Little Angel Skywalker beamed with happiness as she ignited her own lightsabre for the very first time.  Her father, Luke Skywalker, looked equally pleased, and proud.  Eight years old and she’d already constructed her first lightsabre!  It took a child of incredible force-sensitivity to achieve such a feat.

She had wanted to make her own since she first laid eyes on the elegant, throbbing weapon.  But her father and mother had insisted that she wait with making one until she was old enough to use it.  At only just eight years, she probably still wasn’t old enough, but her maturity far exceeded that of other children her age.  With an almost photographic memory and an insatiable appetite for knowledge of any kind, Angel was naturally a fast learner.  The combination of her stubborn personality, (inherited from her mother, Mara Jade Skywalker), and her slight build (from her father) made her a very surprising little package.

 

Now, as she held the glowing amethyst weapon before her, she settled into a stance that added years to her age.  It was true that Angel could use a lightsabre.  She had been using one as soon as she was old enough to hold it without dropping it and steady enough not to fall over.  Low power lightsabres originally, of course.  She’d dueled with the best, and won – though only once.  But she still had won.  And she wasn’t about to let her Papa live it down.

 

But it was with a different kind of pride that she beat her older brother, Ben, on a few occasions.  Because she knew that he wouldn’t let her win, and she’d always strongly suspected that her Papa had done just that.

 

Now she dueled with him again.  This time, with her own, full powered weapon in her hand.  She swung and slashed, watching her Papa and learning from him.  She’d seen him perform a certain move once, when he didn’t know she was watching.  And it was something she’d been dying to try.  Spinning in an elegant semi-circle, she feinted to the right and then dipped sharply to the left.  She grinned as her Papa rocked off balance and vaulted backwards to steady himself.  He lifted his eyebrows in surprise and spoke to her gently in her mind.

 

--- Where did you learn that? ---

 

--- From someone very smart. ---

 

He could feel her amusement filtering through, and for a moment it distracted her.  Pushing suddenly forward, he flipped her sabre sideways and quickly disarmed her.

 

“Good try, Angel.”  He smiled at her with the same mixture of pride and affection he would have used if she had won.  “So did you see me do that move one time, or did you make it up?”

 

“I saw you.  But I’ve been practicing it.  I just wanted to try it on someone.”

 

Her father leaned forward and whispered to her conspiratorially. “I bet if you did that to Ben you’d beat him soundly.”

 

Angel smiled.  “You think so?”

 

Luke nodded.  “Pretty sure.  I can teach you how to get a better angle on that back swing… ”

 

“After dinner.”  Mara said, entering the room in time to hear Luke’s last sentence.

 

Angel held her lightsabre up for her mother’s inspection.  “It’s finished.”

 

Her mother admired the weapon for a moment.  Igniting the pale purple blade, she tested the grip in her hand, and swung it around to see how it felt.  “A bit small.”  She commented.  “But quite a comfortable grip.  And the blade’s a nice width.  Not chunky, and not too thin.”

 

Angel beamed.  Any sort of compliment from her Mama was high praise.  With a contented sigh, she pinned the weapon to her belt, and felt its weight against her thigh with pride and satisfaction.  For years, that pin had been kept on her belt, ready for her first lightsabre to hang there.  Her parents didn’t even complain when she wore it to dinner, although they did ask that she take it off before going to bed.

 

* * *

 

Mara peeped in the bedroom door, where her eight-year old daughter was peacefully sleeping.  She smiled, and continued to look in as Luke came and stood beside her.

She’s so beautiful.  Mara thought, as she gazed at the petite little bundle.

 

--- Almost as beautiful as you ---

Luke sent her, having overheard her thought.

 

Mara leaned against the doorframe, watching her daughter’s downy, red-gold hair framing her face against the pillow.  It was that downy hair that made her look so much younger than she was, that – and her tiny frame.  But in spite of all that, Angel wasn’t scrawny.  Her eight-year-old body was lithe and fit, and constant exercise kept it that way.  Her soft eyelids lay closed, now, and long black lashes fanned across her cheeks.  If they’d been open, her eyes would have been that same burning baby blue colour that she shared with her father.

 

Leaning away from the doorframe at last, Mara walked back to the sitting room, followed by Luke.  In only a few months, their family of four would be five.  The baby was a girl, they’d sensed that right away, and she was to be called Sierra.  The extended family was divided as to what she would be like.  Ben and Angel were so different, that the new baby’s looks and personality could be anyone’s guess.

 

Ben had inherited more from his father, with his placid personality and head full of brown-blonde hair.  But he had also inherited the infamous Mara Jade stubbornness, along with soft brown eyes – which didn’t seem to come from anywhere.  Angel was almost exactly the opposite, with the exception of her stubborn streak, which was more prominent than Ben’s.  She was, in most ways, a mini-Mara (as Han called her), and was as skilled with a variety of weapons as most adults were.  But she was sensitive, too, feeling death or pain acutely, even amongst strangers.

 

* * *

 

The morning dawned rainy and cold, and Angel was glad to be leaving Coruscant.  Her whole family was on its way to Yavin IV, to escape the media.  Well, that was what Papa said, but she’d overheard her Mama angrily whispering that she wasn’t going to give birth in front of some Sith-cursed hidden holocam.

 

Angel didn’t mind, she was glad.  As the Jade’s Fire II lifted off the docking port and jumped into hyperspace, she leaned back into her seat with relief.  She didn’t like the city, with its noise and dirt.  She especially didn’t like all the pain and suffering that constantly hung around in the back of her mind, like whispers of a billion different creatures, all crying out to her.  Her Papa had nodded thoughtfully when she’d first told him that.

 

“Years before you were born,” he’d told her, “there was a man at the academy like that – Streen.  It’s a gift, but also a curse, to be so sensitive.  To truly hear the Force, you must be able to push the whispers aside and listen.”

 

Now, as she sat in the Jade’s Fire II, her mind wandered over those words.  It doesn’t work that way for me. She concluded.  I feel the Force in the whispers.

