"Why exactly are we here again? That was not made clear to me."

Needless to say, the earlier conversation had been slightly distracting. If Anakin had been told earlier why he and Padmé were being sent to Dantooine, he had completely forgotten now.

Padmé's eyes sparkled with amusement. "We're here to investigate the cities. Since the Empire discovered us to be on Dantooine, they may be trying to hold a tight grip on the cities. Harassing citizens. Searching homes. That sort of thing."

"And once we find that out, what can we do?"

She stared thoughtfully off into the distance and put on an elaborate cloak. "All we can do is let the base know. Then the group must decide if we can and should help."

After landing the ship, they ended up walking into the city, since it was close enough to not require use of a speeder. Anakin took Padmé's hand as they walked, and she smiled up at him. He had longed for a moment like this his whole life. To be together with her, without worrying about being seen, and to know that she loved him just as much as he loved her- this was what he had spent years waiting for.

Padmé seemed completely absorbed in her surroundings, carefully examining every building and every person they passed by. So far, there seemed to be no Stormtroopers. The city seemed to be in good condition and the people were talking and laughing. It didn't feel like Coruscant here.

"Do you sense anything out of place?" Padmé asked.

Anakin shook his head. "No. Not yet, anyway."

"I hope the rest of the city is like this. I couldn't stand the thought of the natives being harassed because of us... this place is special to me."

"Why is that?"

Padmé suddenly stopped and turned to watch as a couple of construction workers lifted a large pane of glass onto the window of a toy store, and she laughed to herself. "Want to know why they're replacing that window?"

"Sure, why?"

"Because-" she lowered her voice to a whisper- "Luke shattered the old one by mistake. With the Force."

So Luke, as a little kid, had enough potential in the Force to shatter a window without even trying?

"Really?" Anakin said, laughing. "He must have enormous potential! Leia has never come close to doing something like that."

Padmé nodded and motioned for them to keep walking. "Do you think Leia is Force sensitive? I can't tell easily unless it's obvious."

"I think she is, but not in the traditional sense. She doesn't seem interested in levitating objects or using a lightsaber. But she can feel the Dark Side, and she knows when something bad is about to happen- before I'm even aware of it."

"Have you trained her at all? Considered it?"

"I've offered it to her, but she doesn't seem to want it. I don't want to push it on her."

"I suppose not," Padmé agreed. "I really hope I've chosen the right path for Luke on getting Obi-Wan to help train him. He never exactly asked for it, but his potential is so strong, I really saw no other choice."

It certainly had been surreal for Anakin to see his former mentor after all these years. It was a good thing he was available to train Luke, because Anakin wasn't sure if he was the right person to do it. How could he train an impressionable child to use the Force, when he wasn't even sure that the Light Side was the correct thing to pursue?

"What is it?" Padmé interrupted his thoughts, probably noticing his silence.

"Nothing, " he said. He wasn't sure if he should reveal these thoughts to Padmé.

She looked at him skeptically. "I know that's not true. Are you upset that Obi-Wan has been the first one to train Luke?"

"No, no! Quite the opposite, actually. I'm very glad that it's Obi-Wan. He has a stable, pure, trusting view of the Force, but.... I.... don't. I don't want to taint Luke with my own struggles."

Anakin watched Padmé's face for several minutes, trying to discern her reaction, but she only seemed to be deep in thought. Before she could say anything, a dark disturbance began to creep up in the Force. Anakin recognized it all too well.

"Stormtroopers," he whispered.

"What?" Padmé grabbed his hand tightly. "Where?"

"Far away, but they're getting closer. And... someone's afraid, very afraid."

"Me?" Padmé said as a half joke, smiling slightly.

"No, someone's out there, afraid for their lives, just like Leia was when they took her."

Anakin didn't know if he could bear to deal with Stormtroopers again. His only interactions with those mindless servants of the Empire had been watching them carry Leia off into their ship, and then later slaughtering them like animals. They were like the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, wanting only to steal and kill and destroy.

In that instant, a realization dawned on him.

"A child!" he exclaimed. "Padmé, they have a child, we have to help!" Without waiting for a response, he took off running down the street.

Padmé sprinted to catch up with him. "Wait! You mean they're capturing a kid? We can't just go blindly running into danger!"

"Yes we can," Anakin said fiercely. "I am not letting them take a little kid the same way they took Leia!"

