Denali could feel herself getting more and more anxious with each step she took after Kit down the long hallways of what she realized to be one of the Kaminoan cloning facilities. She was thankful to be rid of Danik for a precious moment; she could feel her sanity slowly returning with the passing seconds like sand in an hourglass falling back into her mind. Thanks to this fortunate break, she'd end up keeping her pinky-toes after all.

But with each heart-beat, each blink of an eye and intake of breath, she grew closer and closer and closer to her children. Denali bit her bottom lip and shook her head. It would take some time getting used to, the idea of having children and taking care of babies. But...her children.

It wasn't that she was getting second thoughts or anything along those lines. If anything, it was the exact opposite. Denali was a nervous wreck about whether or not she'd be a good parent, whether or not she and Obi could-

Wait.

"Kit, where's Obi-Wan?"

He stopped in his tracks so quickly she almost ran into his back and the green tentacles that draped down from his head like dreadlocks.

"I believe it would be best if we spoke of him after you've seen your children-"

"Kit, what's happened? Where is my husband? Why isn't he here with you?"

"Obi-Wan is fine," He sighed exasperatedly before he continued walking, not bothering to look behind his shoulder to check if she was even following.  "He's just busy with Jedi business at the moment." A lie. She could tell without even looking at his face that he was lying to her. But, regardless, she figured it wasn't worth the fight trying to pry the truth from his lips right then and there. She planned on doing that later.

After a few minutes of tension-soaked silence and nothing but the sound of their breathing and their shoes on the smooth, sleek floor, they came to a stop at one of the countless white doors lining the hallway. With a wave of Kit's hand, the door slid open and Denali's hand found its way to her mouth.

She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.

To anyone else, they'd only look like underdeveloped babies in glass jars. A common person would assume they were nothing special, considering the cloning facilities produced hundreds of thousands of babies everyday effortlessly. Some might even be grossed out by the sight Denali's eyes fell upon. 

They were beautiful to her.

Her knees grew weak with each step she took towards the three small tanks attached to the wall, each one carrying clear liquid and a baby inside. Only four months old, not even aged enough to be considered ready for the outside world, and she was already in love with all of them. An unconditional love, a love that would last forever regardless of what life would throw at them. Tears filled her awestruck eyes and the smile on her face could only be described as purely amazed. 

"H-..." She swallowed and, with a shaking arm, lifted her hand up to the glass. It was warm to the touch and she felt assured that her that at least her babies were nice and cozy inside their small homes. "Hello, there..." Relieved laughter spilled from her mouth, followed by a river of tears as she took turns pressing her hands to each tank. Like any mother would, she didn't want any of them to feel like they weren't getting as much attention as the other. "I'm your...I'm your mother. I'm your mother."

Denali didn't care if Kit was watching, she didn't care that she hadn't showered that day and was most likely sweaty, that her murderous brother was still breathing or that her husband probably thought she was dead. That everyone probably thought she was dead. Nothing else mattered but that moment, that precious moment she saw her children for the first time, her beautiful, magnificent, priceless angels.

"You..." She couldn't even speak without bursting into a wet-eyed mess. "You don't have names yet, do you?" Of course, they wouldn't have been able to reply either way, but she still paused as if they had. "I know your father should be here for this, but...seeing that he can't be...I guess I'll have to do it myself."

She placed her hand on the first tank and closed her eyes. Her concentration was deep as she felt the Force, felt her baby's heart beating inside, felt the child's mind and soul and future hopes and dreams. She felt her strength, her inability to give up even when the odds didn't appear to be in her favor. Although they all had to have been incredibly strong, considering that they survived being blown up on a battlefield while still inside their mother.

"Shendira... Shendira Kenobi." Denali smiled a prideful smile. "Hello, little Shen. My strong, fearless little Shen."

She did the same thing to the next tank.

"Deidre... Deidre Kenobi. You're going to be a clever genius. A lot smarter than your father, even smarter than me." Denali grinned and a small chuckle escaped her lips before she moved on to the last one. But as her fingertips grazed the glass separating her and her child, a mind-shattering scream echoed within her skull and Denali ripped her palm away in pain.

Pain. Suffering. Fear. Torment. Blood. Scream after scream after scream rattled inside her mind, as if a million people had made her brain their home and were all simultaneously dying in fits of torture and despair. The air was knocked from her lungs and her knees hit the ground. Her child. Her child. Her child.

"Denali!" In a moment, her former master's hands were on her shoulders. They held her tightly in hopes of keeping her up right, but as the pain grew more and more intense, the former Jedi could feel the darkness creeping up on her. She was going to black out. "Help! Medic! We need a medic in here!"

Then multiple arms were picking her up off the floor and the next thing she knew, she was being carried from the room holding her babies. 

"No!" She thrashed and kicked in a lame attempt at trying to break free, even as wave after wave of agony assaulted her mind. "No! My babies! Don't make me leave my babies!" Denali cried in desperation. She could see the corners of her vision growing black, the only things in sight being the glowing blue tanks holding the only family she had left. A split second before she blacked out, a single name left her lips.

Her horrified, sorrowful, heart-broken lips.

"Kalani!"

The name that would rattle the galaxy to its very core.

**********

A shadow in the sky. Each step quicker than the other, each step with more purpose than the last. He'd found him. He was on his trail. There was no escape for the thief now.

The thief who stole his wife's body.

In less than twenty-four hours, he'd have his revenge. His justice.

He sat in his ship, meditating, preparing himself for the oncoming battle of his life, letting the hatred and anger flow through him like lava boiling in a volcano. He would need every ounce of energy from the Dark Side if he was going to survive this duel. Every sliver of disgust and anguish and rage the darkness could offer.

But then, as he delved deeper and deeper into the black, a single word was whispered in his ear. A name. Three syllables that caused him to open his eyes and his chest to strain for reasons he couldn't understand.

He stood on shaky feet, though his ship was one of the steadiest he'd ever been on, and found himself leaning against the wall. In an instant, he was sobbing. Not crying. Not tearing up. Sobbing. And he didn't have the faintest clue as to why. They were pain-filled tears, a strong yet different kind of pain he'd never felt before.

Yes, he'd fallen from the brink after Denali's death, and he'd experienced the pain of losing someone he loved. But this pain...it was completely different. It wasn't like the agony he'd felt when he lost his wife at all.

It was the pain of failure.

The pain of letting down someone he cared about. Someone he would've given his life for just to see them happy. Someone he would've torn the universe apart just to see their smile. Someone he didn't even know. Someone he never would know.

Kalani...