luke doing anything? Why was he just standing there? Why wouldn't he say something? "Luke, so help me—"

"He's on Tatooine." His voice was hard. The frown on his face made it clear that he didn't appreciate her talking to him like he was a child. Standing in silence for a moment, the red haze in Leia's vision cleared and cold determination set in.

"Then that's where we're going." She said it as a fact. She wasn't going to just let Han suffer alone. Not if she could help it. They were supposed to be married soon. She wasn't going to lose the man she loved. No, she would find him, even if it killed her.

"Leia, we need to talk about this somewhere else," She followed his gaze as he looked around the room at some of the clones watching the scene they created. "Somewhere more…private."

Without a word, she gave a sharp nod and then stormed past him. Much to her displeasure, she found Vader standing by the doorway, having seemingly watched the whole conversation. She felt her anger rise again and didn't bother to check her face to make sure that it didn't show.

"What?" She demanded, irrationally. She could tell he was slightly surprised from her sudden burst, but his expression darkened soon after. He didn't say anything, but the look on his face told her that he wanted to.

Without another word or glance, Leia strut past him into the hallway, heading towards her room. She heard Luke close behind, and she knew that he wanted to tell her to control her emotions, but now wasn't the time. He probably knew she wouldn't listen anyway. Han was most likely in pain and she had been sitting around eating lunch, with Vader of all people! Blinking rapidly, she refused to let her tears fall as guilt found a spot in her stomach.

Making it to her room, the door hissed shut behind Luke. She kept her back towards him, hugging herself. The slight buzzing noise from the lights that flickered on automatically in her room were the only noises for a few long seconds, but footsteps approaching behind her were the next.

A warm hand found itself on her left shoulder. Luke's flesh hand. She suddenly felt grateful that he had used his real hand and not his mechanical prosthetic. It had never bothered her before, but the thought of being touched by it made her pale slightly. It was too similar to him.

"Leia…" Luke's comforting voice soothed her, making her shoulders relax a little more. She spun around to face her brother, sympathy written all over his young face. Suddenly she felt ashamed: she was being selfish. Luke cared for Han as well. They were really the only friends each of them had left after the rebellion had taken so many. She dropped her eyes from his gaze, not being able to hold it anymore.

"Luke, I'm sorry, I'm being unfair." She chanced a look into his eyes again, still finding kindness.

"No, you've been through a lot, and now Han is in danger; it's only natural that you're upset." He easily shrugged off her apology. She frowned.

"I could say the same to you, Luke. He's just as much your friend as he is mine." She looked off to the side, only to snap her eyes back at hearing Luke's soft chuckle. "What?" She asked, confused.

"Nothing, but I think my friendship with Han is a little different than yours." A teasing smirk formed on his mouth. Rolling her eyes, Leia lightly smacked the side of his arm.

"You know what I mean." She returned the smirk. Luke laughed a little bit before Leia allowed her face to turn serious again. "Still, I'm sorry I've been difficult. I know I need to get a hold of myself, and usually I can...I just don't know what's been wrong with me lately." Leia shook her head.

"It's ok," He said, finally acknowledging her apology. "Things have been hard on all of us recently." He smiled ruefully. She simply nodded.

"Do you think we'll be able to help him? What did he say to you?" She asked, hopeful. He stared at her before he spoke.

"He sent me the coordinates, and it looks like he's somewhere south of mos taike. It's in the middle of nowhere, and there's no shuttle port to get to it, so we'll have to land without a hanger. It feels wrong though, like there's something clouding my senses every time I try to reach out with the Force." He paced away from where she was standing, and she could tell that it was frustrating him to no end that he couldn't sense Han like he wanted to. "Things are so much different in this time. More…blurred, and dim. When it comes to the Force I mean."

"But you know where he is."

"Yes," He paused in the middle of his pacing. "Well, somewhat. I know what area he's in. Without knowing what we're looking for makes it a little difficult." She shifted her weight in thought. It was better news that no. But something was bothering her…

"How was he able to get the information to you? How was he able to get the information in the first place?" Luke stopped pacing again, turning towards her.

"I thought about that, and I'm not exactly sure, but he must have found some way. But if he was able escape for a little while, then he could be in real danger. If so, we need to get over there quickly." Leia crossed her arms.

"This could be a trap you know." Both of Luke's eyebrows raised in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, I thought about that too. But why would they try to set a trap for people who shouldn't exist yet?" Silence filled the air between them before Luke's expression turned into one of surprise. "You don't think that they know do you?"

Leia shook her head. "Whoever they are, I'm not sure, but I'm not ruling anything out yet."

Luke nodded solemnly. "Either way, we'll need help. The question is whether or not we should ask the Jedi for that."

Obi-Wan stood, staring at the blue holograms of the two Jedi Grandmasters as they appeared with a flicker. Ahsoka stood next to him, having become much better at staying still and quiet over the years. Her growing patience was something that boggled his mind, considering who her Master was. But no matter who was rubbing off on her, he couldn't deny that she was becoming a very promising future-Jedi.

Yoda was the first to speak. "Obi-Wan, heard a report of the mission we have. Concerned about the two strangers, we are. News of them, do you have?"

Crossing his arms, Obi-Wan debated how to go about presenting the two mystery twins to the Jedi Grandmasters. He knew there was something different about them, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Also, Leia had lied to him earlier—although he didn't know why—but he felt he could let it go without much repercussion. He could have told Yoda and Mace a billion different things, but he decided to play it safe.

He told them their names and what they did before the found each other, but he left out the part about them being caught up with the Hutts. It would be better in the long run for everyone if he didn't spread that particular lie. The information he ended up giving them was practically a regurgitation of the answers they had gotten the first time they questioned them in the tent. He briefly reflected that this was one of the few times he hadn't told the complete truth to the two Jedi Council members.

"Trust them, you should not. Spies, they might be." Obi-Wan was going to reply, but Mace spoke instead.

"I agree with Master Yoda. These two have shown up at a convenient time for the Separatists. The balance in the war is on a tipping point, and we cannot afford to take any chances. Get rid of them." Mace's face was hard, adding to the seriousness in his voice. Being in the Council with him, Obi-Wan was not as intimidated with him as some other Jedi were, but he knew when to take him seriously.

"We are already taking them to a spaceport, and they haven't learned anything, so we don't need to worry about any information being leaked. But I have to disagree with your suspicions. I have meditated for an extended period of time and feel that it is the Force's will that they were with us on that planet. I am at a loss as to why though." He stroked his beard in thought.

Obi-Wan's words earned a deeper frown on Mace than before, and Obi-Wan felt impressed at the spectacle. He didn't think it was possible for his frown to grow any more.

"Whether or not they were meant to be there, now they need to go. For everyone's sake." Obi-Wan knew that the Korun Jedi was saying it because he was worried about the Separatists, but he couldn't help but notice how much it had sounded like a threat.

"Of course." Obi-Wan stared at the hologram.

"We will contact you about your next mission later. May the Force be with you." And just like that, the connection was cut and the blue image faded with a stutter.

"Do you really think they're Separatists, Master Kenobi?" It was Ahsoka.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I would still like to know why we found them where we did though." Ahsoka nodded, but before he could say anything else, his com-link cracked to life. "Yes?" He spoke into it.

"It's Anakin. Luke said there's something he and Leia want to take to us about and that it's urgent." Obi-Wan raised as eyebrow.

"Did they say what it was about?"

"No, but he said to head towards Leia's room." Obi-Wan glanced over at Ahsoka, who looked confused.

"I'll be right there."

Arriving first, Anakin entered Leia's room. Luke was facing away from him, and Leia sat stiffly on her bed, her hands flat as boards on her thighs. It looked like he had walked in on a serious conversation, but that made sense considering the urgent tone in Luke's voice when he had contacted him. Leia's eyes snapped to Anakin's face and Luke spun around with a fwip in his clothing.

"Obi-Wan should be here soon." Anakin kept his voice flat. In all honesty, he was very interested in what could be so important to the two twins, but letting that show would probably make them uncomfortable, so he kept it out of his tone.

"Ok." Luke said limply. Silence stretched in the room between the three for a few long seconds. Anakin crossed his arms and shifted his weight, but to his utter relief, the door finally opened behind him.

"I apologize for taking so long to get here, but there were other matters that required my attention." Obi-Wan spoke as Anakin half-turned to face him. He felt a slight burst of mild irritation coming from Leia at the admission: she obviously felt like her problem was more important.

Luke nodded in a dismissive gesture, and Leia stood up behind him to speak. "We know you have a war going on, and we're thankful that you've been so generous and have let us stay with you, but we need your help." Leia's voice was all business, but the kind of voice Padmé would use in a Senate meeting when she was passionate about something. "I know we're in no position to ask, but a friend of ours is in danger on Tatooine and we can't rescue him by ourselves. We could just go there from the spaceport, but two people is hardly enough for a rescue mission. So please, I implore you to take just one day and help us."

Silence filled the room again, and Anakin found that his first instinct was to want to help them, but months and months of fighting a war stopped the words from forming on his lips. Their resources were limited, and they definitely couldn't spare two of their top generals to go on a rescue mission. But still, the temptation to promise his help was strong.

Before he could say anything on the matter though, Obi-Wan spoke. "I'm afraid we won't be able to lend you our services. As much as we would like to help you and your friend, we simply cannot afford to go out of our way for this. I am truly sorry." Obi-Wan tilted his head in an apology.

It was almost painful to see the two twin's faces crumble into disappointment, and Anakin felt himself frown at the sight. Anakin, out of all people, knew how it felt to have someone wait for you to rescue them, only to be held back and unable. The Jedi Council's unwillingness to help his mother when she was a slave still stirred feelings of resentment in him. It might always.

Still, they really couldn't help, but the thought made his fist clench. He was a Jedi; he was supposed to help the people of the Republic. Sometimes, he thought, that the Jedi had been slowly losing their way. They didn't seem to care about the people anymore: it was all about the war. And although he supported what they were doing in it, peace was what he craved the most: an end to all the fighting and suffering, and the ability to be with Padmé. After the war ended he was going to be with her, either as a Jedi, or not.

Leia was the first to regain her composure. Her face hardened quickly and her jaw set. Her eyes bore directly into Anakin's, and he could practically hear the words "I knew it," coming from them. He stared back, unsure as to why she was so set on singling him out all the time. It unnerved him to feel her animosity towards him, and left him wondering what had happened to the woman before him. Maybe someday he'd ask, if he got to know her a little better.

Luke sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it was worth a try." He almost failed at his attempt to smile. "Thank you for everything you've done for us. We're forever in your dept." He nodded his head in thanks, sounding disappointed and a little defeated.

Anakin finally found his voice. "It's no trouble at all." Both Obi-wan and Anakin nodded their heads towards the twins, and Leia returned the gesture as well.

Hesitating a moment to give the siblings an apologetic stare, Anakin turned and left the room with Obi-Wan beside him. Mulling over the moment in his mind, he felt a strange mix between feeling guilt for not helping them, and irritation that they would ask Jedi fighting in a war to abandon everything for a day and go with them. Obi-Wan seemed to pick up on his mood.

"I too would like to help them you know." Anakin snapped his head to look at the auburn haired man. Obi-Wan's eyes only flickered over before staring ahead again. Anakin stared ahead as well, his brows furrowing further.

"It's not fair; we should be able to help them. They're citizens of the Republic and we're ignoring their needs—the needs of their friend—while we sit around, waiting for the Council to send us on another killing spree." He huffed in anger. What had the Jedi order come to? Was it not his dream to help people like Luke and Leia's friend when he was just a boy? Was it not their duty to help everyone who needed it?

Obi-Wan stopped walking and grabbed Anakin by his arm, successfully stopping him as well. "Anakin, listen to me." Anakin's eyes wandered in frustration, looking at anything but Obi-Wan's before finally resting on them, prompting him to continue. "What happened to their friend is horrible, but what we're doing here is for them. As much as I would like to help, there's nothing we can do about it. Leave it to the Force, Anakin." Obi-Wan's grey-blue eyes bore into Anakin's for a moment to express his point.

Anakin jerked his arm from his grasp. "A war's not going to stop kidnapping or slavery or—"

"And who is? You? You're just one man Anakin, you can't play god. You can't control everything."

"But I should be able to!" Anakin raised his voice in a sudden burst of rage, but the look in Obi-Wan's eyes had him slowly blink back into focus.

"Anakin—"

Anakin took an uncertain step back. "I-I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said that, Master." Anakin shook his head lamely. "I'll be in my quarters." Not waiting to hear what Obi-Wan had to say, he walked off without a backwards glance, leaving his former-Master to his own thoughts.

The thin mattress groaned under Luke's weight as he sat down on it. The room was plain, and matched the military image perfectly. Grey walls, and greyer floors. Luke was sure that there would be more personalization if someone was staying here long term, but as it was, it was pretty bland.

Sighing, Luke used his feet to slide off his boots—they didn't come off without a struggle—and flung his legs onto the bed, lying down on his back. It had been a long day, and he was starting to feel the after affects of the free-climbing, as well as the emotional stress.

Sure he had been able to find his lightsaber before they had left, but going to an unknown area to rescue Han from an unknown enemy was causing a slight headache. He could only imagine how Leia feels about the whole thing. They may have been able to leave today, but they would have to wait an extra day before they could get on a transport to Tatooine. After that, they would have to find some sort of ride to mos taike, not to mention the dangers in the desert itself.

Groaning, Luke sat up and rubbed his face in frustration as he flung his legs back off the bed. He couldn't sleep now; he had too much to think about, too much to plan.

He didn't blame his father and old Ben for not being able to help them: he had expected it. Still, it was disappointing to say the least. The thought of having to leave his father and go off and away without knowing when or if he was going to see him again caused a knot to tighten in his chest. After all those years of not knowing him, he was finally with him and he had to leave!

