Chapter 9

"Well, back on Tatooine again." Obi-wan grumbled.

"Meesa haten dis place. Weesa go get her now?" Jar Jar fidgeted impatiently.

"Yes, let's get her and go. The sooner we get out of here the better." Anakin had a bad feeling about this. He just wanted it to be over.

"No, not yet. It's too dangerous now. We'll wait until nightfall."

A couple of hours later they were in the garden and, once again, their path was lit by the light of the full moon. It felt so familiar when Jar Jar looked around that he grinned in anticipation of seeing Tawny again. He missed her like crazy- and that was an understatement. He'd told her he'd be back for her and, whether she'd believed him or not, here he was. He couldn't wait to see her face as she forgave him for ever leaving and regretting she'd ever doubted him. Soon she'd be back in his arms and they'd be on their way back to Otoh Gunga. But what would her father say about them? Jar Jar pushed the thought away as they finally reached the huge door leading into the palace. Moving silently down the hall, they found the servants' quarters and Jar Jar knocked on the door. The head handmaiden answered. She scowled at Jar Jar and demanded, "What do you want? Haven't you troublemakers done enough? What have you come back for?"

Obi-wan stepped up. "Pardon our intrusion but we are looking for Vitaliny, the Gungan handmaiden."

She stiffened and looked down her nose at the interlopers. "She is not here. She's been- relocated in a sense… to the dungeon."

"The dungeon?!" Jar Jar almost screeched. "Whata she doin der? What she do?"

The handmaiden turned on Jar Jar. "Nothing you didn't help with," she snapped before slamming the door in his face.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Anakin asked inquisitively.

Jar Jar turned around to face them. "My no know." He searched his brain for an answer. "Cept maybe- maybe-" He paled suddenly and swallowed hard.

"Jar Jar what is it?"

He couldn't answer. His mouth went dry. His throat closed up and he managed a small squeak before he blacked out.

Obi-wan and Anakin didn't move. They just stood and stared at the unconscious figure sprawled out in front of them. They both looked up, startled, when the door to the handmaiden's room opened.

Trini stepped out quietly and closed it gently behind her. She didn't seem all too surprised to see Jar Jar had fainted. Tawny's reaction had been almost identical. She knelt beside him just as he was coming to. She said his name and he turned to her, eyes glistening.

"My gon be a daddy?"

He's crying, Trini thought, and almost choked up herself. She smiled and nodded. "Yes, you gon be a daddy." She laughed.

He smiled faintly and stared up at the ceiling, a vacant look in his eyes. Finally he sniffed and sat up. Obi-wan and Anakin were still staring at him. Obi-wan was wide-eyed from surprise and his hands were on his hips, but Anakin couldn't hide a sort of half smile as he cocked an eyebrow. Jar Jar grinned at the both of them and chortled sheepishly. He looked at Trini who smiled warmly and hugged him.

"Come on there, Daddy. I'll show you the way."

They followed Trini to the end of the hall and down a dark, winding staircase. She had grabbed a torch before they had begun their gloomy descent. Now it showed a big wooden door with a rusty padlock. Trini plucked a hairpin out of her bun and picked at the lock until she heard a click and it snapped open in her hands.

"Help me with the door."

It took all four of them, shoulders to the door, giving it all they had, before it would even budge. Finally, they got it open far enough to where they could all squeeze through. It was cold and wet. The air smelled stuffy and mildewy, but one scent in particular dominated the gloom.

Anakin wrinkled his nose and covered it with a fold of his robe. "What's that smell?" He almost choked. "It's like- like rotting meat."

"Decomposing flesh." Obi-wan looked around in disgust.

Anakin looked disbelievingly to Trini, who confirmed with a nod. He nearly gagged.

Trini put out the torch. The dungeon was lit by torches on the walls. "This one we'll save for when we go back up," she said more to herself than to anyone else. This place gave her the shivers and she hoped she'd never have to see it again. She turned from the others and pointed to the four hallways in front of them. They were actually cell-blocks, lit by dimming torches.

"We should split up, one to a block."

Jar Jar took the first, Anakin took the second, Trini took the third, and Obi-wan took the fourth.

