Five years had passed since Maul's escape from the jaws of the Republic and no matter how the Jedi had searched, Maul illuded them. It wasn't that surprising considering the fact Maul had managed to keep his whereabouts secret for years even before his ill-fated execution.

That wasn't to say there was no speculation. In fact, the Jedi were dangerously aware that the outter rim were becoming more bold. In the wake of the end of the Clone Wars, the crime bosses of the galaxy had profited from the chaos and it was clear there had been a dynamic change.

Before the war, it was no secret the Pikes and the Huts were at each others throats all the time. The Black Suns and Crimson Dawn were never ones to trust easily and would betray each other whenever it turned a profit.

And yet the Republic had been getting reports from across the galaxy that many of the crime clans were banding together. What used to be amateur pirating and looting, were fast becoming major and complex operations. They had somehow organised themselves and those that had battled him before, knew that Darth Maul was probably the cause of it.

Separate, the crime clans were tricky but we're not altogether a big threat to the Jedi, but united and organised, they could pose a danger to the Jedi should they decide to leave the outter rim.

***

Luke and Leia were still just younglings, only six years old, but they had already demonstrated their force skill. They were, after all, Anakin's children.

Though they were skilled with the force, the two had quite the reputation as the troublemakers. They may have been head of their classes but it seemed skill wasn't the only thing they had inherited from their father. They had inherited his sense of humour and general tendency to misbehave.

Ahsoka liked to think she helped but in reality, she was just filing their inner snippiness. And in all honesty, she liked teaching the twins how to mess with Anakin as it was almost always hilarious.

Obi-Wan had tried his best but the twins were basically mini Anakins and he had a hard enough trouble trying to deal with one.

Ahsoka was a grown woman now and Anakin was so proud of her when she had finished her trials. He had admittedly been skeptical all those years ago when he had first met Ahsoka. Anakin was not exactly teacher material and he doubted he would ever be able to be one. And yet when he did take Ahsoka under his wing, he didn't know it then, but he was looking at his little sister.

She was no longer is Padawan though, she was now a Jedi Knight, a young woman, skilled and experienced.

No matter how much time had passed, Anakin still saw her as his little sister and so when she became close to Lux Bonteri, Anakin had to let go of his protectiveness over her. She was capable of handling herself and if she trusted Lux, then he would have to as well. That being said, Anakin doubted Ahsoka would listen to him if he objected anyways, he hadn't stopped her from doing what she wanted before, why should it be any different.

That day, Anakin had taken the twins to a training hall. As they were already the top of their youngling classes, Master Yoda suggested Anakin teach them some extra on the side. After all, in a few years time, they would old enough to be his Padawans; Master Yoda decided it wouldn't be a good idea to split them up.

The twins were running through the rudimentary drills with their training sabers whilst Anakin offered advice and tweaks to their forms.

"Luke, chin up," Anakin observed as he circled around his two children, "A move like that swings your lightsaber in front of your face, you don't want it to cut your forehead - chin up!"

Leia, smug as ever, performed the trick flawlessly before turning off her saber and clipping it to her belt. Taking a mocking bow as if she was in front of an audience, she turned to her brother and raised an eyebrow, watching him as he attempted the new move.

Ever the competitive type, Luke wasn't going to sit there and watch his sister get all smug. Swinging his lightsaber with a flourish, he executed the move just as spectacularly as Leia.

"No fair!" Leia pouted, crossing her arms, "I did it first."

"It's not a competition," Anakin sighed but couldn't help but smile a little at their competitiveness.

The doors to the training hall opened and Ahsoka sauntered in, a broad smile reaching her lips as she saw the twins in their youngling garbs with training sabers at their hips. It really put in perspective how much time had passed since she was a youngling.

"Auntie 'Soka!" Leia squealed happily as she abandoned her pouting and ran up to the torguta with outstretched arms.

"My, my, you're getting big, aren't you," Ahsoka chuckled as she hoisted Leia up for a quick hug before placing the young girl back on her feet.

"Hey, Snips, care to join us for some lightsaber drills?" Anakin offered, gesturing to Like who was tossing his training saber up in the air and catching it.

"I'd love to" Ahsoka chirped happily as she unbelted her two lightsabers.

