Strings [1/?]
Title: Strings
Characters: Anakin/Padme, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, Leia, Mara, others
Rating: PG (for now)
Summary: Four years after the Council decided to take a different tack and allowed Anakin and Padme to remain together, a new force of evil is brewing in the galaxy. When this growing darkness results in Luke and Leia getting kidnapped, the race is on to find them before their captors can turn the twins to a path of darkness.
Raik sighed as the man who had hired them glided up in a black cowl, face hidden in shadow. When would people get the message that it wasn't funny anymore to pretend to be Palpatine when meeting with your crew? It just seemed tacky by now. He barely listened as their objectives were repeated and a credchip handed over to his second-in-command, with the promise that it contained on it a sum that could keep all of them occupied on the richest resort planets for a very long time, even when split eight ways.
Truth be told, Raik wasn't sure that eight was enough for this job. One of their targets was not only the most notorious general in the Clone Wars, but he was some kind of special thing for the Jedi, and that never boded well for a job being easy. Raik had been reading up on the guy and his wife, who they were going to be blackmailing. They had powerful friends. Raik didn't like it.
The client took off and Raik tapped his fingers impatiently on the side of the speeder. "Hey," he called out to Nat Kampa, their lookout who'd been monitoring the residence of the targets for the last few hours. "What's it look like in there?"
"Storytime," Nat said with a harsh laugh. "I don' know, Raik, this guy doesn't look so tough with kids piled on him."
"Don't underestimate the abilities of a parent whose young have been threatened," Raik replied. "Other people have and ended up dead. And this guy is a Jedi."
The Duros shrugged. "I'm just saying, he looks pretty harmless. I can't even see his lightsaber on him."
"It's probably somewhere else in the apartment." Raik shifted down in his seat, closing his eyes and tipping his hat forward. "Wake me when something interesting happens."
*
"Aw, come on Daddy, one more?"
Anakin couldn't help his smile as a pair of big brown eyes pleaded with him from his lap. "Sorry, Leia," he said and shook his head, leaning around his daughter to put the holobook on the little table beside the couch. "It's your bedtime. Besides, I've already read two stories tonight. Isn't that enough?"
"We'd like another one," Luke said, from where he was tucked in against his father's side. Under the power of the twins' imploring stares, Anakin thought, he was pretty much helpless. They didn't even have to use the Force.
"Well..."
He felt a touch on his shoulder that certainly didn't come from either twin, and tilted his head back to look at his wife and smile up at her.
"You can't," Padme said to their children, in that fond-but-firm voice that said she meant business no matter how cute they were. "You two have a meeting with your tutors tomorrow morning, and with Uncle Obi-Wan in the afternoon, and you need your sleep. Your father's already let you stay up past your bedtime." This last look of mild reproach was directed at her husband, and Anakin's cheeks flushed under his tan.
"They wanted another story," he mumbled. Luke turned around to peek at his mother over Anakin's shoulder.
"Daddy said it was a'right," the four-year-old told her, clearly worried he and his sister were going to be punished. Padme touched his cheek gently.
"I know he did," she said. "I was fine with it, nobody's in trouble. But you two still have to go to bed."
With much mumbling dissent--although it was somewhat offset by the fact that Leia yawned so wide Anakin worried she was going to dislocate her jaw, and Luke was having trouble keeping his eyelids up--the twins slid off the couch. Anakin picked Leia up and carried her, nestled against his front and half-asleep, into the room she shared with her brother. Luke followed along behind, and Padme got him tucked into bed.
When both twins were settled in, Anakin and Padme kissed both of them on their foreheads, said their goodnights, and made sure the little projector that displayed a sector of the Mid Rim was activated. The room was full of stars, and as he took one last look back at his children, Anakin could see Luke's eyes were open in wonder, staring at them.
"What's that little smile for?" Padme asked teasingly as they were getting cleaning up the common areas of the apartment. One of the side effects of living with four-year-olds, even precocious Force-sensitive four-year-olds, was that they often forgot to put their toys back. The rooms were still as lavish as they'd been when Padme was senator, but now in a corner of every room, there was a bin of toys of all kinds.
Anakin tipped the ones in his hands into the bin. "They're wonderful," he said softly, and a feeling of happiness suffused him, happiness and awe that he who could destroy so much could also create life so beautiful and perfect.
And win over the heart of the most beautiful and perfect woman in the galaxy, he thought, looking back at his wife. "I guess the paint hasn't yet chipped on the whole job of being a parent."
"Good," she replied, collecting the last of the toys and shutting the bin. Even now, years after they'd met, she was still unchanged to Anakin's eyes, still just as beautiful and smart and strong and...
"We should have another," Anakin murmured, catching her around the waist and pulling her in close. Padme made a show of resisting, somehow managing to nudge him away and melt against him at the same time. Beautiful. "They're four now, that's--"
"Still not a good idea," she said. "Anakin, we haven't even decided how to handle the fact that they're your children--they're Jedi, and they can't be anything but who they are." Her voice was serious, but she kissed him lightly and pulled away, putting out the lights and making sure all the security shields had lowered on the balcony and landing platform before moving back toward their bedroom. Anakin followed.
"I could train them myself," he said, a little miffed she'd brought this up. For the last four years it had been a major sticking point between them. Padme--and Obi-Wan, when he ventured the subject--had a point, and that was what Anakin was trying to wrap his mind around. His children were the most talented of their age-group (in theory anyway) by virtue of being son and daughter of the Chosen One, and soon they'd begin to really need guidance in their abilities as they emerged. And they needed to be protected, and Anakin didn't yet trust anyone but himself, Padme, and Obi-Wan to do that.
"Wanting to show off your shiny new Master status?" she teased, undressing.
"Partly," he admitted. "And partly because outside of Obi-Wan, I don't trust a lot of the Jedi still. They've relaxed somewhat after we were exposed, but we're still frowned on--attachment is still frowned on. I don't want the other younglings to laugh at our children, or for them to be--" his teeth ground a little before he got a hold on himself "--indoctrinated by the Jedi into the same precepts that almost..."
He didn't like thinking about it, and neither did Padme, knowing how close he'd come to falling and losing everything.
She turned to him, now clad in a shimmersilk nightgown. Hurriedly he shucked his day clothes and pulled on sleeping pants, and together they pulled the extra pillows off the bed and got in. Anakin felt Padme nestling against his side and wrapped his arms around her.
