It was a grand total of five (5) minutes before Anakin had a galactic map open and a notepad out, writing down coordinates of possible locations for a new base. Not only that, but he also had a separate list of old Republic bases that might inspire the design of the new base. His mind was already racing, much to the amusement of his family.

The twins went out for the afternoon, probably to tell their friends about boot camp. Obi-Wan sat down with Anakin in the library, watching him work. Grinning, he asked, "Getting ahead of ourselves, are we?"

"I have ideas. I don't want to lose them," Anakin objected, writing down another set of coordinates. "The more planning I do now, the less I have to do later."

"I'm surprised you're bothering to plan at all."

"Ouch."

Obi-Wan sipped his mug of coffee, then asked, "Do you have any initial favorites?"

He shrugged before answering, "Anywhere the Republic already built?"

"The Empire has overrun most of those bases by now."

"I know," Anakin grumbled, setting his notepad to the side. "They were great locations, and Tyrannus has made sure that we can't access most of them, if not all. Otherwise, I would suggest that we revamp one of those old bases and save some of the funding."

"You'll find something," Obi-Wan encouraged him. "I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, but I don't want to find just 'something,' I want to find what we need," he explained, sitting back in his chair.

Trying not to laugh at his apprentice, Obi-Wan shook his head. "You've never been one to shy away from a challenge. I can't say I'm surprised."

"The only thing about this is the timing," he pointed out a bit glumly. "Right after a huge hit like Malachor is not the time to run off. Taking a vacation is one thing, but finding and building a new base will take months, if not over a year. I was hoping to have longer to help Kanan and Ezra get back on their feet."

One of the disadvantages of serving in the Rebellion while being a Jedi is that sometimes your duties clashed. It happened much more often during the Clone Wars, but this was perhaps the first instance of it since. Obi-Wan thought. "You understand the situation, though. You won't leave them alone, not entirely. It may take a while, but you'll find a balance."

He nodded, but now that he thought about it, he still felt uneasy. If he couldn't be there in person, he was going to have to visit whenever he could, or at least make calls. The bottom line was he refused to leave Kanan or Ezra stranded, especially right now.

That was something he could address later, though. Anakin glanced at his brother. "You're not disappointed that the twins chose boot camp?"

"Oh, no. I expected as much," he assured him, grinning. "I never anticipated they would choose the first option."

"Sometimes, I think you know us too well," Anakin mused, powering off the map. He could plan later.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "I trained all three of you since you were children. I bloody well ought to."

He laughed. No one knew a Skywalker quite like Obi-Wan Kenobi, that was for sure. "What are you planning on doing once the twins start going off on their own?"

"I don't know, exactly," he admitted. "I'll probably stay here to begin with, just until the twins are more comfortable living in Theed. After that..." he shook his head. "If I get bored, I can always close off ties with Maul. It sounds like it's nearly time anyway."

"You don't have to be the one to kill him," Anakin argued, softening his gaze. "It's not your fault he's a menace. Maybe it's better to let it go."

"I couldn't agree more, but I'm not sure Maul sees the same way," Obi-Wan reminded him. "From what you told me, he hasn't changed his ways, and he's still bent on killing me. I'd rather face him out there than here on Naboo."

Anakin couldn't argue with that. "Fair enough," he conceded. "I'll let you know if I hear anything about him. He's bound to pop up sooner or later."

Nodding, Obi-Wan took another sip and looked away. Anakin saw him focusing. "What are you thinking?"

He didn't answer right away but finished his thought first. "It has been a while since I've left Naboo. The last time I can remember is when Luke and Leia found their lightsaber crystals. Maybe it would be good for me to travel a little bit. Perhaps revisit some old memories."

"Any in particular?"

"Christophsis, Felucia, Onderon..." he listed off the top of his head. "I would visit Mandalore, but I imagine that's not a good idea these days."

"None of those places are good ideas these days."

"Touché. There are some other places, though," Obi-Wan remembered. "I remember a few planets Qui-Gon took me to when I was training. It would be nice to go back after all these years."

Anakin nodded, then smirked when a thought crossed his mind. "Geonosis?"

"Never again," he said firmly, shuddering. "No, thank you, not in a million years."

"You never know, you might like-"

"Not a chance."

Laughing, Anakin remembered a few choice missions to Geonosis. So much had happened there, including the First Battle of Geonosis. That was the day the Clone Wars truly started.

There were other memories, ones that had turned out a bit sour, that would also be hard places to visit. Anakin remembered one. "You know, sometimes when I'm in the area, I'll stop by Xlenia. Never to-"

Wind blew up in his face. Ahsoka again. Obi-Wan noticed and became alert. "Welcome back."

"Xlenia?" Anakin repeated, and Ahsoka blew wind upward near his right hand. Yes. "What about it?"

Her gust curled over to the table where Anakin had set his notepad down and rustled the pages. Anakin picked it up, then slowly connected the dots. His mouth gaped open, and he looked at Obi-Wan.

"It's abandoned," he remembered, standing up. "Xlenia is completely abandoned! The Empire doesn't know it exists!"

He powered up the map again and looked where Xlenia was, or at least, where it should have been. "It's not even here. The Empire won't be able to find a base on a planet they don't know about!"

From his seat, Obi-Wan was smiling wide. It was incredible to have Ahsoka back. "It's the same strategy Sidious used to hide Kamino. If it worked for him, there's no reason why it wouldn't work for the Rebellion. Although, I would suggest considering other options before jumping the gun on Xlenia."