Stopping his train of thought, Luke abruptly stood up and sat in the middle of the floor in a criss-cross fashion. He would meditate. It always made him feel better. Plus old Ben had always told him to release his negative emotions into the Force. It had always worked before, so it could work now. Taking a deep breath, Luke closed his eyes…

Woop. Woop. Woop.

Sirens flared, and struck Luke out of the beginnings of his meditation. Standing up again, he tried to ignore the frustration that his lack of peace and lack of sleep was causing him. The door to his room opened and a couple of clones rushed in, guns erect.

"Stay where you are. If you come willingly, you won't get hurt." The clone trooper didn't give Luke any time to respond before he brought his com-link up to his helmet. "Sir, the male is still here." Luke felt his confusion rise as the seconds sped by.

"I see," Luke recognized Ben's voice. "Bring him to deck three and we'll question him there." Luke opened his mouth but no words came out. It wasn't until a clone shoved him through his door that he found his voice.

"What's going on? What did I do?" He demanded, pushing a clone's hand off of his shoulder. After a minute, he didn't think they were going to answer, but a clone finally spoke up.

"Don't pretend that you don't know." The clone said, sarcasm managed to squeeze its way into the mechanically distorted voice. "Your sister stole a military class starship."

Chapter Text

The fingers of a clone dug into Luke's arm as they arrived at a cell on the third deck, and Luke had to watch himself as anger and frustration threatened to bubble their way into his chest. Leia had left him. It was all he could think about the entire way up there. That, and why. He was going to help her, didn't she know that?

Now he couldn't though. Now he was probably going to be stuck in the cell and forced to stay there for the rest of his natural life. Well, maybe not so natural, considering the fact that he wasn't supposed to be alive in that time at all.

Maybe he was overreacting, but last time he checked, stealing a military ship was illegal. Not to mention wrong. What was Leia thinking? It made no sense. She had let herself get worked into a frenzy, and made a rash decision. Sighing, he realized that he should have been more direct with her about controlling her emotions. It had been his weakness too, when he was being trained by Master Yoda. It still was in many ways, but he had gotten a lot better as he had grown stronger in the Force.

The yellow ray shield in front of him blinked off and Luke felt a blaster dig into his back to get him moving. The clone who had his arm also shoved him forward.

The room he found himself in was dark, but was lined with white lights on the walls that gave him the horrible feeling that he was back on the Death Star.

Repressing a shudder, Luke bravely walked forward and sat in a metal chair at the end of a rectangular steel table. There was no other furniture in the room besides the chair and the table, and he noticed—with growing discomfort—that the other side of the room faded into a shadow.

One of the clones snapped him out of his thoughts with the sound of stun cuffs clicking into place around his wrists behind his back. Turning his head slightly to glare at the restraining device, Luke didn't retaliate when the clone attached his cuffs to the back of his chair. Making a small jerky movement revealed that the chair was attached to the ground.

The clones that had kindly "escorted" him to the room stood at attention, lined up against the walls. It was quiet for a moment before Luke recognized two familiar Force signatures. Hearing the shutting off of the ray shield behind him, Luke didn't bother to look back at the two figures that entered the room together. He knew who they were.

They didn't speak right away. From the right, Obi-Wan walked slowly in front of Luke with his hands clasped behind his back, and coming from the other side, Anakin mirrored his image, although he looked more upset. Obi-Wan stopped in front of Luke, but Anakin continued to prowl.

"Do you know why you're here, Luke?" Obi-Wan asked in a casual tone.

"Yeah," Luke stared at his father as he walked behind him, completing his circle. "Leia stole one of your ships." Man, Leia had really screwed this one up.

"Not just any ship: a military class ship." Anakin leaned his head close to Luke's, as he stood behind him. Luke only flicked his eyes towards Anakin for a second before looking ahead at Obi-Wan again.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms in front of his chest, and Luke could have sworn that he heard him sigh. "You must understand how serious this is. You're sister has committed a crime against the republic and will have to be tried in court." His voice was harsh, and Luke couldn't help but flinch a little. He had never heard Obi-Wan talk like this before. Obi-Wan uncrossed his arms and leaned forward on the table. "You must tell us where she has gone. Anything you know will help immensely."

Luke didn't waste a second. "Listen, all I know is that she's going to Tatooine. She took the coordinates to find our friend, but that's it." He said, slightly exasperated with the whole situation. Surely they could sense he was telling the truth.

Anakin walked back in front of Luke and stood next to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan stared into Luke's eyes like he was searching for something. He probably was.

With silence hanging in between them, Luke couldn't help but notice how tired Obi-Wan looked. Sure, he had looked tired when Luke had first met him on Tatooine, but he was old and that alone didn't leave room to look like anything else. Here, Luke knew the war was affecting him. War liked to do that to everyone, it seemed. It also made people lose trust in one another, and the thought had it easier to feel patience with the two men in front of him. He knew that the lack of trust they had in him wasn't personal.

Before the moment could stretch out any longer, the ray shield dropped and a clone stood at attention behind Luke. "General Kenobi sir, you're needed in the communications room." Obi-Wan stood up straight.

"Can it wait?" Luke could hear the strain of frustration in his voice.

"No, sir. It's the Council; they said it's urgent."

Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose, but only for a second. "I'll be right there."

"Yes, sir." The clone left without another word, and Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin, who nodded back in an unspoken affirmation.

Anakin's eyes followed the older Jedi as he walked out of the cell before turning his attention back to Luke. Silence stretched on for what felt like forever, and Luke started to feel uncomfortable under his father's hard gaze. He almost thought that Anakin wasn't going to talk, when he opened his mouth.

"Listen Luke, I don't care if you know anything about the stolen ship, but I need to know whose side you're on." When Luke stared blankly back, Anakin frowned. "Are you with the Separatists?" He demanded, getting impatient.

Luke frowned, himself. "Well, will you believe what I tell you?" After a moment, Anakin nodded. Thinning his lips, Luke spoke. "I'm on your side Anakin, you must know that. I would never want to jeopardize what you're doing here; I support the Republic as much as you do." Luke said, passionately. He left his mental shields down so Anakin could read his motives. He would be in one fine mess if he didn't believe him. Luke swallowed, waiting.

Anakin seemed to be mulling what Luke said over in his mind. He said he would believe him, but he wasn't stupid; he wouldn't risk the safety of his mission on the word of an acquaintance.

After a moment, Luke could feel the slight brush of Anakin's mind in his as he took up Luke's silent offer to search his true intentions. Of course, he couldn't read his mind, but he could at least tell whether or not Luke was speaking the truth.

A few more moments passed by and Luke tried to re-adjust himself in his seat when numbness spread in his legs, but Anakin took it as a different kind of discomfort. "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude so deeply." The presence Luke had felt in his mind swiftly ripped away.

Luke shook his head, feeling strange from the sudden disconnect. "No, it wasn't an intrusion at all. I was just making myself more, uh, comfortable." Anakin lightly raised an eyebrow, seeming to study Luke before a silent sigh could be seen on his chest.

Uncrossing his arms, Anakin's face became more serious. "Well, you seem to be telling the truth, but I still have questions." Luke's brows furrowed.

"I'll try my best to answer them, but I don't know how many I'll be able to." Before Anakin could say anything, his head shot up as the ray shield turned off again.

"Well, we'll all have plenty of time to get to know each other better on the way to Tatooine." It was Obi-Wan, and no one said anything while he walked back in front of Luke.

"Uh…what?" Luke asked dumbly. Surely he wasn't saying what he thought he was saying.

"You, my friend, are going to go with us to Tatooine to retrieve the stolen vessel. And your sister."

Leia wiped the nervous sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand as she adjusted herself in the pilot's seat. Stealing the ship from the Jedi was not what she had planned, but it had happened anyway. She almost regretted doing it, but the thought that she could finally get something done and save Han had her disregard the feeling of remorse altogether. Of course, she shouldn't have left Luke, and now she would have to go alone, but she had confidence in her abilities.

Or so she told herself.

She had had plenty of time to acquaint herself with controls of different ships over the course of the rebellion, so she didn't have a problem with flying on her own, but this was a very old ship compared to the ones she was used to. It was like flying an antique. The thought wasn't even that far off.

She had been in hyperspace for hours, and was likely to be arriving at the desert planet soon. How many times would she have to come back to the dumb rock to save Han? Sighing, she sat with her back straight, but decided against holding the position. Slumping down in her chair, Leia lightly crossed her arms and gazed at the blue space quickly passing by her outside of the ship.

Flying a ship never brought Leia any giddy feelings like it seemed to do with Luke, but when she was in hyperspace, she felt strangely at peace. It was beautiful, and it reminded her of the water back on Alderaan right after winter. She used to play in it when she was younger and throw the water above her head, making the substance appear like diamonds falling around her. It was freezing to the touch, but one of Leia's favorite things about her beloved homeworld.

Alderaan…

The pain of the memory caused Leia to grip her abdomen, willing back the emotions that came with it. So many people died in the war with the Empire, but the most devastating loss was Alderaan. A whole planet full of people—gone. Just like that. Her father, her friends; it was almost too much to bear. It had been over six years since it was destroyed, but the memory still felt fresh, just like the pain. It was memories like those that kept Leia from seeing Vader as Luke did. He was so willing to forgive, but Leia just wasn't ready. She didn't know if she ever would be able to, even if she wanted to.

A blinking light on the nav-computer brought her back to the present and told her she was close. To be honest, she was slightly surprised that she hadn't been contacted by the Jedi. Surely they had a way to communicate with their own ship. It didn't matter though, she would continue and land either way.

With smoothness Leia could appreciate, the ship dropped out of hyperspace. The barren planet filled the window of her shuttle as she approached. Starting the dissent into the atmosphere, Leia banished all other thoughts: she was headed to Mos Taike to start her search for Han, and she couldn't be distracted. Before she left she thankfully had enough sense to grab the coordinates for the area he was in. Luke had left it in her room, opportunity written all over it.

The ship shuddered as she lowered it through the atmosphere. The sky was clear, and Leia found herself thankful for the fact. If there had been a sand storm, she didn't know if she would have been able to get searching right away. Not like it would have stopped her.

Mos Taike came into view and Leia couldn't help but frown at the small town. If it could be called that at all. It looked like someone had dumped a bowl of sand over the area, only showing a couple of small buildings. Places like Mos Eisley and Mos Espa were disgusting crime-holes, but they looked like Coruscant next to the deteriorating rubble in front of her.

Leia landed the ship right outside of the town limits. It would be difficult to keep the ship there because of the lack of any kind of landing zone, but she would have to risk it. She didn't plan on being gone long anyway.

Sighing, she rubbed a hand over her temples as she slumped in her seat once again. She was being stupid. Very stupid. What was she thinking coming out here all alone? Where was her common sense? She should have waited for Luke, but she didn't. She couldn't let doubt scare her off now though; she dove into the situation head first. She could only hope that when Luke and the Jedi found her, they would understand, however unlikely that was.

Standing up, Leia went to a small supplies compartment in the back of the cockpit. She hadn't had much time to grab supplies for the trip into the dessert, but thankfully she was wearing her white jumpsuit and white boots already. It would protect her from the sand and suns well enough. She was wearing her white vest as well; suddenly glad she was, as she stuffed water and some protein sticks into the pockets of it.

A blaster attached to a holster under her vest was the last thing she grabbed before she headed over to the loading ramp. Pausing to take a deep breath, she pressed the button to open the ship to the outside world. It was now or never, and Leia had never really been good at waiting. Recent actions had shown that.

Clutching the device with the coordinates in her hand, Leia stepped down the ramp and onto the sand.

"What do you mean, I'm not coming?" Ahsoka demanded, blocking Anakin's path in the hallway.

"I already told you," Anakin crossed his arms, frustrated. Ahsoka had never really listened to him whenever she was told to say behind on a missio, and to be perfectly honest, he was getting sick of it. "We need a Jedi to stay to stay with the ship. We won't be gone very long, Ahsoka. We should be back within a day."

"That's if everything goes according to your plan, right?" She mirrored his image. "Remember last time you didn't want me to come? I was helpful then, and I can be helpful now—!"

"That's completely different. You have to stay because you're needed here, not because I don't want you to get hurt." Shaking his head, he walked past her. It only took a second for him to hear the quick footsteps of his persistent Padawan approach him.

"Why can't Master Kenobi stay with the ship? It doesn't make sense to send two Generals to go get a stolen ship and some crazy woman." Picking up his pace, Anakin didn't bother to slow down when he noticed Ahsoka struggling to keep up with his long strides.

"Obi-Wan can't stay here; the Council specifically wanted him to go. And there's a chance that that 'crazy woman' may be working with the Separatists." He glanced over at her and saw her determination begin to crack.

"All the more reason for me to go! Please, let me go with you." Slowing down at the tone in her voice, Anakin tried his best to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry Ahsoka, but you have to stay here. The clones need you. Obi-Wan and I can take care of ourselves." After a few moments, Ahsoka stopped walking. Anakin stopped as well.

"Fine, I'll stay. But I still don't like it." The face she gave him left little room to doubt her.

"I'd be disappointed if you did." He smirked, and she gave a weak smile in return. He actually felt bad about leaving her this time, but she really was needed on the ship. He remembered when he was still a Padawan; he had always seemed to get the boring jobs pushed on him. He wondered if she was just as impatient to become a Jedi Knight as he had been.

Rolling her eyes, Ahsoka turned around to leave, but paused to look back at him. "Just be careful. I wouldn't want to have to dig through half of Tatooine just because you stepped in some loose sand." Anakin couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

"I'll try my best." And with one last amused look, she was gone.

Turning to leave himself, Anakin headed towards the hanger with the Twilight. The ship itself was more of a piece of junk than anything else, but he had put time and love into the old bucket of bolts and it could handle pretty much any mission. It had so far.

Obi-Wan and Luke came into view when he walked into the hanger. There were some clones at their posts around the area, but besides that, no one else was there.

