By: Goddess001
A/N: Sheesh! Where have I been? I know, I know! I have so many other stories going on right now that I should probably finish them before I start another, but I couldn't resist. The urge to write just hit me one night at about two o'clock in the morning, so I had to do this story. The more I tried to forget about it, the more I wanted to write it. So here it is! It's a work in progress, but this time I'll hopefully finish with this story in due time!
Disclaimer: Let's get this over with first! I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story except for Aysel and Ciara, the ones I have made up. If you wanna borrow them, let me know before you take them please!
The night was cold, and not to mention windy. There were no stars out because the clouds covered them from view. That was probably why it was so dark and it felt so gloomy. There was no light at all; even the moon seemed to be in hiding.
Aysel leaned against the balcony banister staring at nothing in particular. She would usually stand outside at night and look at the moon, but nothing came out anymore. There was a sudden rush of wind that caused Aysel's long, ebony hair to flow behind her. Something about that made her lift her head and take a deep breath. It reminded her of something, someone. Aysel shook her head, a single tear falling and running down her cheek to land silently on her hand.
"Ah!" the sudden sound caused Aysel to snap her head up. She turned her head quickly to see if it was just her imagination. She seemed to be imagining things as of late. But there it was again. That scream. Aysel pushed herself from the banister and into her own room, where she threw open the door and ran to the room down the hall.
"Ciara!" she yelled, seeing her daughter sitting up in bed with the blankets pulled tightly up to her nose. She was breathing hard and her eyes were wide. Ciara was obviously shaking. It only took a few more seconds before the servants had risen from their beds as well to see what was happening.
"Mommy?" Ciara whispered, her voice soft but shaky. Aysel smiled delicately, finally realizing that no one was really in the room, but that her daughter had had a bad dream. She motioned for her servants to return to their rooms, and they did obediently.
"Ciara, what happened this time?" Aysel asked in her motherly voice. Her daughter seemed to be having a lot of nightmares lately, but this was the only one where Ciara actually woke up screaming.
Aysel moved to sit on the small twin bed, and once she did, Ciara huddled close to her, wrapping her tiny arms around her mother's waist. The five-year-old girl began to cry once again, but Aysel did her best to comfort her by brushing back her hair from her face and placing small kisses atop her head.
"You died," Ciara whispered suddenly causing Aysel to stiffen. Her face remained the same, but her palms began to sweat and her heat beat became faster with every passing second. She looked down at her daughter, trembling in her arms from crying.
"It was just a dream Ciara. I promise I will never leave you," Aysel swore giving the two hazel eyes that stared up at her a reassuring smile.
"You promise?" Ciara asked wiping at her face.
"I swear." Aysel kissed her cheek and got up from the bed. She turned around quickly, her white night gown flowing behind her in contrast along with her long, black hair. She tucked Ciara tightly back into bed before giving her daughter a good night kiss on the forehead. "Now, you go back to sleep and no more bad dreams okay?"
Ciara made a strangled sound but nodded. She whimpered as she watched her mother's retreating form near the door and Aysel couldn't bring herself to just leave her like that. "Do you want me to stay until you fall asleep?" she asked, her daughter nodding so much that the curls on her head began to shake.
"All right then, move over," Aysel commanded as Ciara quickly scuttled over to the opposite side until her mother was safely under the covers. Then she pounced on her, still shaking from her dream. "Ciara, were you really that scared?" Aysel asked intently looking at her daughter.
"You left me all by myself. I- I saw you…" Ciara said trailing off unable to finish.
"Baby, I'm not going to leave you. Not for a long time. Now, go to sleep," Aysel said softly fighting back her own tears at seeing her daughter like that. She listened as Ciara's breathing slowed and she finally fell asleep.
Before she fell asleep herself, Aysel took one last look outside to see the moon finally out of hiding. However, she didn't' get to sleep long. Kaleb, one of the caretakers, shook her from her peaceful slumber. "What is it?" Aysel asked grumpily.
"I'm sorry my lady, but an urgent message has arrived for you," Kaleb stated, playing with the slender object in his hand.
"Couldn't this have waited a couple of hours? Who is it from?" Aysel asked again, holding Ciara closer. Kaleb was hesitant to answer. Aysel waited patiently for an answer, but when she didn't receive one, she opened her eyes fully to rest on Kaleb.
He was standing there nervously, almost on edge. His hands kept fiddling with what she supposed was the 'urgent message'. Aysel silently untangled herself from Ciara and turned her body towards Kaleb. "What is it? What's wrong?" she whispered. "Kaleb?"
"It's from the Jedi Order."