***

The Academy students for Palpatine’s army were all training at their best, and there were many patriotic speeches broadcast over the holo-news. Anakin was made a commander and spent days on end testing the pilots the Council put under his control. This happened just after they accepted him as a Jedi in the Order. The days were spent in simulations and flight exercises. Seeing the students perform to their utmost potential, and experiencing the indefinable family bond that exists among squadrons, Anakin felt an exhilaration, an adrenaline rush.

He was happy.

***

Count Dooku was happy, too. One of the many force sensitive people, candidates he was grooming to be his apprentice once he defeated his own master, was coming. Anabelle Jade. An attractive red-head. He was about to arrange the demise of her husband, and use her to scout out an even more promising apprentice.

***

Anabelle knelt before her Master.

"I am ordering you to active action with Anakin Skywalker," Count Dooku instructed her. "I want you by his side at every moment. I won't tell you details yet, but I have something planned for the battle . . . " he stopped and angrily accused, "You are not listening, my young apprentice!"

"Forgive me, Master," Anabelle mumbled.

"Speak up! I can't hear you." Venom was in his voice. Anabelle felt horror washing over her.

She gathered her courage and said quickly, "Master, it seems, that despite my efforts to the contrary, I have conceived a child."

Silence. "What are we going to do with you now?" Count said slowly after a minute. The voice was deceptively gentle and sounded like broken glass.

Then Anabelle truly knew what fear was.

***

"Anabelle!" Anakin exclaimed as he saw his friend and comrade sitting in the briefing room. "What are you doing here?”

"I was assigned to strategy and intelligence," she answered.

Anakin noticed something wrong with Anabelle. She was pale, haggard.

"Anabelle," he looked at her, worried, "you are looking after the child aren't you?"

"Yes. We're fine." Anabelle smiled at him. "Thank you for your concern."

Anakin patted her shoulder in encouragement, and sat down. The lights in the room dimmed as the briefing began.

***

An hour before they left for the battle, Obi-Wan and Anakin met for breakfast. They sucked down caff like it was water.

"Like we need anything to pump us up!" Anakin exclaimed.

But Obi-Wan was pensive, "I still find it ironic."

"That we are fighting another battle on Naboo?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan nodded. The battle of Naboo was a painful memory.

"Why is it the peaceful planets that are the first targets?"

"Because by their pacifism, they leave themselves vulnerable," Anakin answered. "And then it's up to us to go and intervene--protect the innocent and ensure peace for the galaxy!"

Anakin then raised his glass, "To the best friend a man can have, and to lasting peace and order in our galaxy."

"I'll drink to that," Obi-Wan said.

A voice over the intercom announced that it was time to leave. Anakin gave Obi-Wan a friendly salute and said, "See you at the palace, Master!"

Obi-Wan returned the salute and smiled, "May the Force be with you, my Padawan!"

And for the last time the two men parted as friends.

***

It was hell. Explosions burst all around Anakin, and it seemed that the enemy forces were endless. Yet Anakin's pilots expertly flew through the mass of fire and explosions to beat back the enemy.

The elation that comes with battle coursed through Anakin, when . . . The thought hit him: The ground assault. They were losing ground . . . and Obi-Wan . . . he was down.

NOOOOOOO he heard in his mind, but it wasn't his voice. It was his master's, the cry Obi-Wan gave when he saw Qui-Gon cut down. Obi-Wan was gone. Anakin's eyes began to blur as rage began to consume him.

No indeed, Master. He would not accept it. Not this time. Good people lost too often. His mother, his master. Sick of the pain.

Not this time.

Anakin began to stretch out with the Force and for an instant he remembered lessons from Master Yoda warning him about using too much of the Force.

But it's for a good purpose Anakin spoke to Yoda, as though the master was there with him.

No, Ani. No turning back now. Anakin summoned more Force power than he had ever dared.

It happened.

The commander of the of the enemy ground assault was under Anakin's control. The enemy's mind scrambled. Anakin responded by using more energy to allow that confusion to spread . . . and spread. The forces fell out in chaos.

And it is so easy! No sooner had that thought entered Anakin's head than he ordered his men to swoop in and obliterate as many of the enemy as possible.

***

No moonlight shimmered over the water as Anakin knelt on the balcony where he and Padme had shared their first kiss. No moon would ever be seen on Naboo again.

