Chapter Nine -- In which Perun meets Obi-Wan...
The interior of the ship was still almost unbearably small, but Anakin somehow found it much more comfortable with the addition of Perun's presence on board. It certainly made life easier too; now that he didn't have to constantly monitor the controls, Anakin was able to sleep peacefully for the first time in weeks, and he was loath to rise from it.
All's well, Master, Perun replied, and Anakin smiled to himself. Now that he'd stopped trying to block their bond, it had matured into a warm, steady presence in the back of his mind.
Still on course?
And sailing smoothly, was the boy's response. You aught to go back to sleep, Master. You need it.
Anakin would not contest that. He closed his eyes again, fully intending to drift back into blissful, dreamless sleep.
Then, very suddenly, peace turned to panic, and Anakin heard his Padawan scream from the bridge.
Perun? What's wrong?
He got no response. Throwing off his blankets, Anakin raced toward his apprentice, fully prepared for the worst.
It was not the worst. It was Obi-Wan.
"I'm sorry, Anakin," the ghost said calmly. "I appear to have frightened your Padawan."
Anakin leaned wearily against the doorframe. "It's alright. Not like I was sleeping or anything."
"Good," Obi-Wan replied, either missing or purposefully ignoring Anakin's sarcasm. "I wanted to talk to you about the--"
"Excuse me." Perun's green eyes were wide as he continued to stare at Obi-Wan. "Would someone like to explain to me what's going on?"
Anakin gestured at the shimmering blue form. "Perun, I'd like you to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Perun blinked. "The one who died?"
"The very same," Obi-Wan replied.
There was another long moment of silence, and then Anakin heard a voice in the back of his mind inquire, Master, have I gone mad too?
No, you haven't gone mad. And what do you mean 'too'?
Perun grinned impishly.
"Stars and stones," Obi-Wan muttered, shaking his head. "Of all the things to teach a Padawan, you chose sarcasm."
Pitiful, Grievous thought, eying the cowering Nemoidians assembled before him. "How strong is this base?" he demanded.
"Secure enough for communications," the Viceroy replied, "But we lack the ability to mount any kind of serious attack, even defensive."
Grievous waved a mechanical hand dismissively and pushed past the amphibians. "That will suffice. I must have a communication set up with--"
"But General, we must evacuate now."
"Why?" Grievous was pleased to note that although the alien gulped audibly, he met the hard, yellow-eyed stare evenly.
"We think your ship was tracked here."
"What?!" he roared, and stormed back toward his ship. Impossible! Absurd! He found the device, ripped it free, and examined it carefully before crushing it in his firm metallic grip. "Jedi scum," he hissed, then turned back to the Nemoidian still watching him. "How long until this base can be moved?"
"Evacuations can begin immediately, but there is data that must be sent to other bases, and confidential files that must be destroyed--"
Grievous took a step forward, and the alien's words became indistinct mumblings. "How long?" he repeated.
"Three weeks."
"Then find me someone who can do it in two." He stalked down the platform and into the command center. "We must be gone before the Jedi arrive."
"Anakin, are you sure you know what you're doing?"
The Jedi did not take his eyes off of the circuit breaker he was rewiring. "Do you have a suggestion?"
"Yes. Take the boy to Illum and find a nice crystal in the caves there. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble."
"But we'll loose a lot of time."
Perun, intent on his own set of wires, asked quietly, "Forgive me, Master, but why is it so important that we find Grievous? Can't the GAR handle him?"
"Obviously not," Anakin replied. "It's the same story every time; the army goes in, cuts through the droid lines, Grievous escapes, and the war goes on." He snapped a cover back into place. "If we can find him, we can end the war. I know it."
"We?" Perun asked. "With all due respect, Master, I'm not going to be much help against Grievous."
"And we're going to change that. You ready with that rock?"
"Yeah." He started to hand it to Anakin, confusion written over his face, but Anakin shook his head and simply replied, "I did my part."