"Right, right," Anakin admitted, but he was too excited. "Can you believe it? The same planet that Ahsoka first showed up on as the First Sister, and it might just work as a base for the Rebellion."

Ahsoka blew wind next to Anakin, and he grinned. She still had his back after all this time.

Behind him, Sola knocked on the open door. "I don't mean to interrupt whatever you're talking about, but do you two have a few minutes to talk in the kitchen?"

"We're coming," Obi-Wan assured her, standing up. Anakin shut off the map and set down his notebook, following him out of the library. Even as he left, though, his mind was racing. For some reason, despite Obi-Wan's advice to consider all options, Anakin knew the base would be built on Xlenia. That was where the true rebellion started for him. Not necessarily against the Empire, but against Sidious. Against the ideals that he had been taught to hold and had slowly let go of since then. Xlenia was the launch point.

When they arrived, Padmé was already standing in the kitchen with her sister. Sola leaned on the counter as she began, and the other three listened intently.

"I know the twins aren't leaving for another week, but I didn't know when they would be out of the house again, so I figured now was a good a time as ever," she explained. "I was thinking each of us should write letters for Luke and Leia to open while they're at camp. Before they leave, we can sneak the letters into their bags, and they can decide when to open them. It might be nice for them to have after a few weeks of training."

That sounded good to the others. It was always nice to have reminders of home. "Did you have an idea for what the letters should say?" asked Obi-Wan.

She shook her head. "Not really. I imagine you might have some advice to share with them, but my letters will probably be short and sweet. The only reason I bring it up now is that you two have to leave again in a few days," she explained, pointing to Anakin and Padmé.

"When do you need them by?"

"As soon as possible. Just don't let the twins see them."

Padmé nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem."

From her side, Anakin caught a look at the time. "I'll get that to you by tomorrow, probably, but I should probably go. I need to make a call."

"O-Mer?"

"Yeah. It's not going to be fun, but I should get it over with."

They understood, and he left to go to the Rogue. They didn't envy what he had volunteered to do.

Sighing, Obi-Wan turned back around. "He feels responsible for what happened to Jinx. It's not his fault, but that isn't stopping him."

"That sounds pretty typical of him," Sola noted, taking a seat at the counter. "He's trying to take care of them. Isn't that what he usually does?"

"When he can, but not even he could have done anything to prevent this from happening," Obi-Wan explained. "There's only so much one person can do, no matter if they're a Jedi Master or the Chosen One. Sometimes, Anakin refuses to accept that. He refuses to believe that he can't help everyone."

Padmé smiled sadly. "That sounds a lot like what you were saying about Luke a while ago."

Indeed, the father and the son did share a few key traits. "Luke focuses more on protecting others. Anakin knows he can't protect them, but he does try to fix the problem once he hears about it. I doubt he'll ever change in that regard," he predicted.

Thinking for a moment, Sola pointed out, "That doesn't sound like a bad thing."

"It's not. I wish more people were like them, but it does make for disappointment from time to time. High standards tend to do that."

Struggling with perfectionism seemed to be a shared trait in the family. Sometimes they understood that mistakes happened; other days, they refused to settle for anything less than total victory. Other days, it was all or nothing.

They all sat there for a moment, before Obi-Wan silently dismissed himself, probably to think for a while. It wasn't often the house was this quiet, after all.

Sola looked at her sister. "He's struggling again. I think the thought of Luke and Leia joining the Security Forces is getting to him."

"It's getting to me, too," she confessed. "He's probably thinking about Ahsoka. She was the ultimate example of the worst-case scenario for a child soldier. He doesn't want that to happen again."

"Excuse me for reaching this far, but Ahsoka was insane. I don't think it's possible for anyone else, and I mean ANYONE else, to go through what she did."

Though she laughed, Padmé wished it were otherwise. Ahsoka had been her friend too, after all, and she was supposed to be there with them. She was supposed to have watched the twins grow up. She was supposed to relax with Padmé, gossip with Sola, heal with Obi-Wan, and fight with Anakin. Ahsoka wasn't supposed to be dead.

"Listen," Sola said, interrupting her sister's train of thought. "Luke and Leia are going to get training before anything else, which, from what I've heard, is more than Ahsoka ever really got before she joined the army. They're not going in blind. There won't be any doubt about what they're getting themselves into, and if something happens, they'll pull out before it's too late. Obi-Wan and Anakin won't let what happened to Ahsoka happen to the twins."

"I know." It was hard, and it probably always would be hard, but Padmé believed in her family more than anything else. "Maybe that's what I should put in the letters."

"Don't bother," Sola advised. "They know. I think you need it more than they do."

Padmé smiled. "What would I do without you?"

"Historically, you would find a Jedi and marry him, nearly get assassinated multiple times, and debate your way into problems that other people have to pull you out of."

"...that was unnecessary."

Sola shrugged, grinning innocently. As Padmé walked away, she offered one last bit of wisdom: "Don't blame yourself too much, your majesty. It's not easy raising heroes."

The 'your majesty' bit was rather nostalgic. Sola had been calling her that ever since she had been elected queen, even though that time had long passed. The second sentence stopped Padmé in her tracks, though. "We are, aren't we?"

"Have been for some time now."

The Naberries were raising heroes. Not now, not yet, but one day her children were going to be legends. It was so easy to imagine but more difficult to accept in moments like these. Heroes weren't safe, heroes weren't protected, and they didn't always have happy stories. Maybe Luke and Leia were ready to be heroes, but the Naberries had given them a peaceful childhood for sixteen years. That was sixteen years more than most heroes got. Maybe, just maybe, that was enough.