Anakin had his victory. He destroyed those who hurt his loved ones, and avenged Obi-Wan's death. But at what cost? The firepower Anakin ordered concentrated on Naboo had destroyed the planet's ecosystem. Naboo was doomed to a quick death.

Anakin shuddered as he thought how he would have to explain that to his wife. He shook his head. No.

He could not be honest and tell her that he had inadvertently destroyed the planet she loved. She had had enough pain in her life. She would not be reminded of Naboo every time she looked at her husband.

The old Anakin would have told her the truth, but not the strong one, the one who was no longer a victim.

Perhaps he could find a way to reverse the process. Anakin returned to Theed and tried to gather the Jedi present to summon power to undo the damage to the planet. But Master Yoda, arriving after the battle with other members of the Council, forbade him, insisting that would bring them too close to the Dark Side.

Mace Windu sensed Anakin's rage and calmly addressed him, "You did a great deal of harm. You cannot cover it up, Anakin, you must face the consequences." Anakin's head bowed, but not in shame or respect for his elders. Mace Windu continued, "You will return to Coruscant where we will address the matter at the Temple."

Anakin then realized how much he must have had violated the Code.

But I stopped the enemy. Good was accomplished.

Yoda rebuked him, "So your own council you keep on your actions?"

"No, Master." Anakin answered.

It was the first lie he had told in his life.

***

Later Anakin was waiting for the shuttle, which contained Chancellor Palpatine. He was unsettled by the scene with Yoda and Mace Windu. They had given him a strong rebuke. It almost hurt, but then Anakin Skywalker no longer accepted pain.

He thought about the Jedi Council. Why were they so arrogant as to order him around? Who were they to tell him not to use too much of the Force? Did they know his thoughts, his conscience?

Indeed, he had followed the rules all his life and all it brought him and the galaxy was pain. Anakin thought of his hero, Qui-Gon Jinn. He was right after all. The Force was about following one's heart over the Council.

I will do what I must.

Anakin felt warmth and insight. Perhaps Qui-Gon had seen the future when he said that to Obi-Wan so long ago. Maybe the Will of the Force was to collapse all hierarchy in the Jedi Order and make every Jedi follow a code each created for himself. No longer one code for all!

Yes, Qui-Gon--Anakin--was seeing the future. The demise of the Council. It was coming. It was the Will of the Force. He was certain and he did not hear Anabelle Jade come up to kneel beside him.

"I feel the same way," she said gently.

There was no need to ask Anabelle what she meant. Anakin replied, "Let's see what we can do then. Will you help me save Naboo?"

Anabelle placed her hand on his shoulder and shook her head, "No. That's not what we need to do now."

Then Anakin felt a strange energy enter him, and he knew it. Now was not the time, not yet. He tingled all over. Was he touching the Dark Side? He shook off the thought.

Anakin looked towards Anabelle and saw her green eyes fixed on him. He felt a little uneasy, but that feeling he also ignored for she was on his side. That was all that mattered now.

"Come," Anabelle invited, "Chancellor Palpatine is waiting for us on his shuttle. We're going home."

"Yes," Anakin answered, almost absently, "back to Coruscant. I will return, as Master Windu ordered, but not in the way the Council expects it."

***

Anakin was on the shuttle, Chancellor Palpatine and Anabelle Jade beside him. He looked down at the towering buildings of Coruscant. The victory had been almost complete, though intelligence was saying that the enemy was planning a counter-assault. But that didn't matter to Anakin. His eyes were fixed on the crowds assembled to meet him. They were celebrating his deeds. The crowd was there because of him and what he had accomplished by following--the Force?--his feelings.

He barely remembered that Padme would be among the throngs.

"Nothing beats this, does it?" Palpatine asked, breaking the silence.

Anakin looked again at the cheering crowds and felt their energy bounce off him. It was intoxicating.

Anakin looked behind him and saw Anabelle smiling at him. She mouthed the word "Victory." Anakin returned her smile, happy that she was his ally.

Qui-Gon would be proud of us.

He walked down the ramp and saw her. Padme. His angel. A grin came over his face.

The holo-cameras were ready when he ran up to him and gave her a welcome-home kiss. She pulled back, in horror. But Anakin shook his head at her. “Now’s the time,” he whispered.

“I’m happy to be greeting my wife!” he exclaimed, as millions on the holonet watched.