"I know you want what's best for them," she said softly. "I do too. We'll talk more about this later, okay? We still have time."
Anakin relaxed, closing his eyes and burying his face in her curly hair, murmuring agreement. "I love you," he said, some of his earlier wonder coming back in as sleep began to take him.
"Love you too," she replied. Anakin felt her shift and get comfortable, and then he fell into sleep.
*
"Finally," Nat said, exasperated, as he watched a white flare arc up and over the building that housed the former senator and her family. "I'd thought that signal flare would never come."
"Just be glad the two adults didn't stay up to engage in Jedi-fueled passionate sex," one of the others said over the comlink, climbing into the second speeder. "We all ready, boss?"
"Greens across the board, Raik said, and pulled off of the roof. "Quick and easy, boys. Two per kid--I'll be one of them--Poste, Utunha, you two cover us."
Silent under the normal roar of the city, their speeders peeled away from the proper skylane and veered toward a far window in the apartment.
*
At times, Padme wondered what good the Force did the Jedi, really. She didn't need it to know the moment she awoke that something was wrong.
Quickly, she ran a mental inventory. She was alive, she was unharmed, she was at home; Anakin had rolled away slightly but by the warmth against her back she knew was still in the bed and not brooding somewhere. She wiggled up to one elbow, turning to look at him twitching gently in his sleep. Smiling as he made a contented sound--he was clearly indulging in some deep sleep, she knew his nightly habits better than he did--she brushed hair out of his face with a fingertip, then looked around the room to try and figure out what it was that had woken her up.
Everything seemed in place, so she slid from the bed and grabbed a robe, wrapping it around herself. Maybe one of the kids had cried out from a nightmare, or a speeder had flown a little too close.
A muffled thud and a soft cry made her brows furrow. That was out of place. Muffling her steps as best she could, Padme touched an access panel on the wall and a small hidden compartment slid open, revealing two holdout blasters. She took one and primed it, then advanced toward the childrens' room.
*
In the bed, Anakin twitched awake. His dreams had suddenly taken a darker turn--or was it the sound of footsteps leaving the room that had woken him up?
And now that he was awake, what was the source of that unease he felt in the Force?
Padme wasn't in the bed beside him, and when he stretched out to touch the minds of his children, his blue eyes widened. They weren't asleep, but their minds were sluggish, scared--something was wrong.
And then he heard the distinctive sound of blasterfire, and his wife screaming for him, and all thought gave way to terror.
*
"Anakin!"
Padme was trying to shoot the people who were trying to kidnap her children, but in the darkness she didn't want to hit one of the twins, and the star map that was still activated was confusing her aim. Bolts flew, and she ducked back behind the door jamb but programmed it to stay open. And then Anakin was beside her, lightsaber humming in his hand and a dangerous look on his face.
"You all right?"
"I'm fine. They're trying to--"
"I know." Anakin brought his blade up and waded in. The kidnappers had removed a panel of glass in the windows and had pulled two speeders up, doors open. One of them was handing Leia through, or trying to--Anakin was proud to see she was putting up as much of a fight as she could, given that they'd probably drugged her. One look into her terror-stricken face was enough for the dragon in his chest to roar to life.
Nobody hurts my family, he thought in a rage.
They already had Luke in the speeder but he didn't think about it, he just concentrated on reflecting blaster bolts at the shooters and clearing the way for Padme to charge in again, shooting at dark shapes in the room. Leia cried out as, despite being shot twice, the dark shape holding her shoved her through the window and into arms in the speeder. Calling a dropped blaster into his hand, Anakin used the Force to help him aim and fire. He was rewarded with a definitely un-childlike cry of pain and a thump against the window, and then a shadow tumbled past and fell. Dark elation bubbled up in Anakin. He would hurt those tho tried to take his children, hurt Padme--he would kill--
Then the speeder was pulling away, the last conspirator left in the room sliding down onto Luke's bed. He guessed they must not have had enough people left to pilot the second speeder, but that was fine by him. He took two steps and leaped through the window, landing sprawled on the body of the speeder and sliding behind the controls. In a minute he was tailing the kidnappers closely, blue eyes steely with rage.
When he caught up to them, he'd show them that they'd just made the last mistakes of their miserable lives.
*
Obi-Wan arrived just after Anakin had sped away, when Padme was in tears, calling her security detail, the law enforcement officials and--his comlink beeped--apparently him. Lights were still coming on in the apartment and the ones nearby.
And the storm of rage that was Anakin Skywalker was moving away from the building, fast. Further away, the points of light that were the children felt terrified but somehow suppressed. Obi-Wan's gut tightened. Anakin's children were all but blood relations to him; he'd held them in turn after they'd been delivered, advocated the Council's mercy in this matter and watched over them when Anakin and Padme were too busy with their own duties or wanted some private time to themselves.
Being a ranking member of the Council had its perks.
"My lady," he said, climbing out of the Jedi speeder, jogging across the platform to embrace his longtime friend. Padme's face was red and tear-streaked, and she set her comm down at last, shaking as she returned his hug. Even so, she still managed a little smile.
"Master Jedi, how many times must I tell you that anyone my children refer to as 'Unca-Wan' can call me by my name?" Her voice cracked on 'children' but she didn't dissolve. Obi-Wan offered her a gentle smile.
"At least once more, Padme," he replied, and gestured to one of the couches, a calm spot in the storm of emotions swirling around the security guards and attendants and police who were just arriving. "What is it you need me to do?"
She shook her head--she didn't want to sit right now. "I need you to go after Anakin," she said, voice more firm than it had been a moment ago. "I need you to make sure he doesn't--"
She didn't need to finish that sentence. Anakin had probably woken up the whole Temple with his anger and fear by now, and Obi-Wan nodded, getting back to his speeder.
"I'll make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid, my lady," he called, bowing. Senator she might no longer be, but she was still the most important person in his old friend's life. That more than warranted the respect.
*
The speeder with his children was only a point of light among a billion others, but Anakin had the Force to help him, and he locked onto the life signatures of his children--who had probably been given another dose of whatever had been intended to knock them out. And now they were headed for one of the numerous public spaceports on Coruscant. Cold fear trickled down his back. They couldn't be allowed to get off-planet; if they did, on the right ship in six hours his children could be anywhere in the galaxy.
He wouldn't let that happen.
Recklessly weaving in and out of the other traffic, cutting between buildings and setting off more alarms than he could count, Anakin put all his considerable skills as a pilot into catching the speeder that bore his children. Behind him, he could sense a familiar presence--Obi-Wan, he realized. Padme had probably commed him.