 

Just then, she was slammed out of her reverie as her danger sense suddenly flared, and the ship came out of hyperspace with a jolt.  Angel’s eyes grew wide as she gazed at the anomaly before them.  A shimmering pool of nothingness now completely engulfed the front viewport.  In the years to come, Angel would reflect on just how you could see nothingness in space when all space was nothingness anyhow, but it was there without a doubt.  It passed through the ship’s exterior as though the ship itself were no more than a hologram.  Gently, its emptiness engulfed each of the ship’s passengers – even little Sierra turned over in surprise.

 

Then, as though nothing unusual had ever happened, the nothingness disappeared, and the Jade’s Fire II found itself in real space once again.  Luke and Mara looked at one another in bewilderment.  Then they turned as one, with concern etched on their faces, to see that Ben and Angel were all right.

 

Ten-year-old Ben fixed his solemn brown eyes on his parents.  “Angel’s asleep.” He stated.  “She won’t wake up.”

 

Mara sank down into a chair, while Luke knelt down next to his daughter’s prone form.  Her presence in the force had completely disappeared.  No, not gone, just waylaid, Luke decided.  “Ben, did you feel which way she went?”

 

Ben closed his eyes briefly and then reopened them.  “Somewhere else.”

It was the only way he could explain it.

 

“Another planet?” Luke prompted.

 

“No – not another planet.  Another – another place.”

 

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he struggled to explain what he had felt.  “I – I don’t know where she is.” He whimpered.

 

Pulling both his wife and son close, Luke fought back the fear that rose up inside him.  Tenderly gathering up Angel’s limp body, he laid her on a cot.  Then, straightening up, he marched over to communications consol and punched in a direct line to Leia on Coruscant.

 

* * *

 

Angel moaned slightly and put her hand to her head.

 

“Shh-shh little one.” A gentle female voice said.

 

Blinking her blue eyes open, Angel looked carefully at the room she found herself in.  Who are these people? She thought frantically.  And where’s Mama and Papa? Closing her eyes again, she firmly fought down her panic and took a gulp of fresh air.  Then, once again, she dared to look around her.  Relief flooded through her when she realized where she was.  The Imperial City hospital.  She’d been here before when the doctor had taken holo-pics of baby Sierra.  And when she’d broken her leg.  But where is everyone?  She sat up carefully and her gaze found the kind woman who had spoken to her before.

 

“Are you feeling better, little one?” The young woman asked.

 

“Where’s Mama and Papa.  Where’s Ben and Sierra?”

 

“We don’t know yet, love.”  The woman said sympathetically.  “But if you give the doctors your name, they’ll do their best to find your parents.”

 

“You’re not a doctor?”

 

The young woman smiled.  “No. I’m a politician.  I’m the one that found you.”

 

“Found me?  Where?”

 

“In an alley behind Republic City Senate.  You looked like you needed a hand.”

 

Angel smiled gratefully.  “Thank you.”  She frowned a little in confusion.  “Have they started calling it Republic City now?”

 

“I don’t understand.”  It was the woman’s turn to look surprised.  “It’s been called Republic City for a long time, since before I was born.”

 

Angel shook her head to clear it.  “My Papa says its called Imperial City,” she said stubbornly.

 

“Well, Papa’s are normally right, aren’t they?”  The young woman’s eyes took on a distant look for a moment.  Then, she seemed to snap back to the present.  “I don’t suppose it matters much what you call it.  I’m Padmé, by the way.  Who are you?”

 

“Angel.”

 

The faraway look returned to Padmé’s face when she heard that.  “Angel.”  She murmured.  “I met a child once who thought I was an angel.”

 

“Pity the angels of Iego got disproved.” Angel mused.  “I still love that story, even though I know it’s not true.”

 

“Oh, did they disprove that?” Padmé sighed.  “I should pay more attention to what’s happening, I suppose.”

 

At that moment, a young Calamarian nurse came into the room.

 

“Ah.”  She said evenly.  “Good to see the small human is awake.  Perhaps you would excuse us, bigger human?”

 

Padmé nodded and quietly left the room.

 

Angel looked up at the Calamarian and sighed.  “So why am I here this time?” she asked.  “Did you find my parents, too?”

 

“Oh!”  Cried the nurse.  “You’ve been here before, then?  You weren’t in my records.”

 

“Yeah, I broke my leg when I was six.”

 

The nurse scanned Angel’s eyes and took a DNA sample.  “No, I’m sorry.” She said.  “You really haven’t been here before.  But we’ll log you in now.  What’s your full name?”

 

“Angel Naberrie Skywalker.”  Angel said, spelling the name out afterwards, just in case.  “It shouldn’t be hard to find my parents.” She added.  “My Papa’s famous.”

 

The young nurse smiled indulgently.  “Aren’t all Papa’s famous?”

 

Angel rolled her eyes.  How could this nurse not have heard of the famous Luke Skywalker?  Never mind.  I’ll be out of here soon.  At least I’m on Coruscant, and I can just go home.

 

The nurse finished taking her details and then helped Angel out of the bed.  “Well, I don’t know what hit you, little human,” she said, “but you’ve gotten over it right enough.  Now, let’s go to the data room and see if we can’t find this famous Papa, hmm?”

 

Angel followed the nurse out of the room and was delighted to see the kindly Padmé waiting just outside the door.

 

“We’re going to find my parents, now.” She told Padmé as they stepped into the turbolift.

 

The search, however, turned out to be very disappointing.  Angel and Padmé waited outside the data room for almost half and hour before the Calamarian Nurse came out again.  “I’m sorry love.” She said quietly.  “I can’t find your Papa in any of my records.  No one on Coruscant matches that description.”

 

Angel’s bottom lip trembled a little.  “Are you sure?”

 

“Quite sure, I’m afraid.”  The nurse laid a comforting hand on Angel’s arm.  “But he may be resident on another planet.  I’m sorry.”

 

Angel pushed away the tears and looked up at the nurse bravely.  “What will happen to me?”

 

The Calamarian sighed.  “There are some nice places around Coruscant for lost children.  They’ll take good care of you.”