Anakin still had part of his face covered as he peered through a barred window in one wooden cell door. He saw the remains of a species he couldn't identify, it's arms still shackled to the wall. Bits of fur and skin still clung to the bones. Insects and small larvae swarmed by the thousands. The smell was overwhelming. Anakin gagged again and moved on quickly to the next cell.

"Tawny- Tawny?" Trini whispered into each cell. She couldn't bear the thought of looking into them. She was too afraid she would recognize someone- or what was left of them.

Jar Jar was already halfway down his block. He ran from cell to cell whispering Tawny's name at every one. Twice, he slipped in puddles of slimy, stagnant water and once he burnt his ear on a torch while looking into one of the cells. He reprimanded himself for being so clumsy- and gullible. He thought he'd found her, but on second glance he realized it was only a red-lipped Twi'lek with indigo skin. She looked half-starved and her eyes pleaded with Jar Jar to set her free. As he backed away from the cell, she hung her head in disappointment. It wasn't her turn to be rescued. Jar Jar regretted not being able to help her too, but right now they had a princess to rescue.

Obi-wan had almost given up. This is ridiculous, he thought, like looking for a needle in a haystack. Then he heard a metallic clinking sound. He found the cell it was coming from and looked inside. The torch had burned out next to this cell so there wasn't much he could see. "Vitaliny?" He heard a gasp and another clinking sound. "Tawny, are you in there?"

"Who- who's there?"

It's Obi-wan Kenobi. It's alright, we're here to get you out. I'll be right back with the others." He turned and hurried back up the block.

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When he'd gathered everyone together and showed them the cell, Jar Jar ran up to the barred window. "Tawny!" he cried into the darkness. He couldn't see her, but she could make out his outline faintly in the light of the other torches. "Meesa back!"

"Jar Jar?!" She was absolutely and totally shocked. He had come back for her! All this time she thought he'd lied to her but now he was here! He really did love her!

Tears had started streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't help it. She had to do something or else she would burst! She got up and tried to run to the door, but the chains and shackles on her wrists and around her ankles hung her up. Jar Jar stretched out his hand, but though he came within inches of hers, he still couldn't quite reach. He growled in frustration.

"Here let me try that lock." Trini grabbed another hairpin and set to work, but after she tossed away her third bent pin she gave up. Shoulders slumped, she stared confusedly at the lock. "I don't understand. It worked fine on all the other locks I've tried."

Anakin had been waiting for something like this. He grinned and pulled out his lightsaber. "Maybe I can be of some assistance?" Everyone stood back to get out of his way. "Stand back Tawny," he called into the cell, smiling broadly and trying to ignore Obi-wan's glare of disapproval.

Tawny scrambled back against the wall, curling up in a little ball in the corner as far from the door as she could get. She knew what was coming. She'd heard the familiar hum as a lightsaber buzzed to life and watched as a moment later the door split in two pieces. The remaining part swung back on its hinges as wood splintered everywhere. Jar Jar didn't even wait for the dust to clear. He charged into the room and found Tawny cowering in the corner. He dropped to his knees and threw his arms around her, kissing her ears and whispering that everything was okay now as she sobbed into his chest.

"I thought- I thought you weren't coming back." she sniffed. "When- when you left-" She broke down again.

Jar Jar held her tighter. "But meesa here now. Meesa gonna take you away from dis place- back to Gunga City."

Tawny looked up at him and his heart almost split in two. "I thought I'd lost you," she whispered.

"My sorry my had to leave." He hugged her. She sniffed and put her head on his shoulder. "Is gonna be different dis time. My's gon take care of you. Mees, yous, and da baby."

Tawny pulled away from him and looked up. He smiled back sincerely. "You- you know about the baby," she stammered.

Jar Jar nodded and his smile grew wider. "Uh-huh. Yousa havin no nuttin to worry."

Tawny was stunned. Slowly she let out a shuttered breath. "There isn't going to be a baby."

"Huh?" Jar Jar cocked his head. "What yous mean?"

She sniffed. "They- they-" she gulped. "They took it!" She finally finished in a sob and burst into fresh tears. "They took our baby!"

Now it was Jar Jar's turn to be stunned. He just sat for a minute with a terribly confused look on his face. When he finally seemed to snap out of it, he put his arms around Tawny. But still he said nothing.