Sure enough, a moment later Obi-Wan's voice crackled out of his comlink. "I do hope you've realized how many moving violations you've accrued, Anakin."
"Not the time, Obi-Wan," Anakin snapped, swooping over a large Senate bus. "They're headed toward one of the spaceports, and if they get off-planet we may never..."
He trailed off, biting his lip on that thought. Luckily, Obi-Wan agreed with him.
"Don't worry, Anakin, I'll comm planetary security and the spaceport's security and tell them to be on the lookout. Give me a description of the speeder."
Anakin rattled it off, eyes narrowed. He was gaining on them, but they knew just as many shortcuts as he did and it was proving difficult even at this hour to keep up. "I'll meet you at the spaceport. They won't get away."
"No, they won't. But be mindful, Anakin. You've probably disturbed the rest of every Jedi on Coruscant, any Force-sensitive younglings, and anyone with a touch of sensitivity from here to Alderaan. Revenge isn't something you want your children picking up on."
Obi-Wan had a point, and Anakin took a few deep breaths as he kept up his pursuit.
This being Coruscant there were, unfortunately, a huge number of ships arriving and departing at this particular port, and despite it being a kidnapping in progress the authorities couldn't ground all the ships. Padme wasn't a Senator anymore and couldn't throw her political weight around, and he was just a Jedi. The Order had lost favor somewhat after the end of the war.
But he didn't need the port authorities to tell him where the speeder they'd seen matching his description was headed. Anakin could feel it. Although his children were asleep under the influence of whatever drug had been administered to them, he could sense the echoes of their terror. The sight of Leia's face as they were handing her out the window made his hands clench tight on the yoke.
And he could see, as he pulled up (the repulsor coils jolting as they made contact with the ground a little too hard) where a group of people had clustered around the loading ramp of a freighter, and two people had his children in their arms and were carrying them up the ramp.
Anakin braked hard, lightsaber in his hand and ignited as he raced across the ferrocrete of the platform. His feet were still bare, but the ground was warm under them and it gave his feet good purchase; the crowd parted with screams at the sight of his blue blade.
"Someone stop them!" he shouted, before the first blasterfire started coming and he had to deflect bolts, slowing down as he approached the freighter. "Stop them--those are my children!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Obi-Wan pushing people aside, hilt of his lightsaber in hand. And in a growing pit in his stomach, Anakin knew--he knew--it would be too late, that he wouldn't reach them in time, that he'd failed.
But he fought on, because his children were afraid and he couldn't let them be scared.
The kidnappers' ranks had been diminished at the apartment, but here they'd had backup, a crew on the freighter waiting for them. Anakin deflected two bolts back; one of them found its mark in the shooter's chest and he screamed, going down as the ramp was going up. Anakin ran up to the very edge of the platform but could only watch in horror as the freighter pulled away and took his children with it.
He wasn't aware of when he'd fallen to his knees, but when Obi-Wan was pulling him back from the edge, telling the beings on the platform to clear the area and make way, Anakin realized he was shaking; and when Obi-Wan was helping him into the Temple speeder Anakin reached up to push sweaty hair out of his face and realized he was crying.
"Obi-Wan," he said, voice cracking, "My children--"
"Hush." His mentor's hand was on his shoulder, firm and supportive as it had always been, "It'll be all right. Planetary security knows what ship they're in and will do their best to stop it, or at least get a vector for us if they manage to make it to hyperspace. Anakin, calm yourself--"
"Calm myself?" Anakin's blue eyes snapped over when Obi-Wan finished talking to the authorities and arranging for forensic analysis of the speeder Anakin had used to chase the kidnappers here. "Calm myself? My children have just been kidnapped and you're telling me to calm down?"
"You're not going to find them by being as angry as one of those horrible creatures who came after us on Geonosis," Obi-Wan said simply, settling into one of the skylanes that would take them back to the apartment. "You may even hinder your own progress by being too consumed by rage to focus." The older man handed his cloak over. "Put this on, you'll catch cold running off shirtless."
His words rang true, but Anakin still seethed quietly as he covered himself with the cloak. Every minute that passed was a minute's lead that the kidnappers had on him, a minute more that he had to travel to get Luke and Leia back, a minute that they had to spend in captivity, in danger. It was unacceptable to him, it called up memories of untying his mother in that encampment of sand people.
Obi-Wan must have sensed the direction his thoughts were taking, because Anakin suddenly felt as though he was wrapped in a warm blanket, soothing feelings brushing against his mind. "Anakin," and the Master's voice was strained, "I'm worried about them too. They're like my own flesh and blood and I want to catch these kidnappers just as much as you do. But we have to keep our heads."
He took deep breaths, trying to find his center or at least a calm point in the storm. "I understand. You're right, of course."
"We'll all work together to get them back," Obi-Wan said as they pulled up to the landing platform at the apartment. Anakin climbed out of the speeder, shaking with rage until he suddenly had an armful of his wife, and all his thoughts turned to stopping the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Obi-Wan hung back respectfully as Padme sobbed into Anakin's shoulder, watching out of the corner of his eye as his former padawan tried to soothe her, and finally could only wrap her up in his arms and hold her as she cried, gallantly holding his own tears in though Obi-Wan (and probably the rest of the Jedi, Anakin was broadcasting on a wide band) could keenly feel his anguish. Briefly, he wondered what it would be like to have that kind of support--to have not an Order or the Force, but to have someone to love and hold--and then discarded that thought. He'd long ago given that up, and now that Anakin had been granted this, could at least have children to spoil even if they weren't his own.
Then his comlink beeped, and he turned away to answer it. It was was one of the officials he'd contacted, giving him the vector for the ship with Luke and Leia in it, as well as potential destinations along that path. He thanked the officer and turned back to his friends.
Padme seemed to have gotten herself under better control, and held herself again with all the dignity she could muster at this ridiculous hour, standing in the cold of a landing platform in her nightclothes and a robe, with her eyes red from crying.
"Thank you for your help, Obi-Wan," she said, swiping at her tears. "I'd ask for you to stay and help us find them, but we couldn't possibly--"
"As a matter of fact, being on the Council has certain perks," Obi-Wan said. "I'm not scheduled for any missions, and in fact I'm due for some leave... and in any case, the two of you have been my friends--more than my friends, you're practically family--since we were all much younger. I'd be remiss if I didn't help you out." He was rewarded with a smile from Padme and a smaller one from Anakin.