 

“No.”  It was Padmé who had spoken up.  Something in her heart screamed out for her to help this child.  “No.  Can I not take care of her instead?  I have a wider range of resources – perhaps I can find her parents.”

 

The nurse frowned a little.  “We’d have to adopt her to you.” She said.  “We can’t just let you have her.  It could be conditional, I suppose – that if her parents are found you would be required to return her.”

 

Angel listened to the conversation in foggy understanding.  I’m going to live with Padmé until they find Mama and Papa.  But that won’t be long.  I live in an apartment in Imperial Palace, floor 385, block AA9.  It won’t be hard to get there.

 

Straightening her shoulders, Angel walked out of Republic City Hospital, holding Padmé’s hand.  The documents had been signed, and the clothes that Angel had been wearing were returned to her, along with her new lightsabre and blaster.  What a mercy I didn’t lose my lightsabre.  She thought.  Good thing that the nurse didn’t seem to know what it was, or she’d never have given it back to me.  She seemed reluctant even to hand over my blaster!

 

“Can we go to my apartment now?”  She asked Padmé as they walked out onto the street.

 

“Oh!” Padmé looked really surprised.  “Why didn’t you say that your apartment was here on Coruscant?  Lead the way!  Lead the way.”

 

Padmé raised her eyebrows a little as Angel pulled her into the turbolift on the bottom floor of the Republic Palace.  What was a little girl, (with parents whom she strongly suspected were unlisted because of their illegal practices), doing living in a posh place like this?  But Angel certainly knew her way around, although some of the fixtures and decorations seemed to confuse her.

 

When finally they stood outside Angel’s apartment, the small girl confidently punched a long-sequence code into the security consol.  When an error occurred, she tried again, also unsuccessfully.

 

“Papa sometimes changes the security code before we go on holiday.” She explained uncertainly as she punched in the emergency override.  Another error…  “Why isn’t it working?”  She whispered.

 

Padmé knelt and picked up the small girl.  “Don’t worry about it.” She murmured.  “I’ll do my best to find your parents.”

 

* * *

 

Carrying Angel back to the turbolift, Padmé ascended the few floors to her own senatorial apartment, and laid the now sleeping child on her bed.  At that moment, a young woman who looked quite like Padmé came into the room.

 

“We’ve packed your things, milady.  Your ship will leave within the hour.”  The woman hesitated.  “We’ve been worried about you – you took a long time to come home.”

 

“I’m sorry to have worried you, Dormé.”  Padmé said.  “But look, I’ve found a child in the street.”

 

Dormé looked up at her mistress in surprise.  “What are you going to do with her?”

 

“I’ve adopted her.  Her name’s Angel.”  Padmé smiled fondly at the sleeping bundle.  “I know you think I’m crazy, Dormé, but I’ve never found myself so attached to a complete stranger.  I feel like this little girl is special – I don’t know…”

 

Refraining from further comment, Dormé helped Padmé into her cloak and pinned up her hair.  “Will you be taking the child with you to Naboo?”

 

“Yes, I’m her guardian now.”  Padmé stood up and checked her hair in the mirror.  “It’s so good to be leaving Coruscant, now that the military creation act has been finalised.  Even if it didn’t go the way I’d planned…”

 

The military creation act had, in fact, ground to an ominous standstill, despite all the Jedi’s predictions that a full-scale war lay just ahead.  But it was an uneasy silence, the calm in the storm.  Padmé had no doubts that things would get a lot worse, and soon – so she relished the edgy peace that preceded it.

 

“Will you miss young Skywalker’s company?” Dormé asked unexpectedly.

 

Padmé froze in place.  Did Dormé know about her and Anakin?

 

“I thought you might.”  Dormé smiled at her mistress.  “Don’t be alarmed – your secret is safe with me.”

 

“Thank you, Dormé.” Padmé replied blankly.  How much of their secret did Dormé know?  Was she the only one who had guessed?

 

Carefully, Dormé picked up the sleeping Angel and handed her to Padmé.  “Are you ready to leave, milady?”

 

Padmé nodded and followed her friend and servant down to the docking bay, flanked on both sides by security guards.  She was just about to board her vessel when a familiar voice called to her from behind.

 

“Padmé, wait!”  It was Obi-Wan.

 

Handing Angel to Dormé, she turned to greet her old friend.  “Obi-Wan!” she cried delightedly.  “I thought I wouldn’t see you before I left!”

 

“My ship left early.” Obi-Wan explained.  “The masters asked me to catch up with you and escort you to Naboo.”

 

Padmé tried not to let her disappointment show on her face.  Obi-Wan was a good friend, but she’d been hoping Anakin would be able to stop by and visit her.  Now it was impossible.  “Why?” She asked carefully.

 

“They’re worried about you.”  Obi-Wan said as he boarded the vessel.  “They’re not convinced that there is no longer a threat to your life.”

 

“I thought it was your padawan’s job to protect me.”  Padmé said, regretting the words as soon as she’d said them.  Would Obi-Wan suspect anything now?

 

Not appearing to notice her tone of voice, Obi-Wan answered her inquiry.  “Well, he’s my padawan no longer.  He’s passed the trials.”  Padmé wondered at the trace of sadness she heard in the Jedi Knight’s voice.

 

“Sad to lose him?” she asked gently.

 

Obi-Wan shrugged and turned to face her.  “Sometimes.  Sometimes I just wish he hadn’t passed.”

 

As the ship lifted off the ramp, Padmé thought about what Obi-Wan had said.  Why hadn’t he wanted Anakin to pass the trials?  Surely it was every master’s wish for their padawan to pass the trials and become a knight.  Maybe he did just miss Anakin – but Obi-Wan’s tone had sounded more bitter than sad.

 

* * *

 

They’d been traveling for only a day in hyperspace, but Angel was already bored.  Wandering the halls, she found herself in a secluded lounge, and was about to turn back when she noticed a man standing at the viewport.  He looked lonely, so Angel decided to talk to him.

 

“Hey.”  She said, coming up next to him.

 

The man turned worried, pale blue eyes onto her.  “Hey yourself.”  He replied good-naturedly.