***

“What is there to do now, but accept it? It’s not in the Code, nor is it forbidden throughout the entire order. Corrielian Jedi still marry.” Mace Windu told Yoda, as they met in his apartments.

“A few cultural exceptions there are,” Yoda conceded, “Skywalker cannot lay claim to any of them.”

“Our discipline, it has been.”

Mace replied, “So we’ll make an exception.”

“Always exceptions with Skywalker,” Yoda sighed. “A wonder, it is, that anybody follows the rules when see they do, how we let him get away with breaking them.”

“Master, we have to,” Mace insisted. “They’re already married. It’s too late. There’s nothing to do now. Besides we are in a war. We don’t have time for internal disputes.”

Yoda nodded sadly. “Very well, tell Skywalker I will. Expel him, we will not.”

***

Anakin and Padme awoke before dawn to a battle. On Coruscant? They jumped up. Bombs were roaring around them. It was like a nightmare. Anakin pushed Padme to the floor. "Like that will help if the Temple is bombed!" She shouted, crouched underneath him.

"No, we won't be bombed. I can feel it." He got up and began dressing as he spoke, "The enemy are not bombing the Temple. But my men must go. Fight them off."

He was dressed by now and fiercely embraced his wife, kissing her.

”I love you, Padme. I will forever!”

And then he was gone.

***

Anakin and Bail led the defenses in the fiercest fighting they had ever experienced. The devastation was unprecedented, whole civilizations were being wiped out. This war could not go on, it couldn't. Anakin began to believe that he only was to victory was annihilation of the enemy. It had to be. With each battle Anakin felt the need to stop the chaos grow. He would do whatever was needed to accomplish that goal.

Because of this, he refused to contact the Jedi Council. He knew what they would say about his tactics.

Moreover, the Jedi were increasingly unpopular. Since the Temple was unharmed during the strikes against Coruscant, many people began to resent them. To protect the Jedi, Palpatine declared they would stay inside the Temple, or were they to leave they must no longer wear their Jedi Robes.

For their protection

***

Anakin was astonished.

"It's called a Star Destroyer," Anabelle Jade said from beside him. They were on a shuttle, about to board the Republic's newest weapon. Anabelle had been his ally in the second Battle of Naboo. She was pregnant with her daughter Mara, yet this did not diminish her fiery beauty.

Bu Anakin did not see the desirability of this widowed Jedi. He was transfixed by what was before him.

This is where Chancellor Palpatine wants me to serve

Anabelle broke into his reverie, "I'm sorry that we couldn't have told you more, but this is very top secret."

Anakin nodded silently. He barely heard her, so captivated was he.

As they exited the shuttle in the hangar, there was a group of officers greeting him. They addressed him as Captain. It felt odd-as though he was far too young for such a title. But he was the best.

The confident Anabelle Jade strode next to the tall captain. Still active with Palpatine's intelligence force, she was on the Star Destroyer for a strategy briefing . . . and for a more covert mission.

***

The said meeting seemed to go on forever. The Fleet was trying to secure the Core Worlds. The Destroyer would fortify a route from Alderaan to Corellia. And when the time came, they'd drive the enemy from the Mid-Rim.

"And how will we be certain when we may strike?" Bail wanted to know.

"Chancellor Palpatine has ways of knowing when the time will be right," Anabelle replied.

Anakin nodded. He noticed a few other men in the briefing, an Ensign near his age, Piett. Anakin sensed something about him; he'd need to keep his eye on the ensign. Piett would be of use to him later.

He felt it.

The briefing broke up, and Bail was going back to the Base on Corellia. Anakin was left with his command, his ship.

***

Anakin's quarters were spacious, richly furnished. Fit for a man of his stature. He felt a pride, a pleasure.

Remember this feeling, Ani, he told himself as he began unpacking. He was no longer wearing anything that resembled Jedi robes.

The Jedi . . . He did not regret having rejected them. Rejected the Council, not the Jedi, he amended. There was a difference, wasn't there?

His late master would not agree. But he was gone now.

I am doing what I feel I must, Master.

Doing it for the good of the galaxy

Before he could add to those thoughts he was reminded that something was missing. He went to unpack it, the holo of his wife, Padme. For a moment he missed her, but a summons by ensign Piett interrupted his thoughts.

Anakin Skywalker had work to do.

***

Anabelle remained on the ship, continuing to monitor the situation for Chancellor Palpatine. At the end of the next circuit she would be dropped off on Coruscant.