"Oh, right." Perun glanced at the mess of wires and the small reactor set into the wall. Normally, it would be used to warm up certain chemicals that required heat as a catalyst, but Anakin - for reasons unknown - had begun rewiring it the day before. "And what, exactly, did you do?"
"Rerouted some of the power from the engines so we could get the temperature high enough to build a crystal." He paused with his hand over the power control. "I just hope I didn't divert too much."
"Master, wait--" But Anakin had already flipped the switch. Perun shut his eyes, fully expecting some sort of explosion, and did not open them again until he heard Anakin chuckle.
"Now for the fun part."
Perun glanced up at his Master. "Define 'fun'."
"His kind of fun, actually," Anakin replied, pointing at Obi-Wan. "And by that, I mean you'll be meditating for a while."
"Great," Perun replied. "And what exactly am I meant to be meditating on?"
"Everything," Obi-Wan said. "You'll be imbuing the crystal with the Force, and that means that it will reflect who you are." Then, correctly interpreting the expression on Perun's face, he added, "It's a daunting task for any Jedi, let alone a Padawan. Anakin and I will guide you as best we can."
The heat from the oven flared up suddenly. For a brief moment, Anakin looked surprised, but he gave his Padawan an encouraging smile nonetheless.
Perun drew in a deep breath before bringing his hand as close as he dared to the heat and tossing his stone gently inside. Then, with Anakin's steady hand on his shoulder and Master Kenobi's reverent Force-presence around him, he settled cross-legged on the floor, and began.
There is no emotion...
The first thing he let go was his fear. He had his Master, and he knew that Anakin would not let any harm come to him. He trusted Anakin. Through the Force, he felt a ripple of assent, and he allowed himself a small smile; Anakin trusted him too.
Next was anger. Although he hadn't wanted to admit it, he'd been angry with Anakin for leaving him behind. He'd been angry with the Council for reassigning him so carelessly. He supposed he was even slightly angry with Obi-Wan, since it was his connection to his former Padawan that kept Anakin from really letting Perun into his life. Or maybe that was jealousy... either way, he let that go too.
There is peace...
He thought about the Room of a Thousand Fountains, could picture every detail as clearly as if he were sitting there. Anakin had showed him a little alcove behind one of the waterfalls which he thought might be his favorite place in the galaxy. The sound of the water flowing by was just loud enough to block out any other noise, and the spray thrown up as it crashed into the pool below was soft and cool, perfect for relaxing after saber practice. Best of all though, it was secret. If he hid there, only Anakin knew where to find him.
There is no passion...
In the few weeks that he'd known Anakin, he'd realized that his Master lived every day with more conviction than he'd ever encountered. He thought about their sparring sessions, and the light that came into Anakin's eyes when Perun successfully performed a new or difficult maneuver.
It had not escaped his notice that the same light and smile graced his features whenever Perun reported back with a message from Chancellor Amidala. He'd never asked Anakin about it because, quite frankly, it wasn't his business, but he kept his suspicions all the same.
There is serenity...
Yoda and the other crèche Masters had always demanded quiet. After he met Anakin, that whole idea was basically thrown out the window. His first impression of Anakin's teaching was being sent into the busy skylanes of Coruscant. And then, of course, there was their shared 'saber practice. As much as Perun enjoyed sparring with Anakin, there was no doubt that his Master could be frightening at times. He screamed constantly, and actually encouraged Perun to do the same (he knew Master Drallig would be horrified if he found out).
Even daily chores, something as simple as moving around the apartment, Anakin made noise. Just knowing that his Master was there had become a comfort. The night that Anakin had left had been entirely peaceful, but Perun couldn't say he'd enjoyed it.
There is no ignorance...
Some things, he knew, he wasn't meant to understand fully: hyperspace, the Force, why the name Steeve was so much fun to say...
Or why there was a hand on his shoulder, attempting to distract him from what felt like the most important thought of his life.
"Perun..." He heard his Master's words as though they came from very far away. "You've been sitting there for close to twelve hours. Come eat something."