 

“You looked lonely.” Angel explained.  “And I’m bored.”

 

She stiffened a little as a she felt a gentle touch on her mind.  Relaxing, she let him past her barriers, somehow sensing that he would not invade her thoughts.  She had already decided not to tell anyone that she was a Jedi, there seemed to be so few of them.  But the fact that this man was a Jedi puzzled her.  She had thought she knew all the Jedi.  The man released his touch on her mind, and she gazed up at him trustfully.

 

“Which Jedi are you?” She asked him.

 

The man looked puzzled.  “How did you know I was a Jedi?”

 

Angel thought fast.  “Your lightsaber gave it away.” She lied.  “I saw it when you turned around.”  She buried the lie as deeply as she knew how – hoping that he wouldn’t sense it.

 

The man nodded.  “That was very perceptive of you.  I’m Obi-Wan.”  He held out his hand to her.

 

Angel shook it in amazement.  “Not Obi-Wan Kenobi?” She blurted out before she could stop herself.

 

“That’s me.  Have we met?” Obi-Wan asked.

 

“No! No, I’ve just heard a lot about you.” Angel fumbled.

 

“About me?”

 

Angel nodded vigorously and then steered the conversation away.  “My name’s Angel.  Padmé found me in an alley and she’s going to help me find my family.”

 

“That was nice of her.” Obi-Wan commented.  “Who is in your family?”

 

Angel hesitated.  Is it a good idea to tell Obi-Wan about my Mama and Papa? She thought frantically.  Something’s not right.  Something’s definitely not right.

 

“Well, there’s my Mama and Papa.” She decided not to give away any second names.  “And then there’s my older brother Ben and my little sister Sierra.  She’s not born yet.”

 

Obi-Wan nodded and turned to gaze out of the viewport once again.

 

“My Papa told me that you were dead.”  Angel said the first thing that came into her head.  “Are you the same Obi-Wan Kenobi?”

 

“Well, I mustn’t be, as I’m not dead.” Obi-Wan said calmly.  So like a Jedi.

 

Angel nodded, and surprised herself as a fat tear rolled down her cheek.  “My Papa told me that we were in Imperial City, and Padmé has never even heard of it…  And my Papa told me Yoda died.  Is Yoda dead?”

 

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened at this.  “Jedi Master Yoda?  Certainly not!  He is alive and well!”

 

“But my Papa saw Master Yoda die.  And he saw Obi-Wan Kenobi die, too…” Angel trailed off, realizing she’d said too much.

 

Obi-Wan turned and gazed at her thoughtfully.  “Who is your Papa, Angel?” He asked quietly.

 

She faltered for a moment.  “I – I can’t tell you.” She answered finally.  “I don’t know why – but I can’t.  I’m sorry.”

 

He nodded and turned back to the viewport.

 

“I should go.  Padmé might be looking for me.” Angel said.  “But Obi-Wan, can I ask you one question?”

 

Obi-Wan nodded.

 

“What year is this?”

 

“KZZ, 971 – Standard.  Why do you ask?”

 

“No reason.” She answered.  “Maybe I’ll see you later.”

 

* * *

 

Angel’s head swam with Obi-Wan’s revelation of the date.  Time-traveled!  I’ve time-traveled. She thought with awe.  It all makes so much sense now.  No record of me at the hospital, and Obi-Wan and Yoda still alive, and them not being able to find Mama and Papa.  She halted in mid-thought, as the reality of what had happened to her set in.  Papa was born in KZZ, 972.  That means he’s not even alive.  And probably Mama isn’t alive either.  Or Ben, or Sierra.  Tears poured down her cheeks.  I can’t wait for thirty-eight years to be born.  What if I never see Mama or Papa again?

 

Curling up miserably on her cot, Angel barely talked and hardly smiled for the remainder of the trip.  She didn’t see Obi-Wan again, either.  When finally the ship touched down on Naboo, she was only slightly relieved.  The whole trip long she’d been hoping that the anomaly would come and swallow her again, and put her back in her own time – Triple L, 009 standard.  But nothing had happened.

 

Despite her sadness, Angel had to admit that Theed was very beautiful, with it’s hundreds of waterfalls and lovely old buildings.  Padmé brought her to a lake-house, and between her, Padmé, Dormé and Obi-Wan, they spent several peaceful days.  But it was with a growing sense of unease that Angel spent her time.  The atmosphere was tense, and force-heavy with uncertain darkness.  When the heaviness of it grew stifling, it made Angel feel ill, and she reluctantly decided to talk to Padmé about it.

 

“You all right, Angel?”  Padmé asked her one evening, as they stood looking out over the lake.  “You look pale.”

 

Angel kept her eyes focused on the horizon.  “I don’t feel well.” She admitted.  “I feel like something bad is going to happen.  I feel like we shouldn’t stay here.”

 

Padmé smiled kindly.  “That sounds like the sort of thing Obi-Wan would say.”

 

“What would Obi-Wan say?” Asked Obi-Wan, coming out onto the balcony in time to hear Padmé’s statement.

 

“Angel says she has a bad feeling about being here.”  Padmé answered.

 

Obi-Wan looked at Angel thoughtfully.  “Well, she must be right, because I feel it too.  It’s time we left the retreat, I’m afraid.”

 

Padmé nodded her consent and then turned back inside.  At the doorway, she looked back to Obi-Wan.  “Tell me honestly, friend.” She said quietly.  “What’s happened to Anakin?”

 

Obi-Wan fixed sorrowful eyes on Padmé, knowing there was no gentle way to tell her.  Neither noticed the look of absolute disbelief on Angel’s face at the mention of the name ‘Anakin’.

 

“He – we’ve lost him Padmé.  To the dark side.”

 

Padmé turned her rich brown eyes out towards the lake in silent acknowledgment.  She had seen the changes in her husband.  Obi-Wan saw how hard it was for her not to cry, and he admired her bravery.

 

“I need to tell you something, Obi-Wan.” She said softly.

 

Angel turned to leave.  She didn’t want to intrude any longer.

