Hello there everyone! I hope you had an awesome Christmas/holiday! And I wish you all a Happy New Year too since the next chapter will be up shortly afterwards. I had an interesting time of playing with Grievous' character again in this chapter and once more, I pray that I didn't make him act OOC (but I think I've been doing a good job of keeping that in check from the beginning :D). Also, much thanks for the last chapter's reviews! R&R please and enjoy!

Innocence is Blind

Chapter 10 Trauma

(Invisible Hand – the next day: morning)

"No! Please, no!"

"Celia, cease this nonsense immediately!"

"I'm afraid of the doctor!"

"This is ridiculous! Let go of my leg!"

The medical B1 unit stood perplexed at the sight. Grievous' impatience rose to stressful levels as the little girl was latched onto his leg. He dared not to overexert himself in releasing himself from her grip for concern of inexplicably harming her with his great strength. Celia was scared out of her wits by the situation and her arms were lassoed around his leg in a death-grip.

"Does the Human need to be sedated?" the droid asked. "I can arrange that, sir."

"No, that won't be necessary," he replied. "She just needs some coaxing, that's all." The General turned his attention back to the little girl. "Celia, listen to me."

"Don't let him kill me!" Celia pleaded. "I don't trust any doctor!"

"There is nothing scary about the doctor. All this droid is going to do is check the cuts to see if there're any germs in them. Germs get you sick, you know that?"

"Yes… My Mommy always said to wash my hands to get rid of icky germs…"

"So, the doctor's not going to do anything bad to you. Now let go of me before I get angry."

Slowly, she released him from her hold. The girl refused to back away from him immediately.

"Will you stay with me until I'm done?" she asked. "I would feel safer if you did, Grievous."

"I am not spoiling you," the cyborg answered. "I have no reason to do that. What are you so afraid of? You have a habit of running off without my supervision anyway."

"I just don't like doctors! And I don't want to get a shot without someone to hold my hand."

"Grow up."

"Sir, the checkup will be very brief," the droid said. "All I have to do is examine the cuts for signs of infection. It won't even take two minutes. The Human fleshling will be out before she knows it. I have other organic patients to tend to so I will make this quick and efficient."

Grievous rolled his eyes. He placed his hands behind his back and glowered slightly at her.

"Fine," he said in a grumpy tone. "I am only doing this because the examination will be swift and relatively painless."

"Thank you, Grievous!" She was blind to his sourness.

The droid grasped her left foot with an icy cold hand. Celia shuddered at the nip of the metal. With its available hand, the medical B1 extended a finger and a pale green beam shot out of the fingertip. It scanned her sole where the tiny cuts were centralized. After scanning for about ten seconds, it clenched its hand into a fist and the miniature hologram projector in its palm displayed a holographic data chart.

"The data from the scanning indicates there is no infection with the cuts on this foot," the droid announced. "Everything appears to be stable. Now it's time for the other foot."

Celia was shaking a little bit. She feared all doctors whether they were droid or sentient lifeforms. With fear, she watched as the medical unit scanned her other foot. Her blue eyes looked over at the half-droid, hoping for some emotional support from him. His nonthreatening stare was enough to soothe her.

"Well, the Human is free of any developing infections or maladies," it concluded. "Her health is stable and free of any issues."

"Good, that's out the way," said Grievous.

"What's going on?" she pondered.

"You're fine, you big baby."

"I'm not a big baby! So my checkup is done?"

"Yes…"

"Yay!"

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No. But I still don't like doctors." She grabbed one of his skeletal claw-like hands and yanked on it. "Come on, let's go hang out some more! There's so much more to explore!"

"Not so fast, child. I'm not any little brat's playmate. I'm sure that at this point in time you can see that I am a general. I have much work to accomplish."

"That's no fun! But can we please play for a little bit! I don't want to be bored!"

In truth, he had nothing to do. Since he spoke to Dooku yesterday, his orders were to wait until Borealia's new governor arrived. He was also never disclosed the exact time when the governor would arrive so he could safely assume it would probably take a few days or maybe a week for this person to arrive. And whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was relatively free of current duty. All Grievous had to do was make sure the Borealians weren't to rise up and try to take back their planet from the CIS.

"Ugh, I suppose I can watch over you for some time," he decided. "But you must learn how to make your own fun without me. And I have to reserve some time to find a family that will take you in."

"Cool!" she smiled and bounced up and down. "I know what I want to do too!"

"And what might that be?"

Celia giggled. She pointed to something around his waist. Grievous traced her field of vision, seeing that she was gazing intently at a lightsaber hilt.

"I want to play with one of those!" she said. "I know you told me they're for adults but will you teach me how to fight with one?"