Luke nodded a greeting when Anakin approached them, and Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him. Anakin gave him a questioning look. "What?"

Obi-Wan held his hands up dramatically. "Oh nothing Anakin, take your time. It's not like we have a war to get back to." Anakin rolled his eyes.

"I'm not that late."

"I guess twenty minutes is considered fashionably late in some corners of the galaxy." Muttering a couple of unflattering words under his breath, Anakin walked up the ramp into the ship.

"Language, Anakin." He heard Obi-Wan say after him. Anakin rolled his eyes dramatically even though no one could see him and sat down in the pilot's chair.

"If you want a smooth ride, I suggest you don't nag the pilot." Content with himself, Anakin started the engine as Obi-Wan sat in the seat next to him.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I can fly as well. Although, I highly doubt you would ever pass up the chance to show off to a new passenger." Anakin didn't bother to look at him, and shrugged off the comment. He was right of course, but that didn't mean he was going to voice it.

"I'm a pretty good pilot myself." Anakin almost jumped at Luke's voice. He hadn't really expected him to talk for some reason. He turned to look at him sitting in the seat behind Obi-Wan.

"Really?" He asked, honestly interested. Luke nodded, and Anakin turned his head forward again. "Well, if everything goes the way it's supposed to and you and your sister aren't Separatists—or crazy—then we should go flying sometime. See if you're any good."

"I'd like that." Was Luke's simple reply, but Anakin was surprised to feel the positive emotion flowing off of the man, towards him. He took a selfish moment to steep himself in the warmth of the feeling before finishing the take off procedure.

"Well I guess we better get to it then."

Chapter Text

A blindfold was ripped off, causing Han to blink furiously at the light he was so suddenly aware of.

It had taken at least a day for the guards to come for him after his last encounter with his mystery captor. He had finally gotten some food, and then they had blindfolded him. He had no idea where he was and what he was doing there, but he hoped Luke and Leia would hurry up and get there for the hundredth time; he was sick of being a prisoner.

Han tried to open his eyes with a squint, as the light slowly dimmed in his vision. Wherever he was, he wasn't back in the dark room; it was too bright.

His eyes finally adjusted to the light, and Han couldn't help but scrub his fingers over his eyes. The image in front of him couldn't be real.

He was in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

"Hey, what's the big idea? Is this some kind of joke?" He demanded, jumping to his feet, only to find the rest of the cantina empty. The guards had left him, and he finally realized that he wasn't bound in any way. He stared at his wrists. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

Hearing a noise coming from the other side of the Cantina, Han slowly moved over towards it, but before he could get there, people started walking in. Not just any people though, people who were regulars in the filthy Cantina. Frustratingly, he couldn't make out the door where they were coming from.

They all started to sit down at tables and the bar when a Wookie walked in.

"…Chewie?" But it couldn't be. It was impossible. There was no way.

The Wookie responded with a growl, and walked up to Han, grabbing him in a fierce hug. 'Whoa, whoa buddy! Don't break me in half!" He felt hysterical laughter creep its way up his throat. He honestly wasn't sure if he was ever going to see his friend again.

Chewie dropped Han and stepped back. It was the same old Chewie…but something was off. As Han took in his friend, he started to have a sinking feeling that Chewie wasn't actually Chewie.

No, his eyes were different somehow…

"Who are—AAGH!" A mind-splitting headache worse that Han had ever felt before cut off any extended thought. It felt like someone was pealing back layer after layer from the inside out. He felt completely exposed, helpless.

Each second felt like eternity, and just when he thought he might die: it stopped.

His head was throbbing and felt lighter than air all at the same time. He felt slightly queasy too. He realized that he had collapsed on the ground, and had no idea how long he had been there.

He must have gotten into another bar fight…

Lifting his head, he saw Chewie sitting at a table. "Hey, fur ball, help me up!" As Chewie walked over to help him to his feet, Han tried to remember why he had gotten into a fight. He had actually tried not to get into a fight too. That old man and the kid needed a ride and they didn't want any Imperial trouble, and fights always attracted trouble.

Finally managing to stand, Han staggered for a moment before Chewie steadied him. His new passengers could wait: he needed a drink.

It was quiet in the cockpit when they finally landed on Tatooine. The landing gear was the only sound for a few long moments before Anakin stood up from the pilot's seat, glancing over at Luke before he faced Obi-Wan.

"We better make this quick; the open sand won't be good for the ship." Obi-Wan nodded in confirmation, but Luke noticed hesitation in the movement.

Apparently, so did his father.

"What's wrong?" But Obi-Wan didn't answer, and instead, stood from his seat and turned to meet Luke's eyes.

"I have something I want to ask you about," He paused, taking a moment to stroke his beard. "Something I suspect needs to stay off the record." Luke swallowed hard. Whatever the question was, he hoped he would be able to answer it without revealing anything about where he and Leia were from. He looked at his old mentor expectantly. He saw Anakin eyeing the older Jedi too—a question in his eyes.

Recognizing the look he was given, Obi-Wan continued. "I understand that you and your sister are Force-sensitive, but only you seem to have any sort of training in it. Where, might I ask, were you taught, and by whom?"

Luke blinked. He couldn't tell him that he had taught him, but he couldn't lie; they would be able to tell if he did.

Sighing, he stole a glance at his father. He seemed just as interested to hear the answer as Obi-Wan was. "I haven't had formal Jedi training, but I have been trained by a Jedi." Obi-wan's eyebrow rose, but Anakin's face didn't change.

"Who would this Jedi be by any chance?" Anakin crossed his arms over his chest.

Luke hesitated, unsure of whether or not to reveal the information, but spoke anyway. "Ben was his name."

"Ben…?" Anakin trailed off.

"Just Ben. He was…sort of an old hermit. On Tatooine." Anakin visibly stiffened.

"There aren't any Jedi on Tatooine," Anakin's tone left no room for argument. "Where is he now?"

"He died a couple of years ago." He lowered his eyes in silent remembrance; ignoring the fact that his mentor's younger self was standing right in front of him. There was a moment of silence before Obi-Wan spoke again.

"My deepest condolences; I would have loved to meet him." Luke looked up at him, unable to keep the corner of his lips from twitching.

"I think you would have liked him." Before Obi-Wan could respond, Anakin half turned to look out the cockpit window.

"I think we'd better hurry up and head out. It looks like a sand storm." Luke stood up, himself.

"Shouldn't we wait it out here then?" Anakin turned back with a small grimace on his face.

"No, that wouldn't be a good idea. Unless you want to help dig us out of this ship when it's done."

Thinning his lips, Luke thought to protest—to point out the holes in his father's logic—but the thought of Han and Leia and all the danger they were in had him keep his mouth shut. He owed Han a lot, not to mention his sister was in love with the reckless smuggler.

Closing his eyes, Luke reached out in the Force and searched for the approaching storm. Outside, it looked like any other day or place on Tatooine, but Luke knew better. Sand storms were random and lightning fast on the dust planet. It could be there within an hour. Maybe sooner.

Still, every second they sat there was a second that could be critical in finding Han and Leia. They would have to chance the storm, unfortunately. But if they left that very moment, they could probably get to the outskirts of the storm before it reached them. He opened his eyes.

"You're right. Let's go."

o0o

They got to the coordinates much sooner than Luke had thought they would have thanks to two speeders they had on their ship. Of course, Luke had to squeeze onto the back of Obi-Wan's, making the ride there very uncomfortable. His legs were practically numb by the time they stopped.

Thankful to be able to stand, Luke was the first one off. They had missed the storm with plenty of time to spare. A fact everyone was silently grateful for.

Anakin and Obi-Wan got off of their speeders. "Well, these are the coordinates, but it just looks like more sand to me." Anakin stooped down to feel out the ground with his hands. "I can't feel anything in the Force either." He stood up and dusted his hands off.

"This is the place, I'm sure of it." Luke couldn't feel anything either, but maybe if he tried to reach across his and Leia's bond… "I think I can find Leia if I can find our bond."

Obi-Wan looked thoughtful. "That might be a good idea, assuming everything went according to her plan and she made it here." Luke's throat tightened at his insinuation.

"She did, believe me." Luke pushed away his nerves and sat down in a crossed-leg position. Leia could do anything she put her mind to.

"We can help you stretch out in the Force if you want our assistance." Obi-wan offered.

Luke stared and nodded his head. "That would be wonderful, thank you." The two other Jedi then sat cross-legged across from him, waiting for him to start.

When he first started, he felt nothing, not Leia and not the minds assisting him. As the seconds ticked by, however, he started to feel the other two Jedi as they became a stronger presence in him mind. It was a strange sensation to be so close to more than one mind. It was slightly intimidating as well; he felt so vulnerable, like an open book for them to read. Of course, they weren't in his mind to search it, but he couldn't help but recoil at the overwhelming sensation.

"Is everything ok?" It was Obi-Wan.

"Yes. Sorry, I've just never had the chance to do this before." Luke shifted awkwardly where he was sitting.

"I'm sorry it is uncomfortable, but I think we should press on if we are to find your friend and sister." Obi-Wan's tone was gentle but firm. Luke needed to do this; it might be their only way of finding Leia.

With a small nod no one really saw, Luke tried again.

The sensation came back stronger when he tried it again. He didn't stop it this time, and found the presences in his mind more comforting by the second. He could feel the Force around him like never before and it was intoxicating.

Despite the all-encompassing power of the Force he felt, Luke narrowed his senses and continued his search for Leia. With the help of the two Jedi in front of him, he was able to feel her presence somewhere underneath them. Far underneath.

Just as Luke was about to peel away from his meditative state, he felt another presence inch near his mind. It was dark and it radiated a coldness that seemed to chill him to the bone, even in Tatooine's heat. But before he could search it, or even pull away from it, it was gone.

Luke opened his eyes to see two sets staring back at him with different levels of patience. If they had felt what he had, they didn't show it. But he wouldn't say anything for now.

"I felt her: she's deep in the—" Luke's sentence was cut short when the ground started to shake. "What the—?" All three of them jumped to their feet, ready for anything, when the ground started to open up about fifty feet from where they were. He had no idea why or who it was opened by, but it looked like the only way into the mystery compound, and after a moment, it stopped.

"Well that's convenient." Obi-Wan said dryly.

Anakin ignored him and strode past both of them to get a closer look at the hole. A second passed, and he turned with a smirk on his face. "We all know this is a trap, right?"

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, his face seemingly uninterested. "I would say so. I supposed we should go ahead and spring it then. Better now than later."

Luke sighed, hesitating for a second before walking past Anakin. He looked into the hole before jumping into it. It wasn't a long drop, and he found that when he landed, he was standing on an elevator. Two thuds later, and Luke was with Obi-Wan and Anakin again.

It only took them a moment to figure out the elevator, and they were soon on their way deeper into the compound.

The ride on the elevator was long and dark, but before Luke could admit to becoming impatient, it stopped. The door slowly opened into a dimly lit hallway made completely of durasteel. There was no one in the hallway, but they didn't dare risk going out of the elevator before they searched it with the Force.

"It's clear." Anakin supplied, and they exited the elevator. Luke could feel Leia's presence much easier in the compound than he could out of it. It was like there had been a mental wall where the ground was, separating the world outside and the compound underground. It was a shield made for Jedi, Luke was sure of it. But that meant that whoever was in charge was expecting Jedi to come. The thought didn't sit well in Luke stomach.

They started on their way through the compound. It was a labyrinth in the truest sense; there seemed to be no end to the hallways and doors, and despite the multitude of paths they had seen, they hadn't gone very far when Obi-Wan froze at the corner of a hallway. He crouched down, motioning for Luke and Anakin to do the same.

"There are guards ahead. They're examining bodies…" He trailed off and turned to glance back at Luke. "It appears your sister has already been through here. Either that, or someone else is here we don't know about."

"Might I suggest speaking a little softer, Master?" Anakin whispered, albeit a little sarcastically. "Any louder and they're bound to—"

"Who's there?" A guard shouted towards them.

"—hear us." Anakin deadpanned.

Luke barely caught the amused twitch of Obi-Wan's lips before his face became serious, once again focused on the guards.

Luke reached for his lightsaber, the clones had confiscated it when he had been brought in for questioning, but Obi-Wan had given it back on when they had gotten on the speeders. It felt comfortable in his hand, and he couldn't help but be grateful that he didn't use his father's lightsaber anymore. That would have been fun to explain.

They stood up slowly and pressed themselves against the wall—Luke being between the two other Jedi—and waited for the guards to approach so they could take them by surprise.

Soft orders could be heard coming from the guard in charge and it wasn't long after that Luke heard the cautious footsteps nearing. However Leia had managed to get past all of those guards, Luke wasn't sure he wanted to know. He just wanted to hurry up and find her.

Sensing the guards get closer, Luke activated his lightsaber and saw Obi-Wan and Anakin do the same. It was a second later that the first guard appeared past the corner, gun at the ready. Luke could sense the shock and fear at finding three Jedi waiting for him.

The guard shot, but Obi-Wan easily deflected it, sending it back toward the guard and hitting him in the leg. The guard withered with a cry of agony to the ground when more guards came from around the corner.

"Jedi!" One of them yelled, but Luke couldn't tell which one because he was already on the move to disarm one of the guards by slicing his gun in half. The metal hit the ground with a loud thunk that went unheard because of the sound of blasters firing.

Luke didn't have time to count, but it looked like there were only about twenty guards there, including the first guard that was taken out by Obi-Wan. It wouldn't be too hard to fight them with the three of them there, but things could turn south quick if they called for backup.

Anakin started to advance and Luke quickly followed his lead, making sure not to trip on whoever was on the ground. The shooting became less intense as they press forward and the guards started retreating. Luke continued to block the blasts being shot at him before fluidly countering one of the guards with a clean slice to his front.

Anakin made quick work of three guards by Force-throwing them across the hallway into the wall; it was a short distance, but Luke couldn't help but wince at the cracks he heard come from their unconscious forms.

