Chapter 9. Peace shattered
Ten months later Athanasius was walking home from school when he suddenly felt cold. He stopped in his tracks as he felt a slight wave of dizziness overcome him.
"Athanasius are you alright?" Ashia asked as she caught up with her friend.
He closed his eyes and let the dizziness pass before opening his eyes and turning to look into Ashia's worried face. "I'm fine, I just felt a little lightheaded for a second."
Frowning Ashia placed her hand on his forehead, "you're hot."
He pushed her hand away and began to walk away, "I said that I'm fine Ashia."
No sooner had he said that his feet gave way from under him and he fell to the ground unconscious.
"Athanasius!" Ashia yelled running over to him. She got him onto his back and placed her hand on his chest. His breathing was ragged and his face looked slightly pale. Standing up she saw nobody in sight, which was very odd. Fear gripped her heart as she bent down and shook Athanasius' shoulder. "Wake up Athanasius."
He stirred slightly but did not awaken.
"Is there something wrong?" someone said from behind her.
Standing back up she turned around to see who it was and gave a startled gasp before she collapsed into oblivion.
Mahatma sat on a wooden bench set in a corner of the garden of Rosalind's and his home. He breathed in the scent of the flowers listened to the birds that played in a small fountain. Everything seemed so peaceful, so perfectly calm. All his worries and fears seamed to fade away as if they had never been.
Rosalind came up behind him and kissed his cheek before sitting down beside him. "Lunch is ready."
Mahatma nodded his head, "I know, you're a great cook and that's hard not to notice when you cook." He remarked as he smiled at her.
Rosalind kissed him on the lips, "then let's go eat."
Mahatma stood up and helped Rosalind up and headed hand in hand back into the house.
The small wooden table was set and steaming food was already ladled onto the plates. They sat down and began to eat.
"I've been thinking about what the doctor had told me." Rosalind said in a low voice as she stirred a piece of meat around in the gravy.
Mahatma finished chewing and swallowed, "Rosalind-—-"
"Don't say it Mahatma, I know what you're thinking." She interrupted him. "If he's right then he'll send the info. So it may be in the best interest of our child if he goes to the temple."
Mahatma shook his head, "No. He will not be going there. He will be our firstborn Rosalind, how can you think of sending him off to the Jedi?"
Rosalind sighed and put her fork down on her plate. "It would be for the best, he'll have powers that we don't understand, much less help him to understand his gift."
"We can learn." Mahatma pointed out.
"Can we?" She asked.
Mahatma sighed and took a sip of his water. "Owen's future can be decided later, for now lets just forget about it." he said calmly, ending the discussion.
The Comm unit rang and Rosalind began to get up to answer it. "I'll get it." Mahatma said as he headed to the Comm.
Rosalind sat back down and caressed her swollen abdomen, iI'm already eight months along, there is no need to decide Owen's future yet. Mahatma is right, I just want what's best for our child./i She heard Mahatma return and looked at him to see a worried look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Athanasius is missing." He replied in a worried tone.