"It takes many years to learn how to fight with a lightsaber," he said. "It's not child's play… But if you want to try it out so badly, then maybe I can do something about this."

(The General's Quarters – a few minutes later.)

"Choose whichever one you want."

On the table, there were several metal boxes that were opened up. Inside the boxes, there were half a dozen lightsaber hilts. Celia sat up on the table, trying to figure out which one to choose. She was amazed by how many were there.

"There's too many!" she threw her arms up into the air. "I know lightsabers come in some different colors. I want one in my favorite color: blue!"

"Blue," Grievous repeated. "You want blue. Well I know which one is blue right off the bat."

He picked up a certain hilt. The half droid chuckled shortly under his breath. This hilt belonged to a Jedi who had survived his wrath. Then he handed it over to Celia.

"This one belonged to a Jedi named Shaak Ti," he said. "The reason why I remember this lightsaber in particular was because she survived a fight against me. She's still alive…"

"So it's blue?" Celia asked, not caring about who the blade's previous owner was.

"Press the button and see."

She pressed the button on the hilt. A blue humming beam emerged from the hole. The child yelped when this happened and nearly dropped it. A huge smile then graced her little face.

"Do not, under any circumstances, touch that blue light," her guardian warned. "And watch what you do because if you do not, you will die. I'm not lying."

"I'll be careful, I promise," Celia nodded her head. "Now fight me!"

"As you wish, littlest challenger."

He reached for a lightsaber within his cloak that was the latest addition to his collection. Once he grabbed it, he then touched the clasp on his cloak. The dark and billowing cloak slid off his shoulders, revealing his duranium frame. Grievous activated the energy sword and a green aura emanated.

"Attack me," he said. "And don't worry about slicing me. I am more than capable of defending myself."

"Here I go!" she grinned. "I'm going to beat you, Grievous!"

Celia swung Shaak Ti's blade. Lazily, he defended himself. He knew she wasn't going to pose any trouble at all in this mock duel. It wasn't like she was a Jedi. Her blue weapon slammed against Grievous' green blade with some force but it obviously wasn't enough to break through his iron defense. She laughed happily as she play fought.

"You're losing!" she smiled. "Pretend that I'm beating you!"

"Oh, dear," he said in a sarcastic tone. "This puny little runt appears to be overwhelming me… How despicable."

"You're getting embarrassed!"

His impatience poked and prodded at him like a suicidal fool agitating a slumbering wampa. It was unspeakably demeaning and insulting to be obligated to serve as this orphan's playmate. He was General Grievous: feared, powerful, cunning, efficient, swift, worthy… And also tragic and not a complete monster. There were higher destinies he had to meet with and nobler actions to execute. Playing with a child was just… Wrong.

He could never allow himself to lower himself to her level and show some empathy for her sad story. But he did. There was pity for Celia. Someone so young and innocent deserves a second chance at life.

Once more patience and the small spark of mercy held back the raging waters. Reason had triumphed over raw emotion.

"Okay, I want you to attack!" said Celia. "I want to be fair and let you go now."

"It would be very unfair if you did," said Grievous. "Look at your situation. Even though this is relatively harmless, it can become quite severe for you quickly. I sometimes forget my own spectrum of strength and I might kill you by accident."

"But I want to see you fight back! You beat so many Jedi, I want to see you fight with my own eyes!"

"With an opponent such as you?" He scoffed. "That's cruelly unfair. I have enough honor to not strike a child down. I defend and you attack."

"You're just scared!"

She wore a sly smirk when she said that. There was a fleeting hint of arrogance in her voice. The General had the irrepressible urge to teach her a little lesson. And he knew exactly what to do.

"I will show you how I can beat you without even striking you," he said. "Are you sure you want to keep acting like an ungrateful munchkin?"

"I'm not afraid of you!" Celia was still role playing as her character in the game. "I'm the bravest warrior in the whole galaxy!"

"True… You may be the bravest but you certainly aren't the strongest or smartest!"

Before her eyes, Grievous' arms split. Her jaw dropped as three limbs then grabbed a hilt around his waist. With growing surprise and awe, she watched as they activated. Never had she seen such a spectacle of power and skill. The cyborg spun around his blades like a buzz-saw, creating dazzling flashes of color. She dropped her weapon as she stared at him.

"Oh my stars!" she practically screamed. Celia took a few steps back. Then she dropped to her knees and crawled beneath the table. "I surrender!"

Grievous laughed at what had just happened. With one last twirl of his lightsabers, he sheathed them and placed them back on his waist. His arms fused together.

He bent down to see her still cowering beneath the table. Right away, he noticed that the fear in her blue eyes was genuine: it wasn't fake. Her eyes were huge and she was panting heavily. Tiny beads of sweat began to seep from her pores.

