Per Master Yoda's instruction, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi took a shuttle to the very coordinate he was searching for. And sure enough, as he followed the gravitational pull by which the stars were pulled, he soon came across the missing planet.

"There it is, R4, right where it should be. Our missing planet Kamino."

The Jedi flew his ship into the planet's atmosphere. It was very dark and stormy. More of the planet seemed to be covered in water than even most of the natural worlds, and the only land that was in sight were tall metal platforms with what appeared to be cities on top. Luckily, there happened to be an empty spot on which the Jedi could land, and he exited his ship, pulled his hood over to protect his head from the rain, and he walked inside a door he spotted.

Obi-Wan pulled his hood down as he saw a tall life form approach him.

"Master Jedi." said the being, a Kaminoan female. "The prime minister is expecting you."

"I'm expected?" said Obi-Wan, sounding surprised.

"Of course. He is anxious to meet you. After all these years, we were beginning to think you weren't coming. Now please, this way."

The Kaminoan led Obi-Wan through a hall to a room where they met a well-dressed male Kaminoan.

"May I present Lama Su, prime minister of Kamino." introduced the first Kaminoan.

Obi-Wan and the prime minister bowed to each other in greeting.

"And this is Jedi Master-"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." the human said.

"I trust you're going to enjoy your stay." Lama Su said.

A seat shaped a little like a water droplet lowered from the ceiling.

"Please, have a seat." said Lama Su, taking another seat. "And now to business. You will be delighted to hear that we are on schedule. 200,000 units are ready, with a million more well on the way."

"That's good news." Obi-Wan said, uncertain.

"Please tell your Master Sify-Dyas that his order will be met on time."

Obi-Wan was more perplexed now.

"I'm sorry, Master-"

"Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is still a leading member of the Jedi Council, is he not?"

"Master Sifo-Dyas was killed almost ten years ago," Obi-Wan explained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. But I;m sure he would have been proud of the army we've built for him."

"The army?"

"Yes. A clone army, and I must say, one of the finest we've ever created."

"Tell me, Prime Minister, when my master first contacted you about the army, did-did he say who it was for?"

"Of course he did. This army is for the Republic. But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself."

"That's why I'm here," said Obi-Wan, playing along.

_________________________

Meanwhile...

Kara stayed behind to look after Gabby while Anakin took Padme on an outing. They couldn't stay cooped up forever.

Gabby initially wanted to join her parents, but her aunt said that this was a time for her parents to spend alone. So, Kara took Gabby to a park, the same one, in fact, where Anakin had played with Sapphire years ago. There were still shiny sapphire rocks around the park too.

Gabby looked like she was having a lot of fun on the playground. Spinning around on the carousel and swinging on the monkey bars and swings were some of her favorites. But one thing she absolutely adored at the playground was bouncing back and forth on the spring rocking horse.

"Giddyup, horsie!" Gabby laughed.

Kara watched intently as Gabby played, making sure the child followed the strict rule of staying where her aunt could see her.

Gabby had no trouble staying where her aunt could see her because she just loved the pony ride.

Since she was a baby, Gabby always loved ponies, so it wasn't surprising when she got excited on her first birthday when Fantasia came with her new baby sister Dreamira Heartthrob, who was nicknamed Dream Heart.

Gabby loved animals of all kinds, but ponies were her favorite. She had ponies all over her nursery back in the penthouse, and on the mobile in her crib at the temple. And whenever she wasn't learning, Gabby was either drawing ponies, coloring pictures, or pretending to ride a pony or even be one. But Gabby always wished she could have a real pony.

Anakin helped Padme out of the canoe they'd taken to get to the lake country. They stopped at a beautiful gazebo where there was a lovely view of the crystal blue lake, and lots of beautiful plants and flowers.

The Jedi and senator walked together onto the gazebo where they got a lovely view of the lake on which the sun was shining. It looked so beautiful and sparkly like it was made of a million crystals.

"We used to come here for a school retreat," said Padme. "We would swim to that island every day. I love the water. We used to lie out on the sand and let the sun dry us and try to guess the names of the birds singing."

"I don't like sand." Anakin said. "It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere."

"Now I know where Gabby gets it from," said Padme.

She recalled Gabby did like the sandbox when she played sometimes, but not so much on the beach because, like Anakin said, sand gets everywhere, including inside your swimsuit. Very itchy and irritating.

In a sandbox, usually the worst case scenario, you get sand in your shoes. Easy fix, just take off your shoes and dump them out. But on the beach, get wet and sand sticks to you and can be very difficult to wash out of long hair.

"But not here," said Anakin, looking at Padme. "Here, everything is soft and smooth... and beautiful."

Anakin gently touched Padme's shoulder, making every movement very slowly so as to not make her feel uncomfortable in any way.

