Author Note: This is the sequel of my story "Over The Hills And Far Away. If you haven't read it, you would not understand much of this, because I introduced new characters, changed some dynamics (my Anakin is good here pals, remember that) and the main storyline will pick up from where I left it. It revolves around an original character I created and a canon one, though he's not so famous. Please, read the other FF before starting this one!

Chapter 1 – All I've Got Left

It was dark. He could barely see his own hands as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. That chase was taking too long. It wasn't good. He wasn't in such a great shape after so many years into hiding.

He gripped the handle of his inactive weapon and sighed. He was too strong. Too fast, too powerful...he couldn't survive that fight.

"Damn it and the Whiplash!" he cursed under his breath. His words, though barely whispered, echoed in the small space around him. For a moment, everything laid motionless, then, he felt it.

His breath.

It was so scary it could freeze lava. And it certainly chilled his blood in his veins.

He concentrated and tried to dampen his presence in the Force. If he managed to go unnoticed, maybe he still had a chance to survive and go back to his old affairs.

His involvement with the Whiplash movement had only ruined everything. Everything had been just fine for eight years and now his fragile world had been turned upside down. With his job as a private investigator he earned enough to pay the rent of an one-room flat and something to spare for the future. Then he decided to do this foolish thing with that clandestine refugee help group, putting his Jedi training and upbringing to good use, and now, Darth Vader himself was chasing him!

Shit!

He could feel his presence as he slowly got closer and closer to his hiding place.

He tried to focus on anything but the cold feeling of revenge that seethed into his brain. That man had killed most of his friends, past and present. He deserved to die.

There were rumors going on about something that had happened about a year before, when something big had happened on Daltarra, a system in the Inner Rim. They said he was present and that a rogue Jedi had almost killed him, that the Imperials had found him under a pile of debris after the Rebel Alliance had bombed an Imperial base, his life support system badly damaged and a gunshot wound to his chest.

He knew only a man brave, or stupid, enough to face Darth Vader, the scourge of the galaxy. Anakin Skywalker.

His mind went back to the days of their apprenticeship, when they used to make pranks on the other Padawans and sometimes to their Masters. They had made many stupid things in their life, but they had proved their worth during the wars and those who used to say they were good at nothing took their own words back. They had never fought on the same battlefield, but among the Jedi ranks they were both well known. Anakin for his incredible battle skills, him for his ability to elaborate strategies and decoy to fool the enemy army.

As his mind drifted back into memories, he heard Vader's steps getting closer and closer.

He took a deep breath and went back to his exercise. It was something he hadn't practiced in probably twenty five years, but he still remembered the teachings of Master Yoda, when he taught his class of younlings how to conceal themselves from the Force. It was easier than what he remembered, even if he had been told that was the kind of exercise that becomes harder and harder as you grow up. Now, as thrity four old man, he found it easier.

Necessity sharps your ability, they said.

And in that moment, in that very moment, he really needed that kind of ability to save his ass.

His mind wandered back to a particular Jedi...a girl he had known since he had landed in the Temple. One of his best friends, along with Anakin and her brother Darrick. A girl he had always admired for her passion and dedication to her training. The best bodyguard anyone could want. She had been taught to be a deadly observer, she could sense danger a mile away. Aleha Kohr was definitely a great Jedi. And gradually, he had found himself admiring her not only for her strong connection with the Force, something he lacked, for her skills as a sword master, or her ability to protect people better than anyone else, but also because she had grown as a beautiful and sweet woman, such a caring spirit that she could befriend anyone. She was naturally empathic, she could relate to everyone and she always saw the good in anyone yet her dedication to the Order was relentless. And slowly, that admiration became something deeper that rooted in his heart as years passed.

It took him years to realize he loved her with all his might. And no matter how much he had tried to stay faithful to the oath he had made the day he had been Knighted, that feeling had filled him completely and undeniably.

He had lived in denial for years. He had denied, denied and denied to himself and others his true feelings for her. Still, even after the proclamation of the Empire and the Great Jedi Purge, he hadn't forgot her, though he though she had been killed. He brought her memory with him and hoped one day to be with her again, once he would join the others in the Force.

His hopes made him go on. Until one day, they shattered in one million pieces and were replaced by much happier thoughts and hopes.

She was alive.

They had met again six years before on Felucia. She was picking up a Force Sensitive orphan to train as a Jedi and he was following a lead on a case he had accepted a couple of weeks before. And after too many drinks, she revealed she was well aware of his feelings and she had always wanted to tell him that she loved him back, but didn't find the courage to admit her feelings for him.