 

“No, Angel.  Stay.” Padmé said.  “You deserve to hear this, too.”

 

The three stood together at the balcony, and ever so softly, Padmé told them her secrets.

 

“I – Anakin and I, we – we were married.”  Obi-Wan’s eyes widened in shock.  He clapped his hand to his mouth and tilted his head back in silent agony.  “There’s more, Obi-Wan.  Much more, I’m afraid.”

 

Obi-Wan turned to face her, knowing in his heart what she would say.

 

“I’m pregnant.”

 

Closing his eyes briefly, Obi-Wan digested this inevitable piece of information.  “Does Anakin know?”

 

“No.”

 

“He must never know, Padmé.”

 

Padmé only nodded.

 

Seeing her distress, Obi-Wan made a feeble attempt at a joke.  “Just what this galaxy needs.  More Skywalkers.”

 

It was a fault that Qui-Gon had pointed out on countless occasions.  That sense of humor that only showed itself in the direst situations.  This time, it served to completely shatter both of his female companions.  Padmé, who fled from the room, and Angel, who collapsed onto the floor, shaking in shock.

 

Padmé is my Grandmother.  Anakin.  Anakin Skywalker.  I’ve met my Grandmother.  And my Papa, he’s alive.  Inside Grandmother.  Why am I alive?  The thoughts tumbled over each other without sequence or sympathy.  Gently, Obi-Wan took her by the arm and led her inside.  He did not understand this child – there was something not right with her.  She seemed too old for her age – like she’d seen too much or knew too much.

 

Gently he picked her up and carried her to a comfortable sofa.  “Tell me who you are, little one.”  He said.

 

Angel looked up at him in tears, desperate to trust someone.  Papa trusted Obi-Wan Kenobi. She decided at last.  Maybe I can trust him, too.

 

“My name is Angel Naberrie Skywalker, and I was called ‘Naberrie’ because it was the only thing about my Grandmother that Papa knew.”  Angel sniffed a little and gulped back more tears.  “And I don’t belong here.”

 

“No – you don’t belong here.”  Obi-Wan agreed.  “Where do you belong, Angel, and how are you related to Anakin?”

 

Angel leaned against him and sniffed again.  “I belong in triple-L, 009, standard.”  She said softly.  “And Anakin is my grandfather.  Or he was.  But perhaps now I have changed the future.”

 

Obi-Wan didn’t seem shocked, maybe because he’d received so many surprises in one day that one more couldn’t rattle him.  “So, you have come to us from the future.”  He felt the small child’s truthfulness.  Another thought entered his mind.  “Have you inherited any of your Grandfather’s force-sensitivity?”

 

Angel nodded.  “My Mama is a Jedi, too.”

 

“And you – you know what will happen.  What the outcome of this crisis will be!  You might be able to help us.”

 

“I can’t!” Angel cried.  “I can’t.  I could change the future.  I could stop existing.  Maybe I already am non-existent.”

 

“But you could save lives.  You know people will die in this war, Angel.  You could help them.”

 

“Why should I?”  Angel was annoyed that Obi-Wan could ask her to make such a sacrifice.  “I’m not even supposed to be here.”

 

“But you are here.  The very fact that the Force brought you here shows that you are here for a purpose.”  He argued.

 

Angel turned to him again.  “A purpose.” She echoed.  “You’re right.  I wouldn’t be here unless the Force willed it.  But what is my purpose…  Obi-Wan, you’re not to tell Grandmother about me.  Never.  And when Papa and Aunty Leia are born I’ll admire them just as I would any babies.  And we’ll go and see your Master Yoda.  Papa always said he was the greatest Jedi of all time.  And he’ll tell me how to get back to the future.”

 

“Who’s ‘Aunty Leia’?  Surely Anakin and Padmé won’t have another child after your Papa.”  Obi-Wan inquired.

 

His question reminded Angel to be more careful about what she said. Oh well, he’d find out soon enough anyway.  “Twins.”

 

Obi-Wan nodded.  “And Anakin, will he be turned back from the dark side?”  The young Jedi’s voice quavered at this question.

 

Angel sighed.  “Some things about the future are not meant to be known Obi-Wan.  I’m sorry.  I can’t tell you.”

 

She climbed out of his lap and turned to face him.  “The tension’s going.” She stated.  “That oppressive feeling is almost completely gone.”

 

Obi-Wan smiled.  “One thing to be grateful for.  You felt that?”

 

Nodding her little red head, she crossed the room and walked out the door.  Once in her room, she climbed onto her bed and hugged her little knees to her chest.  What’s going to become of us all?  Oh – I want so much to get back to the future!

 

* * *

 

Five oppressive months passed.  Obi-Wan kept them moving from place to place, not daring to stay anywhere for too long in case Anakin should find them.  The atmosphere everywhere was thick with tension.  Padmé was now eight months into her pregnancy, and Angel found it eerie to be anywhere near her.  More than anything, it hurt to have her Papa so near, and know that he wouldn’t recognize her mental touch.  And having Padmé around was always accompanied by a tingling sensation in the back of her mind, her whole body screaming at her that things were not as they should be.  The Force felt unbalanced – confused by light and darkness, past and future.

 

I know what I need. Angel thought to herself one day.  They were currently staying in a secret base very close to the core of Naboo, having taken a Bongo to get there.  It was terribly hot, even with cooling mechanisms in place, and the air pressed in from every side.  I need a duel – practicing by myself is getting boring, and I want to find out if Obi-Wan will fall for my new sabre move.

 

She found Obi-Wan in a guest lounge, staring at nothing in particular.

 

“Hey, Obi-Wan!”  Angel said, with a playful smile on her face.

 

Obi-Wan looked up suspiciously.  “Oh I don’t like that look.  What are you up to.”

 

“Well, I was wondering if you felt up to a little duel, esteemed Master Kenobi?” She asked with a devilish twinkle in her pale blue eyes.

 

Obi-Wan lifted his eyebrows.  “A sabre duel?”  Angel nodded and Obi-Wan continued.  “I don’t have a spare sabre for you, Angel, and it would be dangerous to use full-power ones, anyhow.”