Anakin looked on her as his ally in his new vision of the Jedi Order. They often met over stim-tea to discuss their plans. Anabelle was always there to point him to reason when Anakin felt something akin to doubt.

"Stay strong," she counseled him daily.

"I'm worried," Anakin replied and stopped in horror. He really felt anxiety, something he had never felt before.

"Take heart, Anakin. I feel anxiety too," Anabelle replied.

”But you’re not a Jedi.” Anakin protested.

Anabelle ignored that last comment, ”We won't accomplish anything more this evening. I'm going to do some meditation exercises. Care to join me?"

***

Anakin meditated often with Annabelle after that. When he did, there was an energy that fed and received. He didn’t know why this lady, not a Jedi, could meditate so well. He had always been told that only Jedi could contact the Force.

Maybe another lie they told me.

Anabelle Jade was four months along in her pregnancy. Anakin had been aware of the child within her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were Force sensitive?”

“Couldn’t you tell, Anakin?”

"I suppose. I don’t see why you didn’t join the Order. “

Anabelle gave him a brittle smile, “Not everyone is lining up to join those elitists.”

Anakin nodded as he reached out to the child, “She's strong in the Force," he commented.

"I know.”

Suddenly Anakin's head was reeling. So many thoughts. He was confused so much lately. Unlike his discernment before.

Anabelle sensed his thoughts and explained, "It was easy to discern because the Jedi Ways are simple. Ours are more complex and intelligent. That's why it's hard to understand sometimes. That's why it's confusing."

”Ours? Isn’t it the Force we’ve been working with?”

“Anakin, are you so naïve? Of course it’s the Force, just not the part of it with which you’re used to dealing.”

And Anakin knew, but before he could say anything, they were interrupted by a surprise attack.

***

There was a raw power they tapped into, calling upon all powers they had learned, ones they often had given names to themselves in their meditations. There was a bond forming. And together they nearly single-handedly obliterated a legion of the enemy.

Chancellor Palpatine congratulated them over the hologram. "You too are definitely a team. Unbeatable."

"Thank you, Chancellor," Anakin replied. It felt good to be complimented by him. Anakin had always sought Palpatine's approval and, for a reason Anakin could not explain, it was imperative.

***

Anakin entered Annabelle's quarters. She was by the large view of stars. Drinking Alderaanian ale.

"Is that good for Mara?" Anakin asked,

"A cup or two won't hurt her." Anabelle smiled, her gleaming teeth and green eyes almost glowing.

He commented, "You look happy."

"It's that euphoria after the battle. You feel it too." It was a statement not a question.

"Yes."

Anabelle patted her stomach, "Mara likes it as well, and I’ve allowed her to feel it."

"I know." Anakin spoke quietly.

"You've felt her?"

He nodded, "I sense that she will be very important in our future, but in a manner that I cannot imagine."

"I've foreseen it as well," Annabelle smiled again. "Would you like to sense her again?

“If I may?"

As Anakin stretched out with the Force, the power overwhelmed him. It was euphoric, powerful. It built. Yes, the Dark Side was powerful, far better than the Jedi's childish tricks.

The emotion, the energy flowed through him. He took it all.

"Yes. She will be powerful." Anakin stated. "As are you."

He beheld Anabelle's face and some connection wouldn't leave, some vacuum.

"Of course. She's force-sensitive," Anabelle replied.

And I'm a married man Anakin thought.

Why did that thought come? A moment later Anakin knew why when that vacuum didn't close. And he couldn't make it stop.

***

Anakin wanted to die. He felt it was a dream. It had to be. A blaster to the gut would have been easier to handle. But this . . . this injury he had done of his free will.

He went into the fresher and felt ill.

Adultery.

He thought about Anabelle and hated her.

He hated her because he wanted to be with her.

But most importantly, he hated her because he knew that he'd never see Padme in the same way again.

***

Anakin continued to see Annabelle. Being with her was a drug. Not unlike the way it was with Padme.

Also he was also improving in other matters. He was winning the war.

Only occasionally, sometimes as he saw the light streaking through his windows in hyperspace did he start in shock as he felt fear and horror. Was this really what Anakin Skywalker was all about? Was he really an adulterer, a rebel against the Jedi Order he had once loved. Was he really killing his enemies en masse with no regret?

But he quickly erased the doubt, for Anakin Skywalker no longer felt fear. Fear went with pain. And as for his wife. . .