Padme and Anakin looked at each other, their eyes meeting as they began feeling things they couldn't explain. Anakin leaned forward slowly, his heart beating with anticipation. Padme, on the other hand, thought she should back up, but instead found herself wanting Anakin to continue, and she closed her eyes, waiting to feel Anakin until their lips touched.

Anakin felt his heart soaring as he felt Padme's lips against his, and so did she. They kissed passionately for a moment, but then Padme quickly pulled away with a gasp.

"No." she said. "I shouldn't have done that."

Anakin felt his cheeks turn red at that moment.

"I'm sorry." He said.

_________________________

Kara held Gabby down as she was making funny bubble disguises in the bath. Except, much like her father, Gabby was not always easy when it came to bathtime.

"Hold still." Kara said, shampooing Gabby's hair. "We want you to be nice and clean when your mommy and daddy come back."

Gabby just loved to splash in the bath, blow bubbles and make funny disguises with them, and of course play with her rubber ducky.

The toddler giggled as she squeezed her rubber ducky and it quacked. Kara giggled too; it never ceased to amaze her how little kids didn't need to do much in order to be adorable. Enchanted or not, babies and toddlers' superpower was killing with cuteness.

Kara rinsed Gabby and dried her off to get her dressed. Gabby picked out a pretty pink dress with white and yellow flowers on it.

Kara topped off Gabby's new outfit with a pink bow in her hair.

"There we are. All clean." Kara nuzzled her niece's nose, and that was when Gabby spotted something shiny.

The red ruby heart necklace.

"Ooh! Pretty." Gabby held the red heart in her hand until Kara quickly placed it back under her robes.

"Be careful, Gabriella! This necklace is very important."

Kara held a serious expression as she explained to Gabby that a very wise Jedi gave that necklace to her when she was younger, and she promised him that she would keep it safe and never lose it.

"That means no touchy touchy. And you keep it a secret. Do you understand?"

Gabby responded by mimicking her aunt's shushing motion.

"It's a secret." she whispered.

"I will take that as a yes."

_________________________

A little later, as the sun was shining...

Anakin and Padme sat in a beautiful patch of grass near some magnificent waterfalls on a picnic together. In other words, they pretty much had a date.

"I don't know," chuckled Padme.

"Sure you do. You just don't want to tell me." Anakin said.

"You gonna use one of your Jedi mind tricks on me?"

"They only work on the weak-minded."

"All right. I was 12. His name was Palo. We were both in the Legislative Youth Program. He was a few years older than I. Very cute. Dark, curly hair. Dreamy eyes."

Anakin thought about Gabby and gave Padme a look.

"Doesn't that pretty much describe our daughter?"

Padme laughed and said, "Not exactly. I'd say her hair is more wavy than curly, for one."

"But she does have dreamy eyes."

"True, she does. And she is cute."

"Whatever happened to your friend Palo, though?"

"I went into public service; he went on to become an artist."

"Maybe he was the smart one."

Padme noted the tone in her baby daddy's voice.

"You really don't like politicians, do you?"

"I like two or three." Anakin admitted. "but I'm not really sure about one of them." He and Padme shared a chuckle. "I don't think the system works."

"How would you have it work?" Padme asked.

"We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem, agree what's in the best interest of all the people, and then do it."

"That's exactly what we do. The trouble is that people don't always agree. And they don't always watch when little kids are within hearing range."

Anakin looked at Padme, knowing what she must have meant by that. He'd had to cover Gabby's ears once or twice on the rare occasion a Jedi lost their temper and started frustratingly spewing out bad words.

"Well, maybe they should be made to start agreeing a little more, and watch their mouths around children," said the older Jedi.

"By whom? Who's gonna make them? You?" Padme said.

"Of course not me," said Anakin.

"But someone."

"Someone wise."

"Sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me." Padme looked at Anakin. "Hmm. Are you watching your mouth around children?"

"Usually," said Anakin. "Usually, Kara acts as a second set of eyes."

Padme chuckled and playfully accused Anakin of making fun of her.

"Don't be silly. I'd be much too frightened to tease a senator." Anakin chuckled.

_________________________

A little later, Padme was running through the grass while Anakin was showing off by riding on one of the creatures called shaaks. He stood on one like a stunt rider, and Padme got a little scared.

And that was when Anakin fell off the creature he'd been riding on and landed face-down on the ground.

"Ani!" Padme exclaimed.

Padme set Gabby down and immediately ran over to Anakin.

"Ani! Ani, are you alright?"