"Thank you, Obi-Wan," Padme said again, and after a pause ran to hug him too, only pulling away when Anakin started walking toward the bedroom.
"Where are you going?" she asked, swiping at the tears still on her face. Anakin raised an eyebrow.
"To put on different clothes and get packed," he said. "Why?"
Padme grinned suddenly, and Obi-Wan was reminded of one of the reasons that he so admired this woman that Anakin had risked his career as a Jedi to marry: for all her idealism, she was incredibly sly, and often two steps ahead of anyone else. And she needled Anakin so that Obi-Wan got a chance to sit back and be entertained for once.
"You need to catch up with me, love," she said. "All our things are on my ship already. We're just waiting on you."
"But I--"
"You want to go after them as fast as possible right?" She gestured at the speeder, piloted by her head of security, that was just pulling up to the platform now, and stepped in. Her smile at her husband became something more private, as though she was sharing a private joke with him. "You want to protect me, you'll just have to come along."
That brought a smile to Anakin's face too, and he slid in, pulling the cloak closed over his chest against the cold. "Of course, my lady," he replied, sitting beside her. Obi-Wan sat on Anakin's other side, and the speeder pulled away.
"Ah, Padme," the Jedi Master said slowly, "I need--"
"Clothes?" she said, leaning around her husband to look at him. "The ship's berthed nearby the Temple. Don't worry, Obi-Wan," and that grin was back. "There's a reason I was one of the most respected Senators."
Obi-Wan leaned back against the seat, and caught Anakin's eye. His former Padawan seemed on the verge of laughter. Somehow the tables had turned and he was the butt of the joke instead. His respect for Padme Amidala Skywalker increased.
"Remarkable woman," he mumbled.
*
The CEC YT-1930 freighter Stellar Jester reverted to realspace in a deserted sector of the galaxy near Belsavis. It swooped around, appeared to hover for a moment, then shot off on another hyperspace jump.
This pattern was repeated twice more; once near Anzat and again near Dubrillion. The last jump brought them out of hyperspace near Vjun.
"Any indication of a buddy on our trail?" Raik asked, leaning over his own display.
"None, captain." Nat checked readouts. "And no indication of a tracking device. We weren't followed."
"Good." He reached up, flipped a couple switches, and in a moment a hologram materialized out of the projector, the figure of a man, hooded and cloaked.
"Important this must be, for you to contact me," the sing-song voice of their employer said from the cockpit's speakers. "In orbit you are, about to arrive like a falling star to the planet of the Puppetmaster."
"Well, a little slower, actually," Raik said, suppressing his annoyance at the man's strange speech patterns. For the price they were getting--now with all the men they'd left behind when that firefight had broken out first at the apartment and then at the spaceport--he would put up with it. "We've got the cargo."
"Important this is indeed, good news in my time of need." The Puppetmaster sounded happy, and that made Raik very nervous. He began to wonder if they weren't just about to be killed and their ship commandeered for whatever purpose this crazy wanted.
"Your ship I do not want, you may keep your haunt. Your services I will retain a little longer, however, Captain." The Puppetmaster's voice seemed a little chillier.
"Sure, as long as you continue to pay us."
"If money is all you desire, then you'll have it. Bring the children to the coordinates transmitting to your navicomputer." The hologram dissolved, and Raik let out a breath. He hated dealing with the man for this reason, but when they'd been contracted, they'd needed the advanced money desperately. He had a crew, a ship to look after.
"The sooner we're done with this job, though," he muttered to Nat as they began their descent. "The better. I hate getting mixed up with Jedi business and this just smacks of it."
"Wonder why the Puppetmaster waited until now to ask for these kids," Nat mused. "Seems to me they'd have been easier to capture as babies."
"This guy doesn't smack of sense," he pointed out. "But as long as the pay's good, we'll just try to keep out of his way."
*
The Puppetmaster fairly bounced with glee as he paced through the nice safe house he'd set up here. Vjun might have acidic rain, but the keep itself was rather nice. Here, he had everything he needed to train his little performers.
Cackling to himself, he checked over the two little bedrooms, the training rooms, the workshops, and the veranda that would be quite nice as a place to learn the legends that these special children were born to learn; the legends that they would have grown up on if only things hadn't gone to shavit.
But he was here to change that. He was here to make them dance to his tune... and what a performance it would be.
The sound of his guards questioning incomers made the Puppetmaster turn, heading through the complex to where his hired crew had brought the twin Jedi in. He was relieved to see they were handling them with care, having placed both under sedation into repulsor-powered capsules. A small readout panel on the sides of the capsules monitored vital signs, and showed they were both normal, if a bit slow.
"Rewarded you will be, for bringing these children to me," he said. "Now, to your rooms you will be shown until I call for you again." Under his hood, the Puppetmaster's gaze turned faraway. "Alone we shall not remain for long."
*
When she had stepped down as Senator, Padme had had to give up the distinctive silver plating on her ships, but Anakin liked the duller matte gray of the mass produced ships anyway. It was less noticeable, and for this particular mission, that was what they needed.
"Systems green," he said, reading the displays in front of him. "Ready for departure."
"What are you waiting for?" Padme said. She sat in the pilot's chair, but preferred to let Anakin handle the actual flying while she did other things. Behind them, Obi-Wan was busy uploading data he'd gotten from the officials.
"They could be anywhere along this trajectory," he said. "Corellia, Duro, Yag'Dhul..."
"Something doesn't feel right about those," Anakin said, concentrating on dodging space junk as they rose through Coruscant's gravity well. "You sure that's the trajectory?"
"That's the one given to us by the officials, anyway," Obi-Wan said. "They're also flying a CEC YT-1930 freighter. Transponder gave the name as Spirit of Light but it's likely to be fake. I'll see if I can pull up records while we're en route."
"Corellia's a major stop," Padme said. "They could have landed there; and since it's so populated they might even be there. Nobody said kidnappers were very smart."
Anakin bit his lip--the Force was telling him strongly that what he sought wasn't in this direction, that they were making a mistake, but logic told him otherwise. Sighing, he simply resigned himself to trusting his wife and his friend. "Then we'll start there," he said. "Though I doubt they made a direct jump to wherever they'll be keeping Luke and Leia."
"Then we start looking around after that. Somewhere, someone's got to know something." Padme's voice was determined. "We'll go to Corellia first. Maybe some of their famous luck will rub off on us."