Anabelle helped him by teaching him a technique to cloak any signs of their relationship from Padme when they spoke via hologram.



Once the war was over, he'd go back to her. This dalliance was an interlude. A diversion of war, a stepping-stone to the New Order.

He told himself this so many times that he really began to believe it.

***

Padme awoke. She could tell that she was in a ship, one that she had never seen before. The humming of the walls told her she was in hyperspace. Had she been kidnapped? She jumped up. The last thing she remembered was talking to a friend, and then...

A buzz at the door. She stood up straight ready to face whomever her kidnapper was.

The doors slid aside, and she saw Obi-Wan Kenobi.

* * *

Padme was sitting next to her friend, sipping caff and listening to him explain.

"There are many things happening," Obi-Wan said. "The Jedi are preparing to make an announcement about the war."

"Switching sides?" Padme asked.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Padme there is much that you do not know that has been hidden. We have made an error, a horrible one. By allying with Palpatine we have signed our own death warrants and that of the galaxy."

"Palpatine?"

Obi-Wan went on," He was good, so good. None of us saw him. He tricked us into this war, using our own morals against us. Using our sense of right to ignore the Council's cautions. And forcing the Council to give in."

Padme took his hand and asked quietly, "You are saying Palpatine is a Sith?"

Obi-Wan nodded solemnly. Padme was surprised at her calm. She knew. It made sense, it was right.

Obi-Wan went on " The Council is issuing a statement denouncing their weakness and calling all to arms against Palpatine's regime. It will get nasty."

"So you're sending me away to protect me?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "The Jedi will be in danger."

The former senator's eyes were sad, "Anakin is hunted, too?"

"We don't know that." Obi-Wan answered quietly.

Padme felt a chill. "Anakin has not been in on this? That's what I assumed from the moment you began speaking."

"We don't know for certain, Padme," Obi-Wan repeated. "We will know after the statement. All Jedi will be called to a rendezvous point. Those who arrive will be our allies. The rest will have joined with Palpatine, or be dead."

This isn't happening.

"Why not then leave me at the Temple until this came to a head?" Padme's eyes grew fiery, "I can fight, Obi-Wan."

A quiet answer "Not now."

"No?"

"You are pregnant."

Padme stood up, “I don’t think so. Wouldn’t I know?”

Obi-Wan shook his head, "Nevertheless, the Jedi have sensed the lives within you and we know that Palpatine will want those children dead. That’s why we have to hide you now. You will have your children and we will hide them from Palpatine until the war is over."

***

The quarters Padme was given were very comfortable. It was in a marshy climate. Obi-Wan did not tell her where she was. The house was three stories and on stilts. C3PO and R2D2 were there as well a medical droid.

"We go in style in exile."

"I believe not," the Jedi answered. "This is a special scenario, created as our safe-house for the hiding. Others, trusted others, may join you."

"I see."

"Your job, Padme, is to look after those twins. You must do all to protect them."

Padme nodded. "It's hard though..."

"Anakin?"

" I don't even know where he is, what side he's on. What's been happening, if he's alive...?”

Obi-Wan nodded silently. Anakin was his friend too. He patted Padme’s hand, "It will all work out for the best. We will get through this dark time. I believe it."

***

A news flash was sent throughout the entire galaxy. It was an unheard of moment, one that the holo-news played over and over. The content: The Jedi Council had been arming the enemy with their own clones in order to bring about the fall of Palpatine's administration.

As a result of this revelation, Palpatine had reluctantly ordered the Jedi to be rounded up and sent to special camps where they will face trial, and if necessary, execution.

Palpatine told the people he was sad to take such extreme measures, but it was necessary to protect the people of the Republic from the dangers another round of Clone Wars would bring. Eliminate the Jedi and the suffering will cease.

* * *

The evacuation alarm was ringing throughout the Temple. Padawans and masters were leaving their rooms, finding their transports.

Only the Council was sitting calmly.

"Little time have we," Yoda said. They all recorded, and then signed a document to be broadcast throughout the galaxy.

"The last meeting of the Jedi Council is hereby adjourned," Mace Windu declared. "May the Force be with you, always."

The Jedi arose and left.

***

Anakin bowed before Palpatine.

“I am glad you have chosen sides. The right one.”

“It is difficult, but I cannot side with the Jedi. They are traitors. You have my loyalty.”