"I'm sorry, Jar Jar," she whispered between sobs. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop them- I- I tried."

Jar Jar's eyes were dark. "Is not your fault, Tawny. No nuttin your fault." He wanted to scream. He wanted to make Jabba pay, feed him to his own rancor. Worse. He wanted him to suffer. But all he could do now was be there for Tawny. It had to be awful for her. It'd been her child too.

The trip back up the stairs was silent. They managed to get out of the palace and into the back garden, but waiting at the gate for them was Jabba himself and he wasn't alone. A swarm of guards surrounded him, waiting for his command.

"Master!" Tawny almost sobbed.

Jabba smiled cruelly. "My dear, my prize," he said in Huttese. "You didn't think I was such a fool as to let you get away from me so easily did you?" Then the smile vanished. "Kill them and bring me the girl," he ordered the guards calmly.

Obi-wan drew his lightsaber. "Jar Jar, take Tawny to the ship."

"But yous- "

"Jar Jar go!" Anakin withdrew his own weapon. "We've got it! You keep the princess safe!"

Jar Jar puffed up his chest. You keep the princess safe. "Comen on Tawny. Da ship bein' dis way." He took her hand and the two took off toward the gardens.

They hadn't gone far when a clawed hand reached out of the shadows and caught Tawny by the haillu. She screeched and called out, "Jar Jar! Something's got me!"

A raspy voice chuckled as the attacker revealed himself from the shadows. "It's been a long time, Princess."

Tawny gasped as a memory crept to her consciousness. This had happened before when she was much younger. But not here- it was in a jungle, a swamp- Naboo!

"It's you! You're the one who took me away! You're- you're Bib Fortuna!"

"Correct my dear," the white Twi'lek purred. "My how you've grown." Still holding her tightly by the ears, he ran a hand along the side of her body. "Yes, Jabba should be very disappointed if he loses you."

Jar Jar growled and stepped forward. "Let go a hers."

"Why would I do such a thing?" Fortuna sniggered.

Jar Jar's growling intensified and he started after the hideous Twi'lek. Fortuna let go of Tawny's haillu and wrapped his other arm around her throat. With his now free hand he pulled out a dagger. "Ah ah ah, hero. Not so fast," he hissed. "This dagger's tipped with a deadly poison that, should it pierce one of you, will kill within minutes."

"Yousa not kill her. Yousa wanna give hers back to Jabba."

Fortuna tightened his arm around Tawny's neck. The girl's eyes grew wide and she wheezed. "Care to try me, hero?" he taunted over her sputtering. He raised the dagger higher. "Now why don't you run along to your ship? I'm feeling generous, so I'll let you go, so long as you don't give me any trouble."

Things were getting fuzzy and Tawny didn't know how much longer she would last. Fortuna's grip was fixed and she could just barely breathe.

Jar Jar saw her eyes glazing and her eyelids fluttering. "My no leavin' without Tawny," he said through clenched teeth. He squeezed his hands into fists by his sides.

"Suit yourself," he shrugged and then cut off Tawny's air completely. The Gungan girl managed a small whimper before she finally fell limp. Suddenly Fortuna was struck from above. A heavy porcelain vase crashed directly onto his head and he dropped Tawny before falling to the ground himself. Jar Jar looked up to see Trini on one of the palace balconies.

"Yessss," she cried triumphantly.

"Dasa bombad shot, Trini!"

"Is Tawny okay?"

Jar Jar's attention snapped to the motionless body next to Fortuna's. He rushed to her side and put an ear to her chest. "She'sa still breathin' an her heart still beatin'. She jus not awake." He put one arm under her knees and another under her neck and picked her up.

"Tell her good-bye for me, Jar Jar," Trini called down shakily. When he looked back up at her, Jar Jar could see tears in her eyes. "Tell her- " She swallowed. "Tell her I love her and- and I wish her a long happy life."

Jar Jar nodded. "Yousa good friend Trini. Yousa help usan lots. My tell her when shesa wake."

"Good luck," Trini said. Then, as she watched him take her best friend away to another world, she whispered through her tears, "Good-bye, sister."