Characters: Anakin/Padme, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, Leia, Mara, others
Rating: PG (for now)
Summary: Four years after the Council decided to take a different tack and allowed Anakin and Padme to remain together, a new force of evil is brewing in the galaxy. When this growing darkness results in Luke and Leia getting kidnapped, the race is on to find them before their captors can turn the twins to a path of darkness.
Raik sighed as the man who had hired them glided up in a black cowl, face hidden in shadow. When would people get the message that it wasn't funny anymore to pretend to be Palpatine when meeting with your crew? It just seemed tacky by now. He barely listened as their objectives were repeated and a credchip handed over to his second-in-command, with the promise that it contained on it a sum that could keep all of them occupied on the richest resort planets for a very long time, even when split eight ways.
Truth be told, Raik wasn't sure that eight was enough for this job. One of their targets was not only the most notorious general in the Clone Wars, but he was some kind of special thing for the Jedi, and that never boded well for a job being easy. Raik had been reading up on the guy and his wife, who they were going to be blackmailing. They had powerful friends. Raik didn't like it.
The client took off and Raik tapped his fingers impatiently on the side of the speeder. "Hey," he called out to Nat Kampa, their lookout who'd been monitoring the residence of the targets for the last few hours. "What's it look like in there?"
"Storytime," Nat said with a harsh laugh. "I don' know, Raik, this guy doesn't look so tough with kids piled on him."
"Don't underestimate the abilities of a parent whose young have been threatened," Raik replied. "Other people have and ended up dead. And this guy is a Jedi."
The Duros shrugged. "I'm just saying, he looks pretty harmless. I can't even see his lightsaber on him."
"It's probably somewhere else in the apartment." Raik shifted down in his seat, closing his eyes and tipping his hat forward. "Wake me when something interesting happens."
*
"Aw, come on Daddy, one more?"
Anakin couldn't help his smile as a pair of big brown eyes pleaded with him from his lap. "Sorry, Leia," he said and shook his head, leaning around his daughter to put the holobook on the little table beside the couch. "It's your bedtime. Besides, I've already read two stories tonight. Isn't that enough?"
"We'd like another one," Luke said, from where he was tucked in against his father's side. Under the power of the twins' imploring stares, Anakin thought, he was pretty much helpless. They didn't even have to use the Force.
"Well..."
He felt a touch on his shoulder that certainly didn't come from either twin, and tilted his head back to look at his wife and smile up at her.
"You can't," Padme said to their children, in that fond-but-firm voice that said she meant business no matter how cute they were. "You two have a meeting with your tutors tomorrow morning, and with Uncle Obi-Wan in the afternoon, and you need your sleep. Your father's already let you stay up past your bedtime." This last look of mild reproach was directed at her husband, and Anakin's cheeks flushed under his tan.
"They wanted another story," he mumbled. Luke turned around to peek at his mother over Anakin's shoulder.
"Daddy said it was a'right," the four-year-old told her, clearly worried he and his sister were going to be punished. Padme touched his cheek gently.
"I know he did," she said. "I was fine with it, nobody's in trouble. But you two still have to go to bed."
With much mumbling dissent--although it was somewhat offset by the fact that Leia yawned so wide Anakin worried she was going to dislocate her jaw, and Luke was having trouble keeping his eyelids up--the twins slid off the couch. Anakin picked Leia up and carried her, nestled against his front and half-asleep, into the room she shared with her brother. Luke followed along behind, and Padme got him tucked into bed.
When both twins were settled in, Anakin and Padme kissed both of them on their foreheads, said their goodnights, and made sure the little projector that displayed a sector of the Mid Rim was activated. The room was full of stars, and as he took one last look back at his children, Anakin could see Luke's eyes were open in wonder, staring at them.
"What's that little smile for?" Padme asked teasingly as they were getting cleaning up the common areas of the apartment. One of the side effects of living with four-year-olds, even precocious Force-sensitive four-year-olds, was that they often forgot to put their toys back. The rooms were still as lavish as they'd been when Padme was senator, but now in a corner of every room, there was a bin of toys of all kinds.
Anakin tipped the ones in his hands into the bin. "They're wonderful," he said softly, and a feeling of happiness suffused him, happiness and awe that he who could destroy so much could also create life so beautiful and perfect.
And win over the heart of the most beautiful and perfect woman in the galaxy, he thought, looking back at his wife. "I guess the paint hasn't yet chipped on the whole job of being a parent."
"Good," she replied, collecting the last of the toys and shutting the bin. Even now, years after they'd met, she was still unchanged to Anakin's eyes, still just as beautiful and smart and strong and...
"We should have another," Anakin murmured, catching her around the waist and pulling her in close. Padme made a show of resisting, somehow managing to nudge him away and melt against him at the same time. Beautiful. "They're four now, that's--"
"Still not a good idea," she said. "Anakin, we haven't even decided how to handle the fact that they're your children--they're Jedi, and they can't be anything but who they are." Her voice was serious, but she kissed him lightly and pulled away, putting out the lights and making sure all the security shields had lowered on the balcony and landing platform before moving back toward their bedroom. Anakin followed.
"I could train them myself," he said, a little miffed she'd brought this up. For the last four years it had been a major sticking point between them. Padme--and Obi-Wan, when he ventured the subject--had a point, and that was what Anakin was trying to wrap his mind around. His children were the most talented of their age-group (in theory anyway) by virtue of being son and daughter of the Chosen One, and soon they'd begin to really need guidance in their abilities as they emerged. And they needed to be protected, and Anakin didn't yet trust anyone but himself, Padme, and Obi-Wan to do that.
"Wanting to show off your shiny new Master status?" she teased, undressing.
"Partly," he admitted. "And partly because outside of Obi-Wan, I don't trust a lot of the Jedi still. They've relaxed somewhat after we were exposed, but we're still frowned on--attachment is still frowned on. I don't want the other younglings to laugh at our children, or for them to be--" his teeth ground a little before he got a hold on himself "--indoctrinated by the Jedi into the same precepts that almost..."
He didn't like thinking about it, and neither did Padme, knowing how close he'd come to falling and losing everything.
She turned to him, now clad in a shimmersilk nightgown. Hurriedly he shucked his day clothes and pulled on sleeping pants, and together they pulled the extra pillows off the bed and got in. Anakin felt Padme nestling against his side and wrapped his arms around her.
"I know you want what's best for them," she said softly. "I do too. We'll talk more about this later, okay? We still have time."