One by one, they continued to take out the guards. There were only a couple left when one of the guards in the back picked up his communicator.

"Need backup. I repeat, need backup—!" The comm. was swiftly ripped out of the man's grasp and destroyed by Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Anakin then proceeded to throw his lightsaber at the guard, successfully killing him.

"Poodoo," Anakin swore. "We need to finish this now if we want to find Leia and your friend." Luke didn't respond as he deflected blaster bolts into the last remaining guards with Obi-wan.

Once they were sure they had gotten the last of the guards, they deactivated their lightsabers. Bodies were crowding the corner of the hallway they were standing in, and Luke felt a stab of guilt for not taking more time to just disarm more of them. Taking a life was sometimes necessary, but he never enjoyed it.

"I suggest we move before those reinforcements get here." Obi-Wan broke the silence.

Anakin clipped his lightsaber onto his belt. "If we want to find them faster, we should split up." Obi-Wan looked thoughtful.

"I don't know; we don't exactly know what we're dealing with here." He clipped his own lightsaber.

"Which is exactly why we need to speed things up. If something happens, we can always contact each other with our communicators." A pause and then a sigh.

"Very well," Obi-Wan looked over a Luke. "Luke can come with me…that is, as long as you're feeling up to being alone." Anakin's smile was roughish.

"Of course, Master." Luke's brows knitted; he didn't like the idea of splitting up. Of course, it would help them find Leia and Han faster, but if they ran into something else…

"Ready?" Obi-Wan motioned a hand forward to allow Luke in front of him.

"Yeah." Luke said lamely, and they started walking. Luke didn't resist the urge to look back over his shoulder as his father ran back down the hallway they had come from.

Leia tried to slow her breathing as she recovered from sprinting to cover. She didn't know where she was, but she knew she was deep into the base. She was going off of instincts alone, and had managed to not run in circles. Or so she hoped. Luke would have said that it was the Force, and maybe it was, but she still didn't quite understand that specific subject.

She knew she wanted to learn more about the Force, but for so long it had just seemed like something that was special about Luke, something she could never understand. The more she learned about its existence though, the more she wanted to keep learning. It felt…right somehow.

But she couldn't think about that yet. No, she had a situation she had to take care of, and a fiancé to rescue. It had taken her too long to get to the base. She had spent most of the credits on her to get a ride there, and even then it had taken longer than it should have. The desert was a cruel place, and she didn't envy Luke for having to grow up on the planet.

It had also taken her a long time to find the actual base and opening for it. She hadn't known what to do, so she tried to focus on the Force like Luke had tried teaching her, and the ground had opened.

The thing that had made her feel uneasy though, was an oppressive feeling in the back of her head, like she was drowning in frigid water. The feeling hadn't left either; it was constantly there, whispering to her.

She had a more pressing issue at the moment though; there were guards casing her, and she had lost her gun. She would be able to use one of the guard's guns, but seeing as she had no way of getting one of those guns in the first place, she couldn't really do anything.

So now she was hiding in some dark corner, defenseless, completely alone, and not to mention, lost.

Thankfully, what she assumed to be the Force, seemed to help her not run into any serious danger. She hadn't run into a large group of guards since she had first come into the base. Her senses heightened there, and ever since then, she'd felt guided.

Feeling the need to move, she slowly moved away from where she had been hiding. The area she was in was dark, and it was hard to tell where she was going.

So it surprised her when she ran into a door switch.

"Ah!" She spun around quickly and cringed when the door swished open to reveal a group of guards on the other side. "Oh, cra—"

"Hey, you there!" The guards all started yelling at once, and although they didn't shoot at first, they were just as surprised at finding her as she was at finding them. She cursed her luck—or lack thereof—and ran in the opposite direction, ducking from the blaster fire that was sure to come. Maybe she would be able to find one of the guards guns she had taken out earlier if her luck changed.

Blaster shots erupted around her, causing her to fumble around with her footing. She managed to stumble around a corner, giving her a moment to catch her breath without fear of her head being shot off.

She kept running, looking for a way to lose them. They were right behind her, she could tell. If she didn't think of something fast, she was a goner. Of course, she wouldn't give up easily, but she might not even get a chance to fight. The thought made her angry.

Turning at another corner, she felt another presence. It reminded her of Luke, but it was different somehow. Different, but still familiar. She decided to make a run towards wherever it was coming from. Whoever it was, it was better than what was behind her.

In a moment, the presence flashed brightly in her mind, threatening to overwhelm her. It was getting closer by the second, and when she turned down another hall, she smacked right into whoever it was.

"Ooof!" Leia fell back onto the floor. The other person—who she barely had a chance to recognize as Anakin—didn't have the same problem, and quickly ran past her to attack the guards chasing her.

Leia scrambled to her feet. "Are you ok? Can you fight?" Anakin grunted, not too far away.

"Yes, give me a gun!" She stood expectantly when a gun flew from a guard's hands and into hers.

She couldn't say she wasn't glad he showed up when he did, but she couldn't help but be frustrated that he was the one to show up. Why couldn't it have been Luke, or even Obi-Wan? She pushed the childish thought away, and started to shoot.

Most of the shots coming at her were stopped by Anakin's blue lightsaber. He was busy blocking all of the blaster fire, and besides deflecting the occasional shot, he wasn't able to go completely on the offensive, so Leia made up for it by shooting from behind.

Once there were fewer guards, Anakin began to go more on the offensive, and she couldn't help but feel uneasy at the display of deadly force. It was over soon after it started thought.

"Are you hurt?" He took a couple of steps closer. Leia eyed the lit lightsaber.

"I'm fine." She met his eyes. She thought she saw concern flicker through them, but ignored that small detail. "Where's Luke?" She demanded.

The lightsaber turned off with a hiss. "He's with Obi-Wan. We decided to split up and look for you and your friend."

"Have they found him yet?" She couldn't help but feel hopeful.

"No," Her stomach plummeted at the news she should have expected. "That is, they haven't contacted me to tell me that they have or not." He added a little hastily. Leia frowned.

"Well I'm going to continue searching for him." She strut past him when she heard the swish of his tunic as he turned.

"Wait," He caught up with her, touching her arm to stop her before she violently shrugged it off. His nose wrinkled with his frown before he continued. "I need to get you out of here; it's not safe. And not only that, but you have committed a serious crime against the Republic, I can't just let you wander off."

She put her hands on her hips. "I don't care if it's dangerous, and I don't care if I have to sit in a cell for a hundred years afterwards," She took a step closer, glared up into his face and cursed him for being so tall. "I'm. Going. To. Save. Han." He stared defiantly back, but she saw what looked like…understanding break through his glare.

She spun away and started walking again. "I'm going with you." He said from behind her.

"Obviously." She repressed an eye roll. At least it would help to have someone with her. Maybe make things go faster and easier.

Managing to fit her new gun into her holster, she brushed back a stray hair. She was getting close, she knew it.

Chapter Text

The smell of chemicals hit Obi-Wan's nose like a wall, though he didn't show any outward signs of it. He and Luke had slowly made their way deeper into the compound, and they had both agreed to use a more subtle approach that—Obi-Wan regretted—was a skill seldom used in his many missions with Anakin. It came naturally to him though, and it seemed to come naturally to Luke as well. They were both able kept their footsteps light, and their movements silent as they progressed.

They had not been caught yet.

Of course, that might have had something to do with the Force suggestions Obi-Wan was always prompt to use on anyone that neared them. The guards were not stupid, and it wouldn't have worked on their minds for any other reason than the fact that they were not aware anyone was even there in the first place.

Obi-Wan looked over at Luke to see his nose scrunch and his mouth frown in disgust at the sudden smell. It struck him as strikingly similar to a face Anakin made when he was just a boy. A face that—to Obi-Wan's exasperation— he still occasionally made.

Sensing that they were alone, Obi-Wan risked speaking. "It seems we have stumbled upon something. We should investigate; we don't want any surprises." Feeling, rather than sensing Luke's confirmation behind him, he cautiously made his way towards the room the smell came from, Luke close on his heels.

The door to the room was locked, but upon further inspection, Obi-Wan realized that the lock on the door was Force activated. That was…strange, and unsettling.

It seemed that the farther they went into the compound, the more he was convinced that their captor was a dark Force user. It would explain the strength of the dark side, and it would certainly explain all of the Force locks. It almost seemed foolish to think there was ever any other explanation in the first place.

"Can you open it?" Luke's quiet voice cut through the silence, much like his own had, but the extent of the silence finally hit him.

It was too quiet.

However cliché it sounded, it was true. There was no reason why this door should not have been guarded. Even if the guards couldn't get into the room themselves, surely there would be some posted there anyway.

Everything had been too easy—too fast. Although they had expected this mission to be a trap, he was starting to wonder what exactly they had actually gotten themselves into. Nothing ever went as planned, but things could go bad very quickly if they didn't get a better grasp on their situation.

Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. If the Force wasn't so clouded by the dark side, maybe he would have some light shed on their circumstance.

"I take it that's a no?" Obi-Wan had forgotten that Luke had asked him a question.

Regaining his calm exterior, Obi-Wan mentally chided himself for showing his frustration in front of Luke. Uncertainty never inspired much confidence in someone.

"I believe I can open it," He hesitated and glanced at the door. "but I wonder what we're going to find in there. I have a bad feeling about this whole thing."

Luke responded with a tired smile. "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, "Indeed."

Turning back to the door, he focused on the Force. Ignoring the ever-present dark cloud hanging over his senses, he felt the lock inside the door. It was more complex than he thought it would be, and it took every ounce of his concentration to start the process of unlocking the door.

The lock was different that other Force locks he had come across. Usually, like the ones in the Jedi temple, all you had to do was wave your hand over it with the Force for it to unlock. This, though, this was something else. It was so intricate he debated asking for Luke's help.

After a couple of tense minutes of his attempt at unlocking the door, he finally got it. Thank the Force Anakin wasn't there to see him struggle with that lock though; he'd have never heard the end of it.

Not wasting any time, he opened the door and stepped through. Behind him, mist and frigid air spilled out of the door-frame and onto Luke's boots. Automatic lights flickered on in front of him, only succeeding in creating a dim lighting in the medium sized room.

"What is this place?" Luke breathed, astonishment coloring his voice.

It looked like a chemistry room. There were plants and other organic masses tucked in various sized containers scattered across the room that Obi-Wan had no hope to identify. The chemicals they smelled were there too, kept cool by the temperature in the room.

Using the Force, Obi-Wan carefully took a sample from one of the plants. "I should take these back to the ship be analyzed." He placed the sample into a pouch on his belt. Whatever was going on, it needed to be investigated further. He couldn't just let this go without understanding what that was. It might be a bigger threat than they had first imagined.

He pressed his index finger to his comm. Anakin needed to be updated on what they found. "Anakin," He waited, but only silence greeted him. "Anakin, do you read me?" Nothing. "Blast, something must be cutting off our communications. It looks like Anakin is on his own."

Luke's face turned somber. "That means we are too."

Obi-Wan gave a grave nod in response. Neither of them knew what that meant for them exactly, but the sooner they regrouped with Anakin, the better.

"All the more reason to be careful." A pause, "We should search the room for anything that might give us a clue as to what is going on here." Obi-Wan walked up to a glass case, half filled with a glowing liquid that reminded him of a drink he had often seen at some of the bars he and Anakin had the pleasure of entering on previous missions.

"Be careful Luke, we don't know what any of this is. It could be potentially fatal." Luke nodded near him.

"You don't have to tell me twice."

"Stabbing at it won't make it work any better." Anakin stopped abusing his communicator at the sound of Leia's disapproving tone and turned to grace her with a bland stare before turning his attention back to the way ahead of them. His voice dropped a bit when he spoke.

"Sorry; I just get frustrated when I lose communication on a mission. It seems to be happening a lot lately." He grumbled.

"Don't say sorry to me, it's not my equipment you're mistreating." She said haughtily. He glared at the side of her face, irritated, and not for the first time in their journey together. She had a bone to pick with him, and although he had felt misplaced guilt at first, now he was just plan annoyed. And impatient. Contrary to popular belief, Jedi were not mind readers. He wished she would just spit out whatever was bothering her already.

Instead of focusing on it though, he forced himself to attempt to release some of his frustrations into the Force. It had always been difficult for him to let go of his feelings, but somehow he managed to push away the worst of it. Not a moment later he felt the Force spike in warning. He stiffened, spreading his senses out.

"What's wrong?" Leia's quiet inquiry went unanswered as he found what he was looking for.

"Someone's coming."

With no time to move, Anakin spun around, and Leia followed suit, although still a bit confused. Blue orbs met a guard's muddy brown ones in a moment of quiet shock. They were a mere twenty feet apart, and judging by the look on the guard's face, he was most likely alone.

The guard went to grab his communicator, but thinking quickly, Anakin snatched it from his hand with the Force. When the comm. met Anakin's mechanical hand it sparked and sputtered under his clenched grip. The guard's eyes widened, and without saying a word, he turned to run back to where he came from.

"We can't let him get away!" Leia started to run after the guard, but Anakin grabbed her arm, stopping her mid-stride. He ignored the furious glare and the way she yanked her arm away, as he stretched his flesh arm out and trapped the guard in a Force-grip before he could get too far away.

With all of the frustrations of recent events, Anakin couldn't help but feel slightly satisfied seeing the fear in the man's eyes as he struggled helplessly in midair. He knew he was caught, and he was smart enough not to make any noise other than an occasional whimper as he was brought closer.

Of course, it also helped that Anakin was using the Force to grip the man's neck, although only with enough pressure to discourage any speaking.

Anakin's gaze bore into the guard's eyes, making sure he had his attention, before speaking slowly. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you would be wise to answer them quietly and efficiently. I will not kill you, but that is all I can promise." A wave of unease rolled off both the guard and Leia, momentarily disorienting Anakin. She felt almost as distressed as the man in front of them. She stayed silent though, so Anakin let off the pressure he had put on the man's throat.