Despite her protests, Padmé followed Anakin until they spotted two Stormtroopers marching down a street full of abandoned houses. Each of them held the arm of a screaming little girl.

Anakin's blood boiled at the very sight of it. The Empire had no idea what they were doing to families by kidnapping these defenseless little children... or did they?

"What's the plan?" Padmé whispered, cocking her blaster as they hid behind the corner of one of the houses.

"First, we'll try to... negotiate." Anakin smiled knowingly at her. "And if that doesn't work..."

"Then we try aggressive negotiations." Padmé nodded in approval. "Good, but let me try the talking first."

"Hang on. The Force might be able to help us here." Anakin stepped out from behind the building and pushed a sheet of metal onto the pavement, making it clatter noisily to the ground.

The pair of Stormtroopers spun to face him and drew their blasters. "Put your hands up! Civilians aren't allowed here!" one of them shouted.

Anakin concentrated on the Force, imagining a cloud of confusion settling in their minds. "You will release the girl and let the three of us go."

"What do you think you are, some kind of Jedi? I said, put your hands up!"

Anakin leaned down and whispered to Padmé, "That doesn't always work. Time to try aggressive negotiations."

She nodded and drew her blaster. The Stormtroopers open fired on them, and high pitched screeches from the blasters echoed off the old abandoned houses. In doing so, they let go of the little girl, who ran and ducked behind cover. While Padmé returned the fire and kept the troopers distracted, Anakin used the Force to detach a large beam of wood from one of the houses and send it flying at their heads. It hit them both and they fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Oh good," Padmé breathed, replacing her blaster in its holster. "We didn't have to kill them to save the girl."

Anakin wished he had been able to think that way when he was trying to rescue Leia. Maybe if Padmé had been there, it wouldn't have ended so badly. He was a better person when she was around.

Before he could say anything, the girl emerged from her hiding spot. Her face was red with tears, which looked a bit strange against her fair skin and bright red hair.

"It's all right," Padmé said gently, walking slowly up to the quivering child. "We're here to help you. Can you take us to your parents?"

"I... I don't know where they are!" the girl stammered.

"Well, then where's your house? Maybe they'll look for you there."

"Two blocks away from the toy store. But I don't know how to get there from here!"

"That's okay. We know where that is... come on." Padmé took the girl's hand and they walked with her out of the alley. She started to ask the girl a few questions, but Anakin got lost in his own thoughts. What if a stranger had managed to help Leia like this?

Halfway to the house, a couple walking hurriedly down the street pointed at them and started running in their direction.

The little girl's eyes widened. "Mommy! Daddy!" she cried, letting go of Padmé's hand and running to her parents' open arms. They both embraced her tightly, with the mother crying and the father kissing his daughter on the forehead.

"How did you get away from the Stormtroopers?" the father exclaimed.

The girl, smiling, pointed at Anakin and Padmé. "That man and that lady, they saved me!"

The couple glanced up at Anakin and Padmé in surprise, and the woman smiled broadly through her tears. "You saved our daughter? How can we ever thank you?"

"Don't worry about it, it was no trouble," Padmé said.

Anakin nodded in agreement. "We have children of our own, so we understand what all this is like."

"I can't believe the Empire would do this," the man said grimly, stroking his daughter's hair. "We've never liked them, but this is the last straw for us. It's time for us to fight back. Out of curiosity... do you know anything about the Rebel Alliance?"

Padmé glanced at Anakin, eyes wide with surprise. "We do," she said carefully, turning back to the couple and their daughter. "In fact... we can take you there, if you like!"

Was it possible that the Alliance wasn't doomed, that it could continue to grow again, even after this devastating loss?

(Author's Note: So there is still interest in the galaxy for a Rebel Alliance. Exactly how much interest, is the question! You'll find out in the next update!

Another note: Balance and Victory has reached over 5K views!!!! :D It's way past that now but it wasn't quite at 5K during the last update. Thank YOU for making it this far in the story, and for all your votes and comments! Now I have a question for you.... If you have enjoyed this story, is there another Star Wars fan/Anidala shipper in your life that would love to read this? If so, then feel free to share this story with them! They don't even need a Wattpad account. You can share this through Facebook and Twitter and other social media. If you ever share this with someone, let me know, and I will be eternally grateful! :D )