A/N: Some really bad thing I dredged up from the basement of my computer.
When Mace had burst through the door of the sparring room and told Kit Fisto that he was needed, he was surprised. He had just come back from a mission on Dantooine and had expected at least a week's rest before being called off again. But Mace was anxious beneath his calm, leading look, and he wouldn't refuse a friend.
"What's wrong? You seem agitated." he remarked as he walked down to the Temple's hangar.
"Our worst fears have come true. Do you remember when Obi-Wan reported after the Battle of Geonosis and Dooku had told him that the Senate was under the control of a Sith Lord?" Kit nodded. "He was right. Palpatine is a Sith."
Kit gaped at him, momentarily halting. Mace got him started again with a glare. "Pa…Palpatine? A Sith Lord? Who told you?" They had reached the hangar and walked towards two other Jedi, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin waiting by a six-seat speeder. One of the fastest in the Temple, it was specially made for a Jedi's increased reflexes and could easily pass rush-hour traffic at speeds that caused many to shout expletives in the direction of whichever Jedi was driving. Kit jumped into the driver's seat and took off as soon as everyone was inside. He prodded at Mace some more. "Well? Who informed you?"
"Skywalker. He said he was in the office—Palpatine had requested him. Apparently, Palpatine told him outright. Skywalker seemed shaken."
Tiin shook his head. "The boy is still unstable, even after thirteen years. He is smart and strong, but he relies too much on those. He is too arrogant."
"But we thrust that upon him. He does not share all the blame. And besides, he did the right thing. If we get Palpatine and force him to confess, this war will end." Kolar turned his head and gazed out the window. He looked weary. Then again, everyone looked weary these days except the babies, blissfully unaware of what was happening.
The four Jedi's stomachs clenched as the speeder landed in the Senate building's hangar. Silently, they all unclipped their lightsabers from their belts and positioned them, hidden against their bodies. Identity chips were all they needed to get up to the Chacellor's high office. They immersed themselves in the Force as they rode the elevator, calling upon the hundreds of Force-signatures across the galaxy to help them.
Kit closed his eyes and reached out, focusing on one face. He could see her, leading her squad across Felucia's bright terrain, jumping over bright tropical flowers and heading off Separatist attacks. Her soldiers were unflinchingly loyal to her, relying on her authoritative command and smarts to win the battle. She blended in with Felucia's almost garish colors, often hiding behind plants close to her own skin color.
Aayla Secura.
He pushed down the warm feeling he got whenever he thought her name. Now was not the time to get emotional. But all the same, he reached again and touched her mind with his own. She stayed calm. She felt curious, but wary. And her shields were thin, but strong enough to reinforce her mind while she put up stronger ones. He spread towards her and enhanced his Force-presence to let her know who it was. The shields went down almost immediately and her mind rushed forward to greet his, images and memories flashing from her brain to his eyes.
He shoved those aside and felt Aayla. She was healthy and all right, but he felt the slight wince of a blaster wound. Feeling his concern, she sent him a word. Ambush. He nodded. Smart, but not quick enough for Aayla and her squad, one of the best in the GAR. Other than that, she felt fine. He sent her a quick flash of Coruscant from this high, the lower levels complete darkness from the sunset and distance. She wondered at their location, but he remained quiet.
Whenever they were together, Kit and Aayla resisted the urge to talk to each other about their "relationship." He wanted to say something, something to make her feel less lonely, but stopped himself in order to keep his mouth in check. He didn't want her to realize what an idiot he was when he started blabbering Nautolan love poems. After Kamino, they had been awkward; incoherent mumbling, ducking heads to avoid eye contact, such things that made them feel as if they were adolescents again. Kit hadn't grinned in a week, at anyone, least of all Aayla. But their friendship had healed and they had prevailed.
The last few minutes of the long, long trip up to the Chancellor's office were spent simply basking in each other's presences—even if only in the mind. When the elevator slowed to a stop, Kit sorrowfully faded away from Aayla's mind, Goodbye. I'll see you soon. The door opened, and Mace stepped out first.
Palpatine—No, Sidious, Kit reminded himself—swiveled around to face the Jedi. "Ah, Master Windu." he said pleasantly. "What brings you here so late?"
"You are under arrest, my lord." Mace said steadily, igniting his lightsaber. The other three behind him did the same.
Kit missed the rest of the conversation—next thing he knew, Sidious had hurled himself over his desk to the Jedi, kicking Agen out of the way while swinging at Mace with his saber. Mace parried at the last second. Kit marveled at the speed of the old man and put himself in a defense position. It's cramped in here…if we can get him into the inner room, we might have a chance of subduing him. But Sidious wasn't having that. In two quick stabs, Agen and Saesee were impaled, and they slumped to the floor. Kit and Mace circled warily, being careful of the bodies. The smell of charred flesh now hung in the air. Sidious cackled, and his face contorted hideously. Must be where he gets his name from. Kit thought randomly before pulling himself back to battle. Sidious went for Mace first, and Kit raised his saber ready to attack. Then Sidious launched himself at Mace, while kicking a leg backwards to catch Kit in the ribs.
Kit tried to regain his focus, but Sidious's dark power hung heavily around him, the office, this whole building—and Kit could barely reach the Force. Sidious did an identical maneuver at Mace, who jumped over the leg swung at him. In the cramped space however, he had to back up into the larger room. This now separated Kit and Mace. Sidious stretched out for Kit's mind, tendrils of dark snaking into the crevices of his memories, shadowing his thoughts, fogging them until he could no longer see anything except the Sith Lord in front of him.
This guy was more powerful than they had thought.
