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| - The scar from Renust Nju’s lightsaber was still in the middle of the floor, reminiscent of his last stand with Yoda. Anakin wasn't sure if the cleaning droids had not yet found a way to remove it or whether Yoda had kept it there on purpose. But he didn’t mind. In a way, he actually liked it. It gave the Temple Memorial Room a sense of realness rather than all the artificiality the holograms and readouts showed. Yet even that did not take away the memories. There were still times, even four years after, when he still woke up in the middle of the night with Padmé’s name on his lips. She would call to him in his dreams, smile and then slip away before he could talk to her. At first he had refused to accept Padmé’s death. Even months after the fact when there were the Judicial and Senate enquires as well as all the dratted holo-journalists who constantly asked for details. And when Obi-Wan had told him that putting his lightsaber through three cameras was not a good idea, Anakin could have choked him. Or even left the Jedi Order, put everything behind him including his memories of Padmé. Yet it wasn't because of Obi-Wan he had stayed, and it wasn't because of Obi-Wan that he finally accepted the sacrifice that Padmé had made for him. And he had not done this by himself, there had been help. Anakin smiled. There had been a lot of help. The buzz of his comlink made him smile again. He answered it as he left the room. “Yes?” “They say our ship is ready now, Master,” said a soft female voice. Master. The title still gave him a thrill whenever he heard it, even though it had been the case for six months. And unlike when he had been put on the Council at the end of the Clone Wars, there was nothing political or even bitter about it. It had actually been quite a surprise, most of all to Anakin himself. The fact that he now had a Padawan learner of his own. “I’ll be there in a moment, Sona,” he told her, replacing the comlink back in his pouch. Sona. Sona Cantari. She had been what had saved him, what had made him stay a Jedi and finally put Padmé’s memory in perspective. “Anakin, wait a moment.” Anakin stopped in his walk to wait for Obi-Wan to catch up. Still on the Council and now with somewhat more grey in his hair than he had had during the Clone Wars. Anakin didn’t like that now he was Sona’s Master they sometimes walked on different paths, yet he dealt with this in the Jedi way. He accepted it. After all, as Sona had pointed out to him once, there were some things that you just couldn’t control. “Forgot to give you this.” Obi-Wan handed Anakin a portable midi-chlorian counter. Much more accurate than the one Qui-Gon had first used on Anakin and able to give a reading in the field. It was still fairly new. Anakin examined it with a dry smile. “Obi-Wan, I thought you said that the tests were conclusive,” he teased. “They are, they are,” Obi-Wan reassured as they walked towards the hangar. “It’s just in case you need to be sure.” “Or is this an excuse just to see me off?” Anakin said, the corners of his mouth twitching towards a smile. “I don’t need an excuse, Anakin,” his former Master returned. “It’s not as if you actually go anywhere very much.” “Well, that’s all going to change,” Anakin said loftily, this was his first mission with Sona and it was very likely there were going to be more. Sona was sitting in the hatchway of their starship when Anakin and Obi-Wan arrived, swinging her feet above the floor. She got up and walked towards her Master, nodding to Obi-Wan as she handed Anakin a datacard of what she had found. “Master, I found this information in the archives,” she said, somewhat tentatively. “I’m not sure if it will help…” Obi-Wan could not help but smile as he watched Anakin and Sona talk. They were so different, yet they seemed to compliment each other completely. Sona with her dark hair and eyes often looked serious and worried. Whereas Anakin was none of these things, confidence enveloped him like an aura. They worked together better than even he could have anticipated, Anakin rushing forward like a raging torrent while beside him was Sona, the quiet river of serenity. And Obi-Wan had to admit that he had nothing to do with this pairing. Oh, there was the fact that Sona had been in his saber-training class and that was how she and Anakin had met. But even if that had not been the case, he figured that the living Force would have found a way to bring them together. If it hadn’t happened…He dismissed the thought as it normally led back to the months after Padmé’s death. The months Anakin had spent between an almost remorseless rage and a brooding depression. “Well, that’s it.” Anakin closed the datapad and looked at Obi-Wan expectantly. “I’ll call you in a few days to let you and the Council know when we’re getting back.” “Or,” Obi-Wan pointed out dryly, “when you find something else better to do while you’re out there.” Anakin looked at him with mock innocence. “Come on, Obi-Wan. How long have you known me?” “Far too long,” Obi-Wan replied, he looked at Sona. “You tell me if he wants to go somewhere else and I’ll think of something unpleasant for him to do when he gets back home.” “Like listening to one of Chancellor Organa’s speeches?” Sona suggested, grinning wickedly. Obi-Wan chuckled. “Something like that.” “I will, Master Kenobi,” Sona said, bowing her head but still smiling. With a straight face Anakin steered her around and moved Sona towards the ship. “Now don’t give her any ideas,” Anakin chided, pointing accusingly at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan held up his hands innocently. But when Sona was on board he spoke again. “But I mean it,” he murmured, “you’re not on your own now, Anakin. You can’t forget that.” “You won’t ever let me,” Anakin accused. The two friends clasped hands, for a moment an invisible pulse travelled from one to the other. “I guess this is it,” Obi-Wan said reluctantly. “I’ve been away from you before,” Anakin reminded him. “Not like this,” Obi-Wan pointed out. Anakin shrugged, then walked towards the ship. “Anakin?” He stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder. “May the Force be with you.” Anakin ducked inside the ship and started to slide the hatch down. “May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan.” Sona was already in the co-pilot’s seat when Anakin entered. “Strapped in?” he asked her, she nodded. “You want to take her out?” Sona’s eyes lit up. “Really?” Anakin nodded. “Go ahead.” Sona took the controls and guided the ship over the city. It was early morning, the orbital mirrors were only starting to reflect the light, the orange, gold and pink reflected against the buildings. Just like the morning Padmé died, Anakin realised suddenly, yet she would have loved this, to see the Capital with all the colour and light… He was silent as the ship left the atmosphere and entered space. “I told you I came from Tatooine, didn’t I?” he asked Sona suddenly. “I think you told me at least three or four times,” the girl replied. “And now they say there’s another Jedi that’s been identified there.” She cast her mind back to the briefing. “Somewhere near a place called Anchorhead,” she looked at Anakin for a moment. “Is that were you came from, Master?” “Not really,” Anakin replied as he entered the co-ordinates, “but I've been there. Ready?” Sona nodded. Anakin threw the hyperspace throttle forward and they went on together.
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