Anakin relaxed, closing his eyes and burying his face in her curly hair, murmuring agreement. "I love you," he said, some of his earlier wonder coming back in as sleep began to take him.
"Love you too," she replied. Anakin felt her shift and get comfortable, and then he fell into sleep.
*
"Finally," Nat said, exasperated, as he watched a white flare arc up and over the building that housed the former senator and her family. "I'd thought that signal flare would never come."
"Just be glad the two adults didn't stay up to engage in Jedi-fueled passionate sex," one of the others said over the comlink, climbing into the second speeder. "We all ready, boss?"
"Greens across the board, Raik said, and pulled off of the roof. "Quick and easy, boys. Two per kid--I'll be one of them--Poste, Utunha, you two cover us."
Silent under the normal roar of the city, their speeders peeled away from the proper skylane and veered toward a far window in the apartment.
*
At times, Padme wondered what good the Force did the Jedi, really. She didn't need it to know the moment she awoke that something was wrong.
Quickly, she ran a mental inventory. She was alive, she was unharmed, she was at home; Anakin had rolled away slightly but by the warmth against her back she knew was still in the bed and not brooding somewhere. She wiggled up to one elbow, turning to look at him twitching gently in his sleep. Smiling as he made a contented sound--he was clearly indulging in some deep sleep, she knew his nightly habits better than he did--she brushed hair out of his face with a fingertip, then looked around the room to try and figure out what it was that had woken her up.
Everything seemed in place, so she slid from the bed and grabbed a robe, wrapping it around herself. Maybe one of the kids had cried out from a nightmare, or a speeder had flown a little too close.
A muffled thud and a soft cry made her brows furrow. That was out of place. Muffling her steps as best she could, Padme touched an access panel on the wall and a small hidden compartment slid open, revealing two holdout blasters. She took one and primed it, then advanced toward the childrens' room.
*
In the bed, Anakin twitched awake. His dreams had suddenly taken a darker turn--or was it the sound of footsteps leaving the room that had woken him up?
And now that he was awake, what was the source of that unease he felt in the Force?
Padme wasn't in the bed beside him, and when he stretched out to touch the minds of his children, his blue eyes widened. They weren't asleep, but their minds were sluggish, scared--something was wrong.
And then he heard the distinctive sound of blasterfire, and his wife screaming for him, and all thought gave way to terror.
*
"Anakin!"
Padme was trying to shoot the people who were trying to kidnap her children, but in the darkness she didn't want to hit one of the twins, and the star map that was still activated was confusing her aim. Bolts flew, and she ducked back behind the door jamb but programmed it to stay open. And then Anakin was beside her, lightsaber humming in his hand and a dangerous look on his face.
"You all right?"
"I'm fine. They're trying to--"
"I know." Anakin brought his blade up and waded in. The kidnappers had removed a panel of glass in the windows and had pulled two speeders up, doors open. One of them was handing Leia through, or trying to--Anakin was proud to see she was putting up as much of a fight as she could, given that they'd probably drugged her. One look into her terror-stricken face was enough for the dragon in his chest to roar to life.
Nobody hurts my family, he thought in a rage.
They already had Luke in the speeder but he didn't think about it, he just concentrated on reflecting blaster bolts at the shooters and clearing the way for Padme to charge in again, shooting at dark shapes in the room. Leia cried out as, despite being shot twice, the dark shape holding her shoved her through the window and into arms in the speeder. Calling a dropped blaster into his hand, Anakin used the Force to help him aim and fire. He was rewarded with a definitely un-childlike cry of pain and a thump against the window, and then a shadow tumbled past and fell. Dark elation bubbled up in Anakin. He would hurt those tho tried to take his children, hurt Padme--he would kill--
Then the speeder was pulling away, the last conspirator left in the room sliding down onto Luke's bed. He guessed they must not have had enough people left to pilot the second speeder, but that was fine by him. He took two steps and leaped through the window, landing sprawled on the body of the speeder and sliding behind the controls. In a minute he was tailing the kidnappers closely, blue eyes steely with rage.
When he caught up to them, he'd show them that they'd just made the last mistakes of their miserable lives.
*
Obi-Wan arrived just after Anakin had sped away, when Padme was in tears, calling her security detail, the law enforcement officials and--his comlink beeped--apparently him. Lights were still coming on in the apartment and the ones nearby.
And the storm of rage that was Anakin Skywalker was moving away from the building, fast. Further away, the points of light that were the children felt terrified but somehow suppressed. Obi-Wan's gut tightened. Anakin's children were all but blood relations to him; he'd held them in turn after they'd been delivered, advocated the Council's mercy in this matter and watched over them when Anakin and Padme were too busy with their own duties or wanted some private time to themselves.
Being a ranking member of the Council had its perks.
"My lady," he said, climbing out of the Jedi speeder, jogging across the platform to embrace his longtime friend. Padme's face was red and tear-streaked, and she set her comm down at last, shaking as she returned his hug. Even so, she still managed a little smile.
"Master Jedi, how many times must I tell you that anyone my children refer to as 'Unca-Wan' can call me by my name?" Her voice cracked on 'children' but she didn't dissolve. Obi-Wan offered her a gentle smile.
"At least once more, Padme," he replied, and gestured to one of the couches, a calm spot in the storm of emotions swirling around the security guards and attendants and police who were just arriving. "What is it you need me to do?"
She shook her head--she didn't want to sit right now. "I need you to go after Anakin," she said, voice more firm than it had been a moment ago. "I need you to make sure he doesn't--"
She didn't need to finish that sentence. Anakin had probably woken up the whole Temple with his anger and fear by now, and Obi-Wan nodded, getting back to his speeder.
"I'll make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid, my lady," he called, bowing. Senator she might no longer be, but she was still the most important person in his old friend's life. That more than warranted the respect.
*
The speeder with his children was only a point of light among a billion others, but Anakin had the Force to help him, and he locked onto the life signatures of his children--who had probably been given another dose of whatever had been intended to knock them out. And now they were headed for one of the numerous public spaceports on Coruscant. Cold fear trickled down his back. They couldn't be allowed to get off-planet; if they did, on the right ship in six hours his children could be anywhere in the galaxy.
He wouldn't let that happen.
Recklessly weaving in and out of the other traffic, cutting between buildings and setting off more alarms than he could count, Anakin put all his considerable skills as a pilot into catching the speeder that bore his children. Behind him, he could sense a familiar presence--Obi-Wan, he realized. Padme had probably commed him.