 

Angel pulled out her own sabre, trying to disguise her pride.  “But can’t I use my own sabre, Master Kenobi?” She asked innocently.

 

“How old are you?”  Obi-Wan asked in amazement.

 

“Eight.” Said Angel, pulling herself up as high as she could go.

 

The young knight snorted.  “You don’t look a day older than six.” He said insensitively.

 

But Angel was not to be put out.  “Afraid I’ll beat you, Master Kenobi?”

 

Obi-Wan stood up immediately.  It was incredulous, to be so challenged by such a little thing, but he had to see how she dueled now.

 

As it turned out, the duel was a success for Angel.  Had it been her Papa or Mama, or even Ben, it would have ended the same as always, but Angel threw in a few ‘Skywalkers’.  Her Papa had made up many battle techniques, and they were called ‘Skywalkers’.  Obi-Wan didn’t know them, and had to work hard to keep up with her energetic pace.  So it was a very humble Obi-Wan Kenobi that finally admitted defeat to an eight-year-old that day.

 

Angel left the storage room that they’d used for their duel.  She was happy, but tired too.  It was with great relief that she crawled into bed, and with great annoyance that she woke to a very definite feeling of danger gnawing at the back of her mind.

 

Throwing her tunic and cloak on, she clipped her lightsabre to her belt as she ran to Padmé’s room.  Obi-Wan was already there, hurrying Padmé out of bed and into a waiting Bongo.  Without a word the three of them, plus Dormé, left the Naboo secret base behind.  Only moments later, a huge explosion rocked the bongo as it tore towards the surface of a small lake – that lake which had been Otoh Gunga.  Angel collapsed to the floor as a hundred minds cried out to her in terror, and then became painfully silent.

 

“Oh – oh.” She moaned.  “They blew up the base.  They blew up Otoh Tanshin.”

 

Padmé looked down at Angel fearfully.  “We don’t know that it was Otoh Tanshin.”

 

“It was.” Said Obi-Wan quietly from the corner.

 

It was almost with relief that Obi-Wan spotted the Trade Federation vehicle as they surfaced from the lake.  He had known someone would be waiting for him, and had feared it would be Anakin.

 

This time though, they had clone soldiers with them.  The same clone soldiers that had meant victory during the battle of Geonosis.  Life was ironic.  Friends everywhere were turning out to be enemies.

 

The soldiers lined the shores, seeming not surprised that the four of them had survived the explosion.  They didn’t open fire, but instead waited patiently, knowing that the four escapees could not remain out there on the water indefinitely.

 

Obi-Wan tried desperately to formulate a plan.  Their ship was in a clearing about a mile south of where they were now, and he was fairly confident that the clones hadn’t found it yet.  So they just had to get to it.

 

He turned to face Angel, knowing that he would need her help to get out of this.

 

“Any ideas?” He whispered.

 

Angel sighed.  “It’s me they’re after.  I’d surrender to them – it’s all so hopeless.  But I can’t.  I’m worried that they’d give my babies to Anakin.”

 

Obi-Wan looked at Angel in confusion.  “What are you talking about?”

 

On the other side of him, Padmé pulled at his sleeve.  “Obi-Wan, it’s me.” She said.

 

Obi-Wan stretched out with the force and touched Padmé’s mind, still confused.  But he pulled back in surprise.  “Angel?” He whispered.  “You’re using the Force to make yourself look like Padmé.  Why…?”

 

But he was cut off in mid-sentence as Angel dove into the water and swam strongly towards the shore.

 

--- Don’t worry, Obi-Wan --- He heard in his mind.  --- I’ve got a plan---

 

Obi-Wan sighed and rubbed his hands across his face.  Angel’s diversion was working, so he might as well get the real Padmé out of here while he could.  Powering the Bongo up again, he drove it along the surface of the lake, and then pulled the real Padmé, (who now looked like Angel), and Dormé out onto the bank.  He drove the two of them for a mile, and all the while the dazed Padmé looked over her shoulder, trying to figure out who was missing, and whether she really had seen herself jump off the Bongo and into the water.

 

Finally reaching the hidden ship, Obi-Wan hurried the two women into it, and sent a brief mental word to Angel that she could drop Padmé’s force cloak.  Then he quickly powered up the ship and set out toward the lake once again, his shields at maximum capacity.

 

Meanwhile, Angel was standing on the banks of Otoh Gunga River, surrounded by clone guards.  As soon as she heard Obi-Wan’s mental message, she dropped all force shields that she had been holding up, and braced herself for the clones’ reaction when they saw that she wasn’t Padmé.

 

“Hey, what the-” said one guard in astonishment.

 

But that was as far as he got before a humming amethyst blade silenced him.  Angel had sliced through three more guards before any of them knew what had happened.  At close range, their blasters would have been more useful.  But, as it was, none of them had any desire to come close to Angel’s lightsabre, so she deflected their shots back into them with ease.  But she was tiring, and was incredibly thankful when at last Obi-Wan’s ship came into view.

 

The clone troopers made a fair job of trying to shoot Obi-Wan down, but not a one remained standing when at last the star-fighter left Naboo’s surface.  Reluctantly, Obi-Wan had shot them all down with his ship’s turbolasers, knowing that if he didn’t then they would report back to their commander, if they hadn’t already.  Unfortunately they couldn’t take that chance.

 

The ship leaped into hyperspace, headed for Coruscant.  It was a risky place to go, especially with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine becoming more power hungry by the day, but Obi-Wan felt that he had to talk to Master Yoda.

 

* * *

 

Landing in an indiscriminate docking bay, Obi-Wan decided not to chance leaving the ship.  Instead, he summoned Master Yoda mentally, and the old Jedi Master responded quickly.

 

“Leave, we must.” Yoda said, as soon as he entered the ship.  “Now.  Discuss this later, we will.”

 

The control tower blared at the little ship as it left the docking bay, and Obi-Wan had to dodge and spin to avoid being captured by it’s powerful tractor beams.  They had no clearance to leave, but he would obey Master Yoda unquestioningly.  Obi-Wan had learnt long ago not to question Master Yoda.