The man immediately started breathing heavily, but after a moment he swallowed and visibly forced himself to calm down. "I-I'm just a guard here!" He spoke too loudly, but the look Anakin gave him caused him to bring his voice to a whisper. "Wha-what could you possibly w-want with me?"

Anakin didn't respond to the question. "We need to know where a man named Han is. He's a prisoner here."

" His full name is Han Solo." Leia added, taking a step forward. "We know he's here so don't play dumb. I don't care if it's above your pay-grade; guards hear rumors all the time. You must know something." Her voice was tight, a sign of her stress.

The guard looked back and forth between the two, obviously unsure of what would happen should he reveal any information. In the silence, Anakin watched a single bead of sweat make its way down the side of the man's face.

"A-and I-if I tell you, you'll let me go?" He looked over at Anakin pleadingly and Anakin nodded, encouraging him to speak. The guard seemed to gather some courage from it. "I don't know much, but I have heard of a prisoner. As far as I know he's the only one here. Probably the man you're looking for. I think they took him from his cell, but I might know where he went." He paused.

"Well?" Anakin demanded. The guard looked unsure.

"Only a few of us are allowed to go there, and only to transfer the prisoner. It's high security and almost impossible to get into..."

"What else?" Leia's brows furrowed at the man's reluctance to expand on the subject.

"He—" The guard started to choke, effectively cutting him off.

"What are you doing?!" Leia grabbed Anakin's arm, yanking on it to try to stop him.

"It's not me!" He bit back. He let go of his grip on the guard, and the man unceremoniously collapsed to the ground, although he continued to choke.

Leia dropped to her knees next to the fallen guard and tried to help unsuccessfully. Anakin watched helplessly as the man convulsed in Leia's arms, clawing desperately at his neck.

Someone was choking him with the Force. Someone didn't want him to finish his sentence. No matter how hard he tried though, he couldn't sense who was doing it.

Angry with the whole situation, all thoughts were stopped as a dark presence brushed his mind. He recoiled from it, but quickly latched onto the presence. There must be a Sith there, and if he could find where the darkness was coming from…

Closing his eyes, he reached out further. The presence was cold and an endless darkness. Its depths seemed to be that of an abyss. He felt it touching his mind as well, and he brought his shields up, though not as much as he would have liked. He didn't want to scare it away.

It seemed to whisper to him like the dark usually did. It was calling him by his title, the title of the Chosen One. This Sith knew who he was, but Anakin didn't know the Sith. It wasn't Dooku; he knew his presence almost on instinct now. It definitely wasn't Ventress or Maul and his brother either. It seemed…older than anything he'd sensed in a while.

"Anakin!" He snapped his eyes open at Leia's tone. He quickly found her eyes: she was still sitting on the ground next to the guard. He was dead.

"What?" His voice felt far away.

She eyed his carefully. "You zoned out. You felt…strange. I don't know how to explain it. What were you doing?"

He frowned. "I was searching for the person who did this," he paused, unsure on whether to continue or not. "He knows who I am." He finished.

Leia tensed. "What does that mean?"

Anakin shrugged, feeling uneasy himself. "We knew we were walking into a trap when we came here," He gave her a pointed look. "I'm guessing you knew the same."

"Of course," She frowned. "But how does he know you?" She said, standing to her feet.

"I'm not unknown in the galaxy." He took her spot next to the dead guard and started busying himself by searching his body. "It's not unusual that he would have heard of me."

"But you have no idea who he is?" It was a statement, not a question.

"Right."

After a moment of searching, Anakin found a key-card. He looked at it for a second before handing it over to Leia.

She eyed it herself. "This probably won't get us into many places, but it's a start, and more progress than we've made so far."

Anakin nodded his head in agreement, and stood next to her. "We have an idea of where he is now too, even if we don't know the exact location. That should cut our time by half at least."

She stuffed the card in a pocket on her vest. "We should get moving." They both looked at the dead body on the floor. "There's no sense in hiding the body if he already knows we're here."

Anakin allowed a sigh to escape his lips. "Whoever he is."

Luke bent over with his hands on his knees as he stared intently at a pulsing life-form floating in murky water.

"What do you think all this is for?" He said, standing up strait. Across the room, Obi-Wan's back was facing Luke.

"I wish I knew…" Obi-Wan sighed and put down the datapad he was glossing over, finally turning around. "Nothing here is helping to uncover what is going. We need to find Anakin and get back to the ship to analyze what we have found and contact the Council." He stroked his beard while he glanced around the room.

Luke's jaw clenched in disbelief. "What about Leia? And Han?" His voice rose. He couldn't believe Obi-Wan had even suggested leaving. He wouldn't leave his friends. Not after what had happened at Bespin.

"Luke," Obi-Wan leveled a hard stare at him. "You must think; something is going on here and we are hopelessly in over our heads. Even if we were to find your friends, there's no telling what we would come across in the process or if we'd be able to even get out at all."

"But—"

"No, we have to regroup. You will be risking your friend's safety more if we do not get help." They stood there, staring at each other, locked in a battle of wills. Obi-Wan was the first to break it, although his resolve stayed intact. "I'm sorry Luke, but we must leave."

Obi-Wan turned to leave, expecting him to follow, but Luke was rooted to his spot. "I don't have to go with you," He called after him, causing Obi-Wan to stop. "And how would we meet up with Anakin anyway? We've lost communication with him; we have no way to know where he is or to tell him that we're leaving!" He swung his arms at his sides, desperate to get Obi-Wan to stay. To change his mind.

Obi-Wan looked at him from where he was by the door, a displeased look on his face. "No, I can't force you to leave with me, but it would be better for everyone if you did. As for Anakin, our communications are out, but there is an emergency frequency that doesn't require a signal I could send. And he'd know I wasn't in trouble through our bond."

Luke stood in silence where he was. He didn't want to leave, but without Obi-Wan and his father it would be difficult—if not impossible—to find Leia and Han on his own.

Obi-Wan waited patiently for Luke to speak. Luke knew that he was anxious to get going, but anyone who had not heard the conversation would never have guessed. Obi-Wan's face was the very image of patience.

Breaking his gaze, Luke looked down at his right hand—the hand that had been cut off by Vader at Bespin. Both Yoda and Obi-Wan's warnings came to mind. They warned him about allowing his feelings to control him, about trusting the Force. It had cost him so much to go to Bespin…

He clenched his mechanical fist, not looking up. "Fine," He managed to strangle out.

Out of sight, Obi-Wan nodded. "We'd better get going."

As Luke followed, he didn't notice the tiny organism fall off a table and onto his boot.

"This is hopeless." Leia glared at the billionth card slot to reject the key-card they had found on the dead guard. Snapping her head towards Anakin she said, "Can't you just cut open any door with you lightsword or something?" She huffed.

Anakin's lips thinned and his impatience shifted from the door to her face. His face seemed to darken at her tone. She shivered involuntarily.

"It's a lightsaber, and cutting down every door we come across would be as good as leaving a marked map for any guard to follow." She raised an eyebrow at his tone. He was speaking to her like she was a child! Who did he think he was? Her—

"They probably have been following us with surveillance this entire time anyway. A couple of opened doors might confuse the guards that are physically after us." She crossed her arms.

He scowled. "Fine then; move aside." She willingly complied. His lightsaber was out before she took her first step back.

Once out of the way, a burst of glowing blue shot out from the hilt of his weapon. The hum and the hiss were the only noises as he began cutting through the door. It took longer than she would have thought: it moved like molasses in the durasteel. The sight still held her interest though; she had never seen Luke do it before. Not because he hadn't, but because she had never been with him when he had.

"There," He grunted. Pulling out his lightsaber and attaching it to his belt, he raised his hand and used the Force to push the cutout out of its spot in the door. For a moment nothing happened, but the cooling molten started the crack and fall when the circle started to push out the other side of the door. At the cushioned fall of the metal, Anakin turned towards Leia, still upset. "Are you happy now?"

Leia was about to go off on him for his impertinence, but before she could say anything, he recoiled from the hole he had cut. Leia's own stomach grew nauseous.

"What is that?" She stared through the door in disgust. The other side of the hole seemed instantly darker.

"The dark side." He spat. She turned to look at him, but he moved past her to the hole before she could make eye contact. "We're closer than we thought." He crouched his way through the hole, disappearing into the darkness.

"But we don't know where that goes. It couldn't possibly be the way." Her hand found her blaster. Suddenly she felt reluctant. She didn't know much about the dark side, but it made her uneasy.

With the snap-hiss of his saber, Anakin's face appeared on the other side of the hole as he crouched so he could see her. The hard shadows from his lightsaber only accentuated his impatience. "The more we feel the dark side, the closer we'll be to your friend. We'll have my saber for light." He shook it a bit for good measure, but at her silence, he studied her face. His face softened a bit at her concerned look. "It's ok; I won't let anything hurt you."

Her face flushed. "I'll be fine." She said, angry at herself for showing weakness. Shooing him back, she made her way through the hole and stood next to him.

The light from the hole did little for the place they were in. She couldn't tell where they were. The walls weren't visible other than the one they had practically just crawled through, and the dark feeling she had only grew worse.

Once steadied, she pulled out her blaster and met Anakin's eyes. She nodded and he turned around, not glancing back at her. "Stay close; we don't know what's ahead."

"Or what's right next to us." She grumbled. If he heard her, he didn't show it. She didn't argue though, and kept right on his heels.

What seemed like hours passed, and the darkness seemed to grow even more all encompassing than it already was, but as they walked, Anakin seemed to know exactly where he was going. She asked him how he knew where he was going once, but all he said was, "I'm following the Force."

Earlier, before they had found the door they had just used, Aankin's comm-link had beeped an emergency signal. Leia had been worried at first, but Anakin had insisted that everything was ok and that Obi-Wan and Luke just wanted them to leave. She had completely rejected the idea and had expected Anakin to run off to join them, but he hadn't. She wasn't sure if she was irritated or thankful. Either way, they were alone now, and they had no idea where they were.

Feeling frustrated, lost, and tired, Leia reached out to grab Anakin's sleeve. He stopped abruptly. "What's wrong?" He stared down at her, his brows scrunched in what she guessed was concern. The light of the lightsaber made it look more like anger.

"Let's turn around," She tightened her grip on his sleeve. "We're not getting anywhere. There's got to be a faster way to find Han. A better way." She spoke in just above a whisper, the darkness was getting to her and she just wanted out. It was becoming unbearable.

His face didn't change. "We're almost there. I can feel it." The confidence in his voice made the argument on her lips falter.

Instead of questioning him, she said with more confidence than before, "I just want to find Han. Something's wrong, I just know it." She had been having the feeling for a while. She had thought it was just her imagination, but now she knew Han was in trouble. And not just because he had been captured.

Anakin nodded. "Almost there." He repeated as he gently grabbed her hand to free his sleeve from her grip. She nodded back, and followed him as he continued on.

The more she focused past the darkness, the more she could feel how close they were. She had a passing thought that she must be using the Force, but she brushed it aside to think about later.

Feeling earth under her feet, she knew she had more pressing matters to focus on.

With the last swig of his drink, Han put the empty glass down in front of himself with a little too much force. He winched at the sound, and turned to Chewie.

"The acoustics in this room are amaaazing." He jerked his thumb behind himself at nothing in particular and laughed. He almost choked though, and Chewie had to slap his back a couple of times before he could breathe easy again. "You know what buddy? I think I'm drunk." Chewie roared in confirmation.

Making a noise that came from deep within his throat, Han folded his arms in front of himself on the bar and laid his head in the crook. "I jus' need ta take a nap…"

That old man and the kid were probably waiting for him at his ship and freaking out, but they could wait. Just like Jabba could wait. Heck, the whole universe could wait for all he cared. His head was throbbing from the booze, and it was too kriff'n bright on Tatooine to begin with. For a second he was able to dread the hangover that was sure to come.

Just as he was about to doze off, there was an explosion.

"What the—" the shock of it knocked him off his seat and onto the floor.

His arms felt like lead, but he was able to pull himself up to rest on his elbows—and more importantly—was able to see what in the universe had exploded.

"Han!" A female voice. But that was wrong because there was a man striding towards him. The man's face looked serious. Crap Jabba must have sent him.

A spit second later, the female who had probably been the one to speak ran out from behind the tall man and fell to her knees by his side. "Han are you ok? What did they do to you? Are you hurt anywhere?" She sounded worried about him. It felt nice. It helped that she was gorgeous too. At least he could look at her before the scary man killed him…

"Leia," The scary man spoke and raised his glowy-sword. So that was the pretty lady's name. He gave her a wobbly smirk when she tried to help him up. Even in his drunken state Han could tell there was about to be a fight. What he couldn't get his mind around was where Chewie was.

"Where's Chewie?" He barely managed to slur before sagging in Leia's arms. He was out cold.

Chapter Text

"Han!" Failing to keep him on his feet, Han started to slump in Leia's arms. She kept her grip vice-like and was forced to her knees beside him. "Han!" Cradling him in her lap, Leia brought her hands to his face, then his torso, swiftly checking him for any injury.

"Leia." Anakin spoke urgently to her back. The beings around them were starting to recover from the initial shock of their entrance and were scrambling for their weapons. Leia still had a blaster, but that wouldn't help anything unless she found some cover. Everyone in the vicinity was armed to the teeth, and both she and Anakin were vastly outnumbered.

"We need to get him out of here." She said, sparing a moment to look over her shoulder at Anakin. He was in a fighting stance—his lightsaber on—ready for the blasters to start firing.

He nodded, but wasn't able to keep eye contact before the first person—a Trandoshan—attacked him.

Anakin easily blocked the first couple of bolts from the alien, but more erupted from all around, forcing him to twist and move to evade some of the shots. Thankfully for her, they seemed to ignore her for the larger threat that was Anakin.