"You got afraid of that?" he said, surprised by this. "I didn't mean to intentionally frighten you."

"I don't like bright flashes," she gasped. "They remind me of the bomb that blew up my house… I remember seeing a light then a second later there was a loud noise and the roof broke."

In other words, she was traumatized by the burst of light the bomb created as it struck her home. When he spun his blades around in the buzz-saw motion, it immediately made her recall what had happened two days earlier. Grievous had absolutely no idea something like this had been burnt into her psyche.

"I… I don't f-feel good…" Celia stuttered. "My heart hurts..!"

At first, he had no idea what to do or what was happening to her. The half artificial Kaleesh was stunned for a few seconds, his mind trying to figure out what was going on. Then the truth began blaringly obvious. He had seen this happen before many times: a panic attack.

He reached beneath the table and grabbed the frightened little girl. She was shaking like a leaf. Gently, Grievous made her stand up while he still knelt on one knee. He placed his hands on her shoulders. Then he looked right into her eyes.

"Soothe yourself," he directed in a surprisingly tender voice. For a moment, he sounded like he had his old voice. "It's alright… Look into my eyes and breathe, Celia."

She gripped her chest with her hand as her heart raced. Celia whimpered and struggled with the turmoil in her but she managed to stare into his golden eyes. They had no hint of evil or fury in them which was a very rare thing to witness. All these eyes bore were mercy and peace.

"Calm down. There is no danger here. Just focus on my eyes and breathing. You're safe, trust me."

His hands were heavy on her shoulders but they made her feel secure. Her eyes were glued to his and she forgot that the universe around them existed. When he blinked, it was smooth and slow in order to help her calm herself more. And she imitated that blinking.

Her pulse decelerated steadily. Her muscles loosened and her body became less tense. The urge to flee evaporated. Celia took in deep breaths, trying to ease her nerves.

Grievous noticed these changes. He could almost feel the panic roll off her little frame. A small sense of relief filled him when he saw her normalizing.

"Do you feel better, Celia?" asked Grievous.

"Yes," she wore a tiny but pleasant smile. "I feel better now." Then she threw herself toward him and embraced him. "Thanks a lot, Grievous!"

He didn't enfold his arms around her but he let her hug him. Her eyes were shut and her head was resting contently against his chest. Obviously, she wasn't deterred by hugging cool and hard metal. A moment later, she broke away from him.

"I must be aware of what you will be exposed to now," Grievous stood up to his full height. "I don't want you to go through another panic attack. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm okay," she assured.

"I think you've had enough fear on your plate already and it's not even the afternoon yet. I'm going to take you to your room and I want you to relax in there for a little while. Your locket's in there and you can listen to it."

"But I'm okay. And I want to be with you for a little longer!"

"No arguing, Celia. I think it's best that you spend some time away from me so you can deal with that fright. I need to get some work done anyway. I'll send one of my guards to check on you in a little while."

"Will I see you again today?"

"Later. You need time to relax. And don't worry, I'll make sure the guard I intend to send will not be a malfunctioning piece of scrap metal."

(Coruscant – The Jedi Temple: twilight)

Rax Linn was deep in meditation. He sat in one of the many courtyards the Temple complex held. But this one he visited was his favorite one. It was a tiny garden that was a quaint and lovely little oasis of nature amidst all the industrialization that consisted of Coruscant. When his Master and dearest friend was alive, this was where they trained and meditated together as well.

The Bothan Jedi was immersed in the Force yet he was keenly aware of his surroundings. His furry ears twitched every once in awhile as he heard the babbling of the water fountain or the tweeting of birds getting ready to settle in for the evening. The Force and the aura of serenity the garden exuded gave him more strength as each moment went by.

"Tomorrow," he thought. "Tomorrow evening, I leave this place and go out to Borealia. I know I have to remain strictly focused on just spying and surveying things for Master Kenobi but at the same time, I know there is a greater duty I must accomplish if I can. Why spy when I can assassinate an evil monster who has caused so much pain and misery in this galaxy? I know it's against the Jedi way and I could be expelled if I return victorious… But they have to see my reasoning. They have to! I'm helping everyone by doing this." Rax sighed out loud and then returned to his most private thoughts. "Master Tengu, please be with me. I think I need you more than ever now."

Rax could meditate no longer. He got up from his seat in a tree's shadow and walked over to the fountain. The Jedi Knight tilted his head downwards to the rippling pool of water, spotting his reflection.

"I have to succeed. If I don't, then only more will suffer and die. There's no turning back or time to be weak." Hot tears seeped through his eyelids. They slowly dripped down his face and assimilated with the fountain's cool water. "But if I should die, I will take him to the Netherworld with me. He will not win."