Rehab of the Heart
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters.
Luminara turned to her terrified padawan and placed her hands on her shoulders to try and calm her. "Barriss?! Barriss what's wrong?!"
The padawan was shaking so hard she could hardly speak. "I-I… d-don't… Vernock… couldn't… breathe… couldn't move……….c-couldn't stop him…" She stammered.
"Barriss…" Luminara said.
Tears started streaming down Barriss's face. "He-he……Master… I'm scared…" She started to cry and sunk to the ground covering her face with her hands.
Luminara knelt down and put a hand on Barriss's back. "It's okay Barriss…"
She stood back up and I watched as her expression changed from sympathetic to sad to mad to angry to REALLY PISSED OFF. She walked over to the counter, grabbed her lightsaber, and stormed out of the quarters. I told Barriss to not leave the quarters and took off after her enraged master.
It wasn't hard finding Luminara; the yelling kind of gave it away. I finally caught up with her just as she was confronting Vernock in a nearby corridor.
"Oh, so you've finally come running back I see." He said, smiling.
She didn't speak and continued to get closer to him.
"Don't you think we should find a more suitable spot?" He asked.
She pushed him up against the wall and ignited her lightsaber, positioning it over his neck.
"Well, aren't we being a little rough?"
She put her face up close to his and whispered something barely audible over the hum of her lightsaber. "You. Are. Going. To. Die."
I took a step forward and put a hand out to try and settle Luminara down a bit. "Luminara, come on he isn't worth it."
She took a deep breath. "No, no he's not. I shouldn't be wasting my time. But you know what Obi-wan? He deserves it. He deserves every bit of pain he's about to feel." She didn't take her eyes from Vernock.
"I know that and agree with you, but this is not the Jedi way, and you know it. Jedi don't kill!"
"I don't care, he deserves to die!" Her voice began to rise.
"Luminara settle down-"
"He will die!!!" She shouted.
Come on… I could sense the council drawing near. "Just walk away."
"NO! HE IS GOING TO DIE, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!"
"LUMINARA! Stop it! This is stupid!"
"This man has done horrible things, Obi-wan. You saw Barriss's face! He raped her, and you know it! He raped her… he raped me…" Tears started to fall down her face.
Just as Luminara had said that last sentence, the council showed up. Judging by the facial expressions of most of them, I'd say they heard what she said. Yoda stepped closer to the scene.
"Luminara. Foolish, this is. Stop, you must." He said calmly.
She shook her head violently. Vernock started to grin again. "You can't do it. You can't kill me, even if you really wanted to."
"Shut up!!" She yelled.
"Go ahead then, kill me, see if I care." He leaned against the wall in a leisurely way.
The tears started coming again and she began to shudder.
I took another step closer and cautiously put one of my hands on her shoulder. "Luminara, please don't do this."
She deactivated her lightsaber and fell apart. She started crying raggedly and fell to her knees.
Vernock shook his head. "I knew it. You're so weak." He used his foot to shove her so that she was lying on the ground in an awkward ball shape. She didn't move to get up. "Jedi scum."
I couldn't believe he just did that… she could've very easily just killed him… and he was still treating her like nothing. I looked him in the eye for a long hard moment. Then did what I probably should have done a long time ago. I threw my fist into his jaw. Hard.
I'm not exactly sure what happened next because I picked up Luminara and walked off toward her quarters so that she could settle down a little bit.
When we got there I put Luminara down on the couch, not bothering with the lights. I sat down next to her and put a comforting hand on her back. To my surprise, she fell and started crying into my shoulder. I really didn't know what to do, so I just put and arm around her and let her cry.
She started to stop crying about ten minutes later. I looked down at her and she sighed raggedly. She wiped her eyes and stood up. I followed her as she walked down the hall and into Barriss's room. Barriss was still awake in her bed. She was staring at the ceiling with an unreadable expression on her face. I leaned up against the wall next to the door.
Luminara sat down on the bed next to Barriss. "Barriss? Can you sit up?"
Barriss nodded and sat up.
"What happened earlier?" Luminara asked.
Barriss shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Barriss, talking helps, trust me I know."
"No you don't, master… you wouldn't understand…"
"Believe me, yes I would."
The padawan frowned.
"I should have told you, I could have prevented this whole thing. What Vernock did to you… you weren't the only one."
Barriss's eyes widened. "You mean… he raped you too?"
Luminara sighed and nodded. "Yes, Barriss, and I should have told you earlier so you would know to stay well away from him."
Barriss's head drooped.
"Now, tell me what happened. I can try to help."
Barriss sighed and launched into what had happened. Luminara and I both listened as she told what had happened. It didn't sound like it was a pretty sight. I was really considering Luminara's method of getting rid of the guy.
Once Barriss had finished she asked if she could go to sleep. Luminara nodded and started to stand. But she put a hand to her head and swayed. She leaned against the bedpost for support.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No, no I'm fine…" I saw Barriss frown behind her master.
Whether she was confused at my question or not, I could tell that she was not alright. "No you're not. What's wrong?"
She closed her eyes tightly. "I'm… I don't know…" Then she fell.
Barriss jumped out of her bed and knelt next to her now unconscious master, checking her pulse.
"She's just fainted…" Barriss said, looking up at me.
"We need to get her to the med-wing, now."
Uh-oh… what's wrong with Lulu? (Don't you just love my nicknames?) Please review???
