A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far Away

Chapter 32

Anakin felt Luna's fear not long after she should have reached her house. He looked at Obi-Wan to see if he had felt it, but quickly decided that his master had not.

Anakin centered his focus on her, but it wasn't long before she disappeared from the Force.

"Ani, are you okay?" Padmé asked, having noticed Anakin's hard expression.

"I'm fine. Luna's real scared of something though," Anakin replied.

"What?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I can sense Luna's fear of something."

"I sense nothing."

"She cloaked herself again," Anakin replied, somewhat annoyed. While Luna's ability to hide from Force sensitives could be extremely useful in their world, all it did was make him more aggravated being all that she could hide from was Obi-Wan and himself. Considering there seemed to be a connection between Luna and Anakin, he would have prefered to figure out why she become so afraid all of the sudden.

"We can ask her tomorrow," Obi-Wan said. Anakin nodded in agreement.

The three of them were about to go to bed when Luna suddenly reappeared though the Force. Anakin looked at Obi-Wan again as he figured out exactly where Luna was. Anakin could feel her recognize him and attempt to project a thought to him. It wasn't as successful as the last time she had done it, but Anakin managed to get the message along with Luna accidentally letting him get the sense that she was worried about being followed.

He could also sense lots of sadness along with barely controlled fear.

"Luna's on her way here," Anakin stated.

"Are you sure?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes.... Something's changed.... She's worried about someone following her," Anakin said, earning a concerned look from both Padmé and Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan concentrated on Luna as well, and decided that Anakin was correct.

"I sense it too.... But no one is tailing her."

"Why is she coming? Can you pick up on that?" Padmé asked.

"No.... What could cause her to come to us now though? She would have mentioned it earlier had she planned it," Anakin muttered, not liking it one bit.

The three of them waited impatiently as Luna came closer until she finally arrived. She was in all black with a hood over her head, obviously trying to blend in with the night. Luna was breathing heavily as if she had just sprinted there, which Anakin wouldn't have been surprised if that were true it considering how fast she had gotten from her house to the hideout.

"What happened?" Anakin asked before the door was even closed. Luna stood still for a moment trying, to find words.

Luna knew that she could not tell them exactly what was going on, they'd put off leaving if they knew. Not that they knew exactly how to leave in the first place, but they needed to take the chance as soon as they could.

Luna also knew that she had to try and keep Anakin from going dark, how she was going to do that, she had no idea. Especially since she wouldn't be able to privately warn him right before he left.

And then there was the fact that a dream that her inner child had somehow held onto for years was about to be shattered into a million pieces. However, being that was her inner child and as awful as it felt, Luna tried to ignore it knowing there was much bigger things to worry about. Namely the Empire, her feelings of anything paled in comparison.

Luna just hoped that her father's men weren't in the area yet. She was probably being paranoid, but she was terrified of him and couldn't help but be worried that every shadow held someone that was about to try to kidnap her.

"I.... I'm so sorry, but I can't help you all any more," Luna said, making sure her voice was controlled. "I'm being moved to another foster home in two days."

"You didn't tell us this before?" Anakin asked. Luna winced at his tone.

"I didn't know until today."

"That's a bit sudden," Obi-Wan said.

"It always is, for me at least.... All of my actions are going to be micro-monitored starting tomorrow, so I can't sneak over here anymore."

"Where are you going?" Padmé asked.

"I don't know, probably on the other side of the country," Luna replied bitterly. She kept her gaze down and stuffed down her sadness. "There's no way you could follow me if that's what you're getting at."

"So, this is goodbye," Anakin murmured, not really knowing what to think. He had begun to grow attached to Luna the past few days.

"Yeah," she replied, having a hard time making sure her tears didn't fall. Her voice was on the verge of breaking. "It is."

"Well, thank you for your help," Obi-Wan said.

"Don't mention it.... I brought more money for you," Luna said, pulling out a small bag that held all of her savings and handing it to Obi-Wan. "I'd.... I'd also suggest moving out of town for the next few weeks....if your still around by then."

And there's that fear again, Anakin thought to himself. Luna had been doing a pretty good job of pushing down her sadness, he knew that having to tell them that she could not help anymore was hard for her. He figured it was because they were practically heroes here, but the fear. Luna was terrified of something, and she didn't want them to know. She was worried about being followed on the way here, and now she wanted them out of town around the same time she was being moved somewhere else.

And that was without skipping over the impending danger that the two Jedi had been picking up all day.

Anakin wondered if it had anything to do with their world for a moment, but quickly dismissed it. If it was a danger from their world, Luna would inform them since Earth would have no way to combat it. So whatever it was, it was Earthan in origin and it was most likely after Luna.

Anakin traded a glance with Obi-Wan. It was fairly obvious why she wasn't telling them, she knew that they, or rather Anakin, would do something about whatever it was before fully understanding what was going on.

"Why is that?" Padmé asked.

"There isn't really a reason for you to stick around now, and you can't risk being to regular with where you get food. It's just a suggestion."

"Thank you for everything," Obi-Wan said. Luna nodded, barely perceptible with her hood up.

"Your welcome.... I'll.... I'll just go then...." Luna muttered turning to the door before her fear kicked back into full gear. She was about to walk back to the house. Alone. In the dark. "Um, could someone walk home with me? I might need some help sneaking back in...."

As much as Luna tried to hide it, both Anakin and Obi-Wan got the message. I don't want to walk back alone. Had it been anyone else, Anakin was sure he wouldn't even think about it.

"Sure," Anakin said. To say relief flooded through Luna would have been an understatement, and Anakin wondered if she was even trying to hide it for a moment.

"Thanks," Luna said as a plan quickly formed in her mind.