It was useless to say that they had both given up to passion in that torrid night and...well...if their Master could know about it, they wouldn't be pleased. Sex was something that a Jedi had to shun. There were many young Knights that voluntary ignore that rule, and in the end they had joined their ranks.

And that had led only to troubles. Aleha had to run away with the kid, bring him somewhere safe, and he had to follow his lead but deep in their hearts, none of them wanted to be separated again. But circumstances weren't in their favor that day.

About two weeks after they had met, an Imperial Inquisitor decided it was time to blow their plans up. He was still following his lead on Felucia while Aleha had gone away to secure the kid. They had an appointment on New Ator the next week and there decide what to do but with that Inquisitors looking for him, he decided it was better to not show up at the meeting. He couldn't allow them to hurt her in order to drag him out of hiding. As long as they didn't know she existed, she was safe. Apparently, Vader had decided to track him down for good and find him fast. He was concentrating all his power in finding him and he would have stopped only when he would have died.

That meant that the Inquisitors would never stop chasing him anywhere and if he stayed with Aleha, her chances to survive would be dim. He could handle them, and of course she could too but he knew that he would not be able to confront them if she had been with him.

He couldn't risk her life.

Therefore, he disappeared again, changed appearance and retreated in the underworld of Coruscant still as a private detective.

Her memory was all he got left.

Then the Whiplash movement arrived in his life.

It was a clandestine association that worked to take refugees out of Coruscant and give them a new life somewhere in the Galaxy.

Their mission had profoundly touched him and reminded him his mission as a Jedi knight that he dropped his job and joined their ranks.

It worked fine for a while, until the Battle in the Imperial Security Bureau.

Practically, until barely half an hour before.

It started out as a rescue mission and turned out to be a mess. Pure, simple havoc. They had been deceived and betrayed and now they had scattered around the building trying to escape Vader's fury.

He stood there, breathing slowly, as he waited for Vader to arrive.

He could feel him as much as he heard his heavy steps outside the door. He had hidden in a storage closet, the only door he had found open and remained there for he didn't know how long. His palms were sweaty as he gripped his lightsaber and waited.

The wait was killing him. It was worse than facing him.

He closed his eyes for a moment as he heard his harsh metallic breath. We was walking just outside the door. He held his breath and he waited for him to pass.

Luck didn't help him that time.

The door opened and Vader's towering silhouette stood in front of him.

"Shit!" he groaned as he pushed the button of this lightsaber, igniting the blade. He made to hit Vader but then slashed on the left and caught him off guard, making him step aside enough so he could get out of the storage room.

"Now, would you please hand me that damned crystal?" said Vader as cold as ice.

He meant the Pyronium crystal that Anakin once had given him as a gift when they were both Padawans. He knew why Vader wanted it and he couldn't allow him to get his mechanic hands on that shard of metal. That would make him ever more powerful than what he already was.

He felt a cold drop of sweat trickle down his spine as he thought of the consequences. That shard held a very sentimental value to him, and he wouldn't let got of it so easy, but knowing that it could absorb electromagnetic energy to almost limitless amount and that Vader wanted to make a new weapon out of it, well, the fallen Jedi would have to pry it out of his dead hand to get it.

"Like hell I will!" he growled as he let the Force flow through him. "Not a chance. You have to fight to have it!"

Vader shook his head. If he wanted to fight, he would have fought, that was sure. That crystal was too important to him. "Then fight, but I tell you, if you let go of it, you can walk out of here safe and sound. I will spare your life."

Like hell...

"Come and get it Vader..."

He would have sighed if his life support system would have allowed it. "As you wish."

I woke up suddenly, partially sitting up straight.

That was strange.

It had been months since I had dreamed something so real. And so terrifying to say the least.

It wasn't a nightmare, it was more a vision of an event. And I didn't like it.

I laid back on the bed and sighed. Fortunately I hadn't woken Padmè, she laid on her side towards the center of the bed, sleeping peacefully. Thank the Force for that.

I wiped away the sweat from my forehead and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Five minutes and I would have had to get up and prepare to return in my room. Great timing, at least that.

Slowly, I sat up straight on the bed and grabbed my pants from the floor beside me. Time to get out of bed!

But that dream kept me thinking. What the heck did that mean?

I sighed again and looked up at the ceiling. "Jax, what the hell have you done?"

Wookiepedia I love you. Except for the part regarding Aleha, what happened is real. I just shortened it.

So, I'm back! Less than 24 hours ago I finished Over The Hills And Far Away, now I post the first chapter, a sort of prologue, of the sequel, Red Rain. This time Peter Gabriel had to give me the inspiration for the title.

Hope you liked it. More will come in a week or so.

Have fun and may the Force be with you!