“Good . . .good,” Palpatine gestured. “Then I should introduce you to my ally.”

Count Dooku walked through the door. Anakin repressed the anger boiling inside him. Dooku did what he did because of the war. And since the Jedi were wrong, it made sense that the Sith were in the right.

“And this gentleman, Young Skywalker,” Dooku gestured to Palpatine, “is my master.”

***

Anabelle showed Anakin the latest weapon in the war. Biological—it would infect and slowly kill the enemies. The problem was how to decimate it. Anakin ordered her to proceed with further research.

***

The soft, fluty music peculiar to Alderaan was drowned out as Padme held her daughter, Leia. She was listening to the holo-news describe the latest assault by the Jedi Forces. She sighed and prayed that Luke was far from the fighting. Obi-Wan had given her no clue as to his location, only telling her that she would approve of his guardians.

C3PO burst inside, "Mistress Padme, Mistress Padme!"

"Yes, yes!" Padme tried not to sound annoyed. "I am very busy!"

"Bail Organa just sent me with this priority message."

Frowning, Padme pressed the hologram. Bail gave no pre-amble. "Anakin is coming."

* * *

Padme was decked out into her finery in the style of Naboo. Her dress was dark blue, with light blue panels and stripes. Her headpiece was turban-like with thick braids falling through and over her back. It had been years since she had dressed so formally.

She watched in silence, as the troops excited the shuttle, no longer droids, but stormtroopers.

Then she saw him. He was wearing the uniform of a Captain in the navy; the colors were gray and black. A few officers flanked him; one was Ensign Piett whom Padme remembered Anakin praising in the holo-news. Her husband walked over to her and she was conscious of her every move as the holo-cameras focused on them, the romantic couple. Anakin looked older, far beyond his years. The war--and his involvement with the Sith--had aged him.

A servant was next to Padme, holding Leia. As Anakin approached he began to sense something... Then he felt sadness, melancholy. So he shut off any emotions or thoughts coming from Padme.

Sadness was of the past. He would not remember the past, and so he did not recognize his own daughter.

Despite her determination to be stoic, Padme began to lose control. Large, hot tears began pouring from her eyes, making them red and swollen, heightening her visage of sadness and misery. She was choking, the emotions, the past, were there again, and she nearly forgave all.

Anakin walked right to her and took her hand. Her husband.

"Let's get out of plain view," he said, gently, in a curt kindness that contrasted with his severe clothing.

* * *

They were alone and together. Anakin wouldn't let her go, her head buried in his shoulder, he clamping tightly to her with his arms around her head. She was weeping. He held her tighter. It had been too long. Such an attachment was terrifying. That Padme would be with him, after a year of silence, knowing he was no longer the Anakin she married, after it all... she was still his wife. And he her husband.

She would come to him to Coruscant and be a part of the New Order. Padme was his future, his companion. Anabelle was a distant memory. A mistake. He had been a fool to ever think that those moments with Anabelle could compare to the pure love, the married love he had with Padme.

He muttered against his wife's shoulder, "I love you, Padme, I will forever."

And he began to cry too.

***

But Padme did not go with Anakin. She had been unwell again, and so Anakin had insisted the medics on his ship treat her. Here Anabelle Jade made certain that the medicine would contain something far more potent than Padme had wished.

Anakin only found out about it, after Padme had sent him a message. He recognized the symptoms she described, for he had been studying the weapon with Anabelle. Her jealousy of Padme led to murder.

So his conscience bothered him little when he cut her in half with his lightsaber.

***

Palpatine then took chare of Mara Jade, sending her to a safe place to be raised until she was ready for training. As he informed Anakin of this, he reminded him that Dooku was the only thing keeping him from taking his place at his side.

***

Padme was enjoying herself with her daughter as Obi-Wan came into her chambers. He noted her weakness, but he did not allow himself to show his sadness. They embraced for a final time as Obi-Wan promised her that he would get Anakin back from the Dark Side.

***

In the end, all were gone. The Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, killed by Obi-Wan, Padme dying painfully from her disease.

Palpatine was at the height of his power, revealing himself as a Sith and introducing to the galaxy a new apprentice, Darth Vader. He also proclaimed himself Emperor.

But that meant little to the farmers on the edge of the Dune Sea. They knew their charge: to raise a boy as their own, and in that way fulfill what the Force had left as the galaxy’s new hope.