 

Climbing up into the copilot’s chair, the diminutive Jedi Master quickly overrode all the ships automatic systems and pushed the hyperspace lever forward, despite the fact that there were no coordinates set in the navicomputer.

 

Obi-Wan didn’t question this, he was used to using his Jedi senses to navigate.

 

“Only three days of breathing space, have we.” Yoda said as he climbed out of the chair and headed towards the war room.  “Come.  Much talking to do, there is.”

 

Seated in the war room, Obi-Wan, Angel, and Yoda quickly caught up on what had been going on.  The first thing that Yoda informed them was that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had declared himself the Emperor of an order that called itself the Empire.

Obi-Wan was aghast, but Angel took the news with the grim acceptance of one who has expected the inevitable for some time.

 

“So, now it is Imperial City.” She commented.

 

Obi-Wan sighed.  “I should have seen this coming.”

 

“Clouded, the future is.” Master Yoda reminded him.  “Impossible for anyone to foresee, this turn of events was.”

 

“Except for Angel.” Obi-Wan said regretfully.  “I could have forced her to tell all that she knew.”

 

“Knew the future, did she?” Yoda asked gently.

 

“She is from the future.” Explained Obi-Wan.  “About thirty-eight years ahead of us, if I calculated it right.  The Force brought her back in time, and we’re still trying to figure out how to get her back to the future.”

 

Yoda nodded thoughtfully.

 

“You couldn’t have forced me to tell anything, Obi-Wan.”  Said Angel.  “Besides, even if you’d known that Palpatine was going to declare himself Emperor, you couldn’t have stopped him.”

 

“I’d have killed him.” Obi-Wan muttered darkly.

 

“You can’t just walk in and kill a Sith.” Argued Angel.

 

Obi-Wan and Yoda turned to her in astonishment.  “A Sith, say you, young one?”  Master Yoda inquired.  “Know of this, we did not.”

 

“Oh.  Well you probably would have found out eventually.”

 

“Know you the name of this Sith?”

 

“He calls himself Sith Lord Darth Sidious.”  Angel stated grimly.  “You knew him as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.”

 

“A Sith Lord…” Obi-Wan whispered.

 

“Powerful, is he?  Has he an apprentice?” Master Yoda pressed.

 

“Very powerful.” Angel said sadly.  She knew this story too well.  “So powerful that he is nearly impossible to destroy.  And he has an apprentice.”

 

“Impossible to kill, no mortal is.” Yoda declared.

 

“I said he was almost impossible to destroy.” Said Angel.  “They will kill him several times before they destroy him.”

 

Yoda sighed mournfully.  “And his apprentice?”

 

“You know him.”  Angel sounded close to tears.  “Darth Vader.”

 

“Know him, we did not, child.”  Said Yoda.

 

“Yeah you did.” Angel climbed into Obi-Wan’s lap and laid her little red head against his chest.  “Anakin Skywalker.  A.k.a. Darth Vader.”

 

Angel sat up suddenly.  “What’s the date today?”

 

Obi-Wan frowned at the change of topic, and glanced at his chrono.  “The fifteenth day of Harap.  Why do you ask?”

 

“Papa’s birthday is the seventeenth day of Harap KXX, 972 standard.  That’s in two standard days.”

 

Obi-Wan groaned.  “She’s going to give birth on the ship?  While we’re in hyperspace?”

 

Yoda turned towards the child in curiosity.  “A granddaughter of Skywalker, are you?”

 

Angel nodded.  “My full name is Angel Naberrie Skywalker.  My Papa’s about to be born.”

 

“What will Padmé name the children?”  Obi-Wan asked suddenly.

 

“Luke and Leia, a boy and a girl.  Oh!  I wonder which will be born first.  Papa and Aunty Leia never knew.”

 

* * *

 

Two days later, on the seventeenth day of Harap KXX, 972, Padmé Amidala Naberrie-Skywalker gave birth to twins.  It was a moment of joy for all aboard the ship, though for none so much as the new mother.  Angel, also, was delighted, for now she knew which of the twins was older.  She was sure Aunty Leia would want to know that she was older!

 

That day the ship finally touched down in Tipoca City, on the watery planet of Kamino.  Yoda had arranged for the Kaminoans to shelter their small band of fugitives until alternate arrangements could be made.  To be on the safe side, though, the newborn babies were hidden, even from their friends.

 

The first two days that Angel spent at Tipoca City were the most agonizing days she had ever spent in her eight years of life. (Being a Skywalker, she had experienced her fair share of pain.  When she was six years old she had spent an entire week cut off from the force by her kidnappers’ ysalamiri.  Being unable to touch the force had made her feel horribly sick and completely alone.)  But even that could not compare with the pain she experienced through those two days.  Unable to move or eat or sleep, she spent those two days curled up in a little ball in her room.  By the end of it, she felt exhausted, hungry, and completely dry of tears.  Master Yoda and Obi-Wan didn’t look very well either.

 

The horrible feeling followed a pattern.  First there was a warm, comforting light – the sort that surrounds and encompasses all Jedi, no matter how well trained they are. Then there would come an eerily familiar, hateful, angry darkness.  The light and the darkness would press against each other, and the darkness would slowly overpower the light.  And each time the darkness put out another light, the darkness would grow a little stronger, until the battles became short and swift and deadly.  It was the light going out that felt the worst.  Sometimes it would take hours, slowly growing dimmer and dimmer.  And sometimes it would be over in seconds, feeling like a brutally crushed innocence.  Angel didn’t fully understand what was going on at the time, though afterwards she would grimly look back and recognize that time as the infamous Jedi purges.

 

No one said much during that time.  Padmé was too wrapped up in her beautiful new children to notice much else, although she was convinced that Angel was very sick and consequently was very worried about her.  Master Yoda and Obi-Wan covered up the pain that they felt a little better than Angel did, although the death of an old and dear friend hit them both very hard.  Even the honorable Jedi Master Yoda shed a quiet tear as Mace Windu became one with the force.