Just as she went to ignite the sabers, there came an almighty sound like an explosion from the far side of temple which was followed by a tremor in the floor, making them all brace.

"What was that?" Leia questioned worriedly as she timidly stepped towards Luke, latching onto her brother's arm.

Anakin didn't have an answer, he just turned to the twins, concern etched on his face.

"Stay close to me and Ahsoka," He said seriously as he took Leia's hand and prompted Ahsoka to take Luke's hand.

"The explosion sounded close," Ahsoka warned as she followed her former Master as he made for the door.

The whole Jedi Temple was in uproar from the explosion. Jedi Knights and Temple Guards were rushing up and down the halls, all evidently trying to rectify the situation.

Not wanting to lose the twins in the crowds of bustling Jedi, Anakin held tight onto Leia's hand and made sure that Ahsoka and Luke were always in his sights. Together, they followed the general direction of the commotion, winding through the corridors until they came out at the grand entrance to the temple where most of the Jedi were situated.

The stairs of the entrance had all but been blasted to rubble and the huge statues of Jedis long gone, were damaged but luckily were sturdy. The place was already a deathrap from the explosion without the added need for a fallen statue.

Other Jedi like Anakin and Ahsoka that had heard the explosion, had also arrived and we're currently helping to move rock and rubble to help the injured and seek survivors of the attack. With more Jedi arriving at the scene by the minute, Anakin knew his input would be negligible so he just made sure that all the younglings and Padawans were safe and on the perimeter of the scene.

"Obi-Wan!" Anakin gestured as he saw his former Master amongst the crowd, "What happened here?"

"We're not sure," Master Kenobi admitted as he moved over to them, giving Luke and Leia a quick hug, relieved they were safe, "As far as I'm concerned, it just seems to be an unprovoked attack on the temple."

"But the Jedi Temple has been attacked before," Ahsoka reasoned, her voice wavering slightly as she remembered the attack from years ago, the first of many things which had lead to her expulsion from the Jedi, "The attack was supposed to be in protest against the war, but there haven't been many protesters for quite some time, at least not in the size needed for a terrorist attack."

"I'm sure we will get more answers when the injured are tended to and the scene can be scoured. For now, I suggest you should contact the medical ward, let them know they will be about to receive a lot of injured." Obi-Wan suggested as he turned back to the scene of the explosion.

Anakin put the medical ward on alert as suggested before he decided it was best to take Luke and Leia away from the deviation. He knew they handle it but he still didn't want them to have to see such things. With Ahsoka in tow, they led the twins back into the temple and away from the crowd.

"What do you think is going on, dad?" Luke asked curiously as he hurried to keep up with Anakin's fast strides.

"I don't know, Luke, I just don't know," he sighed they entered the archive library which was probably the quietest place in the Temple as everyone else seemed to be at the destroyed entrance.

"Do you think Darth Maul could be behind this attack?" Ahsoka suggested, "He hasn't made a love against the Jedi since his escape five years ago."

"Who's Dark Male?" Leia questioned, mispronouncing the sith lord's name as she did so.

"That's a story for another time," Anakin answered quickly before turning back to Ahsoka, "This doesn't look like Maul's handiwork, no, he's too calculated for that. Of all the places to attack, the entrance is not the most strategic. Besides, what good does one explosion do?"

With no more theories, the four of them sat quietly for a while, just waiting for the panic in the temple to subside. Luke and Leia could tell it was not the time to talk as they could sense the overall feeling of dread within the temple.

That was, until they heard something similar to a whimper.

Hushing the twins in case it was something dangerous, Anakin and Ahsoka drew their lightsabers but didn't ignite them just yet.

Quietly peeling their head round the corner of the shelf they were behind, they gasped as they saw the librarian sprawled on the floor, a gaping wound on her forehead.

"Madam Jocasta Nu!" Ahsoka exclaimed as she belted her lightsabers and helped the senior Jedi up.

"She's coming to," Anakin observed as her eyes began to slowly open.

"Madam Jocasta Nu, what happened here?" Ahsoka questioned quickly as she tried to examine the wound on her head.

"They took a holocron."

Don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts and feedback.