"Is he hurt?" Anakin grunted, managing to deflect a couple of bolts intended for Leia.

"I don't know!' Leia grabbed Han, preparing to move him out of the way so she could provide some cover fire. "Not physically." She added. It was a miracle that he was as unharmed as he was. She expected to find him bruised and bloodied, but he wasn't. She could see the edges of some damage beneath his sleeves and shirt, but it was nothing compared to what could have been.

"We need to go, Leia!" He Force pushed a couple of the men over. "Now!"

Cursing, Leia managed to drag Han behind a wall so she could pick him up without worrying about being shot. Han was a tall man, much like Anakin, so he was heavier than she would have liked in her current situation. Somehow though, she managed to pull him up into a standing position against the wall so she could support his weight easier.

"Anakin!" She called, trying to get his attention as she stumbled out from behind the wall she and Han had been behind. Han was threatening to drag her down again, and they needed to leave. Quickly.

She caught sight of Anakin as he deflected more bolts. He caught her gaze before turning back to the fight. Snapping his arms to their full length out at his sides, a powerful wave of the Force pushed all of the enemies surrounding him on their backs or smacking onto the walls. It made Leia stumble and almost lose her footing, but something kept her grounded.

Anakin ran over to her side, turning his lightsaber off. "Here," He took Han from Leia, shifting his weight to accommodate for the extra baggage as he situated Han over his shoulder like a wounded animal.

Grateful for the relieved burden, Leia took out her blaster. "Let's go."

With Anakin on her heels, Leia ran past the recovering men on the ground and through the hole they had entered from. They would be chasing them soon, but at least they would have a head start getting out.

Desperately, she recalled how they had found their way to the strange cell that Han was in from the darkness so they could find their way back.

o0o

Minute by minute ticked by, and Leia and Anakin made their way further into the dark, earthy cave they had found themselves in. They had been walking for a while, and Leia was becoming anxious again. She didn't stop them this time though, and instead, kept to herself.

"Wait," Anakin straightened out his arm in front of her so she would stop. "Do you see that?" He pointed to a place in front of them. It looked like light, but she couldn't be sure; everything looked like darkness where they were.

"I think so. What do you think it is?" She asked. Anakin half turned to face her, smirking.

"Our next stop." And then he was moving again. Leia wasn't sure whether or not to argue, but anywhere had to be better than the darkness.

Finally coming up to the light, Leia realized that it was a hole in the ground of the cave. About thirty feet in diameter and fifty feet deep, its curved dirt walls were covered in metal plating. Small lights became bigger the farther the hole went down, and at the bottom it looked like a hanger or something similar. To their left was a track for a lift with controls. The lift was at the bottom.

"We can't use that." Anakin said quietly, apparently seeing what her gaze was fixed on. She turned her head back to face him and crossed her arms.

"How do you expect we'll get down then?" He was quiet for a second, and Leia watched the corner of his mouth twist as he seemed to mull over his responce.

"You're not going to like it, I think." She lifted a challenging eyebrow at his hesitation. "We'll have to jump. But don't worry; I'll be able to catch us at the bottom."

"No."

"No? We don't have a choice."

"…"

Anakin sighed, running a quick hand down his face. "Fine. Then how about this: I'll go first, take care of anyone who's down there, and if reinforcements don't come too quickly then you can use the lift."

"And if the reinforcements do come too quickly?"

"Then you'll just have to trust me." Giving her one last unreadable look, he jumped down before she could respond.

Trust him? The idea seemed so unthinkable, so ridiculous. After all he had done in her time—all he was going to do now—how could she trust him? But she was fooling herself; hadn't she already trusted him? Trusted him not to kill her when they were alone? Trusted him to lead her in the dark? Was trusting him to catch her really any different?

She sighed. "I can't…" The statement found nothing but air.

After waiting for a bit, Anakin appeared beneath her and pressed something on the lift's controls. The lift started rising a moment later. So she wouldn't have to put her trust to the test after all. She took a deep breath in relief.

Once they were both on the same level, they started moving again. Anakin stayed quiet except to tell Leia how close they were as they ran down multiple hallways; right, left, left, straight, left, right, and right again. There were checkpoints with guards they ran into down several of the hallways, but a quick push of the Force and a couple of slashes with the lightsaber were enough to get them past with minimal difficulty. If she was being completely honest with herself, Leia felt practically useless next to the future Vader.

Coming to an abrupt halt, Anakin walked up to a seemingly random wall, placed both of his hands on it and moved them around, feeling it. Becoming slightly agitated, Leia peeked around the corner they had just turned. Guards were on their way and even though the vault-like door they had just entered had been melted shut with Anakin's lightsaber, they would be overrun quickly if they didn't move soon.

"What are you doing? We need to hurry!" Leia hissed. He didn't answer though, and instead closed his eyes in concentration, taking a step back from the wall.

Leia was about to protest again, but the feeling of something like rushing water overwhelmed her senses. It was the Force, she realized. She took a second to consider the feeling, and she found it gathering around Anakin. For a moment, she thought about what it would be like to be able to control the Force like that. Every time she ever tried anything with the Force, it was like grasping at the sand; it always seemed to slip through her fingers.

A moment later, Anakin ignited his lightsaber, cutting a cross in the wall, and blasted it with the Force. The wall practically exploded, and she was right behind him when they jumped through their new door. The next thing she knew was the sight of Han on a bar stool in what looked like a replica of the Mos Eisley Cantina.

But she would think about that detail later.

"Han!"

o0o

Leia started off in the direction she and Anakin had come from, but Anakin's voice behind her made her stop.

"Leia, wait!" She spun a furious head in his direction. They didn't have time to wait, and she knew that he knew that they were wasting time, but his face was anything but repentant. "We can't go back the way we came; there are too many guards coming. If we want to make it out of here alive, we need to find a different way out."

Suddenly forgetting her anger, a cold dread crawled its way up into her stomach. They were flying blind. Again. But it was more than that. What she was feeling was more than natural dread. The dark side, she guessed. She felt the ever-present darkness in the back of her mind press, as if to remind her that it was there and confirm her theory. She looked at Anakin, unsure.

He nodded his head encouragingly. "I know it's getting worse, but we don't have a choice." Leia couldn't help but frown. She didn't like how easily he seemed to read what she was feeling.

"Can you move quickly with him one your back like that?" She changed the subject, briskly walking in the opposite direction than where they came from.

"Yes." He said behind her. She silently rolled her eyes at the insulted tone in his voice he didn't quite hide.

"Good, because I think we may have to pick up our pace if we want to leave this place in one piece." She turned down a hallway that felt right.

"I'm right behind you."

Not wasting any time, she started running. Since the rebellion had started, she had been working to get stronger and faster. At times, it felt like she would never be good or fast enough. But at times like these, when she had a clear purpose, she felt like she could run forever. A fresh wave of energy coursed through her limbs, and She didn't bother looking back; she knew Anakin was keeping up with her.

Now all they had to do was get out of there. Alive.

Luke couldn't help but cough as he inhaled the sandy air when he and Obi-Wan's faces met the brutal weather outside of the compound. Tatooine's weather was already unforgiving, but with the sand in the wind from the last sandstorm, it was just that much worse.

"Careful." Obi-Wan spoke beside him, only granting him a quick side-glance.

"I'm—" He coughed again, interrupting himself. "I'm fine, don't worry." Finally getting control of his coughs, Luke silently cursed himself for taking such a big breath of air immediately after getting back outside. He should have known better than to do that on Tatooine.

They walked up to where they left their speeders. Thankfully, they seemed to be in the exact shape they had left them in. Obi-Wan situated himself on one and twisted his torso around so he could half-face Luke.

"We'd better leave one for Anakin," He gave Luke a small apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but it looks like we'll have to share one more time."

Luke repressed a sigh. "That's alright." He got on the speeder behind Obi-Wan. He didn't mind sharing a speeder, but it was just so cramped. But a cramped speeder was the least of his problems, so he kept his mouth shut. They started off a moment later.

It didn't take them long to get back to the ship, and once they arrived, Luke's jaw hit the floor.

"Look at this mess!" He said, jumping off the speeder and running two disbelieving hands back over his hair. "I can't believe it!" His hands slid off his head and to his hips before turning back to look back at Obi-Wan, waving an arm in the ship's direction. "Can you believe this?" He asked, exasperated.

The ship was covered in sand: the sandstorm had apparently been a large one. Of course, the ship wasn't underground or anything, but the sand still piled beside and on the top of it, hiding different spots. There was no telling how much damage had been done by the sand, and the ship Leia's stole was probably the same.

Obi-Wan's face was unreadable as he slowly removed himself from the speeder. Once next to Luke, he crossed an arm, bringing the other's hand one up to sit against his chin in a thoughtful manner.

"It seems Anakin was right about leaving the ship after all. It will take a bit of work to clean out all of this sand," Obi-Wan let his arms fall to his sides. "but least it will give us something to do while we wait for Anakin to get here."

"Oh, it'll give us something to do alright." Luke shook his head. "This will take forever." He sighed. Next to him, Obi-Wan clasped a hand on Luke's shoulder. His smile was one of genuine amusement.

"Then I guess we'd better get started."

With most of the sand cleaned out, and Luke outside checking up on the engines, Obi-Wan lowered the ramp and made his way inside the ship to its cockpit. Some sand from outside blew in behind him and raced pasted his feet on the floor. Obi-Wan sat down in the pilot's seat and closed the ramp. The less sand, the better.

Seeing Luke give him a thumbs up from outside, Obi-Wan started flipping switches and felt the ship rumble and sputter to life. It was on, but barely. Luke had done a good job cleaning out the inside of the ship's engine—a job he would have usually entrusted to Anakin.

Moments later, he heard the ramp open again. Hearing footsteps behind him, Obi-Wan closed the ramp back before Luke sat in the co-pilot's seat beside him. Obi-Wan was checking the comm. systems when he noticed Luke staring at him. He wanted to ask what he was thinking, but that conversation would have to wait for later. He settled for a different question.

"How is the ship faring? Any troubles?" He raised his eyes to look at Luke. Luke flushed, obviously embarrassed for being caught staring, and cleared his throat.

"The ship will definitely need some adjustments once it gets back to its mechanic, but she'll hold together for now." Luke shrugged. There was nothing either of them could do for it now. They could definitely fix some of it themselves, but it would just get ruined again if they waited there any longer.

"That's all we need." Obi-Wan continued checking the comm. Once he was sure it would work, he sent a transmission to the Jedi Council. He sat in patient silence as he waited for it to connect. Once it did, a blue image of Mace Windu appeared. "Master Windu."

"Master Kenobi, what's wrong? Where is Skywalker?" He said, frowning towards Luke. Obi-Wan couldn't help the twitch of his lips at the bluntness of the Jedi Master. He quickly sobered though.

"He's not with us at the moment. That's part of what I want to talk to you about. The compound we broke into is owned by much more than a simple Tatooine crime lord. It seems to be the hiding place of a dark Force user." Windu's eyes narrowed as Obi-Wan spoke.

"This is disturbing news. Are you sure about this Obi-Wan? And what does this have to do with Skywalker?" Windu crossed his arms, causing the hologram to stutter.

"Yes, I am. And as far as we know, he's still inside the compound. We lost communication with him when we split up and we haven't gotten it back since. I haven't sensed anything wrong, but I fear he may get into trouble…" He trailed off, briefly trying to see if he could reach out with the Force and sense Anakin yet. Nothing but their usual bond flared.

"What else is bothering you?" Obi-Wan was slightly taken aback by the question. Had Mace always been able to read him like that? Obi-Wan showed no outside signs of fluster.

"Luke and I found something…A lab of sorts. It was locked behind a Force-sealed door, and contained disturbing experiments. I couldn't recognize anything I found, but I brought back a few samples to analyze."

Windu's frown grew again. "If what you say is true, then this could be disastrous. We need to know who exactly is behind what you have found. And quickly. The Republic can't take another enemy we're not prepared for. Get Skywalker and get reinforcements. We can't give you any backup, but I don't think I need to tell you how important it is that this doesn't become a bigger problem than it is."

"Yes, Master. I'll try to contact Anakin again and send for some troops to meet us here."

"See that you do, Kenobi. I will relay this information to the rest of the Council. Keep me updated. Windu out." The hologram flickered and shut off. Obi-Wan sat back and sighed. If they couldn't contact Anakin they would have to search for him when the troops came. He knew Anakin could take care of himself, but he had a bad feeling…

"Do you think Anakin is in trouble?" It was Luke. Obi-Wan didn't bother looking at him as he started trying to connect to Anakin's comm-link.

"Anakin is a capable Jedi, he will be fine." He said with more conviction than he felt. Luke let out a long sigh.

"I just hope Leia is ok." This time, Obi-Wan looked over at Luke. The young man was slumped in the chair staring at nothing in particular. It was surprisingly easy to sense what the young man was feeling. Fear. Uncertainty. Hope. And…a familiarity he would usually only find in someone he knew.

"I don't know your sister well, but if she continues to prove as resourceful as she's been, she'll be fine." He gave Luke a reassuring smile. Luke looked at him and tried to smile too. It came out a little shaky.

"You're right." He sounded like he believed him. Obi-Wan let his smile linger for a second longer before returning to his comm.-link.

"Now let's see if we can't get in touch with Anakin."

Anakin was tiring.

Normally, he could run for days on end without much sleep, but technically he had already been doing that. He hadn't slept when he had gone to his quarters on the ship, and instead, had stared at the room's ceiling and thought about Padmé. It was stupid to not rest, he realized, but who knew he would have been going to Tatooine on a mission not five hours later.

Anakin readjusted Han on his shoulders. Carrying a grown man was not making anything easier. He had a headache from overusing the Force, and his legs were starting to ache. He was almost running purely on physical strength. He wouldn't say anything of course, but he would need to rest soon. Thank the Force he had at least eaten recently.