Sure enough, a moment later Obi-Wan's voice crackled out of his comlink. "I do hope you've realized how many moving violations you've accrued, Anakin."
"Not the time, Obi-Wan," Anakin snapped, swooping over a large Senate bus. "They're headed toward one of the spaceports, and if they get off-planet we may never..."
He trailed off, biting his lip on that thought. Luckily, Obi-Wan agreed with him.
"Don't worry, Anakin, I'll comm planetary security and the spaceport's security and tell them to be on the lookout. Give me a description of the speeder."
Anakin rattled it off, eyes narrowed. He was gaining on them, but they knew just as many shortcuts as he did and it was proving difficult even at this hour to keep up. "I'll meet you at the spaceport. They won't get away."
"No, they won't. But be mindful, Anakin. You've probably disturbed the rest of every Jedi on Coruscant, any Force-sensitive younglings, and anyone with a touch of sensitivity from here to Alderaan. Revenge isn't something you want your children picking up on."
Obi-Wan had a point, and Anakin took a few deep breaths as he kept up his pursuit.
This being Coruscant there were, unfortunately, a huge number of ships arriving and departing at this particular port, and despite it being a kidnapping in progress the authorities couldn't ground all the ships. Padme wasn't a Senator anymore and couldn't throw her political weight around, and he was just a Jedi. The Order had lost favor somewhat after the end of the war.
But he didn't need the port authorities to tell him where the speeder they'd seen matching his description was headed. Anakin could feel it. Although his children were asleep under the influence of whatever drug had been administered to them, he could sense the echoes of their terror. The sight of Leia's face as they were handing her out the window made his hands clench tight on the yoke.
And he could see, as he pulled up (the repulsor coils jolting as they made contact with the ground a little too hard) where a group of people had clustered around the loading ramp of a freighter, and two people had his children in their arms and were carrying them up the ramp.
Anakin braked hard, lightsaber in his hand and ignited as he raced across the ferrocrete of the platform. His feet were still bare, but the ground was warm under them and it gave his feet good purchase; the crowd parted with screams at the sight of his blue blade.
"Someone stop them!" he shouted, before the first blasterfire started coming and he had to deflect bolts, slowing down as he approached the freighter. "Stop them--those are my children!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Obi-Wan pushing people aside, hilt of his lightsaber in hand. And in a growing pit in his stomach, Anakin knew--he knew--it would be too late, that he wouldn't reach them in time, that he'd failed.
But he fought on, because his children were afraid and he couldn't let them be scared.
The kidnappers' ranks had been diminished at the apartment, but here they'd had backup, a crew on the freighter waiting for them. Anakin deflected two bolts back; one of them found its mark in the shooter's chest and he screamed, going down as the ramp was going up. Anakin ran up to the very edge of the platform but could only watch in horror as the freighter pulled away and took his children with it.
He wasn't aware of when he'd fallen to his knees, but when Obi-Wan was pulling him back from the edge, telling the beings on the platform to clear the area and make way, Anakin realized he was shaking; and when Obi-Wan was helping him into the Temple speeder Anakin reached up to push sweaty hair out of his face and realized he was crying.
"Obi-Wan," he said, voice cracking, "My children--"
"Hush." His mentor's hand was on his shoulder, firm and supportive as it had always been, "It'll be all right. Planetary security knows what ship they're in and will do their best to stop it, or at least get a vector for us if they manage to make it to hyperspace. Anakin, calm yourself--"
"Calm myself?" Anakin's blue eyes snapped over when Obi-Wan finished talking to the authorities and arranging for forensic analysis of the speeder Anakin had used to chase the kidnappers here. "Calm myself? My children have just been kidnapped and you're telling me to calm down?"
"You're not going to find them by being as angry as one of those horrible creatures who came after us on Geonosis," Obi-Wan said simply, settling into one of the skylanes that would take them back to the apartment. "You may even hinder your own progress by being too consumed by rage to focus." The older man handed his cloak over. "Put this on, you'll catch cold running off shirtless."
His words rang true, but Anakin still seethed quietly as he covered himself with the cloak. Every minute that passed was a minute's lead that the kidnappers had on him, a minute more that he had to travel to get Luke and Leia back, a minute that they had to spend in captivity, in danger. It was unacceptable to him, it called up memories of untying his mother in that encampment of sand people.
Obi-Wan must have sensed the direction his thoughts were taking, because Anakin suddenly felt as though he was wrapped in a warm blanket, soothing feelings brushing against his mind. "Anakin," and the Master's voice was strained, "I'm worried about them too. They're like my own flesh and blood and I want to catch these kidnappers just as much as you do. But we have to keep our heads."
He took deep breaths, trying to find his center or at least a calm point in the storm. "I understand. You're right, of course."
"We'll all work together to get them back," Obi-Wan said as they pulled up to the landing platform at the apartment. Anakin climbed out of the speeder, shaking with rage until he suddenly had an armful of his wife, and all his thoughts turned to stopping the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Obi-Wan hung back respectfully as Padme sobbed into Anakin's shoulder, watching out of the corner of his eye as his former padawan tried to soothe her, and finally could only wrap her up in his arms and hold her as she cried, gallantly holding his own tears in though Obi-Wan (and probably the rest of the Jedi, Anakin was broadcasting on a wide band) could keenly feel his anguish. Briefly, he wondered what it would be like to have that kind of support--to have not an Order or the Force, but to have someone to love and hold--and then discarded that thought. He'd long ago given that up, and now that Anakin had been granted this, could at least have children to spoil even if they weren't his own.
Then his comlink beeped, and he turned away to answer it. It was was one of the officials he'd contacted, giving him the vector for the ship with Luke and Leia in it, as well as potential destinations along that path. He thanked the officer and turned back to his friends.
Padme seemed to have gotten herself under better control, and held herself again with all the dignity she could muster at this ridiculous hour, standing in the cold of a landing platform in her nightclothes and a robe, with her eyes red from crying.
"Thank you for your help, Obi-Wan," she said, swiping at her tears. "I'd ask for you to stay and help us find them, but we couldn't possibly--"
"As a matter of fact, being on the Council has certain perks," Obi-Wan said. "I'm not scheduled for any missions, and in fact I'm due for some leave... and in any case, the two of you have been my friends--more than my friends, you're practically family--since we were all much younger. I'd be remiss if I didn't help you out." He was rewarded with a smile from Padme and a smaller one from Anakin.