A final shake jolted him from his reverie. He blinked dazedly up at Anakin, who was shaking his head and smiling with some combination of wonder and amusement. "You've got more patience than I'll ever have," he told Perun. "Honestly, I would have been bored out of my mind hours ago."
Perun started to reply, then winced as he stretched out legs that were cramped from being still so long. Anakin chucked as he helped Perun up and over to a chair.
"Where is Master Kenobi?" Perun asked, once he'd found his voice again.
"I have no idea," Anakin replied. "He comes and goes on his own schedule. Apparently he can't really interpret time in his current state." He placed several slices of jerked bantha meat in front of Perun, who accepted it gratefully even though he did not like the spices rubbed into it for flavor. "And how are you doing? Making progress?"
"I have no idea," Perun replied, only slightly sarcastic. "Of course, I'm not really sure how I'd know."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out." He handed Perun a cup of water. "Drink. I don't want you passing out while you're working."
"Don't worry, Master. It's not on my agenda either." He drained his glass while Anakin leaned casually against the doorframe, munching his own piece of jerky. He was just reaching for a second when Perun got up and began searching the cabinets for other, slightly more nutritious food.
"Thought I got rid of those," Anakin muttered as Perun pulled a packet of dried celto out and set into a steamer to cook. If Perun heard, he chose to ignore Anakin, and a minute later offered a helping to his Master.
"You know, you really should eat your vegetables..."
They both felt the laughter echo through the Force, and Anakin, reasonably sure that meant Obi-Wan had been listening, glared at the ceiling.
"I'm so glad you find this amusing."
Cody was a clone. He followed all orders to the letter and without question. But he was also human enough to regret the conversation that had just taken place.
"He attacked my men, General," Cody reported, passing on the information he'd received from the troops still on Utapau. "And we think he may have kidnapped one of the AgriCorps initiates."
Master Windu bowed his head. "I was afraid something like this might happen."
Cody waited a moment. Then, when he realized that the General was not going to elaborate, prompted, "Orders, sir?"
The Jedi looked up. "Find him," he said simply.
"And? Skywalker is now, in the eyes of the Senate and the GAR, a traitor to the Republic. How do you want him dealt with?"
"Just find him. That's your only assignment, Commander." He sat up a little straighter in his chair. "I'm deploying you and your five best men to join the 512th over Mustafar. We think that is where Anakin his heading."
Cody bit back the urge to ask why. "Yes sir. I'll assemble them now. We can leave within the hour." He saluted, and walked out of the room with a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. They were so close to winning the war, and now they had a rogue Jedi to deal with...
He wondered idly if it would be too much to ask for a lightsaber.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge...
He knew the exact size, weight and shape that he was supposed to form the crystal into. He'd studied diagrams of the molecular structure. Anakin had even gone so far as to offer to take apart his own saber and show Perun the crystal inside, but he'd quickly assured his Master that wasn't necessary.
Now, he put all of this together in his mind, picturing each piece of information side by side. If he reached out far enough in the Force, he could almost feel the crystal as part of himself. It glowed with a soft light that pulsed in time with his heartbeat. In rhythm with his breathing, it expanded and contracted minutely. He used that focus to shape it, to pull the threads of individual molecules, and wove them together.
There is no death...
Obi-Wan's presence washed over him like water. "You are almost finished, Perun. It just needs time now."
Perun let out a long, slow breath. "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
He felt more than heard something like a soft sigh. "You know I will not always be able to help you, even if I would like to."
"I understand, Master."
"Then you must help Anakin to understand also," Obi-Wan said sadly. "He will need you, Perun, the same way I needed him."
There is the Force...
He breathed in, and for one glorious moment he was aware not only of himself, but of Anakin, of Obi-Wan, of the ship, it's trajectory, the stars, the vastness of space--
And then he was back on his knees before the reactor, the heat dissipating slowly. Instinctively, he reached out for his crystal, and turned it over gently in his hand.