They ran in relative silence. He hadn't spoken to Leia since they left where they had found Han. It was unnecessary anyway; they seemed to choose the same direction at every crossroad. She didn't seem to know she was using the Force though, and he had to remind himself that only Luke was trained enough to consciously control it.

Ignoring his throbbing head, Anakin spread his senses out in the area again. They had lost the armed people they had found in the "bar," but he could sense they were still on their trail. Ahead, he could sense no one. The Force felt stronger the farther they went, but it was almost untouchable. Like it was just out of reach. He figured it was the dark presence that kept the Force muddled around them.

Just when he was about to let his grasp of the Force go, he felt the dark presence again. It had been trying to connect with his mind more frequently than it had when they had first arrived. At first, he had allowed the presence to probe near his mind, but now he kept his mental shields locked down tight. It constantly poked and lingered, but never tried to force its way past them. It was starting to unnerve him how it had taken such an interest in him. He found himself wondering if Leia felt it too.

"I don't think it's much farther." He said, a bit absently. Leia halted in her tracks and he almost ran into her. "Why are you stopping?" He demanded.

"Where are we going, and what is not that much farther?" She spun to face him. His brows furrowed as he thought about the question.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully. His legs burned after running for so long. "I think it may be our way out of here though." She didn't look convinced.

"Then why does it feel like where we're headed is worse than what we're running from?" She crossed her arms. So she did feel what he was feeling. What didn't make sense though, was that while he did feel uneasy, something felt…right about the way they were going.

"Just trust me." He said instead of explaining his thoughts. Her eyes darkened as they narrowed.

"That's just it: I don't trust you." Her voice was low and controlled. Anakin blinked. For some reason, he hadn't expected that.

"Why?" His own face hardened. "What reasons have I given you for your feelings towards me? Why do you act like I'm the enemy? I'm on your side!" His voice gained conviction as he went. He was probably overreacting, but he was over her animosity. He was over people not trusting him.

"You couldn't possibly understand!" She spat back. "You don't know me, so don't pretend to be on my side." Her voice was like venom. He felt a chill go up his spine that transformed into something that felt like anger.

"I am on your side." His tone betrayed blatant frustration. "Unless you actually are a Separatist." He spat, accusingly. She flung her arms out it angry exasperation.

"I'm not a Separatist—!"

"Then what is it?" He interrupted. She looked furiously into his eyes, challenging him. He met her stare. His emotions were starting to get the better of him, and he knew he had to get control of himself, but he was running low on energy, they needed to get out, and his shoulders were starting to strain.

She opened her mouth to say something, but a noise behind them stopped her. Anakin turned a bit to see what it was, and his senses flared in warning.

"Sounds like the people who were chasing us caught up." He gave Leia a stern glance. "We can argue later; we've got to go." She gave him a terse nod, and they both set off again.

Pushing past his discomfort, Anakin kept his pace and stayed close to Leia. If they got stopped now, they ran the risk of being overrun. And killed. Especially with the dead weight he was stuck lugging around.

Still running, a clear image of a ship in some sort of personal hanger sprang into Anakin's mind. He knew that he shouldn't trust it, but it seemed like their only way out. They'd just have to probably fight their way out. But really, it was a more appealing option than continuing to run.

"Leia, follow me. I think I know how to get us out of here." He sped up, ignoring the glare directed towards him as he moved past her.

"What is it?" She ran beside him. The only reason he didn't speed ahead was because he didn't want to waste energy.

"A ship. I know where it is."

"You can't know that. Even if you did, you must know that it's—"

"A trap? Yeah, I figured. Though we don't have much of a choice if you want Han to make it. Or us." He added the last part as an after-thought.

"Fine, let's go—but only because I don't know what else to do." She decided. Anakin glared ahead, lowering his voice.

"Don't worry; you were more than clear on what you thought about me and my ideas." She didn't answer, and he was thankful. He didn't think he could take any more of her talking.

With a clear path in his mind, he let them closer to their destination. He led them like he had gone there every day of his life. It felt like he had, but he knew that it was just the Force leading him. Or the presence he felt. But he wouldn't think about that. What mattered was that they were close. Very close.

"We're here. It's that door up ahead." Coming to a halt, Leia ran ahead to try to open the door. Her fingers ran over the lock in a quiet panic.

"I don't know what this is." She said, turning so Anakin could see it. It was a Force lock. Anakin bit back a frustrated groan.

"It's a Force lock. If you'll take him," He shrugged the man on his shoulders. "I can open it." Without acknowledging him, Leia came over and Anakin lowered Han off his back and into her arms. She continued to adjust herself as Anakin walked up to the lock.

Grateful for the excess weight removed, he focused on the door and closed his eyes. His head protested his use of the Force, but he ignored it. He could feel the complexity of the lock and concentrated harder. He should have just cut through the doors he had blasted with the Force on their way to Han. He was paying for it now.

Finally finishing it, the door swooshed open with a hiss. Anakin opened his eyes and resisted the urge to rub his temples. He was glad to almost be out of there. He needed to contact Obi-Wan too. The ship they were heading towards would probably have working communications.

"Let's go." He said, and they made their way into the hanger. Once he saw the ship, he knew that it was an old model. Elegant, but fast. For once though, he didn't stop to admire the craft, and wasted no time in running up to it. Shouts from the other side of the hanger were heard before he was able to open the ramp.

"Stop!" Guards were pouring out of several doors. Pressing the button for the ramp, Anakin turned on his lightsaber and stepped in between Leia and the rest of the guards.

"Go start the ship. I'll hold them off until we're really to go." He didn't look back at her, but she hesitated for some reason. "Now Leia!" He spared her a snap glance.

Finally listening to him, Leia turned with an unconscious Han and went up into the ship. Anakin slowed his breathing to prepare for the shots that were moments away. He wasn't sure what the guards were waiting for, but he tried to push the thought from his mind. The second they started shooting, he would be in trouble. No room to think about anything else then.

A guard at the front of the others brought up his hand, telling the others to hold. The guard walk forward towards Anakin, but stopped a good distance away. Anakin's grip tightened on his lightsaber.

"Surrender yourself, the woman, and the prisoner and we won't kill you." The guards raised his hands, obviously trying to seem less dangerous. Anakin bit back a mouthy comment and stayed silent. The guard obviously took the hint. "You'll only have this one chance." Again, he didn't respond. The guard shook his head in mock remorse. "Fire!"

The bolts almost came too fast for him to deflect, and certainly came to fast for him to focus on any one shot. The bolts came in a thundering intensity. He was running on instinct and the Force. Obi-Wan would have said that there wasn't a difference.

Behind him, he heard the engines roar to life. He couldn't appreciate the sound of it though; he was scarcely avoiding the shots fired at him as it was. He knew he'd have to move if he wanted to live.

Taking a step to his right, he was barely able to put his foot down when a bolt hit where it would have settled. He brought his foot back to its original position, cursing. Surely Leia had gotten the ship ready by then. A quick look back cost him when he felt fire spread through his shoulder.

Leia kept her face blank as she stared outside of the cockpit's window at the future Vader. There were so many guards; no one should be able to survive. Yet somehow, she was watching the man outside defend himself, although very narrowly.

Resentment flushed her cheeks. Of course he would be able to survive something so impossible. He had seemed invincible during the rebellion. It was not even suggested that the rebels try to take out Vader. They figured they would take down the Empire, and somehow he would fall with it.

But maybe…

It was certainly tempting. It would be so easy. Just take the ship and leave him. Even if she and Luke were never born, surely the galaxy would be a better place without its future tyrant. So many lives could be saved. So many civilizations—

Alderaan.

She thought of her friends and family. Everything she had loved was taken from her in one horrific moment. But as she remembered their smiles and laughter, she also remembered a lesson she had been taught from Bail as a small girl.

"If you stoop down to their level, you'll be just as bad as them. Treat everyone with sincerity and compassion and I know you'll be a woman not only I will be proud of, but you as well."

He had been talking about a stupid fight she had had with a boy in her class, but looking at the sight in front of her, she knew she couldn't let Anakin die. Not like this.

Standing up to go open the ramp, she heard a muffled cry of pain and ran up to the window of the cockpit, her weight on her arms as they rested against the controls. Anakin had been shot.

Forgetting her previous thoughts, she sprinted to the ramp, practically smacking it—willing it to open faster. The moment it opened enough for her to slip out, she slid in between the gap the ramp had just started to make and desperately ran over to where Anakin was somehow still standing.

"Come on!" She grabbed his right arm, pulling it forward as he covered them. They both scrambled up the open ramp, and pressed the button to close up the ship before running back to the cockpit and falling into the pilot's seat.

They were already lifting off when Anakin sluggishly made his way to the co-pilot's seat and collapsed in it. Leia realized with a panicky fear that she didn't know how to get out of there. She spun her head to look at Anakin, starting to say something, but was cut off.

"There's a tunnel out of here right behind those blast doors." He panted. "I'll open them; just don't let us get shot down." She heard his breathing slow as the blast doors started to open.

Not wasting any time, she flew the ship out of the hanger and into the tunnel. It was a curvy path—and a dangerous one at their speed—but she wasn't going to crash so soon after they got out. After a while of tense flying, and a lot of cursing, the ship busted out into the setting suns.

They had made it.

She looked over to her right in a rare moment of giddy happiness since being stuck with Anakin, and noticed he was unconscious-or asleep-she couldn't tell. Her smile faded, and she glanced behind him and over at an unconscious Han. They had made it out of the compound, but something in her gut felt wrong. The dark presence still lingered.

She focused forward towards the dimming sky. Something was wrong...but what?

Chapter Text

Wind blustered against Obi-Wan as the clone's transporters landed, creating a small crater and forcing sand to blow into his face and clothing. He fit the lower half of his face snugly into to the crook of his left elbow. As a Jedi, he could ignore the sand for the most part, but sand from Tatooine seemed to get everywhere you didn't want it to, Jedi or not. At least the suns were growing less and less intense as evening approached.

"General Kenobi," Rex hopped off his transport and strode over to Obi-Wan before the Captain's ride had even touched the ground. "501st reporting, sir." A respectful salute followed. Obi-Wan nodded back, taking his arm away from his face. Sand still blew against it, but he put more effort into ignoring it.

"Rex," He had to raise his voice to be heard over the other transports landing. "There's no time to waste; we need to find General Skywalker and destroy that compound. Are your men ready?"

"Yes, sir. Just give the word." Rex responded. Obi-Wan sensed Luke walk up from behind and he turned to face him.

"Are you ready, Luke?" The young man nodded and Obi-Wan returned his attention to the masked Captain. "Let's get going Rex. The sooner this whole ordeal is over, the better."

"Right away, sir." Rex turned towards the clones that had exited their transports already. "You heard him! Get back to your transports, we're heading out!" Immediately, the clones rushed back to their rides, packaging themselves into the aircrafts like sardines.

Obi-Wan motioned for Luke to follow him before finding their own ride. Rex was there when Obi-Wan stepped into the craft and grabbed one of the handles hanging from the ceiling. Next to him, Luke did the same. "Time to move." Obi-Wan spoke to the pilot.

"Yes, sir." They lifted off as the doors closed. Red lights flooded the inside of their aircraft. All noise from outside became muffled.

Obi-Wan could still hear the sand pelt and scrape on the outside of the transport though, and for a moment, he was back on Geonosis, back in the first battle of the Clone Wars. Anakin wasn't with him, but Luke looked so similar sometimes, that he was almost able to lose himself in the memory. He shook himself out of his brief daze. There was no time for that. Instead, Obi-Wan directed his attention towards Rex.

"Rex, did admiral Yularen do a scan of the coordinates I gave him?"

"Yes, sir, but the data was inconclusive. For whatever reason, the Resolute's scanners wouldn't work on the spot you specified." Rex reported.

"Wouldn't work? How…unsettling." A lurch in their transport caused Obi-Wan to almost lose his balance.

"Sir?" Rex's distorted voice sounded confused. Having regained his footing, Obi-Wan explained.

"None of our equipment has been working around the compound. I still haven't gotten communications back with Anakin…" He trailed off for a moment. "We must be careful Rex; we still have no idea who is behind all of this."

"Yes, sir."

The rest of their flight passed in relative silence. Obi-wan could feel Luke's nerves, but the he was hiding them well. He wondered about the Jedi that Luke said had trained him. He had died, but Obi-Wan had never heard of a Jedi named Ben. Whoever he was, he could tell that his training of Luke had been rushed. The younger man was gifted and strong in the Force, but he still had much to learn. Obi-Wan could sense as much anyway.

He was about to say something to Luke when his comm. Started beeping. He quickly answered it. "Kenobi."

"General," It was Yularen. "I'm guessing you haven't landed yet." Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at the comm.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the ground is unstable. Our sensors have started working." The news was good, but the admiral's tone didn't sound like it. "General, the compound you found has already been destroyed. We believe it has collapsed in on itself. There's nothing there anymore."

Obi-Wan absorbed the news quickly, although he could see Luke's surprise. "Did you do a scan for any life-signs?" There was a pause.

"Yes, and there were none in the compound. They've all either died or escaped. It's impossible to tell."

"Thank you, admiral." Without waiting for a response, he let his arm drop and turned to face the pilot. "Put us down." The clone acknowledged the order and started to land, signaling the other transports to do the same. Soon, they were all on the ground, waiting for further orders.

Obi-wan stepped outside the second the doors opened. Luke was right behind him. "Obi-Wan wait!" Obi-wan conceded, turning around. Luke stopped too, trying to seem calm. "Do you think—"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan cut off the question he had been trying not to ask himself. "The scanners must have started working once the base had been destroyed, so the same must be true for communications. I was just about to try to contact Anakin again." Luke's mouth thinned, but he didn't say anything. He didn't need to though; Obi-Wan could sense his feelings of unease screaming through the Force.