Sidious thrust, and Kit brought his lightsaber up to block the attack. He was faking, and Kit paid for slow knowledge in the way of a lightsaber plunging into his stomach. The Nautolan doubled over as Sidious pulled the blade out, re-searing the inside of his wound. Kit slumped on to the cool rug, one hand stroking the Andarian velvet and the other laying against cold durasteel.
His mind was pierced through, and Aayla burst onto his consciousness. "Kit!" she cried. "Kit!" He drew on her strength, used it as a lifeline to answer her. Aayla. Aayla, can you hear me? Her name drew up warmth from his heart, slowly sealing his wound as he faded away.
Kit! No, Kit, no! She was crying now, suddenly, and he could see her, in her tent, hunched over a datapad, shaking. Don't leave me, no, no, no…
He used his last reservoirs of strength to pull the words from his mind and send them to her.
I love you, Aayla Secura.
Then he faded away, not even paying attention to Windu and Sidious battling by the window, bathing in Aayla's sweet aura until she answered, I love you, Kit Fisto, and then he was done, and he drifted away to a soft pale light, and he was gone.
Aayla bent, sobbing, on her bed, letting go of Kit as he left her mind. She desperately stretched out, but there was only a flicker of him left, and then it disappeared.
No…
She stayed still for a long time, her datapad lying forgotten at her knees. Felucia's damp air could not fill her lungs fast enough and she gasped, half suffocating and half hysterical, until a hand clamped an oxygen mask over her face.
"General? General Secura? Are you all right?" It was Commander Dura. He barked orders over his shoulders to troopers peering in to see what was wrong with their general. "Get me a stretcher, fast! I'm taking her to the MedCen."
"No!" Aayla swiped at the tears on her face and turned to Dura. "Thank you, Dura. But I'm fine." The commander argued.
"General Secura, you were hyperventilating and your heart rate is up. You should at least lie down, drink something."
Aayla shook her head. "The only thing I want is a Corellian Ale, but that's outlawed by the Code. So too bad for me." Some of the troopers chuckled, and the unhelmeted Dura sent them a hard look. "Besides, we've got a scouting mission. Let's get going."
Dura scowled, but put his helmet on and led the clone troopers out of the tent. A scouting party was formed quickly and Aayla cleaned her face as best she could in order to look presentable to her comrades-in-arms. They got out of camp and were heading towards a small village where a Separatist unit was supposed to be. Halfway through the trek, Aayla saw Dura walk a little out of the way—farther from her, she noticed—and got a transmission. It was a hooded figure. Aayla instinctively out her mind shields up. There was something about that person…
Aayla was alert for the rest of the way. They were only about 300 meters from the village when she heard blasters being cocked. She froze, noticing her troopers had formed a circle around her. She squeezed her eyes shut and whispered five words—I love you, Kit Fisto—before falling on Felucia's damp ground, an orange flower reflecting blaster bolts.
Aayla's mind had no idea where she was. She could remember Felucia and the blasters, so was this the Force? She was still dressed in her old clothes, thank the Force. If she had dies in one of those stuffy Jedi outfits with the undertunic and the overtunic, and the leggings and then the pants, and over all that, the long, sweeping brown robes, she would have wished she was in Sith heaven instead. Or was Sith heaven hell?
While Aayla was contemplating all of this, she was looking at her new surroundings. She was in the center of a large hall. There were two doorways on either end of the hall, gigantic arches that must have been 100 meters tall. Golden-brown designs were carved into the arches, sliding down them to meet with the floor, where the carvings still flowed, and then climbing the walls and the ceilings, draping everything in sight. It would take years to study all of these, Aayla thought. She was standing in a circle on the floor. All of the designs interwove here, looping and curving so it was as if she were standing in the center of a gorgeous, immense, flower.
Aayla bent closer to the flower and touched it hesitantly. As soon as her fingers made contact, color burst into view, rippling away to swiftly ink in the whole room. Now she could see the carvings more clearly, the color making pictures of people dancing, feasting, meditating, laughing with others, children playing together, lovers kissing as wedding bells tolled above them. Every kind of species was present, the room somehow making each and every one of them beautiful. She was awestruck.
Pattering footsteps brought her attention to the arch in front of her. A shadow stretched out along the floor and the footsteps grew closer…
And Kit appeared.
He walked towards her, smiling broadly—that grin she had always loved so much. She bounded across the distance separating them and leapt into Kit's waiting arms. She hugged him, squeezing the air out of him. He choked and said his first words to her:
"Aayla, if you don't let go of me, I'm going to suffocate and die all over again."
At that Aayla back. Stepping back from him, she frowned and then, without warning, socked him in the jaw. He staggered back, staring at her astonishingly.
"Do you know what that did to me? DO YOU KNOW? You stupid, idiotic, squid-faced, bantha-smelling, mynock-brained NERF-HERDER-"
Aayla was cut off as Kit reached down and stopped her lips with his.
Their mouths seemed to meld together as they did in the water on Kamino. Arms wrapped around Aayla's waist and pulled her close. She held one of the tentacles going down his back and ran her fingers down it, making him shiver. They had never been so together before. It was wonderful.
Until, that is, the wolf-whistles began echoing. Younglings peeked around the corner of the arch and burst into song.
Master Secura and Master Fisto,
Sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!
"Children, leave them alone this instant!" Jocasta Nu's sharp voice cut through the giggling and led the younglings out of the room. She gave a small smile to Aayla before disappearing into a room.
Aayla and Kit just smiled and snuggled closer together.
"You know, it's not really my fault I died." Kit whispered. Aayla chuckled.
"I know."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
AN: Ok, maybe the end was a little bad. I didn't know what to do, so I stuck that crap in. About the whole "room" thing, I thought long and hard, and again, came up with that idea…I have NO idea where it came from. Don't ask.