"Thank you, Obi-Wan," Padme said again, and after a pause ran to hug him too, only pulling away when Anakin started walking toward the bedroom.
"Where are you going?" she asked, swiping at the tears still on her face. Anakin raised an eyebrow.
"To put on different clothes and get packed," he said. "Why?"
Padme grinned suddenly, and Obi-Wan was reminded of one of the reasons that he so admired this woman that Anakin had risked his career as a Jedi to marry: for all her idealism, she was incredibly sly, and often two steps ahead of anyone else. And she needled Anakin so that Obi-Wan got a chance to sit back and be entertained for once.
"You need to catch up with me, love," she said. "All our things are on my ship already. We're just waiting on you."
"But I--"
"You want to go after them as fast as possible right?" She gestured at the speeder, piloted by her head of security, that was just pulling up to the platform now, and stepped in. Her smile at her husband became something more private, as though she was sharing a private joke with him. "You want to protect me, you'll just have to come along."
That brought a smile to Anakin's face too, and he slid in, pulling the cloak closed over his chest against the cold. "Of course, my lady," he replied, sitting beside her. Obi-Wan sat on Anakin's other side, and the speeder pulled away.
"Ah, Padme," the Jedi Master said slowly, "I need--"
"Clothes?" she said, leaning around her husband to look at him. "The ship's berthed nearby the Temple. Don't worry, Obi-Wan," and that grin was back. "There's a reason I was one of the most respected Senators."
Obi-Wan leaned back against the seat, and caught Anakin's eye. His former Padawan seemed on the verge of laughter. Somehow the tables had turned and he was the butt of the joke instead. His respect for Padme Amidala Skywalker increased.
"Remarkable woman," he mumbled.
*
The CEC YT-1930 freighter Stellar Jester reverted to realspace in a deserted sector of the galaxy near Belsavis. It swooped around, appeared to hover for a moment, then shot off on another hyperspace jump.
This pattern was repeated twice more; once near Anzat and again near Dubrillion. The last jump brought them out of hyperspace near Vjun.
"Any indication of a buddy on our trail?" Raik asked, leaning over his own display.
"None, captain." Nat checked readouts. "And no indication of a tracking device. We weren't followed."
"Good." He reached up, flipped a couple switches, and in a moment a hologram materialized out of the projector, the figure of a man, hooded and cloaked.
"Important this must be, for you to contact me," the sing-song voice of their employer said from the cockpit's speakers. "In orbit you are, about to arrive like a falling star to the planet of the Puppetmaster."
"Well, a little slower, actually," Raik said, suppressing his annoyance at the man's strange speech patterns. For the price they were getting--now with all the men they'd left behind when that firefight had broken out first at the apartment and then at the spaceport--he would put up with it. "We've got the cargo."
"Important this is indeed, good news in my time of need." The Puppetmaster sounded happy, and that made Raik very nervous. He began to wonder if they weren't just about to be killed and their ship commandeered for whatever purpose this crazy wanted.
"Your ship I do not want, you may keep your haunt. Your services I will retain a little longer, however, Captain." The Puppetmaster's voice seemed a little chillier.
"Sure, as long as you continue to pay us."
"If money is all you desire, then you'll have it. Bring the children to the coordinates transmitting to your navicomputer." The hologram dissolved, and Raik let out a breath. He hated dealing with the man for this reason, but when they'd been contracted, they'd needed the advanced money desperately. He had a crew, a ship to look after.
"The sooner we're done with this job, though," he muttered to Nat as they began their descent. "The better. I hate getting mixed up with Jedi business and this just smacks of it."
"Wonder why the Puppetmaster waited until now to ask for these kids," Nat mused. "Seems to me they'd have been easier to capture as babies."
"This guy doesn't smack of sense," he pointed out. "But as long as the pay's good, we'll just try to keep out of his way."
*
The Puppetmaster fairly bounced with glee as he paced through the nice safe house he'd set up here. Vjun might have acidic rain, but the keep itself was rather nice. Here, he had everything he needed to train his little performers.
Cackling to himself, he checked over the two little bedrooms, the training rooms, the workshops, and the veranda that would be quite nice as a place to learn the legends that these special children were born to learn; the legends that they would have grown up on if only things hadn't gone to shavit.
But he was here to change that. He was here to make them dance to his tune... and what a performance it would be.
The sound of his guards questioning incomers made the Puppetmaster turn, heading through the complex to where his hired crew had brought the twin Jedi in. He was relieved to see they were handling them with care, having placed both under sedation into repulsor-powered capsules. A small readout panel on the sides of the capsules monitored vital signs, and showed they were both normal, if a bit slow.
"Rewarded you will be, for bringing these children to me," he said. "Now, to your rooms you will be shown until I call for you again." Under his hood, the Puppetmaster's gaze turned faraway. "Alone we shall not remain for long."
*
When she had stepped down as Senator, Padme had had to give up the distinctive silver plating on her ships, but Anakin liked the duller matte gray of the mass produced ships anyway. It was less noticeable, and for this particular mission, that was what they needed.
"Systems green," he said, reading the displays in front of him. "Ready for departure."
"What are you waiting for?" Padme said. She sat in the pilot's chair, but preferred to let Anakin handle the actual flying while she did other things. Behind them, Obi-Wan was busy uploading data he'd gotten from the officials.
"They could be anywhere along this trajectory," he said. "Corellia, Duro, Yag'Dhul..."
"Something doesn't feel right about those," Anakin said, concentrating on dodging space junk as they rose through Coruscant's gravity well. "You sure that's the trajectory?"
"That's the one given to us by the officials, anyway," Obi-Wan said. "They're also flying a CEC YT-1930 freighter. Transponder gave the name as Spirit of Light but it's likely to be fake. I'll see if I can pull up records while we're en route."
"Corellia's a major stop," Padme said. "They could have landed there; and since it's so populated they might even be there. Nobody said kidnappers were very smart."
Anakin bit his lip--the Force was telling him strongly that what he sought wasn't in this direction, that they were making a mistake, but logic told him otherwise. Sighing, he simply resigned himself to trusting his wife and his friend. "Then we'll start there," he said. "Though I doubt they made a direct jump to wherever they'll be keeping Luke and Leia."
"Then we start looking around after that. Somewhere, someone's got to know something." Padme's voice was determined. "We'll go to Corellia first. Maybe some of their famous luck will rub off on us."