Obi-Wan tried, once again, to contact Anakin. He could barely sense him through their bond. The dark side continued to dampen their connection. Apparently, it was too much to hope that the dark Force user had died in his, or her, own compound.

"Anakin, Anakin do you read me?" There was no static, but he wasn't picking up either. "Anakin. Ana—"

"Master Kenobi?" A voice from the other side responded, although it wasn't the once he was expecting.

"Leia?" Luke asked excitedly. "Leia, it's me, Luke. I'm with Obi-wan, where are you? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Luke, don't worry. But I don't know where I am. The nav-computer on this ship isn't telling me anything." The relief in Leia's voice upon hearing her brother's voice was replaced by irritation.

"Did you get Han, Leia?" Luke voice betrayed his apprehensiveness.

"Yes. I don't want to worry you, but something's wrong with him. He wasn't right when we found him." Obi-Wan perked up at the 'we' in her sentence. He spoke before Luke could respond.

"Is Anakin with you? How did you get his communicator?" There was static, and for a moment, he thought that had lost their connection again, but he soon heard Leia's voice.

"He's here. He's hurt though," Obi-Wan straightened. How had he not sensed that? "Nothing life threatening, but he was shot in the shoulder. He's asleep…I think." Well that was anything but reassuring.

"Leia, I'm going to send you some coordinates to meet us. I know you said your nav-computer isn't working, but you should still have your planetary map. Meet us by midnight if you can."

"I'll try." She sounded confident at least.

"Sending them now." A few moments later, he heard a beep.

"Got them. We'll meet you as soon as we can."

"Be careful." Luke said.

"You too, Luke. Leia out."

Leia cut the communications and leaned back in her seat. The coordinates wouldn't be that hard to find. They were probably even for somewhere well known like mos espa, or some other Tatooine settlement. Still, the fact that she was basically flying blind didn't help her nerves. At least she had made contact with Luke and Obi-Wan. Things started to look up for the second time that day.

Still…

She looked over at Anakin and Han for the millionth time since they had escaped. She needed to check Han for wounds, and she needed to clean Anakin's. She didn't think they were very close to where they were going to meet Luke and Obi-Wan, so she made a split second decision and landed the ship near a couple of large rock formations. There was less sand where they were, and the ground was rocky and uneven, but it would have to do.

Once the ship was grounded, she unbuckled herself from her seat and got up to look for medical supplies. There had to be bacta somewhere on the ship.

After what felt like tearing through every compartment on the ship, she finally found the medical supplies. It had a surprisingly large variety of medical items and medicine. There was bacta too, of course, but half the things she had never even seen before. They didn't seem to be made for humans.

Gathering what supplies she could recognize, she brought them over to the cockpit and practically dumped them onto the main controls. They were packaged, so she wasn't worried about getting them contaminated.

Looking between the two men in the cockpit, she debated which to help first. She hadn't seen anything horrible on Han, and she suspected most of his "injuries" were emotional, but it might be faster to work on him than Anakin. Anakin's wound needed to get cleaned before it became infected, but she couldn't help herself when she crouched next to Han's side. It wouldn't take too long to check him first.

She actually felt relieved when she was right about her predictions. There seemed to have been some abuse on his person, but most of it had healed over. Not for the first time, she wondered how long he had been there. Had he traveled to the past earlier than them? Taking a moment to stroke a stray lock of hair out of his eyes, she kissed his forehead gently.

Moving over to Anakin, she frowned as she brushed her fingers over his blaster wound. Her fingers came back with black flakes that she hoped was charred cloth, and not skin. She really should have worked on him first, but she had had to make sure Han was okay.

She still felt guilty at not helping someone who needed it sooner though. She pushed the guilt aside. In the long run it didn't matter because he was Darth Vader, and what were a few extra bumps along the way? She paused, raking her eyes over his slack face and messy hair. But he just looked so…young and innocent. She shook her head and told herself that it was because he looked like Luke, but the guilt still returned. She swallowed it that time.

With careful fingers, she removed his left tabard and placed it on the floor next to her. Removing the left side of his shirt was trickier, but she managed. Then, finally with a clear view of the wound, she sighed at the sight before her. She had seen too many wounds like this in her short years. The skin was charred where the bolt had hit, and it was swollen and red from not getting any attention. Repressing another sigh, she got to work.

She had just cleaned out the last of the charred skin when he started to stir.

"nngh…Padmé?" Unfocused blue eyes found her face. Leia froze in her tracks. Padmé? She felt her brows knitting. Someone he was close to?

"No," She said slowly. "It's me, Leia." She sat there, under his questioning gaze, waiting for him to understand what she had said. He blinked, and she almost thought she would have to reassure him further that she wasn't this Padmé, but a second later his eyes snapped open wide in remembrance. He tried to move, but had obviously forgotten that he had been shot and winced before returning to his original position.

Leia frowned and placed a firm hand on his right shoulder. "Stay still. You'll only hurt yourself further if you keep moving like that." He frowned back at her before glancing down to his wounded shoulder. Leia let her hand drop to her side.

"Right. I was shot." He said distractedly. "That's…irritating." He deadpanned.

Irritating? "You were shot; I think that's a little more than irritating. You could have gotten killed out there you know." She said, frustrated at his blasé attitude. Raising his head to meet her stare, he seemed to search her face. Whether or not he found what he was looking for, she couldn't tell.

A second later, he cracked a smirk that made her want to smack him. "Jedi don't usually get shot." 

Holding her breath and counting to ten, Leia gave him her best political smile. "And what kind of Jedi does that make you then?" Her voice was excessively sweet, and he flushed, his smile dropping off his face like a rock. She knew that probably no one else could have survived, much less only gotten shot once in his situation, but she couldn't help making the jab.

Frowning almost comically, he mumbled something she couldn't quite catch. She ignored it though, and started to continue fixing his wound. They sat in silence for a while after that. One she almost felt was comfortable. Anakin cleared his throat into his right fist, causing Leia to meet his gaze.

"So his name is Han Solo, huh? Leia's face twisted into one of confusion. Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything, he pressed. "Well is it?"

Leia blinked. "Yes?" She didn't understand why he was asking such a strange question. And her answer made him upset for some reason, his face falling in almost disappointment. Did he know him? She decided it was impossible.

"Who are you, really?" He questioned. Leia almost chocked on her own breath, jerking against his shoulder. He flinched at the unexpected pressure on his wound.

"What do you mean?" She recovered quickly, although graceless. That seemed to make him more upset.

"Don't lie to me; I know you're not who you say you are. When you told us your names, you introduced yourselves as the Solos. Now, unless you, your brother, and the man I assume you love all have the same last name by coincidence, you're not telling me something." Panic filled Leia's stomach under the intense stare of her biological father. Even though she didn't like to admit it, she felt like a child caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

She swallowed, letting her face fall into a neutral mask. She was not about to be intimidated by the future Darth Vader. She didn't say anything when he was interrogating her on the first Death Star, and she wouldn't say anything now.

"No, I'm not." She tried to control her voice. He looked surprised at her blunt answer. "I don't have to tell you everything about me. All you need to know is that me, my brother, and my fiancé," She gave him a pointed look. "need to get back to where we came from." His face darkened at her words, and Leia silently decided that it was a good thing that she hadn't been able to see his face when he had first interrogated her.

"If you don't tell me who you are, I won't be able to help you when we meet with up Obi-Wan and your brother." The frown grew on his face. "You stole a ship from the Grand Army of the Republic—from the Jedi. You will stand trial, and you will go to jail." He warned harshly.

"And you would like that, wouldn't you?" She accused, narrowing her eyes.

"What are you talking about? I would like for you to tell me who you are. I would like for you to trust me!" He snapped back, standing to his feet.

She was taken aback at the sudden movement, falling back on her heels.  "We've already been through this! I can't trust you!" She shot to her own feet.

"Why?" He demanded, frustration filling his voice.

"Because you're a murderer and a monster!" She spat.

He flinched at that worse than when she had irritated his wound, falling instantly silent. 

For a moment, both of them just stood there, unmoving and in shock of what she had said. She turned away first, walking to the other side of the cockpit in fear of the fact that she might have given too much away. Her hands shook and she gathered them to her chest. The drawer that she had gotten the first aid from sat in front of her, half open.

How many times had she wanted to say that to his face? How many times had she wanted him to hurt like Han and Luke had been hurt? Like she had been hurt? For what he had done to the galaxy? But seeing him before he became Darth Vader—when he was young and whole—was just too much. To her, he might as well have been born the monster he had been to her. The shock and hurt of his face had shaken her.

Behind her, she heard heavy footsteps leave the cockpit and heard the ramp soon after. She had hurt him. Or made him angry; she didn't know. There was no denying that, for one moment, she had felt satisfaction for being able to cut at him,  but she couldn't rid herself of the regret for having said that. It felt wrong to say that to him now. It wasn't fair, she knew that--she knew that--but she had said it anyway. There was no taking it back. Leia took a shaky breath, calming her nerves, and closed the drawer.

Storming out of the ship, Anakin stomped his way across the rocky ground and away from Leia.

"…you're a murderer and a monster!"

Murderer.

Monster.

The words kept repeating in his head, tormenting him, threatening to drive him insane. They were words he would call himself sometimes. Words he had earned the night his mother had been taken from him. But how could she know? No one knew about what had happened with the Tusken raiders but Padmé and Palpatine. Leia's words had shaken him down to his core. Did she know through a Force vision? Something else? 

Someone else?

He shook his head of the thought. Or maybe she wasn't talking about that at all. Maybe she was talking about the part he has played in the Clone Wars. He knew that some people thought the Jedi were war mongers, but the look in her eyes… It wasn't the way the Separatists looked at him, or even the Sith. No, it felt deeper than that. Like he was the single worst being in the galaxy to her.

Monster.

Anakin, with his eyes squeezed shut, shook his head and tried to push her voice away. It was so accusing and so hateful and so right it was painful. Dark currents of the Force swirled around him, and he was distantly aware of rocks bursting and cracking near him. He was confused; he knew he shouldn't be reacting this way. But didn't know what to feel. He didn't know how not to.

Letting out a frustrated moan, he sank to a crouch. His shoulder throbbed as he used his hand to support his head. He shouldn't be feeling so strongly. Her words shouldn't affect him as much as they had. He was so distracted with how he was feeling that he didn't sense someone come up behind him.

"Chosen One," A raspy voice he had heard before in his mind snapped him out of his clashing emotions. "Your name is Anakin Skywalker, is it not?" Snapping to his feet, Anakin whirled around to see who was talking to him, lightsaber in hand. He felt dizzy from moving so quickly.

"Who are you?" He demanded. His eyes had to readjust to the darkness since they had just been closed. The being seemed to wait while Anakin finally made out the image of a muun under the moonlight—a respirator mask covering the bottom half of his long, pale face. Anakin had been expecting to recognize the being, but he didn't. He took a cautious step back.

"My name is Darth Plaugeis." The muun stated slowly. Anakin felt every muscle in his body stiffen. This must have been the Sith he and Obi-Wan had felt.

"You're a Sith!" Anakin's lighsaber came on with a snap-hiss. He felt his fingers tremble at how tightly he was holding it. A low creaking noise came from his mechanical hand.

"Yes," Plaugeis spoke matter-o-fact. "And you are the Chosen One."

"I am a Jedi!" Anakin spat in response.

"But the Chosen One no less." The respirator's harsh breathing noise filled the air between them.

"What do you want? How did you find me?" Anakin continued warily. He wished Obi-Wan with him; being alone with a Sith was not something he really wanted to be dealing with at the moment.

"How I found you isn't important. All I want is to talk." When Anakin stayed silent, he continued. "You see, I have been looking for you. And I must say, the power I've heard about does not disappoint." Plaugeis looked pointedly at a rock formation towering to Anakin's right. It had a crack running from the bottom up and was threatening to collapse. Anakin realized, uneasily, that in his unsettled state he had almost brought it down upon himself and the ship.

Looking back at the Sith, Anakin managed to rein in his emotions after a moment. He found it easier to do when faced with a threat. "If you think I'm so powerful, then why don't you fight me?" Anakin challenged, falling into an aggressive stance.

Plaugeis' hollow laugh crackled and scraped against Anakin's ears. "I will not fight you, Chosen One. Not yet. No, for now I will wait. I will be watching you. And when I think you're ready for all I have to tell you, I will visit you again."

"I'll kill you first..." Anakin threatened, slowly moving towards the Sith.

"Like you killed those Tuskens the night your mother died?" The question made Anakin freeze in his tracks. He felt the blood drain from his face.

"How do you—"

"Know about it?" Plaugeis finished for him. "I have my ways: remember that. As for our meeting, I think it is in both of our best interests if it stays between us."

Before Anakin could respond, the muun used the Force to swirl what sand was around them into the air, blocking Anakin's sight. Anakin was forced to turn away to keep the sand from getting into his shoulder's wound. Once the sand died down, Anakin turned back to where the Sith had been, but Darth Plaugeis was nowhere to be found; Anakin could not even sense him.

What the Sith had said to him had left a pit in his stomach. That the Sith knew about his darkest secret made him feel sick. And if the Sith was telling the truth about "having his ways" then he really couldn't tell anyone what had happened either. He couldn't risk it. He couldn't let his secret get out. He couldn't not be a Jedi.

Another thought tugged for his attention: why? Why was he so interested in him? It obviously had something to do with him being the Chosen One-since that's all he would call him-but he didn't seem like he wanted to kill Anakin. The opposite really. And why reveal himself now?

Sighing, Anakin rubbed his flesh fingers over his eyes. His lightsaber off, he clipped it to his belt, and headed back towards the ship. Even though Leia hated him, it would be better if he faced now her so they could leave. He felt uneasy about staying where they were any longer. He felt uneasy about staying on the planet any longer.

Almost at the ship, a breeze, still warm from the day, blew against his face as he walked. Words in the wind and in his heart whispered to him as he strode back to the ship.

I will be watching you…

Murderer…