Padme rolled Anakin onto his back, and he was laughing as he'd played a joke on her, and before they knew it the two of them were hugging and laughing as they rolled in the grass. And they looked into each other's eyes again. There it was, that strange feeling from back at the gazebo. Padme lay on top of Anakin and got a better look into his bright blue eyes. They were as blue as a crystal clear sky, which definitely lived up to the sky in his name. And as though by some impulse, Padme was the one leaning forward this time, and she and Anakin kissed passionately, this time neither of them feeling afraid to do so. No one was around to see them do it besides their daughter, so who could stop them?

Though Padme couldn't explain it, she felt something in her heart that just told her this was right. Despite knowing that Jedi weren't allowed romantic relationships, she felt that this moment with her lips locked with Anakin's was just meant to be.

_________________________

Meanwhile, back on Kamino...

Obi-Wan walked through a clear tube shaped hallway as he was shown the lab where all the clones were made. All the newly developing clones started out as embryos, and all of them grew in a bunch of round capsules in a pattern very much like how regular human babies grew inside their mothers' tummies.

"Very impressive," said Obi-Wan.

"I'd hoped you would be pleased." said Lama Su.

Lama Su explained to Obi-Wan that clones could think creatively and were superior to droids.

"We take great pride in our combat education and training programs." Lama Su continued. It was then that he stopped to show Obi-Wan a group of clones that looked like a bunch of ten-year-old boys, which Lama Su explained was actually created about five years prior.

"You mentioned growth acceleration." Obi-Wan pointed out.

"Oh yes. It's essential. Otherwise, a mature clone would take a lifetime to grow. Now we can do it in half the time."

"I see."

"They are totally obedient, taking any order without question. We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host."

"And who was the original host."

"A bounty hunter called Jango Fett."

"And where is this bounty hunter now?"

"Oh, we keep him here. Apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing: an unaltered clone for himself. Curious, isn't it?"

"'Unaltered?'" Obi-Wan was confused.

"Pure genetic replication. No tampering with the structure to make it more docile and no growth acceleration."

In other words, the one clone who could think for himself, age like a normal human child, and like any child, have a personality of his own.

"I should very much like to meet this Jango Fett."

"I would be very happy to arrange it for you." said Taun We.

Obi-Wan was silent as he stood at a balcony, from which he watched as what had to be hundreds, maybe thousands of identical clone troopers marching across the room looking ready for combat and battle.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" said Lama Su.

_________________________

Obi-Wan was soon escorted by Taun We to another hallway in a different part of the lab, where she rang a doorbell.

The door was answered by a young clone much like the ones Obi-Wan had seen earlier. Except, this one was actually ten years old, and he was dressed in blue and had a mop of brown hair on his head like the other clones.

"Boba, is your father here?" asked Taun We.

"Yep." said the boy.

"May we see him?"

"Sure."

And the young boy walked into the apartment and called his father.

The entrance door shut, and out from another door came a man who looked like an older version of the grownup clones.

"Jango, welcome back." greeted Taun We. "Was your trip productive?"

"Fairly," said Jango.

"This is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's come to check on our progress."

"Your clones are very impressive. You must be very proud." Obi-Wan said.

"I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe."

"Ever made your way as far into the interior as Coruscant?"

"Once or twice."

"Recently?"

Obi-Wan didn't say it, but he could clearly see the Mandalorian armor sitting in the closet from which Jango exited not ten minutes ago. It was a perfect match to the armor the bounty hunter who killed Zam Wesell wore.

"Possibly." Jango said simply.

"Then you must know Master Sifo-Dyas," said Obi-Wan.

Jango approached his son and said, "Uh, Boba, rood eht so-heeck." And as Boba went to shut the door, Jango turned back to Obi-Wan and said, "Master who?"

"Sifo-Dyas." Obi-Wan explained. "Is he not the Jedi who hired you for this job?"

"Never heard of him."

But Obi-Wan wasn't sure he believed the bounty hunter.

"I was recruited by a man called Tyrannus on one of the moons of Bodgen." Jango explained.

"Curious." Obi-Wan said simply.

"Do you like your army?"

"I look forward to seeing them in action."

"They'll do their job well. I'll guarantee that."

"Thank you for your time, Jango." Obi-Wan bowed his head in thanks.

"Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi."

And so, Obi-Wan began heading on his way. But not without ruffling Boba's hair a little; he was a pretty cute kid, after all.

"Hey!" Boba whined holding his hair like it was going to fall off or something.

And as the child fixed his hair, Boba noticed his father appeared to have something on his mind.

"What is it, Dad?" Boba asked.

"Pack your things. We're leaving." said Jango.

So, Boba went to quickly pack his things so he and his father could get off world. One of the first things he picked up was a stuffed lion with a blue ribbon around its neck.

"Looks like we're finally getting off world, Fuzzy." He told the toy before putting it in a bag.

But before they left, Jango reminded Boba to put on waterproof clothing, warning him that this was a time he absolutely could not get wet, which was not easy to achieve when you live on a planet where it rains almost every single day.