 

After two long and painful days, the bulk of the Jedi purge was over, and the air fairly stank with the feeling destruction.  Remnants of pain left over from a thousand Jedi stained the force with death and darkness.  Much as the three remaining Jedi would have liked to spend time healing from the whole ordeal, a feeling of urgency had descended on them all.  They had to get away from Tipoca City.  More importantly, they had to get Luke and Leia Skywalker away from Tipoca City.

 

Reluctantly, a decision was made to split the twins up.  To keep them together would create a disturbance in the force that their father would surely sense.  Yoda was to escort baby Leia to Alderaan, while Obi-Wan was to take baby Luke to Tatooine. Padmé would take a refugee transport to Naboo, and to the protection of her own people.  Yoda and Obi-Wan had stressed that no two members of Anakin’s family could remain together in the same place, lest he sense them.

 

Padmé took the news with bitter acceptance.  She was heartbroken to leave her children, but had learnt over the years to accept any decision made by the Jedi.  Tearfully, she stood outside with Luke held in her arms, the hovering rain cover above her doing nothing to stop the rain in her heart.

 

“We will see each other again, my beautiful baby boy.” She whispered to him softly.  “Oh, please – please remember me.”

 

Crying fresh tears, she handed baby Luke over to Obi-Wan.  “Take good care of him.” She whispered.  Obi-Wan nodded grimly and strapped the infant into a carrier in his A-Wing.  As the rain pounded down, he and baby Luke left the watery planet of Kamino. Together, they headed for a place so different from Kamino that Luke would never remember the rain.

 

Padmé spent the next few days on Kamino, waiting for the transport that would collect Leia and take her to Alderaan.  Those few precious days with her daughter she savored, and dedicated all of her time to little Leia.  “I want to make sure she remembers me.” She said to Angel one day.

 

All too quickly the Naboo transport arrived on Kamino, and once again Padmé had to farewell a child.  Only minutes behind it, the Alderaani transport arrived.

 

Clutching her little girl, Padmé stood in the main hangar, waiting for the final flight preparations to be made before she would have to give Leia over to Yoda’s care.

 

As Padmé waited, Angel ran over to her and took hold of her free hand.

 

“Padmé, I need to tell you something.” She said, and a tear ran down her face.  “I feel like I might not see you again for a long time… But I need you to promise me something, and not ask why.”

 

Padmé nodded her head.  Poor Angel, this whole experience must be very traumatic for such a little girl.  “I would promise you anything, my Angel.”

 

Angel smiled up at her Grandmother.  Oh, how wonderful it would be to call this beautiful woman ‘Grandmother’.  “Promise me that, if you are still alive and able, in the year Triple L, 009, standard, you will wait for me here at Tipoca City on Luke and Leia’s birthday.”

 

Padmé looked at the small girl, not understanding the request but wanting to promise her anyway.  “Triple L, 009 is a long way away.” She said carefully.  “I would be an old lady.  But I promise that if I am alive and able to travel on the seventeenth day of Harap, in the year Triple L, 009, I will come to Tipoca City and wait for you.  You have my word.”

 

Angel smiled, and a look of complete peace came over her face.  “And then you will understand.  Padmé?”

 

“Yes, Angel?”

 

“I love you.”

 

“And I love you too, little one.” Padmé said, crying fresh tears.  “But you are to come with me to Naboo, aren’t you?” She said, as she started reluctantly towards the Alderaani transport, where Yoda was waiting.

 

“No, I can’t come.” Said Angel with conviction.  “I’m sorry, and I don’t know why, but I’m quite sure I won’t be able to come.”  She turned suddenly anxious blue eyes up to Padmé.  “But you gave me your promise, right?  That no matter what happens, you’ll come here in Triple-L, 009?”

 

Padmé nodded.  “You have my word.”

 

She was almost halfway to the ship’s ramp when a heavy, mechanical breathing sounded behind her.  Turning toward the sound, her heart leaped into her throat at the picture of perfect evil that stood behind her.

 

“Leaving so soon, Senator Amidala?”  A man’s deep, synthesized voice asked her.

 

Frozen in place, Padmé watched as the man drew nearer.  Where had she seen him before?  Why did her heart ache as he drew nearer?  Fearfully she clutched baby Leia closer.

 

The man was still meters away when he was intercepted by Yoda, who came hurtling towards them and snatched baby Leia, running with her to the ramp of the ship and handing her to a frightened Dormé, who was to be her nurse.

 

Drawing his lightsabre, Yoda stood guard in front of Dormé and the baby.  “Lay a hand on this child, you will not.”  He said firmly.  “Leave you will.  Now.”

 

But the man was not to be deterred by his former master.  Rushing towards the ramp in a rage, he flung himself into a frenzied, anger-driven duel, feeding on the fear he felt around him and quickly gaining the upper hand.

 

Angel watched in awe as the two dueled.  She was not frightened, because she knew what the outcome of the duel would be.  It had to be; or else the great Jedi Master Yoda wouldn’t have trained her Papa.  Consequently, she was absolutely shocked when Yoda took a massive wound to his arm and side, and fell to the ground in pain.  Crawling up the Alderaani ship’s ramp, Yoda looked sadly back at Padmé, knowing that she would want Leia safe, even if it meant that Padmé herself must die.  After a hurried instruction to the pilot, the Alderaani ship took off, leaving Padmé and Angel alone with the dark stranger.

 

The man laughed coldly and turned once again to Padmé.  “Don’t worry, I’ll find the boy.” He said cruelly. “My Master has instructed me to kill you.” But his synthesized voice faltered a little as he asked slowly, “Who – who is the child’s father?”

 

In a flash of insight, Padmé understood.  With a bravery she didn’t feel, she squared her shoulders and looked directly at the dark Jedi, Darth Vader.  “You are his father, Anakin.”

 

Obi-Wan had instructed Padmé that, if Vader should ever find out about either of the children, not to tell him that there were two.  And also, Padmé was to make sure that he thought the child was a boy, so only one of the twins would be in danger.  And Luke was to carry this risk, as the twin who was strongest with the Force.

 

“That name no longer has any meaning