Part 1 of the Black Hand Novels. When the Force binds two hearts together, nothing can be done to change its will. Or stop the chain of events triggered by their love, and the consequences will shake the foundations of an Order, and bring a galaxy to its knees. Rated T for later violence. AU TPM

Disclaimer: The characters and general TPM plotline belong to George Lucas and Terry Brooks, the latter from whom I've taken some elements of his novelization to heart. I do, however, own any characters you do not recognize. I am also making no money from this shameful attempt to re-create Georgie-boy's master prequel. Reviews, not flames, would be appreciated and taken seriously.

/ Text / denotes mental thought.

/ Text. / denotes Mindspeech.

The Guise of Fate

Chapter 8

"…and now every time I come back to visit, I find another tale about that stupid gorla monster!" Alia complained, moving her halep to capture one of her companion's kahuni, "And stop laughing, it wouldn't be so funny if you had to wear a wreath of seaweed on your head!"

But it was useless. Obi-wan was too far gone to stop: the image of the woman before him draped in weeds and carried like some heroine out of a tale to the sounds of "something like what my brother used to sing in the 'fresher," was too much for even his control to withstand. He laughed and laughed until his side began to ache.

Though she scowled at him in annoyance, Obi-wan felt no real anger, and even as his laughter died down to where he could breathe more easily, he could see the reluctant upward tug of her lips that had been threatening stretch to an even wider smile, albeit a decidedly wry one. Her eyes seemed to flash in the overhead lighting, and for a moment he admired the brilliant blue of her eyes, and nearly at the exact same instant, it was almost as if she could read his thoughts, as her cheeks suddenly flushed lightly, and she ducked her head back toward the gameboard in front of them. After a moment, she looked up, her smile shy and self-conscious. As he watched, her smile ended in a sharp gasp as a sudden shock seemed to spasm throughout her body and as she grabbed for the wall of the cargo hold to steady herself, Alia looked up into his startled gray-blue eyes.

"Obi-wan?" she whispered hoarsely, before she fell backward, crying out in pain.


/ Something's wrong. / Struggling away from the game, Alia tried to stand, staggering under the onslaught of pain that was now ripping its way across her body. / What's happening to me? / As Alia swayed dangerously, the world around her began to spin, and as she screwed her brilliant eyes shut, another wave of pain drove her to her knees. / Help me! Somebody help me! /

She cried out, her breath coming in short, desperate gasps, tears streaming down her face as she felt her body begin to shake in response to the pain. Unaware of anything except the pain radiating across her body, unaware of the sudden pair of hands trying to calm her, Alia began clawing at her shoulder with her nails, her cries losing whatever control she had over her voice. On the edge of her consciousness, she heard someone calling her name, someone calling to her in a voice that was both beloved and despised.


"Alia!"

Terrible, mind-numbing shrieks split the air as Obi-wan helplessly watched her body begin to convulse violently, the sobs torn from the guttural depths of her throat sending chills along his spine, the strength of her agonizing cries forcing him to his knees. He could feel the agony radiating from her, jarring his mind, forcing him to fight the maddening agony snaking through his mind as he fought to regain his control and sanity. Dimly, out of the corner of his eye, Obi-wan saw a crewman skid to a halt at the door to the cargo hold, his red hair clashing horribly with his red face.

"Help me!" Obi-wan roared in pain as Alia's cries reached another decibel level. Not waiting for the other man's response, Obi-wan grabbed hold of one of Alia's thrashing arms and began to haul her across the floor. Nearly blinded by the effect her screams had on him, Obi-wan hardly noticed the havoc their struggle was having on the ship around them. Half-dragging, half-carrying Alia's semiconscious body between the two of them, he yelled at those who came running, having heard her cries, screaming for them to find the ship's medical officer.

Alia's screams became piercing, her cries incoherent, distorted, stretching longer and louder than any sound Obi-wan had ever heard. Punctuated by her wild thrashings, her screams seemed to claw at his mind, forcing tears to his eyes as he and the other man struggled to carry her through the medical bay doors. Off to his right, Obi-wan dimly heard shouting, the calls drowned out to a monotone by Alia's high-pitched shrieks as her body twisted and jerked in his arms. Suddenly, he was pushed away from her by a shorter, light-haired man. As he stumbled to regain his footing, Obi-wan watched helplessly as the light-haired man and his fellows who suddenly swarmed around Alia struggled to pin her thrashing body to an examination table.

"Strap her down, Javin!" the light-haired man bellowed, struggling as Alia suddenly convulsed violently, tearing one of the crewmen's grip from her leg, causing her body to begin sliding to the floor.

"Grab the restraints!" the man shouted, yanking the shrieking woman's body forcefully back toward him, locking her wrists in a metal cuff.

Quickly, the crewmen and, he now distinguished, the orderlies, secured her other limbs; with her movement now constrained, Alia's body began chaffing at her bonds, her breathing becoming erratic. A pitiful mewling sound keening from her throat, her lungs beginning to heave, Alia's blue eyes opened for a few seconds before rolling upward into her skull.

"Gamashtu!" swore the light-haired man, whom Obi-wan now recognized as the ship's medical officer, Jorda Navras, "Keep her restrained, I must examine her wound."

"She was told her injury would not bring her harm, that it would heal without ill effect," accused Obi-wan, unable to maintain his silence.

The doctor looked up at him with startled eyes, having apparently forgotten about the younger Jedi's presence in his worry for his patient. Navras shook his head as if to clear it, then began to surgically remove Alia's top portion of clothing, cutting the thick bandage whose underside was as pristine as virgin snow. Shock spread over both Obi-wan's and the light-haired doctor's faces to see that Alia's wound was completely healed, with only a slight scar as testament to her injury. Navras looked to Obi-wan.

"It did," he said, his voice incredulous, growing dismayed as he continued, "I'll have to cut into the wound to see what has gone wrong."


Read and review please!

AN

Gamashtu name for a Naboo demon (I made this up. You get the point.)